Provided by: npm_8.5.1~ds-1_all 
NAME
npx - Run a command from a local or remote npm package
Synopsis
npm exec -- <pkg>[@<version>] [args...]
npm exec --package=<pkg>[@<version>] -- <cmd> [args...]
npm exec -c '<cmd> [args...]'
npm exec --package=foo -c '<cmd> [args...]'
npx <pkg>[@<specifier>] [args...]
npx -p <pkg>[@<specifier>] <cmd> [args...]
npx -c '<cmd> [args...]'
npx -p <pkg>[@<specifier>] -c '<cmd> [args...]'
alias: npm x, npx
--package=<pkg> (may be specified multiple times)
-p is a shorthand for --package only when using npx executable
-c <cmd> --call=<cmd> (may not be mixed with positional arguments)
Description
This command allows you to run an arbitrary command from an npm package (either one
installed locally, or fetched remotely), in a similar context as running it via npm run.
Whatever packages are specified by the --package option will be provided in the PATH of
the executed command, along with any locally installed package executables. The --package
option may be specified multiple times, to execute the supplied command in an environment
where all specified packages are available.
If any requested packages are not present in the local project dependencies, then they are
installed to a folder in the npm cache, which is added to the PATH environment variable in
the executed process. A prompt is printed (which can be suppressed by providing either
--yes or --no).
Package names provided without a specifier will be matched with whatever version exists in
the local project. Package names with a specifier will only be considered a match if they
have the exact same name and version as the local dependency.
If no -c or --call option is provided, then the positional arguments are used to generate
the command string. If no --package options are provided, then npm will attempt to
determine the executable name from the package specifier provided as the first positional
argument according to the following heuristic:
• If the package has a single entry in its bin field in package.json, or if all entries
are aliases of the same command, then that command will be used.
• If the package has multiple bin entries, and one of them matches the unscoped portion of
the name field, then that command will be used.
• If this does not result in exactly one option (either because there are no bin entries,
or none of them match the name of the package), then npm exec exits with an error.
To run a binary other than the named binary, specify one or more --package options, which
will prevent npm from inferring the package from the first command argument.
npx vs npm exec
When run via the npx binary, all flags and options must be set prior to any positional
arguments. When run via npm exec, a double-hyphen -- flag can be used to suppress npm's
parsing of switches and options that should be sent to the executed command.
For example:
$ npx foo@latest bar --package=@npmcli/foo
In this case, npm will resolve the foo package name, and run the following command:
$ foo bar --package=@npmcli/foo
Since the --package option comes after the positional arguments, it is treated as an
argument to the executed command.
In contrast, due to npm's argument parsing logic, running this command is different:
$ npm exec foo@latest bar --package=@npmcli/foo
In this case, npm will parse the --package option first, resolving the @npmcli/foo
package. Then, it will execute the following command in that context:
$ foo@latest bar
The double-hyphen character is recommended to explicitly tell npm to stop parsing command
line options and switches. The following command would thus be equivalent to the npx
command above:
$ npm exec -- foo@latest bar --package=@npmcli/foo
Examples
Run the version of tap in the local dependencies, with the provided arguments:
$ npm exec -- tap --bail test/foo.js
$ npx tap --bail test/foo.js
Run a command other than the command whose name matches the package name by specifying a
--package option:
$ npm exec --package=foo -- bar --bar-argument
# ~ or ~
$ npx --package=foo bar --bar-argument
Run an arbitrary shell script, in the context of the current project:
$ npm x -c 'eslint && say "hooray, lint passed"'
$ npx -c 'eslint && say "hooray, lint passed"'
Compatibility with Older npx Versions
The npx binary was rewritten in npm v7.0.0, and the standalone npx package deprecated at
that time. npx uses the npm exec command instead of a separate argument parser and
install process, with some affordances to maintain backwards compatibility with the
arguments it accepted in previous versions.
This resulted in some shifts in its functionality:
• Any npm config value may be provided.
• To prevent security and user-experience problems from mistyping package names, npx
prompts before installing anything. Suppress this prompt with the -y or --yes option.
• The --no-install option is deprecated, and will be converted to --no.
• Shell fallback functionality is removed, as it is not advisable.
• The -p argument is a shorthand for --parseable in npm, but shorthand for --package in
npx. This is maintained, but only for the npx executable.
• The --ignore-existing option is removed. Locally installed bins are always present in
the executed process PATH.
• The --npm option is removed. npx will always use the npm it ships with.
• The --node-arg and -n options are removed.
• The --always-spawn option is redundant, and thus removed.
• The --shell option is replaced with --script-shell, but maintained in the npx executable
for backwards compatibility.
See Also
• npm help run-script
• npm help scripts
• npm help test
• npm help start
• npm help restart
• npm help stop
• npm help config
• npm help exec
undefined NaN NPX(1)