NPM command cheatsheet

NPM, an acronym for node package manager is a tool that is used to install, uninstall & publish the Node.JS package. Nowadays, Node.JS packages are not only used for node relate project but also used for tooling to other non-node related projects. So I am creating this post where you will find cheatsheet of important NPM command for quick reference.

Install, update & Uninstall

Description	Command
install all package mentioned in 'package.json'	npm install
install package 'express'	npm install express
install package 'express' globally	npm install express -g
install package 'express' with version '3.0.0'	npm install express@3.0.0
install package 'express' & save it as dependency in 'package.json'	npm install express --save
install package 'express' & save its exact version as dependency in 'package.json'	npm install express --save --save-exact
install package 'express' & save it as optional-dependency in 'package.json'	npm install express --save-optional
install package 'express' & save it as dev-dependency in 'package.json'	npm install express --save-dev
show debug log while installing package 'express'	npm install express -d
uninstall package 'express'	npm uninstall express
uninstall package 'express' & remove it from depenedency in 'package.json'	npm uninstall express --save
uninstall package 'express' & remove it from dev-depenedency in 'package.json'	npm uninstall express --save-dev
uninstall package 'express' & remove it from optinal-depenedency in 'package.json'	npm uninstall express --save-optional
check if any package in 'package.json' is outdated	npm outdated
update all packages in 'package.json'	npm update
update specific package 'express' in 'package.json'	npm update express
update all packages & its version in 'package.json'	npm update --save

Config

Description	Command
list current setting	npm config list
set key=value in npm config	npm config set key value
set proxy url	npm config set proxy PROXY_URL
get the value of key 'proxy'	npm config get proxy
delete the value of key 'proxy'	npm config delete proxy
open editor(system default) to edit npm config file	npm config edit
set cache timeout for package, to install offline	npm config set cache-min 9999999

Others

Description	Command
Intialize any folder with 'package.json'	npm init
run script with name 'start'	npm start
run script with name 'build'	npm run build
npm cache folder on linux & windows	~/.npm %AppData%/npm-cache
delete all data from cache folder	npm cache clean --force
create an user with npm so that we can login to publish package	npm adduser
login to npm, so that you can publish package	npm login
publish package to npm registry	npm publish
publish scoped package as public, by default private	npm publish --access=public
unpublish package from npm registry	npm unpublish
update version before re-publishing updated package	npm version [patch/minor/major]