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| npm command-line interface |
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|
|
| <section id="content"> |
| <header class="title"> |
| <h1 id="packagejson">package.json</h1> |
| <span class="description">Specifics of npm's package.json handling</span> |
| </header> |
|
|
| <section id="table_of_contents"> |
| <h2 id="table-of-contents">Table of contents</h2> |
| <div id="_table_of_contents"><ul><li><a href="#description">Description</a></li><li><a href="#name">name</a></li><li><a href="#version">version</a></li><li><a href="#description2">description</a></li><li><a href="#keywords">keywords</a></li><li><a href="#homepage">homepage</a></li><li><a href="#bugs">bugs</a></li><li><a href="#license">license</a></li><li><a href="#people-fields-author-contributors">people fields: author, contributors</a></li><li><a href="#funding">funding</a></li><li><a href="#files">files</a></li><li><a href="#main">main</a></li><li><a href="#browser">browser</a></li><li><a href="#bin">bin</a></li><li><a href="#man">man</a></li><li><a href="#directories">directories</a></li><ul><li><a href="#directoriesbin">directories.bin</a></li><li><a href="#directoriesman">directories.man</a></li></ul><li><a href="#repository">repository</a></li><li><a href="#scripts">scripts</a></li><li><a href="#config">config</a></li><li><a href="#dependencies">dependencies</a></li><ul><li><a href="#urls-as-dependencies">URLs as Dependencies</a></li><li><a href="#git-urls-as-dependencies">Git URLs as Dependencies</a></li><li><a href="#github-urls">GitHub URLs</a></li><li><a href="#local-paths">Local Paths</a></li></ul><li><a href="#devdependencies">devDependencies</a></li><li><a href="#peerdependencies">peerDependencies</a></li><li><a href="#peerdependenciesmeta">peerDependenciesMeta</a></li><li><a href="#bundledependencies">bundleDependencies</a></li><li><a href="#optionaldependencies">optionalDependencies</a></li><li><a href="#overrides">overrides</a></li><li><a href="#engines">engines</a></li><li><a href="#os">os</a></li><li><a href="#cpu">cpu</a></li><li><a href="#private">private</a></li><li><a href="#publishconfig">publishConfig</a></li><li><a href="#workspaces">workspaces</a></li><li><a href="#default-values">DEFAULT VALUES</a></li><li><a href="#see-also">SEE ALSO</a></li></ul></div> |
| </section> |
|
|
| <div id="_content"><h3 id="description">Description</h3> |
| <p>This document is all you need to know about what's required in your |
| package.json file. It must be actual JSON, not just a JavaScript object |
| literal.</p> |
| <p>A lot of the behavior described in this document is affected by the config |
| settings described in <a href="../using-npm/config.html"><code>config</code></a>.</p> |
| <h3 id="name">name</h3> |
| <p>If you plan to publish your package, the <em>most</em> important things in your |
| package.json are the name and version fields as they will be required. The |
| name and version together form an identifier that is assumed to be |
| completely unique. Changes to the package should come along with changes |
| to the version. If you don't plan to publish your package, the name and |
| version fields are optional.</p> |
| <p>The name is what your thing is called.</p> |
| <p>Some rules:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li>The name must be less than or equal to 214 characters. This includes the |
| scope for scoped packages.</li> |
| <li>The names of scoped packages can begin with a dot or an underscore. This |
| is not permitted without a scope.</li> |
| <li>New packages must not have uppercase letters in the name.</li> |
| <li>The name ends up being part of a URL, an argument on the command line, |
| and a folder name. Therefore, the name can't contain any non-URL-safe |
| characters.</li> |
| </ul> |
| <p>Some tips:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li>Don't use the same name as a core Node module.</li> |
| <li>Don't put "js" or "node" in the name. It's assumed that it's js, since |
| you're writing a package.json file, and you can specify the engine using |
| the "engines" field. (See below.)</li> |
| <li>The name will probably be passed as an argument to require(), so it |
| should be something short, but also reasonably descriptive.</li> |
| <li>You may want to check the npm registry to see if there's something by |
| that name already, before you get too attached to it. |
| <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/">https://www.npmjs.com/</a></li> |
| </ul> |
| <p>A name can be optionally prefixed by a scope, e.g. <code>@myorg/mypackage</code>. See |
| <a href="../using-npm/scope.html"><code>scope</code></a> for more detail.</p> |
| <h3 id="version">version</h3> |
| <p>If you plan to publish your package, the <em>most</em> important things in your |
| package.json are the name and version fields as they will be required. The |
| name and version together form an identifier that is assumed to be |
| completely unique. Changes to the package should come along with changes |
| to the version. If you don't plan to publish your package, the name and |
| version fields are optional.</p> |
| <p>Version must be parseable by |
| <a href="https://github.com/npm/node-semver">node-semver</a>, which is bundled with |
| npm as a dependency. (<code>npm install semver</code> to use it yourself.)</p> |
| <h3 id="description2">description</h3> |
| <p>Put a description in it. It's a string. This helps people discover your |
| package, as it's listed in <code>npm search</code>.</p> |
| <h3 id="keywords">keywords</h3> |
| <p>Put keywords in it. It's an array of strings. This helps people discover |
