# Local folder or tarball paths

> Specify a dependency as a local folder or tarball that contains a package.

You can specify a dependency as any local folder or tarball that contains a package. This feature is helpful for local offline development and testing.

> **Note:**
>
> If you want to reference a package on the local file system as a Git dependency, use the `file://<url>` format instead. Unity doesn't support directly referencing a locally accessible Git repository with a file path. For more information on the `file://<url>` format, refer to [Git dependencies](/engine/6000.6/manual/packages-list/upm-git-dependencies/upm-git.md).

This section describes how to use the project manifest to set up a local dependency. If you want to use the Package Manager window instead, follow the instructions on these pages:

* [Installing a package from a local folder](/engine/6000.6/manual/packages-list/managing-packages-window/upm-ui-actions/upm-ui-local.md)
* [Installing a package from a local tarball file](/engine/6000.6/manual/packages-list/managing-packages-window/upm-ui-actions/upm-ui-tarball.md)

The path reference always begins with the `file:` prefix, and uses forward slashes (`/`) for path separators.

> **Note:**
>
> On Windows, you can also use backslashes (`\`), but only if you escape each one (for example, `"file:..\\github\\my_package_folder"` or `"file:C:\\Users\\my_username\\github\\my_package_folder"`). These paths aren't as easy to read as the forward slashes, they're prone to typing errors, and you can't use them anywhere but on a Windows machine. For these reasons, using forward slashes is preferable.

You can use either absolute paths, or paths that are relative to the project's `Packages` folder (that is, the root folder of the project manifest). In other words, a path preceded with two dots (`..`) refers to the root of the project path, so that `../another_folder` is a sibling of the `Packages` folder.

> **Tip:**
>
> Relative paths with forward-slashes offer better portability across different machines and operating systems when tracking a project and packages in the same repository.

For Windows absolute paths, the drive letter and its colon (usually `C:`) follows the `file:` prefix but is otherwise the same as Linux or macOS paths.

## Example of a relative path

After the `file:` prefix, the path is a standard relative path. In the following example:

* The project's `Packages` folder is `C:\Users\my_username\Projects\my_project\Packages`.
* The `Projects`, `github`, and `Downloads` folders are peer folders.
* `my_package_c` is an embedded package (a package whose folder was copied into the `Packages` folder, to make it mutable).

```lang-json
{
  "dependencies": {
    "my_package_a": "file:../github/my_package_folder",
    "my_package_b": "file:../Downloads/my_package_tarball.tgz",
    "my_package_c": "file:com.unity.textmeshpro"
  }
}
```

## Example of an absolute path in Linux or macOS

After the `file:` prefix, the path is a standard Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) path, starting with a forward slash `/`:

```lang-json
{
  "dependencies": {
    "my_package_a": "file:/Users/my_username/github/my_package_folder",
    "my_package_b": "file:/Users/my_username/Downloads/my_package_tarball.tgz"
  }
}
```

## Example of an absolute path in Windows

Notice that the drive letter immediately follows the `file:` prefix:

```lang-json
{
  "dependencies": {
    "my_package_a": "file:C:/Users/my_username/github/my_package_folder",
    "my_package_b": "file:C:/Users/my_username/Downloads/my_package_tarball.tgz"
  }
}
```