package-spec
Select CLI Version:
See Details
Table of contents
Description
Commands likenpm install and the dependency sections in thepackage.json use a package name specifier. This can be many different things that all refer to a "package". Examples include a package name, git url, tarball, or local directory. These will generally be referred to as<package-spec> in the help output for the npm commands that use this package name specifier.
Package name
[<@scope>/]<pkg>[<@scope>/]<pkg>@<tag>[<@scope>/]<pkg>@<version>[<@scope>/]<pkg>@<version range>
Refers to a package by name, with or without a scope, and optionally tag, version, or version range. This is typically used in combination with theregistry config to refer to a package in a registry.
Examples:
npm@npmcli/arborist@npmcli/arborist@latestnpm@6.13.1npm@^4.0.0
Aliases
<alias>@npm:<name>
Primarily used by commands likenpm install and in the dependency sections in thepackage.json, this refers to a package by an alias. The<alias> is the name of the package as it is reified in thenode_modules folder, and the<name> refers to a package name as found in the configured registry.
SeePackage name above for more info on referring to a package by name, andregistry for configuring which registry is used when referring to a package by name.
Examples:
semver@npm:@npmcli/semver-with-patchsemver@npm:semver@7.2.2semver@npm:semver@legacy
Folders
<folder>
This refers to a package on the local filesystem. Specifically this is a folder with apackage.json file in it. Thisshould always be prefixed with a/ or./ (or your OS equivalent) to reduce confusion. npm currently will parse a string with more than one/ in it as a folder, but this is legacy behavior that may be removed in a future version.
Examples:
./my-package/opt/npm/my-package
Tarballs
<tarball file><tarball url>
Examples:
./my-package.tgzhttps://registry.npmjs.org/semver/-/semver-1.0.0.tgz
Refers to a package in a tarball format, either on the local filesystem or remotely via url. This is the format that packages exist in when uploaded to a registry.
git urls
<git:// url><github username>/<github project>
Refers to a package in a git repo. This can be a full git url, git shorthand, or a username/package on GitHub. You can specify a git tag, branch, or other git ref by appending#ref.
Examples:
https://github.com/npm/cli.gitgit@github.com:npm/cli.gitgit+ssh://git@github.com/npm/cli#v6.0.0github:npm/cli#HEADnpm/cli#c12ea07