| your package as it's listed in <code>npm search</code>.</p> |
| <h3 id="homepage">homepage</h3> |
| <p>The url to the project homepage.</p> |
| <p>Example:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">"homepage": "https://github.com/owner/project#readme" |
| </code></pre> |
| <h3 id="bugs">bugs</h3> |
| <p>The url to your project's issue tracker and / or the email address to which |
| issues should be reported. These are helpful for people who encounter |
| issues with your package.</p> |
| <p>It should look like this:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "bugs": { |
| "url": "https://github.com/owner/project/issues", |
| "email": "project@hostname.com" |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>You can specify either one or both values. If you want to provide only a |
| url, you can specify the value for "bugs" as a simple string instead of an |
| object.</p> |
| <p>If a url is provided, it will be used by the <code>npm bugs</code> command.</p> |
| <h3 id="license">license</h3> |
| <p>You should specify a license for your package so that people know how they |
| are permitted to use it, and any restrictions you're placing on it.</p> |
| <p>If you're using a common license such as BSD-2-Clause or MIT, add a current |
| SPDX license identifier for the license you're using, like this:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "license" : "BSD-3-Clause" |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>You can check <a href="https://spdx.org/licenses/">the full list of SPDX license |
| IDs</a>. Ideally you should pick one that is |
| <a href="https://opensource.org/licenses/">OSI</a> approved.</p> |
| <p>If your package is licensed under multiple common licenses, use an <a href="https://spdx.dev/specifications/">SPDX |
| license expression syntax version 2.0 |
| string</a>, like this:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "license" : "(ISC OR GPL-3.0)" |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>If you are using a license that hasn't been assigned an SPDX identifier, or if |
| you are using a custom license, use a string value like this one:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "license" : "SEE LICENSE IN <filename>" |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>Then include a file named <code><filename></code> at the top level of the package.</p> |
| <p>Some old packages used license objects or a "licenses" property containing |
| an array of license objects:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">// Not valid metadata |
| { |
| "license" : { |
| "type" : "ISC", |
| "url" : "https://opensource.org/licenses/ISC" |
| } |
| } |
|
|
| // Not valid metadata |
| { |
| "licenses" : [ |
| { |
| "type": "MIT", |
| "url": "https://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php" |
| }, |
| { |
| "type": "Apache-2.0", |
| "url": "https://opensource.org/licenses/apache2.0.php" |
| } |
| ] |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>Those styles are now deprecated. Instead, use SPDX expressions, like this:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "license": "ISC" |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "license": "(MIT OR Apache-2.0)" |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>Finally, if you do not wish to grant others the right to use a private or |
| unpublished package under any terms:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "license": "UNLICENSED" |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>Consider also setting <code>"private": true</code> to prevent accidental publication.</p> |
| <h3 id="people-fields-author-contributors">people fields: author, contributors</h3> |
| <p>The "author" is one person. "contributors" is an array of people. A |
| "person" is an object with a "name" field and optionally "url" and "email", |
| like this:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "name" : "Barney Rubble", |
| "email" : "b@rubble.com", |
| "url" : "http://barnyrubble.tumblr.com/" |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>Or you can shorten that all into a single string, and npm will parse it for |
| you:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "author": "Barney Rubble <b@rubble.com> (http://barnyrubble.tumblr.com/)" |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>Both email and url are optional either way.</p> |
| <p>npm also sets a top-level "maintainers" field with your npm user info.</p> |
| <h3 id="funding">funding</h3> |
| <p>You can specify an object containing a URL that provides up-to-date |
| information about ways to help fund development of your package, or a |
| string URL, or an array of these:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "funding": { |
| "type" : "individual", |
| "url" : "http://example.com/donate" |
| }, |
|
|
| "funding": { |
| "type" : "patreon", |
| "url" : "https://www.patreon.com/my-account" |
| }, |
|
|
| "funding": "http://example.com/donate", |
|
|
| "funding": [ |
| { |
| "type" : "individual", |
| "url" : "http://example.com/donate" |
| }, |
| "http://example.com/donateAlso", |
| { |
| "type" : "patreon", |
| "url" : "https://www.patreon.com/my-account" |
| } |
| ] |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>Users can use the <code>npm fund</code> subcommand to list the <code>funding</code> URLs of all |
| dependencies of their project, direct and indirect. A shortcut to visit |
| each funding url is also available when providing the project name such as: |
| <code>npm fund <projectname></code> (when there are multiple URLs, the first one will |
| be visited)</p> |
| <h3 id="files">files</h3> |
