npm - javascript package manager Synopsis Version 8.8.0 Description npm is the package manager for the Node JavaScript platform. It puts modules in place so that node can find them, and manages dependency conflicts intelligently. It is extremely configurable to support a variety of use cases. Most commonly, you use it to publish, discover, install, and develop node programs. Run npm help to get a list of available commands. Important npm comes preconfigured to use npm's public registry at https://reg- istry.npmjs.org by default. Use of the npm public registry is subject to terms of use available at https://docs.npmjs.com/policies/terms. You can configure npm to use any compatible registry you like, and even run your own registry. Use of someone else's registry is governed by their terms of use. Introduction You probably got npm because you want to install stuff. The very first thing you will most likely want to run in any node pro- gram is npm install to install its dependencies. You can also run npm install blerg to install the latest version of "blerg". Check out npm help install for more info. It can do a lot of stuff. Use the npm search command to show everything that's available in the public registry. Use npm ls to show everything you've installed. Dependencies If a package lists a dependency using a git URL, npm will install that dependency using the git https://github.com/git-guides/install-git com- mand and will generate an error if it is not installed. If one of the packages npm tries to install is a native node module and requires compiling of C++ Code, npm will use node-gyp https://github.com/nodejs/node-gyp for that task. For a Unix system, node-gyp https://github.com/nodejs/node-gyp needs Python, make and a buildchain like GCC. On Windows, Python and Microsoft Visual Studio C++ are needed. For more information visit the node-gyp repository https://github.com/nodejs/node-gyp and the node-gyp Wiki https://github.com/nodejs/node-gyp/wiki. Directories See npm help folders to learn about where npm puts stuff. In particular, npm has two modes of operation: o local mode: npm installs packages into the current project directory, which defaults to the current working directory. Packages install to ./node_modules, and bins to ./node_modules/.bin. o global mode: npm installs packages into the install prefix at $npm_config_prefix/lib/node_modules and bins to $npm_config_pre- fix/bin. Local mode is the default. Use -g or --global on any command to run in global mode instead. Developer Usage If you're using npm to develop and publish your code, check out the following help topics: o json: Make a package.json file. See npm help package.json. o link: Links your current working code into Node's path, so that you don't have to reinstall every time you make a change. Use npm help npm link to do this. o install: It's a good idea to install things if you don't need the symbolic link. Especially, installing other peoples code from the registry is done via npm help install o adduser: Create an account or log in. When you do this, npm will store credentials in the user config file config file. o publish: Use the npm help publish command to upload your code to the registry. Configuration npm is extremely configurable. It reads its configuration options from 5 places. o Command line switches: Set a config with --key val. All keys take a value, even if they are booleans (the config parser doesn't know what the options are at the time of parsing). If you do not provide a value (--key) then the option is set to boolean true. o Environment Variables: Set any config by prefixing the name in an environment variable with npm_config_. For example, export npm_con- fig_key=val. o User Configs: The file at $HOME/.npmrc is an ini-formatted list of configs. If present, it is parsed. If the userconfig option is set in the cli or env, that file will be used instead. o Global Configs: The file found at ./etc/npmrc (relative to the global prefix will be parsed if it is found. See npm help prefix for more info on the global prefix. If the globalconfig option is set in the cli, env, or user config, then that file is parsed instead. o Defaults: npm's default configuration options are defined in lib/utils/config-defs.js. These must not be changed. See npm help config for much much more information. Contributions Patches welcome! If you would like to help, but don't know what to work on, read the contributing guidelines https://github.com/npm/cli/blob/latest/CON- TRIBUTING.md and check the issues list. Bugs When you find issues, please report them: https://github.com/npm/cli/issues Please be sure to follow the template and bug reporting guidelines. Feature Requests Discuss new feature ideas on our discussion forum: o https://github.com/npm/feedback Or suggest formal RFC proposals: o https://github.com/npm/rfcs See Also o npm help help o npm help package.json o npm help npmrc o npm help config o npm help install o npm help prefix o npm help publish
Please see following description for synopsis
NPM(1) NPM(1)
NAME
npm - javascript package manager
Synopsis
Version
8.8.0
Description
npm is the package manager for the Node JavaScript platform. It puts
modules in place so that node can find them, and manages dependency
conflicts intelligently.
It is extremely configurable to support a variety of use cases. Most
commonly, you use it to publish, discover, install, and develop node
programs.
Run npm help to get a list of available commands.
