npm

This is just enough info to get you up and running.

Much more info available via npm help once it's installed.

IMPORTANT

You need node v0.4 or higher to run this program.

To install an old and unsupported version of npm that works on node 0.3 and prior:

git clone git://github.com/isaacs/npm.git ./npm
cd npm
git checkout origin/0.2
make dev

Simple Install

To install npm with one command, do this:

curl http://npmjs.org/install.sh | sh

To skip the npm 0.x cleanup, do this:

curl http://npmjs.org/install.sh | clean=no sh

To say "yes" to the 0.x cleanup, but skip the prompt:

curl http://npmjs.org/install.sh | clean=yes sh

If that fails, try this:

git clone http://github.com/isaacs/npm.git
cd npm
sudo make install

If you're sitting in the code folder reading this document in your terminal, then you've already got the code. Just do:

sudo make install

and npm will install itself.

If you don't have make, and don't have curl or git, and ALL you have is this code and node, you can probably do this:

sudo node ./cli.js install -g

However, note that github tarballs do not contain submodules, so those won't work. You'll have to also fetch the appropriate submodules listed in the .gitmodules file.

Permissions

tl;dr

• Use sudo for greater safety. Or don't, if you prefer not to.
• npm will downgrade permissions if it's root before running any build scripts that package authors specified.

More details...

As of version 0.3, it is recommended to run npm as root. This allows npm to change the user identifier to the nobody user prior to running any package build or test commands.

If you are not the root user, or if you are on a platform that does not support uid switching, then npm will not attempt to change the userid.

If you would like to ensure that npm always runs scripts as the "nobody" user, and have it fail if it cannot downgrade permissions, then set the following configuration param:

npm config set unsafe-perm false

to prevent it from ever running in unsafe mode, even as non-root users.

Uninstalling

So sad to see you go.

sudo npm uninstall npm -g

Or, if that fails,

sudo make uninstall

More Severe Uninstalling

Usually, the above instructions are sufficient. That will remove npm, but leave behind anything you've installed.

If you would like to remove all the packages that you have installed, then you can use the npm ls command to find them, and then npm rm to remove them.

To remove cruft left behind by npm 0.x, you can use the included clean-old.sh script file. You can run it conveniently like this:

npm explore npm -g -- sh scripts/clean-old.sh

Using npm Programmatically

If you would like to use npm programmatically, you can do that. It's not very well documented, but it IS rather simple.

var npm = require("npm")
npm.load(myConfigObject, function (er) {
  if (er) return handlError(er)
  npm.commands.install(["some", "args"], function (er, data) {
    if (er) return commandFailed(er)
    // command succeeded, and data might have some info
  })
  npm.on("log", function (message) { .... })
})

See ./bin/npm.js for an example of pulling config values off of the command line arguments using nopt. You may also want to check out npm help config to learn about all the options you can set there.

More Docs

Check out the docs, especially the faq.

You can use the npm help command to read any of them.

If you're a developer, and you want to use npm to publish your program, you should read this

Legal Stuff

"npm" and "the npm registry" are owned by Isaac Z. Schlueter. All rights not explicitly granted in the MIT license are reserved. See the included LICENSE file for more details.

"Node.js" and "node" are trademarks owned by Joyent, Inc. npm is not officially part of the Node.js project, and is neither owned by nor officially affiliated with Joyent, Inc.

The packages in the npm registry are not part of npm itself, and are the sole property of their respective maintainers. While every effort is made to ensure accountability, there is absolutely no guarantee, warrantee, or assertion made as to the quality, fitness for a specific purpose, or lack of malice in any given npm package. Modules published on the npm registry are not affiliated with or endorsed by Joyent, Inc., Isaac Z. Schlueter, Ryan Dahl, or the Node.js project.

If you have a complaint about a package in the npm registry, and cannot resolve it with the package owner, please express your concerns to Isaac Z. Schlueter at [email protected].

In plain english

This is mine; not my employer's, not Node's, not Joyent's, not Ryan Dahl's.

If you publish something, it's yours, and you are solely accountable for it. Not me, not Node, not Joyent, not Ryan Dahl.

If other people publish something, it's theirs. Not mine, not Node's, not Joyent's, not Ryan Dahl's.

Yes, you can publish something evil. It will be removed promptly if reported, and we'll lose respect for you. But there is no vetting process for published modules.

If this concerns you, inspect the source before using packages.