npm-check-updates

What is npm-check-updates?

npm-check-updates is a command-line tool that allows you to find and update outdated npm dependencies in your project. It helps you keep your project dependencies up-to-date by checking for newer versions and updating your package.json file accordingly.

What are npm-check-updates's main functionalities?

Check for outdated dependencies

This command checks for any outdated dependencies in your project and lists them along with the latest versions available.

ncu

Update package.json with latest versions

This command updates your package.json file with the latest versions of all dependencies.

ncu -u

Interactive mode

This command runs npm-check-updates in interactive mode, allowing you to selectively choose which dependencies to update.

ncu -i

Filter dependencies

This command filters the dependencies to check for updates only within a specific scope or matching a specific pattern.

ncu '/^@my-scope/'

Upgrade specific dependencies

This command checks for updates and upgrades only the specified dependency (e.g., lodash).

ncu lodash

Other packages similar to npm-check-updates

npm-check

npm-check is another tool for checking and updating outdated npm dependencies. It provides a more interactive experience compared to npm-check-updates, allowing you to see which dependencies are outdated, unused, or missing, and to update them interactively.

depcheck

depcheck is a tool that helps you find unused dependencies in your project. While it doesn't focus on updating dependencies, it complements npm-check-updates by identifying dependencies that are no longer needed.

README

npm-check-updates

npm-check-updates upgrades your package.json dependencies to the latest versions, ignoring specified versions.

• maintains existing semantic versioning policies, i.e. "react": "^17.0.2" to "react": "^18.3.1".
• only modifies package.json file. Run npm install to update your installed packages and package-lock.json.
• sensible defaults, but highly customizable
• compatible with npm, yarn, pnpm, deno, and bun
• CLI and module usage

$${\color{red}Red}$$ major upgrade (and all major version zero)
$${\color{cyan}Cyan}$$ minor upgrade
$${\color{green}Green}$$ patch upgrade

Installation

Install globally to use npm-check-updates or the shorter ncu:

npm install -g npm-check-updates

Or run with npx (only the long form is supported):

npx npm-check-updates

Usage

Check the latest versions of all project dependencies:

$ ncu
Checking package.json
[====================] 5/5 100%

 eslint             7.32.0  →    8.0.0
 prettier           ^2.7.1  →   ^3.0.0
 svelte            ^3.48.0  →  ^3.51.0
 typescript         >3.0.0  →   >4.0.0
 untildify          <4.0.0  →   ^4.0.0
 webpack               4.x  →      5.x

Run ncu -u to upgrade package.json

Upgrade a project's package file:

Make sure your package file is in version control and all changes have been committed. This will overwrite your package file.

$ ncu -u
Upgrading package.json
[====================] 1/1 100%

 express           4.12.x  →   4.13.x

Run npm install to install new versions.

$ npm install      # update installed packages and package-lock.json

Check global packages:

ncu -g

Interactive Mode

Choose which packages to update in interactive mode:

ncu --interactive
ncu -i

Combine with --format group for a truly luxe experience:

Filter packages

Filter packages using the --filter option or adding additional cli arguments:

# upgrade only mocha
ncu mocha
ncu -f mocha
ncu --filter mocha

# upgrade only chalk, mocha, and react
ncu chalk mocha react
ncu chalk, mocha, react
ncu -f "chalk mocha react"

Filter with wildcards or regex:

# upgrade packages that start with "react-"
ncu react-*
ncu "/^react-.*$/"

Exclude specific packages with the --reject option or prefixing a filter with !. Supports strings, wildcards, globs, comma-or-space-delimited lists, and regex:

# upgrade everything except nodemon
ncu \!nodemon
ncu -x nodemon
ncu --reject nodemon

# upgrade packages that do not start with "react-".
ncu \!react-*
ncu '/^(?!react-).*$/' # mac/linux
ncu "/^(?!react-).*$/" # windows

Advanced filters: filter, filterResults, filterVersion

How dependency updates are determined

• Direct dependencies are updated to the latest stable version:
  • 2.0.1 → 2.2.0
  • 1.2 → 1.3
  • 0.1.0 → 1.0.1
• Range operators are preserved and the version is updated:
  • ^1.2.0 → ^2.0.0
  • 1.x → 2.x
  • >0.2.0 → >0.3.0
• "Less than" is replaced with a wildcard:
  • <2.0.0 → ^3.0.0
  • 1.0.0 < 2.0.0 → ^3.0.0
• "Any version" is preserved:
  • * → *
• Prerelease versions are ignored by default.
  • Use --pre to include prerelease versions (e.g. alpha, beta, build1235)
• Choose what level to upgrade to:
  • With --target semver, update according to your specified semver version ranges:
    • ^1.1.0 → ^1.9.99
  • With --target minor, strictly update the patch and minor versions (including major version zero):
    • 0.1.0 → 0.2.1
  • With --target patch, strictly update the patch version (including major version zero):
    • 0.1.0 → 0.1.2
  • With --target @next, update to the version published on the next tag:
    • 0.1.0 -> 0.1.1-next.1

Options

Options are merged with the following precedence:

1. Command line options
2. Local Config File
3. Project Config File
4. User Config File

Options that take no arguments can be negated by prefixing them with --no-, e.g. --no-peer.

