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# Awesome npm [![Awesome](https://awesome.re/badge.svg)](https://awesome.re) [npm](https://www.npmjs.com)



> Awesome [npm](https://www.npmjs.com) resources and tips



[npm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Npm_(software)) is a package manager for the JavaScript programming language and comes bundled in the [Node.js](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Node.js) runtime.



*Please read the [contribution guidelines](contributing.md) before contributing.*



## Contents



- [Articles](#articles)

- [Tools](#tools)

- [Packages](#packages)

- [Clients](#clients)

- [Tips](#tips)

- [FAQ](#faq)

- [Community](#community)

- [Documentation](#documentation)

- [Support](#support)

- [Related](#related)



## Articles



- [Small focused modules](https://github.com/sindresorhus/ama/issues/10#issuecomment-117766328)

- [Unix philosophy and Node.js](http://blog.izs.me/post/48281998870/unix-philosophy-and-nodejs) - Write programs that do one thing and do it well.

- [Writing small modules](https://web.archive.org/web/20180302125059/https://substack.net/how_I_write_modules)

- [Semver: A Primer](https://nodesource.com/blog/semver-a-primer/) *(Must read!)*

- [Semver: Tilde and Caret](https://nodesource.com/blog/semver-tilde-and-caret/)

- [Offline installation of npm packages](https://addyosmani.com/blog/using-npm-offline/)

- [Task automation with npm run](https://web.archive.org/web/20180302164842/http://substack.net/task_automation_with_npm_run)

- [How to use npm as a build tool](https://www.keithcirkel.co.uk/how-to-use-npm-as-a-build-tool/)

- [Install npm packages globally without sudo on macOS and Linux](https://github.com/sindresorhus/guides/blob/main/npm-global-without-sudo.md)

- [Optimizing the footprint of an npm package](https://medium.com/@goldglovecb/npm-needs-a-personal-trainer-537e0f8859c6)

- [The Art of Node](https://github.com/maxogden/art-of-node#modules) - An introduction to Node.js and client-side development with npm.

- [Why npm scripts?](https://css-tricks.com/why-npm-scripts/) - An introduction to npm scripts with common packages and scripts, as well as a boilerplate project.



## Tools



### Web



- [npms](https://npms.io) - Superb package search with deep analysis of package quality using a [myriad of metrics](https://npms.io/about).

- [NodeICO](https://nodei.co/) - Package badges.

- [Libraries.io](https://libraries.io/npm) - Package discovery.

- [npm-stat](http://npm-stat.com) - Statistics charts for packages.

- [npmgraph](http://npm.anvaka.com) - Visualization of dependencies.

- [npm trends](http://www.npmtrends.com) - Compare package download counts over time.

- [npm-compare](https://npmcompare.com) - Easily search and compare packages.

- [npm-top](https://gist.github.com/bcoe/dcc961b869bbf6685002) - npm users by downloads.

- [npm semver calculator](http://semver.npmjs.com) - Visually explore what versions of a package a semver range matches.

- [ghub.io](https://ghub.io) - Redirects to the GitHub repo of an npm package.

- [moiva](https://moiva.io) - Discover and compare packages.



### Browser extensions



- [Octo-Linker](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/octo-linker/jlmafbaeoofdegohdhinkhilhclaklkp) - Chrome extension to navigate across npm packages on GitHub with ease.

- [npm-hub](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/npm-hub/kbbbjimdjbjclaebffknlabpogocablj) - Chrome extension to explore npm dependencies on GitHub repos.

- [github-npm-stats](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/github-npm-stats/oomfflokggoffaiagenekchfnpighcef) - View npm download stats on GitHub.

- [npm-search-update](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/npm-search-update/kagpoplamlmaonpddimnnigiojimihnh) - Chrome extension to quickly search for dependencies and monitor changes from the npm registry.



### CLI



- [zsh-better-npm-completion](https://github.com/lukechilds/zsh-better-npm-completion) - Better ZSH completion for npm.

- [npkill](https://github.com/voidcosmos/npkill) - Easily find and remove old and heavy node_modules folders.



## Packages



### Publishing



- [np](https://github.com/sindresorhus/np) - A better `npm publish`.

- [publish-please](https://github.com/inikulin/publish-please) - Publish packages safely and gracefully.

- [npm-release](https://github.com/phuu/npm-release) - Making releasing to npm so easy a kitten could probably do it™.

- [pkgfiles](https://github.com/timoxley/pkgfiles) - List all files which would be published in a package.

- [release-it](https://github.com/webpro/release-it) - Automate releases for Git repositories and/or npm packages. Changelog generation, GitHub/GitLab releases, etc.

