Ask HN: How do you manage external dependencies?

Hi HN,

What sort of processes do you have in place around adding external dependencies? How much do they get in the way? Have you had them long enough to see any long-term issues?

We’re trying to figure out how to prevent chaos from different projects using too many random libraries from NuGet / npm / etc. The main concerns raised so far are supportability (“is this going to go away”) and consistency (“why is everyone using different libraries for the same thing”). The problem is, we don’t have any actual data on what works or how much of a problem things will actually be.

I know my own preference is for the lightest thing that will work, but pinning down what exactly _will_ work is hard when all I have are assumptions and gut feelings.