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# bun link (/pm/cli/link)

<!-- agent-signals: reading_time_min: 3 · est_tokens: 1433 · updated: 2026-08-02 -->
Related: [bun add](/pm/cli/add.md), [bun install](/pm/cli/install.md), [bun patch](/pm/cli/patch.md), [bun pm](/pm/cli/pm.md), [bun remove](/pm/cli/remove.md), [bun update](/pm/cli/update.md)

> Link local packages for development

Use `bun link` in a local directory to register the current package as a "linkable" package.

```bash icon="terminal" title="terminal" terminal
cd /path/to/cool-pkg
cat package.json
bun link
```

```txt
bun link v1.3.3 (7416672e)
Success! Registered "cool-pkg"

To use cool-pkg in a project, run:
  bun link cool-pkg

Or add it in dependencies in your package.json file:
  "cool-pkg": "link:cool-pkg"
```

This package can now be "linked" into other projects using `bun link cool-pkg`, which creates a symlink in the target project's `node_modules` directory pointing to the local directory.

```bash icon="terminal" title="terminal" terminal
cd /path/to/my-app
bun link cool-pkg
```

The `--save` flag also adds `cool-pkg` to the `dependencies` field of your app's package.json, with a version specifier that tells Bun to load from the registered local directory instead of installing from `npm`:

```json icon="file-json" title="package.json"
{
  "name": "my-app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "dependencies": {
    "cool-pkg": "link:cool-pkg" // [!code ++]
  }
}
```

## Unlinking

Use `bun unlink` in the root directory to unregister a local package.

```bash icon="terminal" title="terminal" terminal
cd /path/to/cool-pkg
bun unlink
```

```txt
bun unlink v1.3.3 (7416672e)
success: unlinked package "cool-pkg"
```

***

# CLI Usage

```bash
bun link <packages>
```

### Installation Scope

<ParamField path="--global" type="boolean">Install globally. Alias: <code>-g</code></ParamField>

### Dependency Management

<ParamField path="--production" type="boolean">Don't install devDependencies. Alias: <code>-p</code></ParamField>

<ParamField path="--omit" type="string">Exclude <code>dev</code>, <code>optional</code>, or <code>peer</code> dependencies from install</ParamField>

### Project Files & Lockfiles

<ParamField path="--yarn" type="boolean">Write a <code>yarn.lock</code> file (yarn v1). Alias: <code>-y</code></ParamField>

<ParamField path="--frozen-lockfile" type="boolean">Disallow changes to lockfile</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--save-text-lockfile" type="boolean">Save a text-based lockfile</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--lockfile-only" type="boolean">Generate a lockfile without installing dependencies</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--no-save" type="boolean">Don't update <code>package.json</code> or save a lockfile</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--save" type="boolean" default="true">Save to <code>package.json</code></ParamField>

<ParamField path="--trust" type="boolean">Add to <code>trustedDependencies</code> in the project's <code>package.json</code> and install the package(s)</ParamField>

### Installation Control

<ParamField path="--force" type="boolean">Always request the latest versions from the registry & reinstall all dependencies. Alias: <code>-f</code></ParamField>

<ParamField path="--no-verify" type="boolean">Skip verifying integrity of newly downloaded packages</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--backend" type="string" default="clonefile">Platform-specific optimizations for installing dependencies. One of <code>clonefile</code>, <code>hardlink</code>,{" "}
<code>symlink</code>, or <code>copyfile</code></ParamField>

<ParamField path="--linker" type="string">Linker strategy (one of <code>isolated</code> or <code>hoisted</code>)</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--dry-run" type="boolean">Don't install anything</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--ignore-scripts" type="boolean">Skip lifecycle scripts in the project's <code>package.json</code> (dependency scripts are never run)</ParamField>

### Network & Registry

<ParamField path="--ca" type="string">Provide a Certificate Authority signing certificate</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--cafile" type="string">Same as <code>--ca</code>, but as a file path to the certificate</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--registry" type="string">Use a specific registry by default, overriding <code>.npmrc</code>, <code>bunfig.toml</code>, and environment
variables</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--network-concurrency" type="number" default="48">Maximum number of concurrent network requests</ParamField>

### Performance & Resource

<ParamField path="--concurrent-scripts" type="number">Maximum number of concurrent jobs for lifecycle scripts (default: 2x CPU cores)</ParamField>

### Caching

<ParamField path="--cache-dir" type="string">Store & load cached data from a specific directory path</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--no-cache" type="boolean">Ignore manifest cache entirely</ParamField>

### Output & Logging

<ParamField path="--silent" type="boolean">Don't log anything</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--quiet" type="boolean">Only show tarball name when packing</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--verbose" type="boolean">Excessively verbose logging</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--no-progress" type="boolean">Disable the progress bar</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--no-summary" type="boolean">Don't print a summary</ParamField>

### Platform Targeting

<ParamField path="--cpu" type="string">Override CPU architecture for optional dependencies (e.g., <code>x64</code>, <code>arm64</code>, <code>*</code> for
all)</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--os" type="string">Override operating system for optional dependencies (e.g., <code>linux</code>, <code>darwin</code>, <code>*</code> for
all)</ParamField>

### Global Configuration & Context

<ParamField path="--config" type="string">Specify path to config file (<code>bunfig.toml</code>). Alias: <code>-c</code></ParamField>

<ParamField path="--cwd" type="string">Set a specific current working directory</ParamField>

### Help

<ParamField path="--help" type="boolean">Print this help menu. Alias: <code>-h</code></ParamField>