The node_modules folder in a Node.js project contains a lot of files and directories that can be easily generated from the project's package.json file. Therefore, it's a good idea to exclude this folder from version control using a .gitignore file. Here are the steps to delete the node_modules folder, add it to .gitignore, commit the changes, push them to the remote repository, and then reinstall the dependencies using npm:
- Delete the node_modules folder:
rm -rf node_modules
- Create a .gitignore file in the root of your project if it doesn't exist already:
touch .gitignore
- Open the .gitignore file in your text editor and add the following line to it:
node_modules/
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Save and close the .gitignore file.
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Stage the changes to .gitignore and commit them:
git add .gitignore
git commit -m "Exclude node_modules folder from version control"
- Push the changes to the remote repository:
git push
- Reinstall the dependencies using npm:
npm install
This will recreate the node_modules folder and install the dependencies specified in your package.json file.
https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/what-are-node-modules/
https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/saving-changes/gitignore