- [semantic-release](https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release) - Fully automated package publishing.



### Registry



- [npm-name](https://github.com/sindresorhus/npm-name-cli) - Check whether a package name is available on npm.

- [package-json](https://github.com/sindresorhus/package-json) - Get the package.json of a package from the npm registry.

- [latest-version](https://github.com/sindresorhus/latest-version-cli) - Get the latest version of an npm package.

- [npm-keyword](https://github.com/sindresorhus/npm-keyword) - Get a list of npm packages with a certain keyword.

- [npm-user](https://github.com/sindresorhus/npm-user) - Get user info of an npm user.

- [npm-email](https://github.com/sindresorhus/npm-email) - Get the email of an npm user.

- [npm-user-packages](https://github.com/kevva/npm-user-packages-cli) - Get packages by an npm user.

- [dpn](https://github.com/gillstrom/dpn) - Get the dependents of a user's npm packages.

- [npm-stats](https://github.com/hughsk/npm-stats) - Get data from an npm registry.

- [npm-cli-login](https://github.com/postmanlabs/npm-cli-login) - Log in to npm.

- [nrm](https://github.com/Pana/nrm) - Registry manager.

- [npm-register](https://github.com/dickeyxxx/npm-register) - Easy to set up and maintain npm registry and proxy.

- [verdaccio](https://github.com/verdaccio/verdaccio) - Lightweight private npm proxy registry.

- [cloudsmith](https://cloudsmith.io/l/npm-registry/) - A fully managed package management SaaS with support for public and private npm registries (and many others).



### Other



- [npm-home](https://github.com/sindresorhus/npm-home) - Open the npm page of a package.

- [gh-home](https://github.com/sindresorhus/gh-home) - Open the GitHub page of a package.

- [david](https://github.com/alanshaw/david) - Check if your package dependencies are out of date.

- [npm-check](https://github.com/dylang/npm-check) - Check for outdated, incorrect, and unused dependencies, as well as interactive update.

- [npm-upgrade](https://github.com/th0r/npm-upgrade) - Update outdated npm dependencies interactively.

- [npm-shrinkwrap](https://github.com/uber/npm-shrinkwrap) - A consistent shrinkwrap tool.

- [npm-windows-upgrade](https://github.com/felixrieseberg/npm-windows-upgrade) - Upgrade npm on Windows.

- [generator-nm](https://github.com/sindresorhus/generator-nm) - Scaffold out an npm package.

- [package-up](https://github.com/sindresorhus/package-up) - Find the closest package.json file.

- [read-package-up](https://github.com/sindresorhus/read-package-up) - Read the closest package.json file.

- [normalize-package-data](https://github.com/npm/normalize-package-data) - Normalize package metadata.

- [package-config](https://github.com/sindresorhus/package-config) - Get namespaced config from the closest package.json.

- [npm-run-path](https://github.com/sindresorhus/npm-run-path) - Run locally installed binaries in the terminal by name like with global ones.

- [local-npm](https://github.com/nolanlawson/local-npm) - Use npm [offline](https://addyosmani.com/blog/using-npm-offline/).

- [npe](https://github.com/zeke/npe) - CLI for inspecting and editing properties in package.json.

- [engine-deps](https://github.com/samccone/engine-deps) - Manage Node.js version specific dependencies with ease.

- [enpeem-search](https://github.com/amovah/enpeem-search) - Search packages by scraping the npm web search.

- [npm-issues](https://github.com/seanzarrin/npm-issues) - Search known issues of all your packages at once.

- [john](https://github.com/davej/john) - Make npm3's flat dependencies easier to find and sort.

- [ntl](https://github.com/ruyadorno/ntl) - Interactive CLI menu to list & run npm tasks.

- [decheck](https://github.com/egoist/decheck) - Explore dependencies of npm packages in the command-line.

- [shrinkpack](https://github.com/JamieMason/shrinkpack) - Lock down your dependencies and install offline.

- [redrun](https://github.com/coderaiser/redrun) - Expand scripts from package.json to improve execution speed.

- [package-size](https://github.com/egoist/package-size) - Get the bundle size of an npm package.

- [synp](https://github.com/imsnif/synp) - Convert yarn.lock to package-lock.json and vice versa.

- [npm-run-all](https://github.com/mysticatea/npm-run-all) - CLI tool to run multiple npm-scripts in parallel or serial.

- [onchange](https://github.com/Qard/onchange) - Watch files and folders and run a command when something changed.

- [cli-error-notifier](https://github.com/micromata/cli-error-notifier) - Sends native desktop notifications when npm scripts fail.

