npm/pnpm/yarn

Install Commands

Install packages and manage your node_modules with npm. Learn the difference between dependencies, devDependencies, and peerDependencies, and control exact versions with lockfiles.

11 commands

Pro Tips

Use 'npm ci' in CI pipelines instead of 'npm install' — it's faster and guarantees reproducible builds from package-lock.json.

Use 'npm install --save-exact pkg' to pin exact versions and avoid unexpected updates.

Use 'npm install -D pkg' for development-only dependencies (testing, building, linting).

Common Mistakes

Always commit package-lock.json. Without it, different team members may get different dependency versions.

Running 'npm install' with '--force' or '--legacy-peer-deps' can hide real dependency conflicts. Investigate the root cause.

Commands

Install all dependencies

$ npm install

Install all dependencies from package.json.

Add package

$ npm install <package>

Install and add package to dependencies.

Add dev dependency

$ npm install -D <package>

Install as devDependency.

Install exact version

$ npm install <package>@1.2.3 --save-exact

Install specific version without range prefix.

Install globally

$ npm install -g <package>

Install package globally.

CI clean install

$ npm ci

Clean install from lockfile (faster, stricter for CI).

Production only

$ npm ci --only=prod

Install only production dependencies.

pnpm add

$ pnpm add <package>

Add package with pnpm.

pnpm frozen lockfile

$ pnpm install --frozen-lockfile

Install without updating pnpm-lock.yaml.

yarn add

$ yarn add <package>

Add package with yarn.

yarn frozen lockfile

$ yarn install --frozen-lockfile

Install without updating yarn.lock.