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npm cheat sheet - useful npm commands

In this cheatsheet, you will find a compilation of the most common npm commands in each category that can assist you in managing your Node.js packages and projects.

Table of contents

Project initialization and management

npm init

Creates a new package.json file.

npm init

npm init --yes

Creates a new package.json file without prompting for options.

npm init --yes

Package installation and management

npm install

or npm i

Installs packages specified in the package.json file.

npm install

npm install <package-name>

or npm i <package-name>

Installs a package locally.

npm install <package-name>

npm install --save-dev

or npm i -D

Installs a package as a development package.

npm install --save-dev

npm install <package-name> --global

or npm i -g <package-name>

Installs a package globally.

npm install <package-name> --global

npm install <package-name>@<version> --save-exact

or npm i <package-name>@<version> --save-exact

Installs a package with a specific version and locks it.

npm install <package-name>@<version> --save-exact

npm install --production

or npm i --production

Installs only production packages.

npm install --production

npm uninstall <package-name>

or npm un <package-name>

This command uninstalls a locally installed package from your project. It removes the package and its dependencies from your node_modules directory and updates your package.json file's dependencies section.

npm uninstall <package-name>

npm uninstall <package-name> --global

or npm un -g <package-name>

This command uninstalls a globally installed package from your system. It removes the package and its dependencies from the global node_modules directory.

npm uninstall <package-name> --global

npm uninstall --save <package-name>

or npm un -S <package-name>

This command uninstalls a locally installed package and also removes it from your package.json file's dependencies section.

npm uninstall --save <package-name>

npm uninstall --save-dev <package-name>

or npm un -D <package-name>

This command uninstalls a locally installed package and also removes it from your package.json file's devDependencies section. This is useful when you no longer need a package for development purposes.

npm uninstall --save-dev <package-name>

npm install <package-name>@<version> --save-exact

or npm i <package-name>@<version> --save-exact

Installs a package with a specific version and locks it.

npm install <package-name> --save-exact

npm list

or npm ls

Lists all the packages installed locally.

npm list

npm list --global

or npm ls --g

Lists all the packages installed globally.

npm list --global

npm outdated

Shows outdated packages.

npm outdated

npm update

Updates packages to the latest version.

npm update

npm audit

Checks for security vulnerabilities in the installed packages.

npm audit

Global configuration

npm ls -g --depth=0

Lists only top-level packages of the global installation.

npm ls -g --depth=0

npm config list

Lists all npm configuration options.

npm config list

npm config edit

Opens the npm configuration file for editing.

npm config edit

npm cache clean

Clears the npm cache.

npm cache clean

npm whoami

Shows the username of the current user.

npm whoami

Dependency management

npm view <package-name> dependencies

Lists dependencies of a package.

npm view <package-name> dependencies

npm ls <package-name>

Shows information about a package.

npm ls <package-name>

npm ls --depth=0

Shows only top-level packages.

npm ls --depth=0

npm dedupe

Deduplicates dependencies to reduce package size.

npm dedupe

Script execution

npm run <script-name>

Runs a script defined in the package.json file.

npm run <script-name>

npm start

Runs the start script defined in the package.json file.

npm start

npm test

Runs the test script defined in the package.json file.

npm test

Package publishing and management

npm publish

Publishes a package to the npm registry.

npm publish

npm unpublish

Unpublishes a package from the npm registry.

npm unpublish

npm deprecate <package-name> <version> "<message>"

Marks a package as deprecated with a message.

npm deprecate <package-name> <version> "<message>"

npm owner add <username> <package-name>

Adds a user as a package owner.

npm owner add <username> <package-name>

npm owner rm <username> <package-name>

Removes a user as a package owner.

npm owner rm <username> <package-name>

Searches for a package in the npm registry.

npm search <package-name>