npmr solves some deficiences in the implementation of local modules in npm 2. It aspires to be deprecated once similar functionality lands in npm.
npm install -g npmr
/**
* Like `npm install` except will notice if changes have been
* made to local modules and update them. Run from within module dir.
*/
npmr install
/**
* Like `npm ls` except only prints local modules.
*/
npmr ls
/**
* Like `npm publish` but replaces package dependencies specified
* by local paths with their version so we can publish to npm.
*/
npmr publish