Ubuntu Manpage: npm-diff - The registry diff command

NAME

       npm-diff - The registry diff command

   Synopsis
         npm diff [...<paths>]
         npm diff --diff=<pkg-name> [...<paths>]
         npm diff --diff=<version-a> [--diff=<version-b>] [...<paths>]
         npm diff --diff=<spec-a> [--diff=<spec-b>] [...<paths>]
         npm diff [--diff-ignore-all-space] [--diff-name-only] [...<paths>]

   Description
       Similar  to  its  git  diff counterpart, this command will print diff patches of files for
       packages published to the npm registry.

       • npm diff --diff=<spec-a> --diff=<spec-b>
           Compares two package versions using their registry specifiers, e.g:
           npm diff --diff=pkg@1.0.0 --diff=pkg@^2.0.0. It's also possible to
           compare across forks of any package,
           e.g: npm diff --diff=pkg@1.0.0 --diff=pkg-fork@1.0.0.
           Any valid spec can be used, so that it's also possible to compare
           directories or git repositories,
           e.g: npm diff --diff=pkg@latest --diff=./packages/pkg
           Here's an example comparing two different versions of a package named
           abbrev from the registry:

           npm diff --diff=abbrev@1.1.0 --diff=abbrev@1.1.1
         On success, output looks like:

           diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
           index v1.1.0..v1.1.1 100644
           --- a/package.json
           +++ b/package.json
           @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
            {
              "name": "abbrev",
           -  "version": "1.1.0",
           +  "version": "1.1.1",
              "description": "Like ruby's abbrev module, but in js",
              "author": "Isaac Z. Schlueter <i@izs.me>",
              "main": "abbrev.js",
         Given the flexible nature of npm specs, you can also target local
         directories or git repos just like when using npm install:

           npm diff --diff=https://github.com/npm/libnpmdiff --diff=./local-path
         In the example above we can compare the contents from the package installed
         from the git repo at github.com/npm/libnpmdiff with the contents of the
         ./local-path that contains a valid package, such as a modified copy of
         the original.

       • npm diff (in a package directory, no arguments):
           If the package is published to the registry, npm diff will fetch the
           tarball version tagged as latest (this value can be configured using the
           tag option) and proceed to compare the contents of files present in that
           tarball, with the current files in your local file system.
           This workflow provides a handy way for package authors to see what
           package-tracked files have been changed in comparison with the latest
           published version of that package.

       • npm diff --diff=<pkg-name> (in a package directory):
           When using a single package name (with no version or tag specifier) as an
           argument, npm diff will work in a similar way to
           npm-outdated npm-outdated and reach for the registry to figure out
           what current published version of the package named <pkg-name>
           will satisfy its dependent declared semver-range. Once that specific
           version is known npm diff will print diff patches comparing the
           current version of <pkg-name> found in the local file system with
           that specific version returned by the registry.
           Given a package named abbrev that is currently installed:

           npm diff --diff=abbrev
         That will request from the registry its most up to date version and
         will print a diff output comparing the currently installed version to this
         newer one if the version numbers are not the same.

       • npm diff --diff=<spec-a> (in a package directory):
           Similar to using only a single package name, it's also possible to declare
           a full registry specifier version if you wish to compare the local version
           of an installed package with the specific version/tag/semver-range provided
           in <spec-a>.
           An example: assuming pkg@1.0.0 is installed in the current node_modules
           folder, running:

           npm diff --diff=pkg@2.0.0
         It will effectively be an alias to
         npm diff --diff=pkg@1.0.0 --diff=pkg@2.0.0.

       • npm diff --diff=<semver-a> [--diff=<semver-b>] (in a package directory):
           Using npm diff along with semver-valid version numbers is a shorthand
           to compare different versions of the current package.
           It needs to be run from a package directory, such that for a package named
           pkg running npm diff --diff=1.0.0 --diff=1.0.1 is the same as running
           npm diff --diff=pkg@1.0.0 --diff=pkg@1.0.1.
           If only a single argument <version-a> is provided, then the current local
           file system is going to be compared against that version.
           Here's an example comparing two specific versions (published to the
           configured registry) of the current project directory:

           npm diff --diff=1.0.0 --diff=1.1.0

       Note that tag names are not valid --diff argument values, if you  wish  to  compare  to  a
       published tag, you must use the pkg@tagname syntax.

   Filtering files
       It's  possible  to  also  specify  positional  arguments using file names or globs pattern
       matching in order to limit the result of diff patches to only a  subset  of  files  for  a
       given package, e.g:

           npm diff --diff=pkg@2 ./lib/ CHANGELOG.md

       In  the  example  above  the  diff output is only going to print contents of files located
       within the folder ./lib/ and changed lines of code within the CHANGELOG.md file.

