---
title: npm-install
section: 1
description: Install a package
---

### Synopsis

```bash
npm install (with no args, in package dir)
npm install [<@scope>/]<name>
npm install [<@scope>/]<name>@<tag>
npm install [<@scope>/]<name>@<version>
npm install [<@scope>/]<name>@<version range>
npm install <alias>@npm:<name>
npm install <git-host>:<git-user>/<repo-name>
npm install <git repo url>
npm install <tarball file>
npm install <tarball url>
npm install <folder>

aliases: npm i, npm add
common options: [-P|--save-prod|-D|--save-dev|-O|--save-optional|--save-peer] [-E|--save-exact] [-B|--save-bundle] [--no-save] [--dry-run]
```

### Description

This command installs a package and any packages that it depends on. If the
package has a package-lock, or an npm shrinkwrap file, or a yarn lock file,
the installation of dependencies will be driven by that, respecting the
following order of precedence:

* `npm-shrinkwrap.json`
* `package-lock.json`
* `yarn.lock`

See [package-lock.json](/configuring-npm/package-lock-json) and
[`npm shrinkwrap`](/commands/npm-shrinkwrap).

A `package` is:

* a) a folder containing a program described by a
  [`package.json`](/configuring-npm/package-json) file
* b) a gzipped tarball containing (a)
* c) a url that resolves to (b)
* d) a `<name>@<version>` that is published on the registry (see
  [`registry`](/using-npm/registry)) with (c)
* e) a `<name>@<tag>` (see [`npm dist-tag`](/commands/npm-dist-tag)) that
  points to (d)
* f) a `<name>` that has a "latest" tag satisfying (e)
* g) a `<git remote url>` that resolves to (a)

Even if you never publish your package, you can still get a lot of benefits
of using npm if you just want to write a node program (a), and perhaps if
you also want to be able to easily install it elsewhere after packing it up
into a tarball (b).


* `npm install` (in a package directory, no arguments):

    Install the dependencies in the local `node_modules` folder.

    In global mode (ie, with `-g` or `--global` appended to the command),
    it installs the current package context (ie, the current working
    directory) as a global package.

    By default, `npm install` will install all modules listed as
    dependencies in [`package.json`](/configuring-npm/package-json).

    With the `--production` flag (or when the `NODE_ENV` environment
    variable is set to `production`), npm will not install modules listed
    in `devDependencies`. To install all modules listed in both
    `dependencies` and `devDependencies` when `NODE_ENV` environment
    variable is set to `production`, you can use `--production=false`.

    > NOTE: The `--production` flag has no particular meaning when adding a
    dependency to a project.

* `npm install <folder>`:

    Install the package in the directory as a symlink in the current
    project.  Its dependencies will be installed before it's linked. If
    `<folder>` sits inside the root of your project, its dependencies may
    be hoisted to the top-level `node_modules` as they would for other
    types of dependencies.

* `npm install <tarball file>`:

    Install a package that is sitting on the filesystem.  Note: if you just
    want to link a dev directory into your npm root, you can do this more
    easily by using [`npm link`](/commands/npm-link).

    Tarball requirements:
    * The filename *must* use `.tar`, `.tar.gz`, or `.tgz` as the
      extension.
    * The package contents should reside in a subfolder inside the tarball
      (usually it is called `package/`). npm strips one directory layer
      when installing the package (an equivalent of `tar x
      --strip-components=1` is run).
    * The package must contain a `package.json` file with `name` and
      `version` properties.

    Example:

    ```bash
    npm install ./package.tgz
    ```

* `npm install <tarball url>`:

    Fetch the tarball url, and then install it.  In order to distinguish between
    this and other options, the argument must start with "http://" or "https://"

    Example:

    ```bash
    npm install https://github.com/indexzero/forever/tarball/v0.5.6
    ```

* `npm install [<@scope>/]<name>`:

    Do a `<name>@<tag>` install, where `<tag>` is the "tag" config. (See
    [`config`](/using-npm/config). The config's default value is `latest`.)

    In most cases, this will install the version of the modules tagged as
    `latest` on the npm registry.

    Example:

    ```bash
    npm install sax
    ```

    `npm install` saves any specified packages into `dependencies` by default.
    Additionally, you can control where and how they get saved with some
    additional flags:

    * `-P, --save-prod`: Package will appear in your `dependencies`. This
      is the default unless `-D` or `-O` are present.