| <p>The optional <code>files</code> field is an array of file patterns that describes the |
| entries to be included when your package is installed as a dependency. File |
| patterns follow a similar syntax to <code>.gitignore</code>, but reversed: including a |
| file, directory, or glob pattern (<code>*</code>, <code>**/*</code>, and such) will make it so |
| that file is included in the tarball when it's packed. Omitting the field |
| will make it default to <code>["*"]</code>, which means it will include all files.</p> |
| <p>Some special files and directories are also included or excluded regardless |
| of whether they exist in the <code>files</code> array (see below).</p> |
| <p>You can also provide a <code>.npmignore</code> file in the root of your package or in |
| subdirectories, which will keep files from being included. At the root of |
| your package it will not override the "files" field, but in subdirectories |
| it will. The <code>.npmignore</code> file works just like a <code>.gitignore</code>. If there is |
| a <code>.gitignore</code> file, and <code>.npmignore</code> is missing, <code>.gitignore</code>'s contents |
| will be used instead.</p> |
| <p>Certain files are always included, regardless of settings:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li><code>package.json</code></li> |
| <li><code>README</code></li> |
| <li><code>LICENSE</code> / <code>LICENCE</code></li> |
| <li>The file in the "main" field</li> |
| <li>The file(s) in the "bin" field</li> |
| </ul> |
| <p><code>README</code> & <code>LICENSE</code> can have any case and extension.</p> |
| <p>Conversely, some files are always ignored:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li><code>.git</code></li> |
| <li><code>CVS</code></li> |
| <li><code>.svn</code></li> |
| <li><code>.hg</code></li> |
| <li><code>.lock-wscript</code></li> |
| <li><code>.wafpickle-N</code></li> |
| <li><code>.*.swp</code></li> |
| <li><code>.DS_Store</code></li> |
| <li><code>._*</code></li> |
| <li><code>npm-debug.log</code></li> |
| <li><code>.npmrc</code></li> |
| <li><code>node_modules</code></li> |
| <li><code>config.gypi</code></li> |
| <li><code>*.orig</code></li> |
| <li><code>package-lock.json</code> (use |
| <a href="../configuring-npm/npm-shrinkwrap-json.html"><code>npm-shrinkwrap.json</code></a> if you wish |
| it to be published)</li> |
| </ul> |
| <h3 id="main">main</h3> |
| <p>The main field is a module ID that is the primary entry point to your |
| program. That is, if your package is named <code>foo</code>, and a user installs it, |
| and then does <code>require("foo")</code>, then your main module's exports object will |
| be returned.</p> |
| <p>This should be a module relative to the root of your package folder.</p> |
| <p>For most modules, it makes the most sense to have a main script and often |
| not much else.</p> |
| <p>If <code>main</code> is not set, it defaults to <code>index.js</code> in the package's root folder.</p> |
| <h3 id="browser">browser</h3> |
| <p>If your module is meant to be used client-side the browser field should be |
| used instead of the main field. This is helpful to hint users that it might |
| rely on primitives that aren't available in Node.js modules. (e.g. |
| <code>window</code>)</p> |
| <h3 id="bin">bin</h3> |
| <p>A lot of packages have one or more executable files that they'd like to |
| install into the PATH. npm makes this pretty easy (in fact, it uses this |
| feature to install the "npm" executable.)</p> |
| <p>To use this, supply a <code>bin</code> field in your package.json which is a map of |
| command name to local file name. When this package is installed globally, |
| that file will be either linked inside the global bins directory or |
| a cmd (Windows Command File) will be created which executes the specified |
| file in the <code>bin</code> field, so it is available to run by <code>name</code> or <code>name.cmd</code> (on |
| Windows PowerShell). When this package is installed as a dependency in another |
| package, the file will be linked where it will be available to that package |
| either directly by <code>npm exec</code> or by name in other scripts when invoking them |
| via <code>npm run-script</code>.</p> |
| <p>For example, myapp could have this:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "bin": { |
| "myapp": "./cli.js" |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>So, when you install myapp, in case of unix-like OS it'll create a symlink |
| from the <code>cli.js</code> script to <code>/usr/local/bin/myapp</code> and in case of windows it |
| will create a cmd file usually at <code>C:\Users\{Username}\AppData\Roaming\npm\myapp.cmd</code> |
| which runs the <code>cli.js</code> script.</p> |
| <p>If you have a single executable, and its name should be the name of the |
| package, then you can just supply it as a string. For example:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "name": "my-program", |
| "version": "1.2.5", |
| "bin": "./path/to/program" |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>would be the same as this:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "name": "my-program", |
| "version": "1.2.5", |
| "bin": { |
| "my-program": "./path/to/program" |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>Please make sure that your file(s) referenced in <code>bin</code> starts with |
| <code>#!/usr/bin/env node</code>, otherwise the scripts are started without the node |
| executable!</p> |
| <p>Note that you can also set the executable files using <a href="#directoriesbin">directories.bin</a>.</p> |
| <p>See <a href="../configuring-npm/folders#executables.html">folders</a> for more info on |
