npm install (with no args, in package dir)
npm install [<@scope>/]<name>
npm install [<@scope>/]<name>@<tag>
npm install [<@scope>/]<name>@<version>
npm install [<@scope>/]<name>@<version range>
npm install <alias>@npm:<name>
npm install <git-host>:<git-user>/<repo-name>
npm install <git repo url>
npm install <tarball file>
npm install <tarball url>
npm install <folder>
aliases: npm i, npm add
common options: [-P|--save-prod|-D|--save-dev|-O|--save-optional] [-E|--save-exact] [-B|--save-bundle] [--no-save] [--dry-run]
This command installs a package and any packages that it depends on. If the package has a package-lock, or an npm shrinkwrap file, or a yarn lock file, the installation of dependencies will be driven by that, respecting the following order of precedence:
npm-shrinkwrap.json
package-lock.json
yarn.lock
See package-lock.json and npm shrinkwrap
.
A package
is:
package.json
file<name>@<version>
that is published on the registry (see registry
) with (c)<name>@<tag>
(see npm dist-tag
) that points to (d)<name>
that has a "latest" tag satisfying (e)<git remote url>
that resolves to (a)Even if you never publish your package, you can still get a lot of benefits of using npm if you just want to write a node program (a), and perhaps if you also want to be able to easily install it elsewhere after packing it up into a tarball (b).
npm install
(in a package directory, no arguments):
Install the dependencies in the local node_modules
folder.
In global mode (ie, with -g
or --global
appended to the command),
it installs the current package context (ie, the current working
directory) as a global package.
By default, npm install
will install all modules listed as dependencies
in package.json
.
With the --production
flag (or when the NODE_ENV
environment variable
is set to production
), npm will not install modules listed in
devDependencies
. To install all modules listed in both dependencies
and devDependencies
when NODE_ENV
environment variable is set to production
,
you can use --production=false
.
NOTE: The
--production
flag has no particular meaning when adding a dependency to a project.
npm install <folder>
:
Install the package in the directory as a symlink in the current project.
Its dependencies will be installed before it's linked. If <folder>
sits
inside the root of your project, its dependencies may be hoisted to the
top-level node_modules
as they would for other types of dependencies.
npm install <tarball file>
:
Install a package that is sitting on the filesystem. Note: if you just want
to link a dev directory into your npm root, you can do this more easily by
using npm link
.
Tarball requirements:
.tar
, .tar.gz
, or .tgz
as
the extension.package/
). npm strips one directory layer when installing the package (an equivalent of tar x --strip-components=1
is run).package.json
file with name
and version
properties.Example:
npm install ./package.tgz
npm install <tarball url>
:
Fetch the tarball url, and then install it. In order to distinguish between this and other options, the argument must start with "http://" or "https://"
Example:
npm install https://github.com/indexzero/forever/tarball/v0.5.6
npm install [<@scope>/]<name>
:
Do a <name>@<tag>
install, where <tag>
is the "tag" config. (See
config
. The config's default value is latest
.)
In most cases, this will install the version of the modules tagged as
latest
on the npm registry.
Example:
npm install sax
npm install
saves any specified packages into dependencies
by default.
Additionally, you can control where and how they get saved with some
additional flags:
-P, --save-prod
: Package will appear in your dependencies
. This is the
default unless -D
or -O
are present.-D, --save-dev
: Package will appear in your devDependencies
.-O, --save-optional
: Package will appear in your optionalDependencies
.--no-save
: Prevents saving to dependencies
.When using any of the above options to save dependencies to your package.json, there are two additional, optional flags:
-E, --save-exact
: Saved dependencies will be configured with an
exact version rather than using npm's default semver range
operator.-B, --save-bundle
: Saved dependencies will also be added to your bundleDependencies
list.Further, if you have an npm-shrinkwrap.json
or package-lock.json
then it
will be updated as well.
<scope>
is optional. The package will be downloaded from the registry
associated with the specified scope. If no registry is associated with
the given scope the default registry is assumed. See scope
.
Note: if you do not include the @-symbol on your scope name, npm will interpret this as a GitHub repository instead, see below. Scopes names must also be followed by a slash.
Examples:
npm install sax
npm install githubname/reponame
npm install @myorg/privatepackage
npm install node-tap --save-dev
npm install dtrace-provider --save-optional
npm install readable-stream --save-exact
npm install ansi-regex --save-bundle
Note: If there is a file or folder named <name>
in the current
working directory, then it will try to install that, and only try to
fetch the package by name if it is not valid.
npm install <alias>@npm:<name>
:
Install a package under a custom alias. Allows multiple versions of
a same-name package side-by-side, more convenient import names for
packages with otherwise long ones, and using git forks replacements
or forked npm packages as replacements. Aliasing works only on your
project and does not rename packages in transitive dependencies.
