npm-init - Create a package.json file Synopsis npm init [--force|-f|--yes|-y|--scope] npm init <@scope> (same as `npx <@scope>/create`) npm init [<@scope>/]<name> (same as `npx [<@scope>/]create-<name>`) aliases: create, innit Description npm init <initializer> can be used to set up a new or existing npm package. initializer in this case is an npm package named create-<initializer>, which will be installed by npm help npm-exec, and then have its main bin executed -- presumably creating or updating package.json and run- ning any other initialization-related operations. The init command is transformed to a corresponding npm exec operation as follows: o npm init foo -> npm exec create-foo o npm init @usr/foo -> npm exec @usr/create-foo o npm init @usr -> npm exec @usr/create If the initializer is omitted (by just calling npm init), init will fall back to legacy init behavior. It will ask you a bunch of ques- tions, and then write a package.json for you. It will attempt to make reasonable guesses based on existing fields, dependencies, and options selected. It is strictly additive, so it will keep any fields and val- ues that were already set. You can also use -y/--yes to skip the ques- tionnaire altogether. If you pass --scope, it will create a scoped package. Note: if a user already has the create-<initializer> package globally installed, that will be what npm init uses. If you want npm to use the latest version, or another specific version you must specify it: o npm init foo@latest # fetches and runs the latest create-foo from the registry o npm init foo@1.2.3 # runs create-foo@1.2.3 specifically Forwarding additional options Any additional options will be passed directly to the command, so npm init foo -- --hello will map to npm exec -- create-foo --hello. To better illustrate how options are forwarded, here's a more evolved example showing options passed to both the npm cli and a create pack- age, both following commands are equivalent: o npm init foo -y --registry=<url> -- --hello -a o npm exec -y --registry=<url> -- create-foo --hello -a Examples Create a new React-based project using create-react-app https://npm.im/create-react-app: $ npm init react-app ./my-react-app Create a new esm-compatible package using create-esm https://npm.im/create-esm: $ mkdir my-esm-lib && cd my-esm-lib $ npm init esm --yes Generate a plain old package.json using legacy init: $ mkdir my-npm-pkg && cd my-npm-pkg $ git init $ npm init Generate it without having it ask any questions: $ npm init -y Workspaces support It's possible to create a new workspace within your project by using the workspace config option. When using npm init -w <dir> the cli will create the folders and boilerplate expected while also adding a refer- ence to your project package.json "workspaces": [] property in order to make sure that new generated workspace is properly set up as such. Given a project with no workspaces, e.g: . +-- package.json You may generate a new workspace using the legacy init: $ npm init -w packages/a That will generate a new folder and package.json file, while also updating your top-level package.json to add the reference to this new workspace: . +-- package.json `-- packages `-- a `-- package.json The workspaces init also supports the npm init <initializer> -w <dir> syntax, following the same set of rules explained earlier in the ini- tial Description section of this page. Similar to the previous example of creating a new React-based project using create-react-app https://npm.im/create-react-app, the following syntax will make sure to create the new react app as a nested workspace within your project and configure your package.json to recognize it as such: npm init -w packages/my-react-app react-app . This will make sure to generate your react app as expected, one impor- tant consideration to have in mind is that npm exec is going to be run in the context of the newly created folder for that workspace, and that's the reason why in this example the initializer uses the initial- izer name followed with a dot to represent the current directory in that context, e.g: react-app .: . +-- package.json `-- packages +-- a | `-- package.json `-- my-react-app +-- README +-- package.json `-- ... Configuration yes o Default: null o Type: null or Boolean Automatically answer "yes" to any prompts that npm might print on the command line. force o Default: false o Type: Boolean Removes various protections against unfortunate side effects, common mistakes, unnecessary performance degradation, and malicious input. o Allow clobbering non-npm files in global