--cache	Cache versions to a local cache file. Default --cacheFile is ~/.ncu-cache.json and default --cacheExpiration is 10 minutes.
--cacheClear	Clear the default cache, or the cache file specified by --cacheFile.
--cacheExpiration <min>	Cache expiration in minutes. Only works with --cache. (default: 10)
--cacheFile <path>	Filepath for the cache file. Only works with --cache. (default: "~/.ncu-cache.json")
--color	Force color in terminal.
--concurrency <n>	Max number of concurrent HTTP requests to registry. (default: 8)
--configFileName <s>	Config file name. (default: .ncurc.{json,yml,js,cjs})
--configFilePath <path>	Directory of .ncurc config file. (default: directory of packageFile)
--cwd <path>	Working directory in which npm will be executed.
--deep	Run recursively in current working directory. Alias of (--packageFile '**/package.json').
--dep <value>	Check one or more sections of dependencies only: dev, optional, peer, prod, or packageManager (comma-delimited). (default: ["prod","dev","optional","packageManager"])
--deprecated	Include deprecated packages. Use --no-deprecated to exclude deprecated packages (uses more bandwidth). (default: true)
-d, --doctor	Iteratively installs upgrades and runs tests to identify breaking upgrades. Requires -u to execute.
--doctorInstall <command>	Specifies the install script to use in doctor mode. (default: npm install or the equivalent for your package manager)
--doctorTest <command>	Specifies the test script to use in doctor mode. (default: npm test)
--enginesNode	Include only packages that satisfy engines.node as specified in the package file.
-e, --errorLevel <n>	Set the error level. 1: exits with error code 0 if no errors occur. 2: exits with error code 0 if no packages need updating (useful for continuous integration). (default: 1)
-f, --filter <p>	Include only package names matching the given string, wildcard, glob, comma-or-space-delimited list, /regex/, or predicate function.
filterResults <fn>	Filters out upgrades based on a user provided function.
--filterVersion <p>	Filter on package version using comma-or-space-delimited list, /regex/, or predicate function.
--format <value>	Modify the output formatting or show additional information. Specify one or more comma-delimited values: group, ownerChanged, repo, time, lines, installedVersion. (default: [])
-g, --global	Check global packages instead of in the current project.
groupFunction <fn>	Customize how packages are divided into groups when using --format group.
--install <value>	Control the auto-install behavior: always, never, prompt. (default: "prompt")
-i, --interactive	Enable interactive prompts for each dependency; implies -u unless one of the json options are set.
-j, --jsonAll	Output new package file instead of human-readable message.
--jsonDeps	Like jsonAll but only lists dependencies, devDependencies, optionalDependencies, etc of the new package data.
--jsonUpgraded	Output upgraded dependencies in json.
-l, --loglevel <n>	Amount to log: silent, error, minimal, warn, info, verbose, silly. (default: "warn")
--mergeConfig	Merges nested configs with the root config file for --deep or --packageFile options. (default: false)
-m, --minimal	Do not upgrade newer versions that are already satisfied by the version range according to semver.
--packageData <value>	Package file data (you can also use stdin).
--packageFile <path|glob>	Package file(s) location. (default: ./package.json)
-p, --packageManager <s>	npm, yarn, pnpm, deno, bun, staticRegistry (default: npm).
--peer	Check peer dependencies of installed packages and filter updates to compatible versions.
--pre <n>	Include prerelease versions, e.g. -alpha.0, -beta.5, -rc.2. Automatically set to 1 when --target is newest or greatest, or when the current version is a prerelease. (default: 0)
--prefix <path>	Current working directory of npm.
-r, --registry <uri>	Specify the registry to use when looking up package versions.
--registryType <type>	Specify whether --registry refers to a full npm registry or a simple JSON file or url: npm, json. (default: npm)
-x, --reject <p>	Exclude packages matching the given string, wildcard, glob, comma-or-space-delimited list, /regex/, or predicate function.
--rejectVersion <p>	Exclude package.json versions using comma-or-space-delimited list, /regex/, or predicate function.
--removeRange	Remove version ranges from the final package version.
--retry <n>	Number of times to retry failed requests for package info. (default: 3)
--root	Runs updates on the root project in addition to specified workspaces. Only allowed with --workspace or --workspaces. (default: true)
-s, --silent	Don't output anything. Alias for --loglevel silent.
--stdin	Read package.json from stdin.
-t, --target <value>	Determines the version to upgrade to: latest, newest, greatest, minor, patch, semver, @[tag], or [function]. (default: latest)
--timeout <ms>	Global timeout in milliseconds. (default: no global timeout and 30 seconds per npm-registry-fetch)
-u, --upgrade	Overwrite package file with upgraded versions instead of just outputting to console.
--verbose	Log additional information for debugging. Alias for --loglevel verbose.
-w, --workspace <s>	Run on one or more specified workspaces. Add --root to also upgrade the root project. (default: [])
-ws, --workspaces	Run on all workspaces. Add --root to also upgrade the root project.