| executables.</p> |
| <h3 id="man">man</h3> |
| <p>Specify either a single file or an array of filenames to put in place for |
| the <code>man</code> program to find.</p> |
| <p>If only a single file is provided, then it's installed such that it is the |
| result from <code>man <pkgname></code>, regardless of its actual filename. For |
| example:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "name": "foo", |
| "version": "1.2.3", |
| "description": "A packaged foo fooer for fooing foos", |
| "main": "foo.js", |
| "man": "./man/doc.1" |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>would link the <code>./man/doc.1</code> file in such that it is the target for <code>man foo</code></p> |
| <p>If the filename doesn't start with the package name, then it's prefixed. |
| So, this:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "name": "foo", |
| "version": "1.2.3", |
| "description": "A packaged foo fooer for fooing foos", |
| "main": "foo.js", |
| "man": [ |
| "./man/foo.1", |
| "./man/bar.1" |
| ] |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>will create files to do <code>man foo</code> and <code>man foo-bar</code>.</p> |
| <p>Man files must end with a number, and optionally a <code>.gz</code> suffix if they are |
| compressed. The number dictates which man section the file is installed |
| into.</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "name": "foo", |
| "version": "1.2.3", |
| "description": "A packaged foo fooer for fooing foos", |
| "main": "foo.js", |
| "man": [ |
| "./man/foo.1", |
| "./man/foo.2" |
| ] |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>will create entries for <code>man foo</code> and <code>man 2 foo</code></p> |
| <h3 id="directories">directories</h3> |
| <p>The CommonJS <a href="http://wiki.commonjs.org/wiki/Packages/1.0">Packages</a> spec |
| details a few ways that you can indicate the structure of your package |
| using a <code>directories</code> object. If you look at <a href="https://registry.npmjs.org/npm/latest">npm's |
| package.json</a>, you'll see that it |
| has directories for doc, lib, and man.</p> |
| <p>In the future, this information may be used in other creative ways.</p> |
| <h4 id="directoriesbin">directories.bin</h4> |
| <p>If you specify a <code>bin</code> directory in <code>directories.bin</code>, all the files in |
| that folder will be added.</p> |
| <p>Because of the way the <code>bin</code> directive works, specifying both a <code>bin</code> path |
| and setting <code>directories.bin</code> is an error. If you want to specify |
| individual files, use <code>bin</code>, and for all the files in an existing <code>bin</code> |
| directory, use <code>directories.bin</code>.</p> |
| <h4 id="directoriesman">directories.man</h4> |
| <p>A folder that is full of man pages. Sugar to generate a "man" array by |
| walking the folder.</p> |
| <h3 id="repository">repository</h3> |
| <p>Specify the place where your code lives. This is helpful for people who |
| want to contribute. If the git repo is on GitHub, then the <code>npm docs</code> |
| command will be able to find you.</p> |
| <p>Do it like this:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "repository": { |
| "type": "git", |
| "url": "https://github.com/npm/cli.git" |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>The URL should be a publicly available (perhaps read-only) url that can be |
| handed directly to a VCS program without any modification. It should not |
| be a url to an html project page that you put in your browser. It's for |
| computers.</p> |
| <p>For GitHub, GitHub gist, Bitbucket, or GitLab repositories you can use the |
| same shortcut syntax you use for <code>npm install</code>:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "repository": "npm/npm", |
|
|
| "repository": "github:user/repo", |
|
|
| "repository": "gist:11081aaa281", |
|
|
| "repository": "bitbucket:user/repo", |
|
|
| "repository": "gitlab:user/repo" |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>If the <code>package.json</code> for your package is not in the root directory (for |
| example if it is part of a monorepo), you can specify the directory in |
| which it lives:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "repository": { |
| "type": "git", |
| "url": "https://github.com/facebook/react.git", |
| "directory": "packages/react-dom" |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <h3 id="scripts">scripts</h3> |
| <p>The "scripts" property is a dictionary containing script commands that are |
| run at various times in the lifecycle of your package. The key is the |
| lifecycle event, and the value is the command to run at that point.</p> |
| <p>See <a href="../using-npm/scripts.html"><code>scripts</code></a> to find out more about writing package |
| scripts.</p> |
| <h3 id="config">config</h3> |
| <p>A "config" object can be used to set configuration parameters used in |
| package scripts that persist across upgrades. For instance, if a package |
| had the following:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "name": "foo", |
| "config": { |
| "port": "8080" |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>It could also have a "start" command that referenced the |
| <code>npm_package_config_port</code> environment variable.</p> |
| <h3 id="dependencies">dependencies</h3> |
| <p>Dependencies are specified in a simple object that maps a package name to a |
| version range. The version range is a string which has one or more |
| space-separated descriptors. Dependencies can also be identified with a |
| tarball or git URL.</p> |
| <p><strong>Please do not put test harnesses or transpilers or other "development" |
