Table of contents
package-spec
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Table of contents
Description
Commands like npm install and the dependency sections in the package.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 the registry 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 like npm install and in the dependency sections in the package.json, this refers to a package by an alias. The <alias> is the name of the package as it is reified in the node_modules folder, and the <name> refers to a package name as found in the configured registry.
See Package name above for more info on referring to a package by name, and registry 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 a package.json file in it. This should 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
