COPY with docker but with exclusion

Create file .dockerignore in your docker build context directory (so in this case, most likely a directory that is a parent to node_modules) with one line in it:

**/node_modules

although you probably just want:

node_modules

Info about dockerignore: https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/builder/#dockerignore-file

For those who can't use a .dockerignore file (e.g. if you need the file in one COPY but not another):

Yes, but you need multiple COPY instructions. Specifically, you need a COPY for each letter in the filename you wish to exclude.

COPY [^n]*    # All files that don't start with 'n'
COPY n[^o]*   # All files that start with 'n', but not 'no'
COPY no[^d]*  # All files that start with 'no', but not 'nod'

Continuing until you have the full file name, or just the prefix you're reasonably sure won't have any other files.