Advanced Options

Some options have advanced usage, or allow per-package values by specifying a function in your .ncurc.js file.

Run ncu --help [OPTION] to view advanced help for a specific option, or see below:

doctor

Usage:

ncu --doctor -u
ncu --no-doctor
ncu -du

Iteratively installs upgrades and runs your project's tests to identify breaking upgrades. Reverts broken upgrades and updates package.json with working upgrades.

Requires -u to execute (modifies your package file, lock file, and node_modules)

To be more precise:

1. Runs npm install and npm test to ensure tests are currently passing.
2. Runs ncu -u to optimistically upgrade all dependencies.
3. If tests pass, hurray!
4. If tests fail, restores package file and lock file.
5. For each dependency, install upgrade and run tests.
6. Prints broken upgrades with test error.
7. Saves working upgrades to package.json.

Additional options:

--doctorInstall	specify a custom install script (default: `npm install` or `yarn`)
--doctorTest	specify a custom test script (default: `npm test`)

Example:

$ ncu --doctor -u
Running tests before upgrading
npm install
npm run test
Upgrading all dependencies and re-running tests
ncu -u
npm install
npm run test
Tests failed
Identifying broken dependencies
npm install
npm install --no-save react@16.0.0
npm run test
  ✓ react 15.0.0 → 16.0.0
npm install --no-save react-redux@7.0.0
npm run test
  ✗ react-redux 6.0.0 → 7.0.0

/projects/myproject/test.js:13
  throw new Error('Test failed!')
  ^

npm install --no-save react-dnd@11.1.3
npm run test
  ✓ react-dnd 10.0.0 → 11.1.3
Saving partially upgraded package.json

filter

Usage:

ncu --filter [p]
ncu -f [p]

Include only package names matching the given string, wildcard, glob, comma-or-space-delimited list, /regex/, or predicate function. Only included packages will be checked with --peer.

--filter runs before new versions are fetched, in contrast to --filterResults which runs after.

The predicate function is only available in .ncurc.js or when importing npm-check-updates as a module, not on the command line.

/**
  @param name     The name of the dependency.
  @param semver   A parsed Semver array of the current version.
    (See: https://git.coolaj86.com/coolaj86/semver-utils.js#semverutils-parse-semverstring)
  @returns        True if the package should be included, false if it should be excluded.
*/
filterFunction: (name, semver) => {
  if (name.startsWith('@myorg/')) {
    return false
  }
  return true
}

filterResults

Filters out upgrades based on a user provided function.

filterResults runs after new versions are fetched, in contrast to filter, reject, filterVersion, and rejectVersion, which run before. This allows you to filter out upgrades with filterResults based on how the version has changed (e.g. a major version change).

Only available in .ncurc.js or when importing npm-check-updates as a module.

/** Filter out non-major version updates. Note this could also be achieved with --target semver.
  @param {string} packageName               The name of the dependency.
  @param {string} current                   Current version declaration (may be a range).
  @param {SemVer[]} currentVersionSemver    Current version declaration in semantic versioning format (may be a range).
  @param {string} upgraded                  Upgraded version.
  @param {SemVer} upgradedVersionSemver     Upgraded version in semantic versioning format.
  @returns {boolean}                        Return true if the upgrade should be kept, otherwise it will be ignored.
*/
filterResults: (packageName, { current, currentVersionSemver, upgraded, upgradedVersionSemver }) => {
  const currentMajor = parseInt(currentVersionSemver[0]?.major, 10)
  const upgradedMajor = parseInt(upgradedVersionSemver?.major, 10)
  if (currentMajor && upgradedMajor) {
    return currentMajor < upgradedMajor
  }
  return true
}

For the SemVer type definition, see: https://git.coolaj86.com/coolaj86/semver-utils.js#semverutils-parse-semverstring

filterVersion

Usage:

ncu --filterVersion [p]

Include only versions matching the given string, wildcard, glob, comma-or-space-delimited list, /regex/, or predicate function.