| time tools in your <code>dependencies</code> object.</strong> See <code>devDependencies</code>, below.</p> |
| <p>See <a href="https://github.com/npm/node-semver#versions">semver</a> for more details about specifying version ranges.</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li><code>version</code> Must match <code>version</code> exactly</li> |
| <li><code>>version</code> Must be greater than <code>version</code></li> |
| <li><code>>=version</code> etc</li> |
| <li><code><version</code></li> |
| <li><code><=version</code></li> |
| <li><code>~version</code> "Approximately equivalent to version" See |
| <a href="https://github.com/npm/node-semver#versions">semver</a></li> |
| <li><code>^version</code> "Compatible with version" See <a href="https://github.com/npm/node-semver#versions">semver</a></li> |
| <li><code>1.2.x</code> 1.2.0, 1.2.1, etc., but not 1.3.0</li> |
| <li><code>http://...</code> See 'URLs as Dependencies' below</li> |
| <li><code>*</code> Matches any version</li> |
| <li><code>""</code> (just an empty string) Same as <code>*</code></li> |
| <li><code>version1 - version2</code> Same as <code>>=version1 <=version2</code>.</li> |
| <li><code>range1 || range2</code> Passes if either range1 or range2 are satisfied.</li> |
| <li><code>git...</code> See 'Git URLs as Dependencies' below</li> |
| <li><code>user/repo</code> See 'GitHub URLs' below</li> |
| <li><code>tag</code> A specific version tagged and published as <code>tag</code> See <a href="../commands/npm-dist-tag.html"><code>npm dist-tag</code></a></li> |
| <li><code>path/path/path</code> See <a href="#local-paths">Local Paths</a> below</li> |
| </ul> |
| <p>For example, these are all valid:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "dependencies": { |
| "foo": "1.0.0 - 2.9999.9999", |
| "bar": ">=1.0.2 <2.1.2", |
| "baz": ">1.0.2 <=2.3.4", |
| "boo": "2.0.1", |
| "qux": "<1.0.0 || >=2.3.1 <2.4.5 || >=2.5.2 <3.0.0", |
| "asd": "http://asdf.com/asdf.tar.gz", |
| "til": "~1.2", |
| "elf": "~1.2.3", |
| "two": "2.x", |
| "thr": "3.3.x", |
| "lat": "latest", |
| "dyl": "file:../dyl" |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <h4 id="urls-as-dependencies">URLs as Dependencies</h4> |
| <p>You may specify a tarball URL in place of a version range.</p> |
| <p>This tarball will be downloaded and installed locally to your package at |
| install time.</p> |
| <h4 id="git-urls-as-dependencies">Git URLs as Dependencies</h4> |
| <p>Git urls are of the form:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-bash"><protocol>://[<user>[:<password>]@]<hostname>[:<port>][:][/]<path>[#<commit-ish> | #semver:<semver>] |
| </code></pre> |
| <p><code><protocol></code> is one of <code>git</code>, <code>git+ssh</code>, <code>git+http</code>, <code>git+https</code>, or |
| <code>git+file</code>.</p> |
| <p>If <code>#<commit-ish></code> is provided, it will be used to clone exactly that |
| commit. If the commit-ish has the format <code>#semver:<semver></code>, <code><semver></code> 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 <code>#<commit-ish></code> or <code>#semver:<semver></code> is |
| specified, then the default branch is used.</p> |
| <p>Examples:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-bash">git+ssh://git@github.com:npm/cli.git#v1.0.27 |
| git+ssh://git@github.com:npm/cli#semver:^5.0 |
| git+https://isaacs@github.com/npm/cli.git |
| git://github.com/npm/cli.git#v1.0.27 |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>When installing from a <code>git</code> repository, the presence of certain fields in the |
| <code>package.json</code> will cause npm to believe it needs to perform a build. To do so |
| your repository will be cloned into a temporary directory, all of its deps |
| installed, relevant scripts run, and the resulting directory packed and |
| installed.</p> |
| <p>This flow will occur if your git dependency uses <code>workspaces</code>, or if any of the |
| following scripts are present:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li><code>build</code></li> |
| <li><code>prepare</code></li> |
| <li><code>prepack</code></li> |
| <li><code>preinstall</code></li> |
| <li><code>install</code></li> |
| <li><code>postinstall</code></li> |
| </ul> |
| <p>If your git repository includes pre-built artifacts, you will likely want to |
| make sure that none of the above scripts are defined, or your dependency |
| will be rebuilt for every installation.</p> |
| <h4 id="github-urls">GitHub URLs</h4> |
| <p>As of version 1.1.65, you can refer to GitHub urls as just "foo": |
| "user/foo-project". Just as with git URLs, a <code>commit-ish</code> suffix can be |
| included. For example:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "name": "foo", |
| "version": "0.0.0", |
| "dependencies": { |
| "express": "expressjs/express", |
| "mocha": "mochajs/mocha#4727d357ea", |
| "module": "user/repo#feature\/branch" |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <h4 id="local-paths">Local Paths</h4> |
| <p>As of version 2.0.0 you can provide a path to a local directory that |
| contains a package. Local paths can be saved using <code>npm install -S</code> or <code>npm install --save</code>, using any of these forms:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-bash">../foo/bar |
| ~/foo/bar |
| ./foo/bar |
| /foo/bar |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>in which case they will be normalized to a relative path and added to your |
| <code>package.json</code>. For example:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "name": "baz", |
| "dependencies": { |