Important
npm comes preconfigured to use npm's public registry at https://reg-
istry.npmjs.org by default. Use of the npm public registry is subject
to terms of use available at https://docs.npmjs.com/policies/terms.
You can configure npm to use any compatible registry you like, and even
run your own registry. Use of someone else's registry is governed by
their terms of use.
Introduction
You probably got npm because you want to install stuff.
The very first thing you will most likely want to run in any node pro-
gram is npm install to install its dependencies.
You can also run npm install blerg to install the latest version of
"blerg". Check out npm help install for more info. It can do a lot of
stuff.
Use the npm search command to show everything that's available in the
public registry. Use npm ls to show everything you've installed.
Dependencies
If a package lists a dependency using a git URL, npm will install that
dependency using the git https://github.com/git-guides/install-git com-
mand and will generate an error if it is not installed.
If one of the packages npm tries to install is a native node module and
requires compiling of C++ Code, npm will use node-gyp
https://github.com/nodejs/node-gyp for that task. For a Unix system,
node-gyp https://github.com/nodejs/node-gyp needs Python, make and a
buildchain like GCC. On Windows, Python and Microsoft Visual Studio C++
are needed. For more information visit the node-gyp repository
https://github.com/nodejs/node-gyp and the node-gyp Wiki
https://github.com/nodejs/node-gyp/wiki.
Directories
See npm help folders to learn about where npm puts stuff.
In particular, npm has two modes of operation:
o local mode: npm installs packages into the current project directory,
which defaults to the current working directory. Packages install to
./node_modules, and bins to ./node_modules/.bin.
o global mode: npm installs packages into the install prefix at
$npm_config_prefix/lib/node_modules and bins to $npm_config_pre-
fix/bin.
Local mode is the default. Use -g or --global on any command to run in
global mode instead.
Developer Usage
If you're using npm to develop and publish your code, check out the
following help topics:
o json: Make a package.json file. See npm help package.json.
o link: Links your current working code into Node's path, so that you
don't have to reinstall every time you make a change. Use npm help
npm link to do this.
o install: It's a good idea to install things if you don't need the
symbolic link. Especially, installing other peoples code from the
registry is done via npm help install
o adduser: Create an account or log in. When you do this, npm will
store credentials in the user config file config file.
o publish: Use the npm help publish command to upload your code to the
registry.
Configuration
npm is extremely configurable. It reads its configuration options from
5 places.
o Command line switches: Set a config with --key val. All keys take a
value, even if they are booleans (the config parser doesn't know what
the options are at the time of parsing). If you do not provide a
value (--key) then the option is set to boolean true.
o Environment Variables: Set any config by prefixing the name in an
environment variable with npm_config_. For example, export npm_con-
fig_key=val.
o User Configs: The file at $HOME/.npmrc is an ini-formatted list of
configs. If present, it is parsed. If the userconfig option is set
in the cli or env, that file will be used instead.
o Global Configs: The file found at ./etc/npmrc (relative to the global
prefix will be parsed if it is found. See npm help prefix for more
info on the global prefix. If the globalconfig option is set in the
cli, env, or user config, then that file is parsed instead.
o Defaults: npm's default configuration options are defined in
lib/utils/config-defs.js. These must not be changed.
See npm help config for much much more information.
Contributions
Patches welcome!
If you would like to help, but don't know what to work on, read the
contributing guidelines https://github.com/npm/cli/blob/latest/CON-
TRIBUTING.md and check the issues list.
Bugs
When you find issues, please report them:
https://github.com/npm/cli/issues
Please be sure to follow the template and bug reporting guidelines.
Feature Requests
Discuss new feature ideas on our discussion forum:
o https://github.com/npm/feedback
Or suggest formal RFC proposals:
o https://github.com/npm/rfcs
See Also
o npm help help
o npm help package.json
o npm help npmrc
o npm help config
o npm help install
o npm help prefix
o npm help publish
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+---------------+--------------------------+
|ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+---------------+--------------------------+
|Availability | runtime/nodejs/nodejs-18 |
+---------------+--------------------------+
|Stability | Pass-thru volatile |
+---------------+--------------------------+
NOTES
Source code for open source software components in Oracle Solaris can
be found at https://www.oracle.com/downloads/opensource/solaris-source-
code-downloads.html.
This software was built from source available at
https://github.com/oracle/solaris-userland. The original community
source was downloaded from https://github.com/nodejs/node/ar-
chive/v18.1.0.zip.
Further information about this software can be found on the open source
community website at https://github.com/nodejs/node.
April 2022 NPM(1)