--filterVersion runs before new versions are fetched, in contrast to --filterResults which runs after.

The predicate function is only available in .ncurc.js or when importing npm-check-updates as a module, not on the command line. This function is an alias for the filter option function.

/**
  @param name     The name of the dependency.
  @param semver   A parsed Semver array of the current version.
    (See: https://git.coolaj86.com/coolaj86/semver-utils.js#semverutils-parse-semverstring)
  @returns        True if the package should be included, false if it should be excluded.
*/
filterVersionFunction: (name, semver) => {
  if (name.startsWith('@myorg/') && parseInt(semver[0]?.major) > 5) {
    return false
  }
  return true
}

format

Usage:

ncu --format [value]

Modify the output formatting or show additional information. Specify one or more comma-delimited values.

group	Groups packages by major, minor, patch, and major version zero updates.
ownerChanged	Shows if the package owner has changed.
repo	Infers and displays links to the package's source code repository. Requires packages to be installed.
time	Shows the publish time of each upgrade.
lines	Prints name@version on separate lines. Useful for piping to npm install.
installedVersion	Prints the exact current version number instead of a range.

groupFunction

Customize how packages are divided into groups when using --format group.

Only available in .ncurc.js or when importing npm-check-updates as a module, not on the command line.

/**
  @param name             The name of the dependency.
  @param defaultGroup     The predefined group name which will be used by default.
  @param currentSpec      The current version range in your package.json.
  @param upgradedSpec     The upgraded version range that will be written to your package.json.
  @param upgradedVersion  The upgraded version number returned by the registry.
  @returns                A predefined group name ('major' | 'minor' | 'patch' | 'majorVersionZero' | 'none') or a custom string to create your own group.
*/
groupFunction: (name, defaultGroup, currentSpec, upgradedSpec, upgradedVersion) => {
  if (name === 'typescript' && defaultGroup === 'minor') {
    return 'major'
  }
  if (name.startsWith('@myorg/')) {
    return 'My Org'
  }
  return defaultGroup
}

install

Usage:

ncu --install [value]

Default: prompt

Control the auto-install behavior.

always	Runs your package manager's install command automatically after upgrading.
never	Does not install and does not prompt.
prompt	Shows a message after upgrading that recommends an install, but does not install. In interactive mode, prompts for install. (default)

packageManager

Usage:

ncu --packageManager [s]
ncu -p [s]

Specifies the package manager to use when looking up versions.

npm	System-installed npm. Default.
yarn	System-installed yarn. Automatically used if yarn.lock is present.
pnpm	System-installed pnpm. Automatically used if pnpm-lock.yaml is present.
bun	System-installed bun. Automatically used if bun.lockb is present.

peer

Usage:

ncu --peer
ncu --no-peer

Check peer dependencies of installed packages and filter updates to compatible versions.

Example:

The following example demonstrates how --peer works, and how it uses peer dependencies from upgraded modules.

The package ncu-test-peer-update has two versions published:

• 1.0.0 has peer dependency "ncu-test-return-version": "1.0.x"
• 1.1.0 has peer dependency "ncu-test-return-version": "1.1.x"

Our test app has the following dependencies:

"ncu-test-peer-update": "1.0.0",
"ncu-test-return-version": "1.0.0"

The latest versions of these packages are:

"ncu-test-peer-update": "1.1.0",
"ncu-test-return-version": "2.0.0"

With --peer:

ncu upgrades packages to the highest version that still adheres to the peer dependency constraints:

ncu-test-peer-update     1.0.0  →  1.1.0
ncu-test-return-version  1.0.0  →  1.1.0

Without --peer:

As a comparison: without using the --peer option, ncu will suggest the latest versions, ignoring peer dependencies:

ncu-test-peer-update     1.0.0  →  1.1.0
ncu-test-return-version  1.0.0  →  2.0.0

registryType

Usage:

ncu --registryType [type]

Specify whether --registry refers to a full npm registry or a simple JSON file.

npm

Default npm registry

json

Checks versions from a file or url to a simple JSON registry. Must include the `--registry` option. Example: // local file $ ncu --registryType json --registry ./registry.json // url $ ncu --registryType json --registry https://api.mydomain/registry.json // you can omit --registryType when the registry ends in .json $ ncu --registry ./registry.json $ ncu --registry https://api.mydomain/registry.json registry.json: { "prettier": "2.7.1", "typescript": "4.7.4" }

reject

Usage:

ncu --reject [p]
ncu -x [p]

The inverse of --filter. Exclude package names matching the given string, wildcard, glob, comma-or-space-delimited list, /regex/, or predicate function. This will also exclude them from the --peer check.

