v3 released! See the release notes for a description of breaking changes.

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 "express": "^4.0.0" 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.

• Red = major upgrade
• Cyan = minor upgrade
• Green = patch upgrade

You may also want to consider npm-check. Similar purpose, different features.

Installation

npm install -g npm-check-updates

Usage

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

$ ncu
Checking package.json
[====================] 5/5 100%

 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 ncu -u to upgrade 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
Upgrading package.json
[====================] 1/1 100%

 express           4.12.x  →   4.13.x

Run npm install to install new versions.

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

Check global packages:

$ ncu -g           # add -u to get a one-line command for upgrading

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

--configFilePath         rc config file path (default: ./)
--configFileName         rc config file name (default: .ncurc.{json,yml,js})                             
--dep                    check only a specific section(s) of dependencies:
                         prod|dev|peer|optional|bundle (comma-delimited)
-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)
-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
-i, --interactive        Enable interactive prompts for each dependency
-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, --packageManager     npm or bower (default: npm)
-m, --minimal            do not upgrade to newer versions that are already
                         satisfied by the existing version range (v2 behavior).
-n, --newest             find the newest published versions available instead
                         of the latest stable versions
--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.
--pre                    include -alpha, -beta, -rc. Default: 0. Default 
                         with --newest and --greatest: 1.
-r, --registry           specify third-party NPM registry
-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
--removeRange            remove version ranges from the final package version
--timeout                a global timeout in ms
-u, --upgrade            overwrite package file
-x, --reject             exclude packages matching the given string, comma-
                         delimited list, or regex

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

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"
  ]
}

Module Use

npm-check-updates can be required:

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

ncu.run({
    // Any command-line option can be specified here.
    // These are set by default:
    jsonUpgraded: true,
    packageManager: 'npm',
    silent: true
}).then((upgraded) => {
    console.log('dependencies to upgrade:', upgraded);
});

Known Issues

• Windows: If npm-check-updates hangs, run ncu --loglevel verbose to see if it is waiting for stdin. If so, try setting the package file explicitly: ncu -g --packageFile package.json. See #136.

Also search the issues page.

Problems?

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