Aliases should follow the naming conventions stated in
validate-npm-package-name
.
Examples:
npm install my-react@npm:react
npm install jquery2@npm:jquery@2
npm install jquery3@npm:jquery@3
npm install npa@npm:npm-package-arg
npm install [<@scope>/]<name>@<tag>
:
Install the version of the package that is referenced by the specified tag. If the tag does not exist in the registry data for that package, then this will fail.
Example:
npm install sax@latest
npm install @myorg/mypackage@latest
npm install [<@scope>/]<name>@<version>
:
Install the specified version of the package. This will fail if the version has not been published to the registry.
Example:
npm install sax@0.1.1
npm install @myorg/privatepackage@1.5.0
npm install [<@scope>/]<name>@<version range>
:
Install a version of the package matching the specified version range. This
will follow the same rules for resolving dependencies described in package.json
.
Note that most version ranges must be put in quotes so that your shell will treat it as a single argument.
Example:
npm install sax@">=0.1.0 <0.2.0"
npm install @myorg/privatepackage@"16 - 17"
npm install <git remote url>
:
Installs the package from the hosted git provider, cloning it with git
.
For a full git remote url, only that URL will be attempted.
<protocol>://[<user>[:<password>]@]<hostname>[:<port>][:][/]<path>[#<commit-ish> | #semver:<semver>]
<protocol>
is one of git
, git+ssh
, git+http
, git+https
, or
git+file
.
If #<commit-ish>
is provided, it will be used to clone exactly that
commit. If the commit-ish has the format #semver:<semver>
, <semver>
can
be any valid semver range or exact version, and npm will look for any tags
or refs matching that range in the remote repository, much as it would for a
registry dependency. If neither #<commit-ish>
or #semver:<semver>
is
specified, then the default branch of the repository is used.
If the repository makes use of submodules, those submodules will be cloned as well.
If the package being installed contains a prepare
script, its
dependencies
and devDependencies
will be installed, and the prepare
script will be run, before the package is packaged and installed.
The following git environment variables are recognized by npm and will be added to the environment when running git:
GIT_ASKPASS
GIT_EXEC_PATH
GIT_PROXY_COMMAND
GIT_SSH
GIT_SSH_COMMAND
GIT_SSL_CAINFO
GIT_SSL_NO_VERIFY
See the git man page for details.
Examples:
npm install git+ssh://git@github.com:npm/cli.git#v1.0.27
npm install git+ssh://git@github.com:npm/cli#pull/273
npm install git+ssh://git@github.com:npm/cli#semver:^5.0
npm install git+https://isaacs@github.com/npm/cli.git
npm install git://github.com/npm/cli.git#v1.0.27
GIT_SSH_COMMAND='ssh -i ~/.ssh/custom_ident' npm install git+ssh://git@github.com:npm/cli.git
npm install <githubname>/<githubrepo>[#<commit-ish>]
:npm install github:<githubname>/<githubrepo>[#<commit-ish>]
:
Install the package at https://github.com/githubname/githubrepo
by
attempting to clone it using git
.
If #<commit-ish>
is provided, it will be used to clone exactly that
commit. If the commit-ish has the format #semver:<semver>
, <semver>
can
be any valid semver range or exact version, and npm will look for any tags
or refs matching that range in the remote repository, much as it would for a
registry dependency. If neither #<commit-ish>
or #semver:<semver>
is
specified, then master
is used.
As with regular git dependencies, dependencies
and devDependencies
will
be installed if the package has a prepare
script before the package is
done installing.
Examples:
npm install mygithubuser/myproject
npm install github:mygithubuser/myproject
npm install gist:[<githubname>/]<gistID>[#<commit-ish>|#semver:<semver>]
:
Install the package at https://gist.github.com/gistID
by attempting to
clone it using git
. The GitHub username associated with the gist is
optional and will not be saved in package.json
.
As with regular git dependencies, dependencies
and devDependencies
will
be installed if the package has a prepare
script before the package is
done installing.
Example:
npm install gist:101a11beef
npm install bitbucket:<bitbucketname>/<bitbucketrepo>[#<commit-ish>]
:
Install the package at https://bitbucket.org/bitbucketname/bitbucketrepo
by attempting to clone it using git
.
If #<commit-ish>
is provided, it will be used to clone exactly that
commit. If the commit-ish has the format #semver:<semver>
, <semver>
can
be any valid semver range or exact version, and npm will look for any tags
or refs matching that range in the remote repository, much as it would for a
registry dependency. If neither #<commit-ish>
or #semver:<semver>
is
specified, then master
is used.
