sasfeld / npm-check-updates

Find newer versions of Node.js dependencies than what your package.json allows

npm-check-updates is a command-line tool that allows you to find the latest versions of dependencies, regardless of any version constraints in your package.json file (unlike npm itself).

npm-check-updates can optionally upgrade your package.json file to use the latest available versions, all while maintaining your existing semantic versioning policies.

Put plainly, it will upgrade your "express": "^4.11.2" dependency to "express": "^5.0.0" when express 5.0.0 is released.

Installation

npm install -g npm-check-updates

Please consider installing the unstable version to help test pre-release features. You may even find some features you needed that are not yet in the stable version.

npm install -g npm-check-updates@unstable

Usage

Show any new dependencies for the project in the current directory:

$ npm-check-updates

"connect" can be updated from ^2.8.0 to ^2.11.0  (Installed: 2.8.8, Latest: 2.11.0)
"commander" can be updated from ^1.3.0 to ^2.0.0 (Installed: 1.3.2, Latest: 2.0.0)

Run with '-u' to upgrade your package.json

Upgrade a project's package.json:

$ npm-check-updates -u

"request" can be updated from ^2.20.0 to ^2.27.0 (Installed: 2.20.0, Latest: 2.27.1)

package.json upgraded

Filter by package name:

# match mocha and should packages exactly
$ npm-check-updates -f mocha,should         

# match packages that start with "gulp-" using regex
$ npm-check-updates -f /^gulp-/             

# match packages that do not start with "gulp-". Note: single quotes are required 
# here to avoid inadvertant bash parsing
$ npm-check-updates -f '/^(?!gulp-).*$/'    

Options

-d, --dev                check only devDependencies
-h, --help               output usage information
-f, --filter <packages>  list or regex of package names to search (all others
                         will be ignored). Note: single quotes may be required 
                         to avoid inadvertant bash parsing.
-e, --error-level        set the error-level. 1: exits with error code 0 if no  
                         errors occur. 2: exits with error code 0 if no 
                         packages need updating (useful for continuous 
                         integration) (alpha release only)
-g, --global             check global packages instead of in the current project
-p, --prod               check only dependencies (not devDependencies)
-s, --silent             don't output anything
-t, --greatest           find the highest versions available instead of the 
                         latest stable versions (alpha release only)
-u, --upgrade            upgrade package.json dependencies to match latest 
                         versions (maintaining existing policy)
-V, --version            output the version number

Motivation

Package.json best practices recommends maintaining dependencies using a semantic versioning policy. In practice you do this by specifying a "^1.2.0" style dependency in your package.json, whereby patch- and minor-level updates are automatically allowed but major releases require manual verification.

Unfortunately, it then becomes your responsibility to find out about new package releases, for example by using "npm info" command one package at a time, or by visiting project pages.

History

• 2.0.0-alpha.7
  • Bug fixes and refactoring
• 2.0.0-alpha5
  • Add -e/--error-level option
• 2.0.0-alpha4
  • Add -t/--greatest option to search for the highest versions instead of the default latest stable versions.
• 2.0.0-alpha3
  • Automatically look for the closest descendant package.json if not found in current directory
• 2.0.0-alpha1
  • Do not downgrade packages
• 1.5.1
  • Fix bug where package names got truncated (grunt-concurrent -> grunt)
• 1.5
  • Add prod and dev only options
• 1.4
  • Add package filtering option
  • Add mocha as npm test script
• 1.3
  • Handle private packages and NPM errors
  • Added Mocha tests
  • Bugfixes
• 1.2
  • Print currently installed and latest package version in addition to semantic versions
  • Fixed bug where extra whitespace in package.json may prevent automatic upgrade
• 1.1
  • Added option to check global packages for updates: -g switch
  • Now also checks and upgrades devDependencies in package.json
• 1.0
  • Find and upgrade dependencies maintaining existing versioning policy in package.json

How dependency updates are determined

• Direct dependencies will be increased to the latest stable version:
  • 2.0.1 => 2.2.0
  • 1.2 => 1.3
• Semantic versioning policies for levels are maintained while satisfying the latest version:
• ^1.2.0 => ^1.3.0
• 1.x => 2.x
• "Any version" is maintained:
  • * => *
• Version constraints are maintained:
  • >0.2.0 => > 0.3.0
  • >=1.0.0 => >=1.1.0

Problems?

Please file an issue on github.

Pull requests are welcome :)