| "bar": "file:../foo/bar" |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>This feature is helpful for local offline development and creating tests |
| that require npm installing where you don't want to hit an external server, |
| but should not be used when publishing packages to the public registry.</p> |
| <p><em>note</em>: Packages linked by local path will not have their own |
| dependencies installed when <code>npm install</code> is ran in this case. You must |
| run <code>npm install</code> from inside the local path itself.</p> |
| <h3 id="devdependencies">devDependencies</h3> |
| <p>If someone is planning on downloading and using your module in their |
| program, then they probably don't want or need to download and build the |
| external test or documentation framework that you use.</p> |
| <p>In this case, it's best to map these additional items in a |
| <code>devDependencies</code> object.</p> |
| <p>These things will be installed when doing <code>npm link</code> or <code>npm install</code> from |
| the root of a package, and can be managed like any other npm configuration |
| param. See <a href="../using-npm/config.html"><code>config</code></a> for more on the topic.</p> |
| <p>For build steps that are not platform-specific, such as compiling |
| CoffeeScript or other languages to JavaScript, use the <code>prepare</code> script to |
| do this, and make the required package a devDependency.</p> |
| <p>For example:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "name": "ethopia-waza", |
| "description": "a delightfully fruity coffee varietal", |
| "version": "1.2.3", |
| "devDependencies": { |
| "coffee-script": "~1.6.3" |
| }, |
| "scripts": { |
| "prepare": "coffee -o lib/ -c src/waza.coffee" |
| }, |
| "main": "lib/waza.js" |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>The <code>prepare</code> script will be run before publishing, so that users can |
| consume the functionality without requiring them to compile it themselves. |
| In dev mode (ie, locally running <code>npm install</code>), it'll run this script as |
| well, so that you can test it easily.</p> |
| <h3 id="peerdependencies">peerDependencies</h3> |
| <p>In some cases, you want to express the compatibility of your package with a |
| host tool or library, while not necessarily doing a <code>require</code> of this host. |
| This is usually referred to as a <em>plugin</em>. Notably, your module may be |
| exposing a specific interface, expected and specified by the host |
| documentation.</p> |
| <p>For example:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "name": "tea-latte", |
| "version": "1.3.5", |
| "peerDependencies": { |
| "tea": "2.x" |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>This ensures your package <code>tea-latte</code> can be installed <em>along</em> with the |
| second major version of the host package <code>tea</code> only. <code>npm install tea-latte</code> could possibly yield the following dependency graph:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-bash">├── tea-latte@1.3.5 |
| └── tea@2.2.0 |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>In npm versions 3 through 6, <code>peerDependencies</code> were not automatically |
| installed, and would raise a warning if an invalid version of the peer |
| dependency was found in the tree. As of npm v7, peerDependencies <em>are</em> |
| installed by default.</p> |
| <p>Trying to install another plugin with a conflicting requirement may cause |
| an error if the tree cannot be resolved correctly. For this reason, make |
| sure your plugin requirement is as broad as possible, and not to lock it |
| down to specific patch versions.</p> |
| <p>Assuming the host complies with <a href="https://semver.org/">semver</a>, only changes |
| in the host package's major version will break your plugin. Thus, if you've |
| worked with every 1.x version of the host package, use <code>"^1.0"</code> or <code>"1.x"</code> |
| to express this. If you depend on features introduced in 1.5.2, use |
| <code>"^1.5.2"</code>.</p> |
| <h3 id="peerdependenciesmeta">peerDependenciesMeta</h3> |
| <p>When a user installs your package, npm will emit warnings if packages |
| specified in <code>peerDependencies</code> are not already installed. The |
| <code>peerDependenciesMeta</code> field serves to provide npm more information on how |
| your peer dependencies are to be used. Specifically, it allows peer |
| dependencies to be marked as optional.</p> |
| <p>For example:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "name": "tea-latte", |
| "version": "1.3.5", |
| "peerDependencies": { |
| "tea": "2.x", |
| "soy-milk": "1.2" |
| }, |
| "peerDependenciesMeta": { |
| "soy-milk": { |
| "optional": true |
| } |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>Marking a peer dependency as optional ensures npm will not emit a warning |
| if the <code>soy-milk</code> package is not installed on the host. This allows you to |
| integrate and interact with a variety of host packages without requiring |
| all of them to be installed.</p> |
| <h3 id="bundledependencies">bundleDependencies</h3> |
| <p>This defines an array of package names that will be bundled when publishing |
| the package.</p> |
| <p>In cases where you need to preserve npm packages locally or have them |
| available through a single file download, you can bundle the packages in a |
| tarball file by specifying the package names in the <code>bundleDependencies</code> |
| array and executing <code>npm pack</code>.</p> |
| <p>For example:</p> |
| <p>If we define a package.json like this:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "name": "awesome-web-framework", |
| "version": "1.0.0", |
