npm update [-g] [<pkg>...]
This command will update all the packages listed to the latest version
(specified by the tag config), respecting semver.
It will also install missing packages. As with all commands that install
packages, the --dev flag will cause devDependencies to be processed
as well.
If the -g flag is specified, this command will update globally installed
packages.
If no package name is specified, all packages in the specified location (global or local) will be updated.
As of npm@2.6.1, the npm update will only inspect top-level packages.
Prior versions of npm would also recursively inspect all dependencies.
To get the old behavior, use npm --depth Infinity update, but be warned that
simultaneous asynchronous update of all packages, including npm itself
and packages that npm depends on, often causes problems up to and including
the uninstallation of npm itself.
To restore a missing npm, use the command:
curl -L https://npmjs.com/install.sh | sh
IMPORTANT VERSION NOTE: these examples assume npm@2.6.1 or later. For
older versions of npm, you must specify --depth 0 to get the behavior
described below.
For the examples below, assume that the current package is app and it depends
on dependencies, dep1 (dep2, .. etc.). The published versions of dep1 are:
{ "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" }}
If app's package.json contains:
"dependencies": { "dep1": "^1.1.1"}
Then npm update will install dep1@1.2.2, because 1.2.2 is latest and
1.2.2 satisfies ^1.1.1.
However, if app's package.json contains:
"dependencies": { "dep1": "~1.1.1"}
In this case, running npm update will install dep1@1.1.2. Even though the latest
tag points to 1.2.2, this version does not satisfy ~1.1.1, which is equivalent
to >=1.1.1 <1.2.0. So the highest-sorting version that satisfies ~1.1.1 is used,
which is 1.1.2.
Suppose app has a caret dependency on a version below 1.0.0, for example:
"dependencies": { "dep1": "^0.2.0"}
npm update will install dep1@0.2.0, because there are no other
versions which satisfy ^0.2.0.
If the dependence were on ^0.4.0:
"dependencies": { "dep1": "^0.4.0"}
Then npm update will install dep1@0.4.1, because that is the highest-sorting
version that satisfies ^0.4.0 (>= 0.4.0 <0.5.0)
--saveWhen you want to update a package and save the new version as
the minimum required dependency in package.json, you can use
npm update -S or npm update --save. For example if
package.json contains:
"dependencies": { "dep1": "^1.1.1"}
Then npm update --save will install dep1@1.2.2 (i.e., latest),
and package.json will be modified:
"dependencies": { "dep1": "^1.2.2"}
Note that npm will only write an updated version to package.json
if it installs a new package.
npm update -g will apply the update action to each globally installed
package that is outdated -- that is, has a version that is different from
latest.
NOTE: If a package has been upgraded to a version newer than latest, it will
be downgraded.
Last modified January 29, 2016 Found a typo? Send a pull request!