--reject runs before new versions are fetched, in contrast to --filterResults which runs after.

The predicate function is only available in .ncurc.js or when importing npm-check-updates as a module, not on the command line.

/**
  @param name     The name of the dependency.
  @param semver   A parsed Semver array of the current version.
    (See: https://git.coolaj86.com/coolaj86/semver-utils.js#semverutils-parse-semverstring)
  @returns        True if the package should be excluded, false if it should be included.
*/
rejectFunction: (name, semver) => {
  if (name.startsWith('@myorg/')) {
    return true
  }
  return false
}

rejectVersion

Usage:

ncu --rejectVersion [p]

The inverse of --filterVersion. Exclude versions matching the given string, wildcard, glob, comma-or-space-delimited list, /regex/, or predicate function.

--rejectVersion runs before new versions are fetched, in contrast to --filterResults which runs after.

The predicate function is only available in .ncurc.js or when importing npm-check-updates as a module, not on the command line. This function is an alias for the reject option function.

/**
  @param name     The name of the dependency.
  @param semver   A parsed Semver array of the current version.
    (See: https://git.coolaj86.com/coolaj86/semver-utils.js#semverutils-parse-semverstring)
  @returns        True if the package should be excluded, false if it should be included.
*/
rejectVersionFunction: (name, semver) => {
  if (name.startsWith('@myorg/') && parseInt(semver[0]?.major) > 5) {
    return true
  }
  return false
}

target

Usage:

ncu --target [value]
ncu -t [value]

Determines the version to upgrade to. (default: "latest")

greatest	Upgrade to the highest version number published, regardless of release date or tag. Includes prereleases.
latest	Upgrade to whatever the package's "latest" git tag points to. Excludes prereleases unless --pre is specified.
minor	Upgrade to the highest minor version without bumping the major version.
newest	Upgrade to the version with the most recent publish date, even if there are other version numbers that are higher. Includes prereleases.
patch	Upgrade to the highest patch version without bumping the minor or major versions.
semver	Upgrade to the highest version within the semver range specified in your package.json.
@[tag]	Upgrade to the version published to a specific tag, e.g. 'next' or 'beta'.

You can also specify a custom function in your .ncurc.js file, or when importing npm-check-updates as a module:

/** Upgrade major version zero to the next minor version, and everything else to latest.
  @param name     The name of the dependency.
  @param semver   A parsed Semver object of the upgraded version.
    (See: https://git.coolaj86.com/coolaj86/semver-utils.js#semverutils-parse-semverstring)
  @returns        One of the valid target values (specified in the table above).
*/
target: (name, semver) => {
  if (parseInt(semver[0]?.major) === '0') return 'minor'
  return 'latest'
}

Config File

Use a .ncurc.{json,yml,js,cjs} file to specify configuration information. You can specify the file name and path using --configFileName and --configFilePath command line options.

For example, .ncurc.json:

{
  "upgrade": true,
  "filter": "svelte",
  "reject": ["@types/estree", "ts-node"]
}

If you write .ncurc config files using json or yaml, you can add the JSON Schema to your IDE settings for completions.

e.g. for VS Code:

  "json.schemas": [
    {
      "fileMatch": [
        ".ncurc",
        ".ncurc.json",
      ],
      "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/raineorshine/npm-check-updates/main/src/types/RunOptions.json"
    }
  ],
  "yaml.schemas": {
    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/raineorshine/npm-check-updates/main/src/types/RunOptions.json": [
        ".ncurc.yml",
    ]
  },

Module/Programmatic Usage

npm-check-updates can be imported as a module:

import ncu from 'npm-check-updates'

const upgraded = await ncu.run({
  // Pass any cli option
  packageFile: '../package.json',
  upgrade: true,
  // Defaults:
  // jsonUpgraded: true,
  // silent: true,
})

console.log(upgraded) // { "mypackage": "^2.0.0", ... }

Contributing

Contributions are happily accepted. I respond to all PR's and can offer guidance on where to make changes. For contributing tips see CONTRIBUTING.md.

Problems?

File an issue. Please search existing issues first.