    * `-D, --save-dev`: Package will appear in your `devDependencies`.

    * `-O, --save-optional`: Package will appear in your
      `optionalDependencies`.

    * `--no-save`: Prevents saving to `dependencies`.

    When using any of the above options to save dependencies to your
    package.json, there are two additional, optional flags:

    * `-E, --save-exact`: Saved dependencies will be configured with an
      exact version rather than using npm's default semver range operator.

    * `-B, --save-bundle`: Saved dependencies will also be added to your
      `bundleDependencies` list.

    Further, if you have an `npm-shrinkwrap.json` or `package-lock.json`
    then it will be updated as well.

    `<scope>` is optional. The package will be downloaded from the registry
    associated with the specified scope. If no registry is associated with
    the given scope the default registry is assumed. See
    [`scope`](/using-npm/scope).

    Note: if you do not include the @-symbol on your scope name, npm will
    interpret this as a GitHub repository instead, see below. Scopes names
    must also be followed by a slash.

    Examples:

    ```bash
    npm install sax
    npm install githubname/reponame
    npm install @myorg/privatepackage
    npm install node-tap --save-dev
    npm install dtrace-provider --save-optional
    npm install readable-stream --save-exact
    npm install ansi-regex --save-bundle
    ```

    **Note**: If there is a file or folder named `<name>` in the current
    working directory, then it will try to install that, and only try to
    fetch the package by name if it is not valid.

* `npm install <alias>@npm:<name>`:

    Install a package under a custom alias. Allows multiple versions of
    a same-name package side-by-side, more convenient import names for
    packages with otherwise long ones, and using git forks replacements
    or forked npm packages as replacements. Aliasing works only on your
    project and does not rename packages in transitive dependencies.
    Aliases should follow the naming conventions stated in
    [`validate-npm-package-name`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/validate-npm-package-name#naming-rules).

    Examples:

    ```bash
    npm install my-react@npm:react
    npm install jquery2@npm:jquery@2
    npm install jquery3@npm:jquery@3
    npm install npa@npm:npm-package-arg
    ```

* `npm install [<@scope>/]<name>@<tag>`:

    Install the version of the package that is referenced by the specified tag.
    If the tag does not exist in the registry data for that package, then this
    will fail.

    Example:

    ```bash
    npm install sax@latest
    npm install @myorg/mypackage@latest
    ```

* `npm install [<@scope>/]<name>@<version>`:

    Install the specified version of the package.  This will fail if the
    version has not been published to the registry.

    Example:

    ```bash
    npm install sax@0.1.1
    npm install @myorg/privatepackage@1.5.0
    ```

* `npm install [<@scope>/]<name>@<version range>`:

    Install a version of the package matching the specified version range.
    This will follow the same rules for resolving dependencies described in
    [`package.json`](/configuring-npm/package-json).

    Note that most version ranges must be put in quotes so that your shell
    will treat it as a single argument.

    Example:

    ```bash
    npm install sax@">=0.1.0 <0.2.0"
    npm install @myorg/privatepackage@"16 - 17"
    ```

* `npm install <git remote url>`:

    Installs the package from the hosted git provider, cloning it with
    `git`.  For a full git remote url, only that URL will be attempted.

    ```bash
    <protocol>://[<user>[:<password>]@]<hostname>[:<port>][:][/]<path>[#<commit-ish> | #semver:<semver>]
    ```

    `<protocol>` is one of `git`, `git+ssh`, `git+http`, `git+https`, or
    `git+file`.

    If `#<commit-ish>` is provided, it will be used to clone exactly that
    commit. If the commit-ish has the format `#semver:<semver>`, `<semver>`
    can be any valid semver range or exact version, and npm will look for
    any tags or refs matching that range in the remote repository, much as
    it would for a registry dependency. If neither `#<commit-ish>` or
    `#semver:<semver>` is specified, then the default branch of the
    repository is used.

    If the repository makes use of submodules, those submodules will be
    cloned as well.

    If the package being installed contains a `prepare` script, its
    `dependencies` and `devDependencies` will be installed, and the prepare
    script will be run, before the package is packaged and installed.

    The following git environment variables are recognized by npm and will
    be added to the environment when running git:

    * `GIT_ASKPASS`
    * `GIT_EXEC_PATH`
    * `GIT_PROXY_COMMAND`
    * `GIT_SSH`
    * `GIT_SSH_COMMAND`
    * `GIT_SSL_CAINFO`
    * `GIT_SSL_NO_VERIFY`

    See the git man page for details.