| "bundleDependencies": [ |
| "renderized", |
| "super-streams" |
| ] |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>we can obtain <code>awesome-web-framework-1.0.0.tgz</code> file by running <code>npm pack</code>. |
| This file contains the dependencies <code>renderized</code> and <code>super-streams</code> which |
| can be installed in a new project by executing <code>npm install awesome-web-framework-1.0.0.tgz</code>. Note that the package names do not |
| include any versions, as that information is specified in <code>dependencies</code>.</p> |
| <p>If this is spelled <code>"bundledDependencies"</code>, then that is also honored.</p> |
| <p>Alternatively, <code>"bundleDependencies"</code> can be defined as a boolean value. A |
| value of <code>true</code> will bundle all dependencies, a value of <code>false</code> will bundle |
| none.</p> |
| <h3 id="optionaldependencies">optionalDependencies</h3> |
| <p>If a dependency can be used, but you would like npm to proceed if it cannot |
| be found or fails to install, then you may put it in the |
| <code>optionalDependencies</code> object. This is a map of package name to version or |
| url, just like the <code>dependencies</code> object. The difference is that build |
| failures do not cause installation to fail. Running <code>npm install --omit=optional</code> will prevent these dependencies from being installed.</p> |
| <p>It is still your program's responsibility to handle the lack of the |
| dependency. For example, something like this:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-js">try { |
| var foo = require('foo') |
| var fooVersion = require('foo/package.json').version |
| } catch (er) { |
| foo = null |
| } |
| if ( notGoodFooVersion(fooVersion) ) { |
| foo = null |
| } |
|
|
| // .. then later in your program .. |
|
|
| if (foo) { |
| foo.doFooThings() |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>Entries in <code>optionalDependencies</code> will override entries of the same name in |
| <code>dependencies</code>, so it's usually best to only put in one place.</p> |
| <h3 id="overrides">overrides</h3> |
| <p>If you need to make specific changes to dependencies of your dependencies, for |
| example replacing the version of a dependency with a known security issue, |
| replacing an existing dependency with a fork, or making sure that the same |
| version of a package is used everywhere, then you may add an override.</p> |
| <p>Overrides provide a way to replace a package in your dependency tree with |
| another version, or another package entirely. These changes can be scoped as |
| specific or as vague as desired.</p> |
| <p>To make sure the package <code>foo</code> is always installed as version <code>1.0.0</code> no matter |
| what version your dependencies rely on:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "overrides": { |
| "foo": "1.0.0" |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>The above is a short hand notation, the full object form can be used to allow |
| overriding a package itself as well as a child of the package. This will cause |
| <code>foo</code> to always be <code>1.0.0</code> while also making <code>bar</code> at any depth beyond <code>foo</code> |
| also <code>1.0.0</code>:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "overrides": { |
| "foo": { |
| ".": "1.0.0", |
| "bar": "1.0.0" |
| } |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>To only override <code>foo</code> to be <code>1.0.0</code> when it's a child (or grandchild, or great |
| grandchild, etc) of the package <code>bar</code>:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "overrides": { |
| "bar": { |
| "foo": "1.0.0" |
| } |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>Keys can be nested to any arbitrary length. To override <code>foo</code> only when it's a |
| child of <code>bar</code> and only when <code>bar</code> is a child of <code>baz</code>:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "overrides": { |
| "baz": { |
| "bar": { |
| "foo": "1.0.0" |
| } |
| } |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>The key of an override can also include a version, or range of versions. |
| To override <code>foo</code> to <code>1.0.0</code>, but only when it's a child of <code>bar@2.0.0</code>:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "overrides": { |
| "bar@2.0.0": { |
| "foo": "1.0.0" |
| } |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>You may not set an override for a package that you directly depend on unless |
| both the dependency and the override itself share the exact same spec. To make |
| this limitation easier to deal with, overrides may also be defined as a |
| reference to a spec for a direct dependency by prefixing the name of the |
| package you wish the version to match with a <code>$</code>.</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "dependencies": { |
| "foo": "^1.0.0" |
| }, |
| "overrides": { |
| // BAD, will throw an EOVERRIDE error |
| // "foo": "^2.0.0" |
| // GOOD, specs match so override is allowed |
| // "foo": "^1.0.0" |
| // BEST, the override is defined as a reference to the dependency |
| "foo": "$foo", |
| // the referenced package does not need to match the overridden one |
| "bar": "$foo" |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <h3 id="engines">engines</h3> |
| <p>You can specify the version of node that your stuff works on:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "engines": { |
| "node": ">=0.10.3 <15" |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>And, like with dependencies, if you don't specify the version (or if you |
