The link command is mainly intended to link any local file-system dependencies you have which are not jupyterlab extensions (e.g. a dependency of an extension you have). install handles both installation of extensions by name, or by a folder path on the local file system The distinction between the two has gotten a little blurred over time, so link now checks if the package is an extension first (after checking that it is indeed a local filesystem path), and if so calls install internally. So:
- If you want to be carefully correct, use
installfor extensions andlinkfor local, non-extension packages. - If you just want to keep it simple, use
linkfor all local packages, andinstallfor all packages from the NPM registry (e.g. when installing by package name).