joyent/node

<h1><a href="../cli/npm-update.html">npm-update</a></h1> <p>Update a package</p>
<h2 id="synopsis">SYNOPSIS</h2>
<pre><code>npm update [-g] [&lt;name&gt; [&lt;name&gt; ...]]
</code></pre><h2 id="description">DESCRIPTION</h2>
<p>This command will update all the packages listed to the latest version
(specified by the <code>tag</code> config), respecting semver.</p>
<p>It will also install missing packages. As with all commands that install
packages, the <code>--dev</code> flag will cause <code>devDependencies</code> to be processed
as well.</p>
<p>If the <code>-g</code> flag is specified, this command will update globally installed
packages.</p>
<p>If no package name is specified, all packages in the specified location (global
or local) will be updated.</p>
<p>As of <code>npm@2.6.1</code>, the <code>npm update</code> will only inspect top-level packages.
Prior versions of <code>npm</code> would also recursively inspect all dependencies.
To get the old behavior, use <code>npm --depth 9999 update</code>, but be warned that
simultaneous asynchronous update of all packages, including <code>npm</code> itself
and packages that <code>npm</code> depends on, often causes problems up to and including
the uninstallation of <code>npm</code> itself.</p>
<p>To restore a missing <code>npm</code>, use the command:</p>
<pre><code>curl -L https://npmjs.com/install.sh | sh
</code></pre><h2 id="examples">EXAMPLES</h2>
<p>IMPORTANT VERSION NOTE: these examples assume <code>npm@2.6.1</code> or later.  For
older versions of <code>npm</code>, you must specify <code>--depth 0</code> to get the behavior
described below.</p>
<p>For the examples below, assume that the current package is <code>app</code> and it depends
on dependencies, <code>dep1</code> (<code>dep2</code>, .. etc.).  The published versions of <code>dep1</code> are:</p>
<pre><code>{
  dist-tags: { latest: &quot;1.2.2&quot; },
  versions: { &quot;1.2.2&quot;,
              &quot;1.2.1&quot;,
              &quot;1.2.0&quot;,
              &quot;1.1.2&quot;,
              &quot;1.1.1&quot;,
              &quot;1.0.0&quot;,
              &quot;0.4.1&quot;,
              &quot;0.4.0&quot;,
              &quot;0.2.0&quot;
  }
}
</code></pre><h3 id="caret-dependencies">Caret Dependencies</h3>
<p>If <code>app</code>&#39;s <code>package.json</code> contains:</p>
<pre><code>dependencies: {
  dep1: &quot;^1.1.1&quot;
}
</code></pre><p>Then <code>npm update</code> will install <code>dep1@1.2.2</code>, because <code>1.2.2</code> is <code>latest</code> and
<code>1.2.2</code> satisfies <code>^1.1.1</code>.</p>
<h3 id="tilde-dependencies">Tilde Dependencies</h3>
<p>However, if <code>app</code>&#39;s <code>package.json</code> contains:</p>
<pre><code>dependencies: {
  dep1: &quot;~1.1.1&quot;
}
</code></pre><p>In this case, running <code>npm update</code> will install <code>dep1@1.1.2</code>.  Even though the <code>latest</code>
tag points to <code>1.2.2</code>, this version does not satisfy <code>~1.1.1</code>, which is equivalent
to <code>&gt;=1.1.1 &lt;1.2.0</code>.  So the highest-sorting version that satisfies <code>~1.1.1</code> is used,
which is <code>1.1.2</code>.</p>
<h3 id="caret-dependencies-below-1-0-0">Caret Dependencies below 1.0.0</h3>
<p>Suppose <code>app</code> has a caret dependency on a version below <code>1.0.0</code>, for example:</p>
<pre><code>dependencies: {
  dep1: &quot;^0.2.0&quot;
}
</code></pre><p><code>npm update</code> will install <code>dep1@0.2.0</code>, because there are no other
versions which satisfy <code>^0.2.0</code>.</p>
<p>If the dependence were on <code>^0.4.0</code>:</p>
<pre><code>dependencies: {
  dep1: &quot;^0.4.0&quot;
}
</code></pre><p>Then <code>npm update</code> will install <code>dep1@0.4.1</code>, because that is the highest-sorting
version that satisfies <code>^0.4.0</code> (<code>&gt;= 0.4.0 &lt;0.5.0</code>)</p>
<h3 id="recording-updates-with-save-">Recording Updates with <code>--save</code></h3>
<p>When you want to update a package and save the new version as
the minimum required dependency in <code>package.json</code>, you can use
<code>npm update --save</code>.  For example if <code>package.json</code> contains</p>
<pre><code>dependencies: {
  dep1: &quot;^1.1.1&quot;
}
</code></pre><p>Then <code>npm update --save</code> will install <code>dep1@1.2.2</code> (i.e., <code>latest</code>),
and <code>package.json</code> will be modified:</p>
<pre><code>dependencies: {
  dep1: &quot;^1.2.2&quot;
}
</code></pre><p>Note that <code>npm</code> will only write an updated version to <code>package.json</code>
if it installs a new package.</p>
<h3 id="updating-globally-installed-packages">Updating Globally-Installed Packages</h3>
<p><code>npm update -g</code> will apply the <code>update</code> action to each globally- installed
package that is <code>outdated</code> -- that is, has a version that is different from
<code>latest</code>.</p>
<p>NOTE: If a package has been upgraded to a version newer than <code>latest</code>, it will
be <em>downgraded</em>.</p>
<h2 id="see-also">SEE ALSO</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="../cli/npm-install.html">npm-install(1)</a></li>
<li><a href="../cli/npm-outdated.html">npm-outdated(1)</a></li>
<li><a href="../cli/npm-shrinkwrap.html">npm-shrinkwrap(1)</a></li>
<li><a href="../misc/npm-registry.html">npm-registry(7)</a></li>
<li><a href="../files/npm-folders.html">npm-folders(5)</a></li>
<li><a href="../cli/npm-ls.html">npm-ls(1)</a></li>
</ul>