installs. o Allow the npm version command to work on an unclean git repository. o Allow deleting the cache folder with npm cache clean. o Allow installing packages that have an engines declaration requiring a different version of npm. o Allow installing packages that have an engines declaration requiring a different version of node, even if --engine-strict is enabled. o Allow npm audit fix to install modules outside your stated dependency range (including SemVer-major changes). o Allow unpublishing all versions of a published package. o Allow conflicting peerDependencies to be installed in the root project. o Implicitly set --yes during npm init. o Allow clobbering existing values in npm pkg o Allow unpublishing of entire packages (not just a single version). If you don't have a clear idea of what you want to do, it is strongly recommended that you do not use this option! workspace o Default: o Type: String (can be set multiple times) Enable running a command in the context of the configured workspaces of the current project while filtering by running only the workspaces defined by this configuration option. Valid values for the workspace config are either: o Workspace names o Path to a workspace directory o Path to a parent workspace directory (will result in selecting all workspaces within that folder) When set for the npm init command, this may be set to the folder of a workspace which does not yet exist, to create the folder and set it up as a brand new workspace within the project. This value is not exported to the environment for child processes. workspaces o Default: null o Type: null or Boolean Set to true to run the command in the context of all configured workspaces. Explicitly setting this to false will cause commands like install to ignore workspaces altogether. When not set explicitly: o Commands that operate on the node_modules tree (install, update, etc.) will link workspaces into the node_modules folder. - Commands that do other things (test, exec, publish, etc.) will operate on the root project, unless one or more workspaces are specified in the workspace config. This value is not exported to the environment for child processes. include-workspace-root o Default: false o Type: Boolean Include the workspace root when workspaces are enabled for a command. When false, specifying individual workspaces via the workspace config, or all workspaces via the workspaces flag, will cause npm to operate only on the specified workspaces, and not on the root project. This value is not exported to the environment for child processes. See Also o init-package-json module http://npm.im/init-package-json o npm help package.json o npm help version o npm help scope o npm help exec o npm help workspaces
Please see following description for synopsis
NPM-INIT(1) NPM-INIT(1)
NAME
npm-init - Create a package.json file
Synopsis
npm init [--force|-f|--yes|-y|--scope]
npm init <@scope> (same as `npx <@scope>/create`)
npm init [<@scope>/]<name> (same as `npx [<@scope>/]create-<name>`)
aliases: create, innit
Description
npm init <initializer> can be used to set up a new or existing npm
package.
initializer in this case is an npm package named create-<initializer>,
which will be installed by npm help npm-exec, and then have its main
bin executed -- presumably creating or updating package.json and run-
ning any other initialization-related operations.
The init command is transformed to a corresponding npm exec operation
as follows:
o npm init foo -> npm exec create-foo
o npm init @usr/foo -> npm exec @usr/create-foo
o npm init @usr -> npm exec @usr/create
If the initializer is omitted (by just calling npm init), init will
fall back to legacy init behavior. It will ask you a bunch of ques-
tions, and then write a package.json for you. It will attempt to make
reasonable guesses based on existing fields, dependencies, and options
selected. It is strictly additive, so it will keep any fields and val-
ues that were already set. You can also use -y/--yes to skip the ques-
tionnaire altogether. If you pass --scope, it will create a scoped
package.
Note: if a user already has the create-<initializer> package globally
installed, that will be what npm init uses. If you want npm to use the
latest version, or another specific version you must specify it:
o npm init foo@latest # fetches and runs the latest create-foo from
the registry
o npm init foo@1.2.3 # runs create-foo@1.2.3 specifically
Forwarding additional options
Any additional options will be passed directly to the command, so npm
init foo -- --hello will map to npm exec -- create-foo --hello.
