npm-check-updates upgrades your package.json dependencies to the latest versions, ignoring specified versions.

npm-check-updates maintains your existing semantic versioning policies, i.e., it will upgrade your "express": "^4.0.0" dependency to "express": "^5.0.0".

npm-check-updates only modifies your package.json file. Run npm install to update your installed packages and package-lock.json.

Having issues? Check out known issues first. Then check the issues page.

Installation

npm install -g npm-check-updates

Usage

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

$ ncu

 express           4.12.x  →   4.13.x
 multer            ^0.1.8  →   ^1.0.1
 react-bootstrap  ^0.22.6  →  ^0.24.0
 react-a11y        ^0.1.1  →   ^0.2.6
 webpack          ~1.9.10  →  ~1.10.5

Run with -u to upgrade your package.json

Upgrade a project's package file:

Make sure your package file is in version control and all changes have been committed. This will overwrite your package file.

$ ncu -u

 express           4.12.x  →   4.13.x

package.json upgraded

$ npm install      # update installed packages and package-lock.json

You can include or exclude specific packages using the --filter and --reject options. They accept strings, comma-delimited lists, or regular expressions:

# match mocha and should packages exactly
$ ncu mocha             # shorthand for ncu -f mocha (or --filter)
$ ncu one, two, three

# exclude packages
$ ncu -x nodemon        # shorthand for ncu --reject nodemon

# match packages that start with "gulp-" using regex
$ ncu '/^gulp-.*$/'

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

Options

-f, --filter             include only package names matching the given string,
                         comma-delimited list, or regex
-g, --global             check global packages instead of in the current project
-h, --help               output usage information
-m, --packageManager     npm (default: npm)
-r, --registry           specify third-party NPM registry
-u, --upgrade            overwrite package file
-x, --reject             exclude packages matching the given string, comma-
                         delimited list, or regex
-V, --version            output the version number

Advanced Options

Do not use these unless you know what you are doing! Not needed for typical usage.

-d, --dev                check only devDependencies
-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)
-j, --jsonAll            output new package file instead of human-readable
                         message
--jsonUpgraded           output upgraded dependencies in json
-l, --loglevel           what level of logs to report: silent, error, warn,
                         info, verbose, silly (default: warn)
-p, --prod               check only dependencies (not devDependencies)
--packageData            include stringified package file (use stdin instead)
--packageFile            package file location (default: ./package.json)
--packageFileDir         use same directory as packageFile to compare against
                         installed modules. See #201.
--configFilePath         rc config file path (default: ./)
--configFileName         rc config file name (default: .ncurc.{json,yml,js})
-n, --newest             find the newest published versions available instead
                         of the latest stable versions
-o, --optional           check only optionalDependencies
--peer                   check only peerDependencies
-s, --silent             don't output anything (--loglevel silent)
--semverLevel            find the highest version within "major" or "minor"
-t, --greatest           find the highest versions available instead of the
                         latest stable versions
-a, --upgradeAll         include even those dependencies whose latest
                         version satisfies the declared semver dependency
--removeRange            remove version ranges from the final package version
--timeout                a global timeout in ms

Configuration Files

Use a .ncurc.{json,yml,js} file to specify configuration information. You can specify file name and path using --configFileName and --configFilePath command line options.

For example, .ncurc.json:

{
  "upgrade": true,
  "filter": "express",
  "reject": [
    "@types/estree",
    "ts-node"
  ]
}

Integration

The tool allows integration with 3rd party code:

const ncu = require('npm-check-updates');

ncu.run({
    // Always specify the path to the package file
    packageFile: 'package.json',
    // Any command-line option can be specified here.
    // These are set by default:
    silent: true,
    jsonUpgraded: true
}).then((upgraded) => {
    console.log('dependencies to upgrade:', upgraded);
});

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
  • 0.1.0 → 1.0.1
  • with --semverLevel major
    • 0.1.0 → 0.2.1
  • with --semverLevel minor
    • 0.1.0 → 0.1.2
• Semantic versioning policies for levels are maintained while satisfying the latest version:
• ^1.2.0 → ^2.0.0
• 1.x → 2.x
• "Any version" is maintained:
  • * → *
• "Greater than" is maintained:
  • >0.2.0 → >0.3.0
• Closed ranges are replaced with a wildcard:
  • 1.0.0 < 2.0.0 → ^3.0.0

Why is it not updating ^1.0.0 to ^1.0.1 when 1.0.1 is the latest?

^1.0.0 is a range that will includes all non-major updates. If you run npm update, it will install 1.0.1 without changing the dependency listed in your package file. You don't need to update your package file if the latest version is satisfied by the specified dependency range. If you really want to upgrade your package file (even though it's not necessary), you can run ncu --upgradeAll.

Docker

Docker volumes can be used to easily update a package:

docker run --rm -v $(pwd)/package.json:/app/package.json creack/ncu -u -a --packageFile /app/package.json

Known Issues

Below you will find the most common known issues. Otherwise search the issues page.

• no such file or directory, rename. ncu is awaiting a major version upgrade for it to be compatible with the latest version of npm. See #420. TLDR; npm uninstall -g npm-check-updates && npm install -g npm-check-updates@next

• Cannot find module 'X'. Cannot reproduce. TLDR; Seems to be fixed by fresh installs of node and npm. See #144.

Development Notes

Running ncu on ncu itself is admittedly appealing, but the following dependencies should not be upgraded as they have breaking changes that are currently untenable to fix. This is internal to npm-check-updates. You are welcome to use and upgrade these dependencies in your project.

• "find-up": "1.1.2"
• "chai": "^3.5.0"
• "chai-as-promised": "^6.0.0"

Problems?

Please file an issue! But always search existing issues first!