Fall back to a user-configured directory when resolving imports #67354

What is the problem this feature will solve?

Node.js doesn't support a user-configured fallback directory when trying to resolve imports. It only resolves those imports against a node_modules directory in the same (or ancestor) directory as the importing file. This current architecture falls short for standalone scripts, which don't have a node_modules directory around.

This artificial limitation hinders Node.js's ability to fulfill its goal to "Run JavaScript Everywhere".

What is the feature you are proposing to solve the problem?

Fall back to a user-configured directory when normal resolution fails

What alternatives have you considered?

• Hardcoding absolute paths using the file:// protocol
  • fragile
  • not portable
• A symlinked node_modules in the importing file's directory
  • overridden once npm install is executed
• A symlinked node_modules in a shared ancestor directory
  • must be located at the filesystem root to cover every location
• A register hook that retries from a specified directory after an ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND/MODULE_NOT_FOUND error
  • must be included in every importing file
  • doesn't work with static imports
  • isn't compatible with tooling (e.g., IDEs don't run it, so they treat the imported modules like unresolved ones)