joyent/node

.TH "NPM\-UPDATE" "1" "June 2015" "" ""
.SH "NAME"
\fBnpm-update\fR \- Update a package
.SH SYNOPSIS
.P
.RS 2
.nf
npm update [\-g] [<name> [<name> \.\.\.]]
.fi
.RE
.SH DESCRIPTION
.P
This command will update all the packages listed to the latest version
(specified by the \fBtag\fR config), respecting semver\.
.P
It will also install missing packages\. As with all commands that install
packages, the \fB\-\-dev\fR flag will cause \fBdevDependencies\fR to be processed
as well\.
.P
If the \fB\-g\fR flag is specified, this command will update globally installed
packages\.
.P
If no package name is specified, all packages in the specified location (global
or local) will be updated\.
.P
As of \fBnpm@2\.6\.1\fR, the \fBnpm update\fR will only inspect top\-level packages\.
Prior versions of \fBnpm\fR would also recursively inspect all dependencies\.
To get the old behavior, use \fBnpm \-\-depth 9999 update\fR, but be warned that
simultaneous asynchronous update of all packages, including \fBnpm\fR itself
and packages that \fBnpm\fR depends on, often causes problems up to and including
the uninstallation of \fBnpm\fR itself\.
.P
To restore a missing \fBnpm\fR, use the command:
.P
.RS 2
.nf
curl \-L https://npmjs\.com/install\.sh | sh
.fi
.RE
.SH EXAMPLES
.P
IMPORTANT VERSION NOTE: these examples assume \fBnpm@2\.6\.1\fR or later\.  For
older versions of \fBnpm\fR, you must specify \fB\-\-depth 0\fR to get the behavior
described below\.
.P
For the examples below, assume that the current package is \fBapp\fR and it depends
on dependencies, \fBdep1\fR (\fBdep2\fR, \.\. etc\.)\.  The published versions of \fBdep1\fR are:
.P
.RS 2
.nf
{
  dist\-tags: { latest: "1\.2\.2" },
  versions: { "1\.2\.2",
              "1\.2\.1",
              "1\.2\.0",
              "1\.1\.2",
              "1\.1\.1",
              "1\.0\.0",
              "0\.4\.1",
              "0\.4\.0",
              "0\.2\.0"
  }
}
.fi
.RE
.SS Caret Dependencies
.P
If \fBapp\fR\|'s \fBpackage\.json\fR contains:
.P
.RS 2
.nf
dependencies: {
  dep1: "^1\.1\.1"
}
.fi
.RE
.P
Then \fBnpm update\fR will install \fBdep1@1\.2\.2\fR, because \fB1\.2\.2\fR is \fBlatest\fR and
\fB1\.2\.2\fR satisfies \fB^1\.1\.1\fR\|\.
.SS Tilde Dependencies
.P
However, if \fBapp\fR\|'s \fBpackage\.json\fR contains:
.P
.RS 2
.nf
dependencies: {
  dep1: "~1\.1\.1"
}
.fi
.RE
.P
In this case, running \fBnpm update\fR will install \fBdep1@1\.1\.2\fR\|\.  Even though the \fBlatest\fR
tag points to \fB1\.2\.2\fR, this version does not satisfy \fB~1\.1\.1\fR, which is equivalent
to \fB>=1\.1\.1 <1\.2\.0\fR\|\.  So the highest\-sorting version that satisfies \fB~1\.1\.1\fR is used,
which is \fB1\.1\.2\fR\|\.
.SS Caret Dependencies below 1\.0\.0
.P
Suppose \fBapp\fR has a caret dependency on a version below \fB1\.0\.0\fR, for example:
.P
.RS 2
.nf
dependencies: {
  dep1: "^0\.2\.0"
}
.fi
.RE
.P
\fBnpm update\fR will install \fBdep1@0\.2\.0\fR, because there are no other
versions which satisfy \fB^0\.2\.0\fR\|\.
.P
If the dependence were on \fB^0\.4\.0\fR:
.P
.RS 2
.nf
dependencies: {
  dep1: "^0\.4\.0"
}
.fi
.RE
.P
Then \fBnpm update\fR will install \fBdep1@0\.4\.1\fR, because that is the highest\-sorting
version that satisfies \fB^0\.4\.0\fR (\fB>= 0\.4\.0 <0\.5\.0\fR)
.SS Recording Updates with \fB\-\-save\fR
.P
When you want to update a package and save the new version as
the minimum required dependency in \fBpackage\.json\fR, you can use
\fBnpm update \-\-save\fR\|\.  For example if \fBpackage\.json\fR contains
.P
.RS 2
.nf
dependencies: {
  dep1: "^1\.1\.1"
}
.fi
.RE
.P
Then \fBnpm update \-\-save\fR will install \fBdep1@1\.2\.2\fR (i\.e\., \fBlatest\fR),
and \fBpackage\.json\fR will be modified:
.P
.RS 2
.nf
dependencies: {
  dep1: "^1\.2\.2"
}
.fi
.RE
.P
Note that \fBnpm\fR will only write an updated version to \fBpackage\.json\fR
if it installs a new package\.
.SS Updating Globally\-Installed Packages
.P
\fBnpm update \-g\fR will apply the \fBupdate\fR action to each globally\- installed
package that is \fBoutdated\fR \-\- that is, has a version that is different from
\fBlatest\fR\|\.
.P
NOTE: If a package has been upgraded to a version newer than \fBlatest\fR, it will
be \fIdowngraded\fR\|\.
.SH SEE ALSO
.RS 0
.IP \(bu 2
npm help install
.IP \(bu 2
npm help outdated
.IP \(bu 2
npm help shrinkwrap
.IP \(bu 2
npm help 7 registry
.IP \(bu 2
npm help 5 folders
.IP \(bu 2
npm help ls

.RE