Synopsis

npm prefix

Note: This command is unaware of workspaces.

Description

Print the local prefix to standard output. This is the closest parent directory to contain apackage.json file ornode_modules directory, unless-g is also specified.

If-g is specified, this will be the value of the global prefix. Seenpm config for more detail.

Example

npm prefix
/usr/local/projects/foo

npm prefix-g
/usr/local

Configuration

global

• Default: false
• Type: Boolean

Operates in "global" mode, so that packages are installed into theprefix folder instead of the current working directory. Seefolders for more on the differences in behavior.

• packages are installed into the{prefix}/lib/node_modules folder, instead of the current working directory.
• bin files are linked to{prefix}/bin
• man pages are linked to{prefix}/share/man

See Also

• npm root
• npm folders
• npm config
• npmrc

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Last edited byjsoref onOctober 5, 2025