SPEC(7)

NAME
spec - Package name specifier

  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 ⟨/using-npm/config#registry⟩ config to refer to a package in a registry.

Examples:

    •   npm

    •   @npmcli/arborist

    •   @npmcli/arborist@latest

    •   npm@6.13.1

    •   npm@^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 ⟨/using-npm/config#registry⟩ for configuring which registry is used when referring to a package by name.

Examples:

    •   semver@npm:@npmcli/semver-with-patch

    •   semver@npm:semver@7.2.2

    •   semver@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.tgz

    •   https://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.git

    •   git@github.com:npm/cli.git

    •   git+ssh://git@github.com/npm/cli#v6.0.0

    •   github:npm/cli#HEAD

    •   npm/cli#c12ea07

  See also

    •   npm-package-arg ⟨https://npm.im/npm-package-arg⟩

    •   npm help scope

    •   npm help config