| specify "*" as the version), then any version of node will do.</p> |
| <p>You can also use the "engines" field to specify which versions of npm are |
| capable of properly installing your program. For example:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "engines": { |
| "npm": "~1.0.20" |
| } |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>Unless the user has set the |
| <a href="../using-npm/config#engine-strict.html"><code>engine-strict</code> config</a> flag, this field is |
| advisory only and will only produce warnings when your package is installed as a |
| dependency.</p> |
| <h3 id="os">os</h3> |
| <p>You can specify which operating systems your |
| module will run on:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "os": [ |
| "darwin", |
| "linux" |
| ] |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>You can also block instead of allowing operating systems, just prepend the |
| blocked os with a '!':</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "os": [ |
| "!win32" |
| ] |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>The host operating system is determined by <code>process.platform</code></p> |
| <p>It is allowed to both block and allow an item, although there isn't any |
| good reason to do this.</p> |
| <h3 id="cpu">cpu</h3> |
| <p>If your code only runs on certain cpu architectures, |
| you can specify which ones.</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "cpu": [ |
| "x64", |
| "ia32" |
| ] |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>Like the <code>os</code> option, you can also block architectures:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "cpu": [ |
| "!arm", |
| "!mips" |
| ] |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>The host architecture is determined by <code>process.arch</code></p> |
| <h3 id="private">private</h3> |
| <p>If you set <code>"private": true</code> in your package.json, then npm will refuse to |
| publish it.</p> |
| <p>This is a way to prevent accidental publication of private repositories. |
| If you would like to ensure that a given package is only ever published to |
| a specific registry (for example, an internal registry), then use the |
| <code>publishConfig</code> dictionary described below to override the <code>registry</code> |
| config param at publish-time.</p> |
| <h3 id="publishconfig">publishConfig</h3> |
| <p>This is a set of config values that will be used at publish-time. It's |
| especially handy if you want to set the tag, registry or access, so that |
| you can ensure that a given package is not tagged with "latest", published |
| to the global public registry or that a scoped module is private by |
| default.</p> |
| <p>See <a href="../using-npm/config.html"><code>config</code></a> to see the list of config options that |
| can be overridden.</p> |
| <h3 id="workspaces">workspaces</h3> |
| <p>The optional <code>workspaces</code> field is an array of file patterns that describes |
| locations within the local file system that the install client should look |
| up to find each <a href="../using-npm/workspaces.html">workspace</a> that needs to be |
| symlinked to the top level <code>node_modules</code> folder.</p> |
| <p>It can describe either the direct paths of the folders to be used as |
| workspaces or it can define globs that will resolve to these same folders.</p> |
| <p>In the following example, all folders located inside the folder |
| <code>./packages</code> will be treated as workspaces as long as they have valid |
| <code>package.json</code> files inside them:</p> |
| <pre><code class="language-json">{ |
| "name": "workspace-example", |
| "workspaces": [ |
| "./packages/*" |
| ] |
| } |
| </code></pre> |
| <p>See <a href="../using-npm/workspaces.html"><code>workspaces</code></a> for more examples.</p> |
| <h3 id="default-values">DEFAULT VALUES</h3> |
| <p>npm will default some values based on package contents.</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li> |
| <p><code>"scripts": {"start": "node server.js"}</code></p> |
| <p>If there is a <code>server.js</code> file in the root of your package, then npm will |
| default the <code>start</code> command to <code>node server.js</code>.</p> |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| <p><code>"scripts":{"install": "node-gyp rebuild"}</code></p> |
| <p>If there is a <code>binding.gyp</code> file in the root of your package and you have |
| not defined an <code>install</code> or <code>preinstall</code> script, npm will default the |
| <code>install</code> command to compile using node-gyp.</p> |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| <p><code>"contributors": [...]</code></p> |
| <p>If there is an <code>AUTHORS</code> file in the root of your package, npm will treat |
| each line as a <code>Name <email> (url)</code> format, where email and url are |
| optional. Lines which start with a <code>#</code> or are blank, will be ignored.</p> |
| </li> |
| </ul> |
| <h3 id="see-also">SEE ALSO</h3> |
| <ul> |
| <li><a href="https://github.com/npm/node-semver#versions">semver</a></li> |
| <li><a href="../using-npm/workspaces.html">workspaces</a></li> |
| <li><a href="../commands/npm-init.html">npm init</a></li> |
| <li><a href="../commands/npm-version.html">npm version</a></li> |
| <li><a href="../commands/npm-config.html">npm config</a></li> |
| <li><a href="../commands/npm-help.html">npm help</a></li> |
| <li><a href="../commands/npm-install.html">npm install</a></li> |
| <li><a href="../commands/npm-publish.html">npm publish</a></li> |
| <li><a href="../commands/npm-uninstall.html">npm uninstall</a></li> |
| </ul></div> |
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