- [luna](https://github.com/rvpanoz/luna) - App to manage npm dependencies.

- [emma-cli](https://github.com/maticzav/emma-cli) - Interactive CLI package search utility.

- [lockfile-lint](https://github.com/lirantal/lockfile-lint) - Lint lockfiles for improved security and trust policies to mitigate malicious package injection and insecure lockfile resources.



## Clients



- [yarn](https://github.com/yarnpkg/yarn) - Fast, reliable, and secure dependency management.

- [npm](https://github.com/npm/cli) - The official client.

- [pnpm](https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm) - Fast, disk space efficient package manager.



## Tips



### Update to the latest npm version



```

$ npm install --global npm

```



*[Windows users, read more.](https://github.com/felixrieseberg/npm-windows-upgrade)*



### Command aliases



- `npm i ` → `npm install`

- `npm i -D` → `npm install --save-dev`

- `npm t` → `npm test`

- `npm it` → `npm install && npm test`

- `npm r` → `npm uninstall`

- `npm un` → `npm uninstall`

- `npm up` → `npm update`



### Shell aliases



Speed up your common npm tasks.



In your `.zshrc`/`.bashrc`:



```sh

alias ni='npm install'

alias nid='npm install --save-dev'

alias nig='npm install --global'

alias nt='npm test'

alias nit='npm install && npm test'

alias nk='npm link'

alias nr='npm run'

alias ns='npm start'

alias nf='npm cache clean && rm -rf node_modules && npm install'

alias nlg='npm list --global --depth=0'

```



### Don't add to package.json when installing



By default npm adds packages you install to the `dependencies` field in package.json (since v5). You can prevent this by specifying the `--no-save` flag. You can add a package to `devDependencies` with `--save-dev`/`-D`:



```

$ npm install --save-dev ava

```



### Run scripts



You can easily [run scripts](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/run-script) using npm by adding them to the `"scripts"` field in package.json and run them with `npm run `. Run `npm run` to see available scripts. Binaries of locally install packages are made available in the [PATH](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PATH_(variable)), so you can run them by name.



```json

{

	"name": "awesome-package",

	"scripts": {

		"cat": "cat-names"

	},

	"dependencies": {

		"cat-names": "^1.0.0"

	}

}

```



```

$ npm run cat

Max

```



All package.json properties are [exposed](https://docs.npmjs.com/misc/scripts#packagejson-vars) as environment variables:



```json

{

	"name": "awesome-package",

	"scripts": {

		"name": "echo $npm_package_name"

	}

}

```



```

$ npm run name

awesome-package

```



#### Passing options to commands



You can pass options to the command you are using in your npm script by adding `-- --flag` like in the example below. The `--` [marks the end of options parsing](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/11376/what-does-double-dash-mean-also-known-as-bare-double-dash), so `npm run` will just ignore it and pass it to the command.



```json

{

	"name": "awesome-package",

	"scripts": {

		"xo": "xo",

		"xo:fix": "npm run xo -- --fix",

	}

}

```



*Adding the `-- --fix ` option is like executing `xo --fix`*.



#### Silent option



`npm run` has a `--silent` option which is especially useful when combining npm scripts.



Imagine you have a setup for linting your JavaScript files like the following:



```json

{

	"name": "awesome-package",

	"scripts": {

		"xo": "xo",

		"xo:fix": "npm run xo --silent -- --fix",

	}

}

```



*Using the `--silent` option reduces the output in the terminal. See [this comparison](https://twitter.com/mkuehnel/status/957965749473210369).*



### Lifecycle scripts



npm comes with predefined [lifecyle scripts](https://docs.npmjs.com/misc/scripts) which are excuted under specific conditions if they are defined in your package.json.



```json

{

	"name": "awesome-package",

	"scripts": {

		"prepublishOnly": "nsp check"

	},

	"devDependencies": {

		"nsp": "^3.0.0"

	}

}

```



This will be executed automatically before your npm package is published to the registry via `npm publish` to check for known vulnerabilties in your dependencies.



*Note: **prepublishOnly** is available since npm v4.0.0. See [npm docs](https://docs.npmjs.com/misc/scripts#deprecation-note).*



#### `npm start` and `npm test`



`npm start` and `npm test` are also lifecycle scripts but are not executed automatically.



```json

{

	"name": "awesome-package",

	"scripts": {

		"start": "node server.js",

		"test": "ava"

	},

	"devDependencies": {

		"ava": "^1.0.0"

	}

}

```



Therefore they can be executed simply with:



```console

$ npm test

$ npm start

```



#### `pre` and `post` scripts



These are special lifecycle scripts which can be used to run scripts automatically in sequence.



```json

{

	"name": "awesome-package",

	"scripts": {

		"pretest": "eslint .",

		"test": "ava"

	},

	"devDependencies": {

		"eslint": "^4.19.0",

		"ava": "^1.0.0"

	}

}

```



```console

$ npm test

```



This will lint your files before running your tests. The tests will not run if linting fails. Or more generally spoken: the following script won’t be executed if one of the scripts running in sequence exits with an exit code other than 0.



