unipm

unipm is an open-source CLI to manage dependencies in Node.js and Deno projects,
automatically using the right package manager (npm, pnpm, yarn, bun, deno)
based on your project. Stop worrying about which command to use in each repo:
unipm detects and runs it for you!

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Index

• Installation
  • Quick Install (Recommended)
  • Manual Installation
  • Update
• Basic usage
• Configuration
• Available commands
• Examples
• Versioning
• Contributing
• Author

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Installation

Quick Install (Recommended)

Linux / macOS:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/opticalsecurity/unipm/master/scripts/install.sh | bash

Windows (PowerShell):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/opticalsecurity/unipm/master/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

Manual Installation

1. Download the latest binary for your platform from GitHub Releases
2. Move the binary to a directory in your PATH:
   • Linux/macOS: /usr/local/bin or ~/.local/bin
   • Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\unipm or any folder in your PATH
3. Make it executable (Linux/macOS): chmod +x unipm

Update

Once installed, update to the latest version with:

unipm update-self

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Basic usage

# Install a dependency
unipm add react
# or shortcut
unipm i react

# Uninstall a dependency
unipm remove react
# or shortcut
unipm r react

# Install all project dependencies
unipm install
# or shortcut
unipm i

# Update dependencies
unipm update
# or shortcut
unipm u

During any unipm command, press s to open the interactive package-manager switcher. It lets you pick a different package manager for the current run without changing project settings.

unipm automatically detects the package manager of a project with various methods, executed in this order:

1. Manual override (from the interactive switcher)
2. preferredPackageManager field in unipm.config.json in the current working directory
3. packageManager field in package.json
4. Any supported lockfiles present
5. Any supported package manager installed in the system (Priority: bun > deno > pnpm > yarn > npm)

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Interactive package-manager switcher

While a command is running, press s to open a menu where you can temporarily select a different package manager for that invocation. The manual choice only applies to the current run; future commands fall back to the normal detection order unless you switch again.

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Configuration

You can configure unipm per project by adding an unipm.config.json file in the directory where you run the CLI. The file is optional; unipm falls back to auto-detection when a setting is missing.

Project config (unipm.config.json)

{
  "preferredPackageManager": "pnpm",
  "debug": true,
  "colors": false,
  "ci": true
}

• preferredPackageManager: Forces unipm to use the specified package manager for the project.
• debug: Enables debug logging (can also be toggled with the DEBUG environment variable, which takes precedence).
• colors: Controls colored terminal output (overridden by NO_COLOR or FORCE_COLOR when set).
• ci: Enables CI-safe mode, which disables background update checks and interactive package-manager switching. The CI environment variable wins if set.

Environment variables always take precedence over config values, so you can temporarily override a project's defaults without changing the file.

Runtime behavior

• When ci resolves to true, unipm disables background update checks and interactive package-manager switching to avoid blocking automation.
• The effective color setting is applied to both stdout and stderr, following the same rules as chalk: NO_COLOR turns colors off, FORCE_COLOR turns them on.
• If debug resolves to true, unipm sets DEBUG=true for the current process to surface verbose logging.

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Available commands

Command	Alias	Description
add <pkg>	a	Installs a dependency
remove <pkg>	r	Uninstalls a dependency
install	i	Installs all project dependencies
update	u	Updates dependencies
run <script>		Runs a script from package.json
exec <cmd>	x	Runs a command using the package manager
detect		Detects the current project pm
update-self	self-update	Updates unipm to the latest version
help	h, --help, -h	Shows help information

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Examples

# Install express
unipm add express

# Uninstall lodash
unipm remove lodash

# Run a script
unipm run build

# Run a command
unipm exec tsc

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Versioning

This project uses Semantic Versioning (semver).
Example: 1.0.0

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Contributing

All contributions are welcome!
Open an issue or submit a PR.
See CONTRIBUTING.md for more info.

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Author

Made with love by Manu (@opticalsecurity)
La Plata, Buenos Aires 🇦🇷

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