As with regular git dependencies, dependencies
and devDependencies
will
be installed if the package has a prepare
script before the package is
done installing.
Example:
npm install bitbucket:mybitbucketuser/myproject
npm install gitlab:<gitlabname>/<gitlabrepo>[#<commit-ish>]
:
Install the package at https://gitlab.com/gitlabname/gitlabrepo
by attempting to clone it using git
.
If #<commit-ish>
is provided, it will be used to clone exactly that
commit. If the commit-ish has the format #semver:<semver>
, <semver>
can
be any valid semver range or exact version, and npm will look for any tags
or refs matching that range in the remote repository, much as it would for a
registry dependency. If neither #<commit-ish>
or #semver:<semver>
is
specified, then master
is used.
As with regular git dependencies, dependencies
and devDependencies
will
be installed if the package has a prepare
script before the package is
done installing.
Example:
npm install gitlab:mygitlabuser/myproject
npm install gitlab:myusr/myproj#semver:^5.0
You may combine multiple arguments and even multiple types of arguments. For example:
npm install sax@">=0.1.0 <0.2.0" bench supervisor
The --tag
argument will apply to all of the specified install targets. If a
tag with the given name exists, the tagged version is preferred over newer
versions.
The --dry-run
argument will report in the usual way what the install would
have done without actually installing anything.
The --package-lock-only
argument will only update the package-lock.json
,
instead of checking node_modules
and downloading dependencies.
The -f
or --force
argument will force npm to fetch remote resources even if a
local copy exists on disk.
npm install sax --force
The -g
or --global
argument will cause npm to install the package globally
rather than locally. See folders.
The --global-style
argument will cause npm to install the package into
your local node_modules
folder with the same layout it uses with the
global node_modules
folder. Only your direct dependencies will show in
node_modules
and everything they depend on will be flattened in their
node_modules
folders. This obviously will eliminate some deduping.
The --ignore-scripts
argument will cause npm to not execute any
scripts defined in the package.json. See scripts
.
The --legacy-bundling
argument will cause npm to install the package such
that versions of npm prior to 1.4, such as the one included with node 0.8,
can install the package. This eliminates all automatic deduping.
The --legacy-peer-deps
argument will cause npm to ignore all
peerDependencies
when installing, similar to npm@6 and older.
The --link
argument will cause npm to link global installs into the
local space whenever packages from the global space may satisfy a dependency
required version.
The --no-audit
argument can be used to disable sending audit reports to
the configured registries. See npm-audit
for details on what
is sent.
The --no-bin-links
argument will prevent npm from creating symlinks for
any binaries the package might contain.
The --no-fund
argument will hide the message displayed at the end of each
install that acknowledges the number of dependencies looking for funding.
See npm-fund
The --no-optional
argument will prevent optional dependencies from
being installed.
The --no-shrinkwrap
argument, which will ignore an available
package-lock or shrinkwrap file and use the package.json instead.
The --no-package-lock
argument will prevent npm from creating a
package-lock.json
file. When running with package-lock's disabled npm
will not automatically prune your node modules when installing.
The --nodedir=/path/to/node/source
argument will allow npm to find the
node source code so that npm can compile native modules.
The --only={prod[uction]|dev[elopment]}
argument will cause either only
devDependencies
or only non-devDependencies
to be installed regardless
of the NODE_ENV
.
The --strict-peer-deps
argument will cause the install to fail on any
peerDependencies
conflict, even if it's possible to use a heuristic to
provide a least-surprising resolution to a given conflict.
See config
. Many of the configuration params have some
effect on installation, since that's most of what npm does.
Given a package{dep}
structure: A{B,C}, B{C}, C{D}
,
the npm install algorithm produces:
A
+-- B
+-- C
+-- D
That is, the dependency from B to C is satisfied by the fact that A already caused C to be installed at a higher level. D is still installed at the top level because nothing conflicts with it.
For A{B,C}, B{C,D@1}, C{D@2}
, this algorithm produces:
A
+-- B
+-- C
`-- D@2
+-- D@1
Because B's D@1 will be installed in the top-level, C now has to install D@2 privately for itself. This algorithm is deterministic, but different trees may be produced if two dependencies are requested for installation in a different order.
See folders for a more detailed description of the specific folder structures that npm creates.
👀 Found a typo? Let us know!
The current stable version of npm is here. To upgrade, run: npm install npm@latest -g
To report bugs or submit feature requests for the docs, or for any issues regarding the npm command line tool, please post on the npm/cli GitHub project.