Option to stop removing dependencies from package.json

[brettz9]

Hi,

I like to have dependencies even if empty in package.json. I can search through a large file to find it, and it just makes clear the status.

However, npm i regularly removes this when empty. Could we get config to stop this from happening?

[ljharb]

I would prefer this as well; it minimizes diff churn when a dependency is added or removed. (same for every dep category)

[MylesBorins]

@brettz9 if you have an idea for a specific feature to be added to the npm CLI the best next step would be to open an issue over at https://github.com/npm/rfcs to propose the change to the CLI team!

Thanks for opening the discussion.