*Note: `pre` and `post` scripts can also be used for your custom npm scripts. So `npm run foo` will also run `prefoo` and `postfoo` if defined.*



### Run script with `npx`



`npm` [comes bundled](https://medium.com/@maybekatz/introducing-npx-an-npm-package-runner-55f7d4bd282b) with `npx` (Since v5.2.0) — a tool to execute package binaries. Each command is executed either from the local `node_modules/.bin` directory, or from a central cache, installing any packages needed in order for `` to run.



```json

{

	"name": "awesome-package",

	"dependencies": {

		"cat-names": "^1.0.0"

	}

}

```



If the binary is already installed, it will be executed from `node_modules/.bin`.



```

$ npx cat-names

Max

```



But if the binary is missing, it will be installed first.



```

$ npx dog-names

npx: installed 46 in 3.136s

Bentley

```



### Run commands with different Node.js versions



With `npx` (Comes bundled with npm v5.2.0 or newer) and the [`node-bin`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/node-bin) package, you can easily try out code in different Node.js versions without having to use a version manager like [`nvm`](http://nvm.sh), [`nave`](https://github.com/isaacs/nave), or [`n`](https://github.com/tj/n).



```

$ npx [email protected] -- node --version

v6.11.0

```



### Link local packages



Sometimes it can be useful to have a local version of a package as a dependency. You can use `npm link` to link one local package into another. Run `npm link` in the package you want to use. This creates a global reference. Then go into your original package and run `npm link ` to link in the other package.



```

$ cd rainbow

$ npm link

$ cd ../unicorn

$ npm link rainbow

```



You can now use `rainbow` as a dependency in the `unicorn` package.



### Install a package from GitHub



npm supports using a shorthand for installing a package directly from a GitHub repo:



```

$ npm install sindresorhus/chalk

```



Let's target a specific commit as the main branch is a moving target:



```

$ npm install 'sindresorhus/chalk#51b8f32'

```



Specify either a commit SHA, branch, tag, or nothing.



You can also install Git dependencies with semver: *(Requires npm v5 or newer)*



```

$ npm install 'sindresorhus/chalk#semver:^2.0.0'

```



### Install a specific version of a package



```

$ npm install [email protected]

```



### List top-level installed packages and their version



```

$ npm ls --depth=0

```



### Command help



Get help docs for a command:



```

$ npm help 

```



Example:



```

$ npm help install

```



### Standalone version of a package



Quickly get a standalone version of a package that is browserified and usable in the browser.



```

https://wzrd.in/standalone/[@]

```



Examples:



- 

- 



Great for prototyping, but download the file or use Browserify yourself for production.



## FAQ



- [Check in node_modules vs. shrinkwrap](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11459733/check-in-node-modules-vs-shrinkwrap)

- [What is the difference between Bower and npm?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18641899/what-is-the-difference-between-bower-and-npm)

- [What does `^` mean in package.json versioning?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/22137778/what-does-mean-in-package-json-versioning)

- [Find the version of an installed npm package](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10972176/find-the-version-of-an-installed-npm-package)

- [What's the difference between dependencies, devDependencies, and peerDependencies in package.json?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18875674/whats-the-difference-between-dependencies-devdependencies-and-peerdependencies)



## Community



- [`#npm` on Freenode](http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=npm)

- [Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/npm)

- [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/npm)

- [Twitter](https://twitter.com/npmjs)

- [Blog](https://blog.npmjs.org)



## Documentation



- [Official](https://docs.npmjs.com)

- [Troubleshooting](https://github.com/npm/npm/wiki/Troubleshooting)

- [Semantic versioning](https://docs.npmjs.com/getting-started/semantic-versioning)

- [Fixing npm permissions](https://docs.npmjs.com/getting-started/fixing-npm-permissions)

- [package.json](https://docs.npmjs.com/files/package.json)

- [npm run script](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/run-script)

- [Stats API](https://github.com/npm/download-counts)



## Support



- [npm.community](https://npm.community/c/support)

- [Twitter](https://twitter.com/npm_support)

- [Contact form](https://www.npmjs.com/support)



## Related



- [awesome-nodejs](https://github.com/sindresorhus/awesome-nodejs)