   Configuration
       <!-- AUTOGENERATED CONFIG DESCRIPTIONS START --> <!-- automatically generated, do not edit
       manually --> <!-- see lib/utils/config/definitions.js -->

   diff
       • Default:

       • Type: String (can be set multiple times)

       Define  arguments  to  compare  in  npm  diff.   <!-- automatically generated, do not edit
       manually --> <!-- see lib/utils/config/definitions.js -->

   diff-name-only
       • Default: false

       • Type: Boolean

       Prints only filenames when using npm diff.  <!--  automatically  generated,  do  not  edit
       manually --> <!-- see lib/utils/config/definitions.js -->

   diff-unified
       • Default: 3

       • Type: Number

       The number of lines of context to print in npm diff.  <!-- automatically generated, do not
       edit manually --> <!-- see lib/utils/config/definitions.js -->

   diff-ignore-all-space
       • Default: false

       • Type: Boolean

       Ignore whitespace when comparing lines in npm diff.  <!-- automatically generated, do  not
       edit manually --> <!-- see lib/utils/config/definitions.js -->

   diff-no-prefix
       • Default: false

       • Type: Boolean

       Do not show any source or destination prefix in npm diff output.

       Note:  this causes npm diff to ignore the --diff-src-prefix and --diff-dst-prefix configs.
       <!--    automatically    generated,    do    not    edit    manually    -->    <!--    see
       lib/utils/config/definitions.js -->

   diff-src-prefix
       • Default: "a/"

       • Type: String

       Source  prefix  to  be used in npm diff output.  <!-- automatically generated, do not edit
       manually --> <!-- see lib/utils/config/definitions.js -->

   diff-dst-prefix
       • Default: "b/"

       • Type: String

       Destination prefix to be used in npm diff output.  <!-- automatically  generated,  do  not
       edit manually --> <!-- see lib/utils/config/definitions.js -->

   diff-text
       • Default: false

       • Type: Boolean

       Treat  all  files as text in npm diff.  <!-- automatically generated, do not edit manually
       --> <!-- see lib/utils/config/definitions.js -->

   global
       • Default: false

       • Type: Boolean

       Operates in "global" mode, so that packages are installed into the prefix  folder  instead
       of  the  current  working  directory.  See npm help folders for more on the differences in
       behavior.

       • packages are installed into the {prefix}/lib/node_modules folder, instead of the current
         working directory.

       • bin files are linked to {prefix}/bin

       • man pages are linked to {prefix}/share/man

       <!--    automatically    generated,    do    not    edit    manually    -->    <!--    see
       lib/utils/config/definitions.js -->

   tag
       • Default: "latest"

       • Type: String

       If you ask npm to install a package and don't tell it a specific  version,  then  it  will
       install the specified tag.

       Also  the tag that is added to the package@version specified by the npm tag command, if no
       explicit tag is given.

       When used by the npm diff command, this is the tag used to fetch the tarball that will  be
       compared  with  the  local  files  by  default.  <!-- automatically generated, do not edit
       manually --> <!-- see lib/utils/config/definitions.js -->

   workspace
       • Default:

       • Type: String (can be set multiple times)

       Enable running a command in the context  of  the  configured  workspaces  of  the  current
       project  while  filtering  by  running  only  the workspaces defined by this configuration
       option.

       Valid values for the workspace config are either:

       • Workspace names

       • Path to a workspace directory

       • Path to a parent workspace directory (will result in  selecting  all  workspaces  within
         that folder)

       When set for the npm init command, this may be set to the folder of a workspace which does
       not yet exist, to create the folder and set it up as a  brand  new  workspace  within  the
       project.

       This  value  is  not  exported to the environment for child processes.  <!-- automatically
       generated, do not edit manually --> <!-- see lib/utils/config/definitions.js -->

   workspaces
       • Default: null

       • Type: null or Boolean

       Set to true to run the command in the context of all configured workspaces.

       Explicitly setting this to false will cause commands like  install  to  ignore  workspaces
       altogether. When not set explicitly:

       • Commands  that  operate  on  the  node_modules  tree  (install, update, etc.)  will link
         workspaces into the node_modules folder. - Commands that do other  things  (test,  exec,
         publish,  etc.)  will  operate  on  the  root project, unless one or more workspaces are
         specified in the workspace config.

       This value is not exported to the environment for  child  processes.   <!--  automatically
       generated, do not edit manually --> <!-- see lib/utils/config/definitions.js -->

   include-workspace-root
       • Default: false

       • Type: Boolean

       Include the workspace root when workspaces are enabled for a command.

       When  false,  specifying individual workspaces via the workspace config, or all workspaces
       via the workspaces flag, will cause npm to operate only on the specified  workspaces,  and
       not  on the root project.  <!-- automatically generated, do not edit manually --> <!-- see
       lib/utils/config/definitions.js -->

       <!-- AUTOGENERATED CONFIG DESCRIPTIONS END -->
NAME

See Also
