npm

What is npm?

The npm package 'npm' is the package manager for Node.js. It allows users to install, update, and manage dependencies for Node.js applications. It also provides tools for package discovery, publishing, and managing a local development environment.

What are npm's main functionalities?

Package Installation

Installs the 'express' package and its dependencies into the node_modules directory.

npm install express

Package Update

Updates the 'lodash' package to the latest version according to the versioning in package.json.

npm update lodash

Package Removal

Removes the 'moment' package from the node_modules directory and updates the package.json.

npm uninstall moment

Listing Installed Packages

Lists the top-level packages installed in the node_modules directory.

npm list --depth=0

Running Scripts

Runs the 'test' script specified in the package.json file.

npm run test

Publishing a Package

Publishes the current package to the npm registry, making it available for others to install.

npm publish

Other packages similar to npm

yarn

Yarn is a package manager that provides faster, more reliable, and more secure dependency management compared to npm. It uses a lockfile to ensure that the same package versions are installed across different environments.

pnpm

pnpm is a fast, disk space efficient package manager that works by creating a single copy of a package version and linking it in the node_modules of every project that uses it. This approach saves disk space and improves installation speed compared to npm.

bower

Bower is a package manager primarily for front-end web development. It manages components that contain HTML, CSS, JavaScript, fonts, or even image files. Bower is less commonly used now due to npm and Yarn's ability to handle front-end packages as well.

README

npm(1) -- a JavaScript package manager

SYNOPSIS

This is just enough info to get you up and running.

Much more info will be available via npm help once it's installed.

IMPORTANT

You need node v6 or higher to run this program.

To install an old and unsupported version of npm that works on node v5 and prior, clone the git repo and dig through the old tags and branches.

npm is configured to use npm, Inc.'s public registry at https://registry.npmjs.org by default. Use of the npm public registry is subject to terms of use available at https://www.npmjs.com/policies/terms.

You can configure npm to use any compatible registry you like, and even run your own registry. Check out the doc on registries.

Super Easy Install

npm is bundled with node.

Windows Computers

Get the MSI. npm is in it.

Apple Macintosh Computers

Get the pkg. npm is in it.

Other Sorts of Unices

Run make install. npm will be installed with node.

If you want a more fancy pants install (a different version, customized paths, etc.) then read on.

Fancy Install (Unix)

There's a pretty robust install script at https://www.npmjs.com/install.sh. You can download that and run it.

Here's an example using curl:

curl -L https://www.npmjs.com/install.sh | sh

Slightly Fancier

You can set any npm configuration params with that script:

npm_config_prefix=/some/path sh install.sh

Or, you can run it in uber-debuggery mode:

npm_debug=1 sh install.sh

Even Fancier

Get the code with git. Use make to build the docs and do other stuff. If you plan on hacking on npm, make link is your friend.

If you've got the npm source code, you can also semi-permanently set arbitrary config keys using the ./configure --key=val ..., and then run npm commands by doing node bin/npm-cli.js <command> <args>. (This is helpful for testing, or running stuff without actually installing npm itself.)

Windows Install or Upgrade

Many improvements for Windows users have been made in npm 3 - you will have a better experience if you run a recent version of npm. To upgrade, either use Microsoft's upgrade tool, download a new version of Node, or follow the Windows upgrade instructions in the Installing/upgrading npm post.

If that's not fancy enough for you, then you can fetch the code with git, and mess with it directly.

Installing on Cygwin

No.

Uninstalling

So sad to see you go.

sudo npm uninstall npm -g

Or, if that fails,

sudo make uninstall

More Severe Uninstalling

Usually, the above instructions are sufficient. That will remove npm, but leave behind anything you've installed.

If you would like to remove all the packages that you have installed, then you can use the npm ls command to find them, and then npm rm to remove them.

To remove cruft left behind by npm 0.x, you can use the included clean-old.sh script file. You can run it conveniently like this:

npm explore npm -g -- sh scripts/clean-old.sh

npm uses two configuration files, one for per-user configs, and another for global (every-user) configs. You can view them by doing:

npm config get userconfig   # defaults to ~/.npmrc
npm config get globalconfig # defaults to /usr/local/etc/npmrc

Uninstalling npm does not remove configuration files by default. You must remove them yourself manually if you want them gone. Note that this means that future npm installs will not remember the settings that you have chosen.

More Docs

Check out the docs.

You can use the npm help command to read any of them.

If you're a developer, and you want to use npm to publish your program, you should read this.

BUGS

When you find issues, please report them:

• web: https://npm.community/c/bugs

Be sure to include all of the output from the npm command that didn't work as expected. The npm-debug.log file is also helpful to provide.

SEE ALSO

• npm(1)
• npm-help(1)