Ubuntu Manpage: npm - node package manager

NAME

       npm - node package manager

SYNOPSIS

       This is just enough info to get you up and running.

       Much more info available via npm help once it´s installed.

IMPORTANT

       You need node v0.8 or higher to run this program.

       To install an old and unsupported version of npm that works on node 0.3 and prior, clone the git repo and
       dig through the old tags and branches.

Super Easy Install

       npm comes with node now.

   Windows Computers
       Get the MSI. npm is in it.

   Apple Macintosh Computers
       Get the pkg. npm is in it.

   Other Sorts of Unices
       Run make install. npm will be installed with node.

       If you want a more fancy pants install (a different version, customized paths, etc.) then read on.

Fancy Install (Unix)

       There´s a pretty robust install script at https://npmjs.org/install.sh. You can download that and run it.

   Slightly Fancier
       You can set any npm configuration params with that script:

           npm_config_prefix=/some/path sh install.sh

       Or, you can run it in uber-debuggery mode:

           npm_debug=1 sh install.sh

   Even Fancier
       Get the code with git. Use make to build the docs and do other stuff. If you plan on hacking on npm, make
       link is your friend.

       If  you´ve  got  the  npm  source code, you can also semi-permanently set arbitrary config keys using the
       ./configure --key=val ..., and then run npm commands by doing node cli.js <cmd> <args>. (This is  helpful
       for testing, or running stuff without actually installing npm itself.)

Fancy Windows Install

       You can download a zip file from https://npmjs.org/dist/, and unpack it in the same folder where node.exe
       lives.

       If that´s not fancy enough for you, then you can fetch the code with git, and mess with it directly.

Installing on Cygwin

No.

Permissions when Using npm to Install Other Stuff

       tl;dr

       •   Use sudo for greater safety. Or don´t, if you prefer not to.

       •   npm  will  downgrade  permissions  if it´s root before running any build scripts that package authors
           specified.

   More details...
       As of version 0.3, it is recommended to run npm as root. This allows npm to change the user identifier to
       the nobody user prior to running any package build or test commands.

       If you are not the root user, or if you are on a platform that does not support uid switching,  then  npm
       will not attempt to change the userid.

       If  you  would  like  to ensure that npm always runs scripts as the "nobody" user, and have it fail if it
       cannot downgrade permissions, then set the following configuration param:

           npm config set unsafe-perm false

       This will prevent running in unsafe mode, even as non-root users.

Uninstalling

       So sad to see you go.

           sudo npm uninstall npm -g

       Or, if that fails,

           sudo make uninstall

More Severe Uninstalling

       Usually, the above instructions are sufficient. That will remove npm, but leave  behind  anything  you´ve
       installed.

       If you would like to remove all the packages that you have installed, then you can use the npm ls command
       to find them, and then npm rm to remove them.

       To remove cruft left behind by npm 0.x, you can use the included clean-old.sh script file. You can run it
       conveniently like this:

           npm explore npm -g -- sh scripts/clean-old.sh

       npm  uses two configuration files, one for per-user configs, and another for global (every-user) configs.
       You can view them by doing:

           npm config get userconfig   # defaults to ~/.npmrc
           npm config get globalconfig # defaults to /usr/local/etc/npmrc

       Uninstalling npm does not remove configuration files by default. You must remove them  yourself  manually
       if  you want them gone. Note that this means that future npm installs will not remember the settings that
       you have chosen.

Using npm Programmatically

       If you would like to use npm programmatically, you can do that. It´s not very well documented, but it  is
       rather simple.

       Most  of  the time, unless you actually want to do all the things that npm does, you should try using one
       of npm´s dependencies rather than using npm itself, if possible.

       Eventually, npm will be just a thin cli wrapper around the modules that it depends on, but for now, there
       are some things that you must use npm itself to do.

           var npm = require("npm")
           npm.load(myConfigObject, function (er) {
             if (er) return handlError(er)
             npm.commands.install(["some", "args"], function (er, data) {
               if (er) return commandFailed(er)
               // command succeeded, and data might have some info
             })
             npm.on("log", function (message) { .... })
           })

       The load function takes an object hash  of  the  command-line  configs.  The  various  npm.commands.<cmd>
       functions  take  an  array  of  positional  argument strings. The last argument to any npm.commands.<cmd>
       function is a callback. Some commands take other optional arguments. Read the source.

       You cannot set configs individually for any single npm function at this time. Since npm is  a  singleton,
       any call to npm.config.set will change the value for all npm commands in that process.

       See  ./bin/npm-cli.js  for  an  example  of pulling config values off of the command line arguments using
       nopt. You may also want to check out npm help config to learn about all the options you can set there.

More Docs

       Check out the docs https://npmjs.org/doc/, especially the faq https://npmjs.org/doc/faq.html.

       You can use the npm help command to read any of them.

       If you´re a developer, and  you  want  to  use  npm  to  publish  your  program,  you  should  read  this
       https://npmjs.org/doc/developers.html

Legal Stuff

"Node.js" and "node" are trademarks owned by Joyent, Inc. npm is not officially part of the Node.js
project, and is neither owned by nor officially affiliated with Joyent, Inc.

The packages in the npm registry are not part of npm itself, and are the sole property of their
respective maintainers. While every effort is made to ensure accountability, there is absolutely no
guarantee, warrantee, or assertion made as to the quality, fitness for a specific purpose, or lack of
malice in any given npm package. Modules published on the npm registry are not affiliated with or
endorsed by Joyent, Inc., Isaac Z. Schlueter, Ryan Dahl, or the Node.js project.

If you have a complaint about a package in the npm registry, and cannot resolve it with the package
owner, please express your concerns to Isaac Z. Schlueter at i@izs.me.

In plain english
This is mine; not my employer´s, not Node´s, not Joyent´s, not Ryan Dahl´s.

If you publish something, it´s yours, and you are solely accountable for it. Not me, not Node, not
Joyent, not Ryan Dahl.

If other people publish something, it´s theirs. Not mine, not Node´s, not Joyent´s, not Ryan Dahl´s.

Yes, you can publish something evil. It will be removed promptly if reported, and we´ll lose respect for
you. But there is no vetting process for published modules.

If this concerns you, inspect the source before using packages.

BUGS

       When you find issues, please report them:

       web    https://github.com/isaacs/npm/issues

       email  npm-@googlegroups.com

       Be sure to include all of the output from the npm command that didn´t work as expected. The npm-debug.log
       file is also helpful to provide.

       You can also look for isaacs in #node.js on irc://irc.freenode.net. He will no doubt tell you to put  the
       output in a gist or email.