To better illustrate how options are forwarded, here's a more evolved
example showing options passed to both the npm cli and a create pack-
age, both following commands are equivalent:
o npm init foo -y --registry=<url> -- --hello -a
o npm exec -y --registry=<url> -- create-foo --hello -a
Examples
Create a new React-based project using create-react-app
https://npm.im/create-react-app:
$ npm init react-app ./my-react-app
Create a new esm-compatible package using create-esm
https://npm.im/create-esm:
$ mkdir my-esm-lib && cd my-esm-lib
$ npm init esm --yes
Generate a plain old package.json using legacy init:
$ mkdir my-npm-pkg && cd my-npm-pkg
$ git init
$ npm init
Generate it without having it ask any questions:
$ npm init -y
Workspaces support
It's possible to create a new workspace within your project by using
the workspace config option. When using npm init -w <dir> the cli will
create the folders and boilerplate expected while also adding a refer-
ence to your project package.json "workspaces": [] property in order to
make sure that new generated workspace is properly set up as such.
Given a project with no workspaces, e.g:
.
+-- package.json
You may generate a new workspace using the legacy init:
$ npm init -w packages/a
That will generate a new folder and package.json file, while also
updating your top-level package.json to add the reference to this new
workspace:
.
+-- package.json
`-- packages
`-- a
`-- package.json
The workspaces init also supports the npm init <initializer> -w <dir>
syntax, following the same set of rules explained earlier in the ini-
tial Description section of this page. Similar to the previous example
of creating a new React-based project using create-react-app
https://npm.im/create-react-app, the following syntax will make sure to
create the new react app as a nested workspace within your project and
configure your package.json to recognize it as such:
npm init -w packages/my-react-app react-app .
This will make sure to generate your react app as expected, one impor-
tant consideration to have in mind is that npm exec is going to be run
in the context of the newly created folder for that workspace, and
that's the reason why in this example the initializer uses the initial-
izer name followed with a dot to represent the current directory in
that context, e.g: react-app .:
.
+-- package.json
`-- packages
+-- a
| `-- package.json
`-- my-react-app
+-- README
+-- package.json
`-- ...
Configuration
yes
o Default: null
o Type: null or Boolean
Automatically answer "yes" to any prompts that npm might print on the
command line.
force
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
Removes various protections against unfortunate side effects, common
mistakes, unnecessary performance degradation, and malicious input.
o Allow clobbering non-npm files in global installs.
o Allow the npm version command to work on an unclean git repository.
o Allow deleting the cache folder with npm cache clean.
o Allow installing packages that have an engines declaration requiring
a different version of npm.
o Allow installing packages that have an engines declaration requiring
a different version of node, even if --engine-strict is enabled.
o Allow npm audit fix to install modules outside your stated dependency
range (including SemVer-major changes).
o Allow unpublishing all versions of a published package.
o Allow conflicting peerDependencies to be installed in the root
project.
o Implicitly set --yes during npm init.
o Allow clobbering existing values in npm pkg
o Allow unpublishing of entire packages (not just a single version).
If you don't have a clear idea of what you want to do, it is strongly
recommended that you do not use this option!
workspace
o Default:
o Type: String (can be set multiple times)
Enable running a command in the context of the configured workspaces of
the current project while filtering by running only the workspaces
defined by this configuration option.
Valid values for the workspace config are either:
o Workspace names
o Path to a workspace directory
o Path to a parent workspace directory (will result in selecting all
workspaces within that folder)
When set for the npm init command, this may be set to the folder of a
workspace which does not yet exist, to create the folder and set it up
as a brand new workspace within the project.
This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
workspaces
o Default: null
o Type: null or Boolean
Set to true to run the command in the context of all configured
workspaces.
Explicitly setting this to false will cause commands like install to
ignore workspaces altogether. When not set explicitly:
o Commands that operate on the node_modules tree (install, update,
etc.) will link workspaces into the node_modules folder. - Commands
that do other things (test, exec, publish, etc.) will operate on the
root project, unless one or more workspaces are specified in the
workspace config.
This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
include-workspace-root
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
Include the workspace root when workspaces are enabled for a command.
When false, specifying individual workspaces via the workspace config,
or all workspaces via the workspaces flag, will cause npm to operate
only on the specified workspaces, and not on the root project.
This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
See Also
o init-package-json module http://npm.im/init-package-json
o npm help package.json
o npm help version
o npm help scope
o npm help exec
o npm help workspaces
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-INIT(1)