Commented Issue: Azure Worker Role Publish never completes if node_modules isn't included in project [701]

You have to manually include node_modules in your project if you want it to be deployed. It should be included automatically.
Comments: Here's an interesting sample for node.js worker role. It works fine with the ASP.NET client.zip they have for download. http://nodeblog.azurewebsites.net/running-socket-io-on-windows-azure-web-and-worker-roles