    Examples:

    ```bash
    npm install git+ssh://git@github.com:npm/cli.git#v1.0.27
    npm install git+ssh://git@github.com:npm/cli#pull/273
    npm install git+ssh://git@github.com:npm/cli#semver:^5.0
    npm install git+https://isaacs@github.com/npm/cli.git
    npm install git://github.com/npm/cli.git#v1.0.27
    GIT_SSH_COMMAND='ssh -i ~/.ssh/custom_ident' npm install git+ssh://git@github.com:npm/cli.git
    ```

* `npm install <githubname>/<githubrepo>[#<commit-ish>]`:
* `npm install github:<githubname>/<githubrepo>[#<commit-ish>]`:

    Install the package at `https://github.com/githubname/githubrepo` by
    attempting to clone it using `git`.

    If `#<commit-ish>` is provided, it will be used to clone exactly that
    commit. If the commit-ish has the format `#semver:<semver>`, `<semver>`
    can be any valid semver range or exact version, and npm will look for
    any tags or refs matching that range in the remote repository, much as
    it would for a registry dependency. If neither `#<commit-ish>` or
    `#semver:<semver>` is specified, then `master` is used.

    As with regular git dependencies, `dependencies` and `devDependencies`
    will be installed if the package has a `prepare` script before the
    package is done installing.

    Examples:

    ```bash
    npm install mygithubuser/myproject
    npm install github:mygithubuser/myproject
   ```

* `npm install gist:[<githubname>/]<gistID>[#<commit-ish>|#semver:<semver>]`:

    Install the package at `https://gist.github.com/gistID` by attempting to
    clone it using `git`. The GitHub username associated with the gist is
    optional and will not be saved in `package.json`.

    As with regular git dependencies, `dependencies` and `devDependencies` will
    be installed if the package has a `prepare` script before the package is
    done installing.

    Example:

    ```bash
    npm install gist:101a11beef
    ```

* `npm install bitbucket:<bitbucketname>/<bitbucketrepo>[#<commit-ish>]`:

    Install the package at `https://bitbucket.org/bitbucketname/bitbucketrepo`
    by attempting to clone it using `git`.

    If `#<commit-ish>` is provided, it will be used to clone exactly that
    commit. If the commit-ish has the format `#semver:<semver>`, `<semver>` can
    be any valid semver range or exact version, and npm will look for any tags
    or refs matching that range in the remote repository, much as it would for a
    registry dependency. If neither `#<commit-ish>` or `#semver:<semver>` is
    specified, then `master` is used.

    As with regular git dependencies, `dependencies` and `devDependencies` will
    be installed if the package has a `prepare` script before the package is
    done installing.

    Example:

    ```bash
    npm install bitbucket:mybitbucketuser/myproject
    ```

* `npm install gitlab:<gitlabname>/<gitlabrepo>[#<commit-ish>]`:

    Install the package at `https://gitlab.com/gitlabname/gitlabrepo`
    by attempting to clone it using `git`.

    If `#<commit-ish>` is provided, it will be used to clone exactly that
    commit. If the commit-ish has the format `#semver:<semver>`, `<semver>` can
    be any valid semver range or exact version, and npm will look for any tags
    or refs matching that range in the remote repository, much as it would for a
    registry dependency. If neither `#<commit-ish>` or `#semver:<semver>` is
    specified, then `master` is used.

    As with regular git dependencies, `dependencies` and `devDependencies` will
    be installed if the package has a `prepare` script before the package is
    done installing.

    Example:

    ```bash
    npm install gitlab:mygitlabuser/myproject
    npm install gitlab:myusr/myproj#semver:^5.0
    ```

You may combine multiple arguments and even multiple types of arguments.
For example:

```bash
npm install sax@">=0.1.0 <0.2.0" bench supervisor
```

The `--tag` argument will apply to all of the specified install targets. If
a tag with the given name exists, the tagged version is preferred over
newer versions.

The `--dry-run` argument will report in the usual way what the install
would have done without actually installing anything.

The `--package-lock-only` argument will only update the
`package-lock.json`, instead of checking `node_modules` and downloading
dependencies.

The `-f` or `--force` argument will force npm to fetch remote resources
even if a local copy exists on disk.

```bash
npm install sax --force
```

### Configuration

See the [`config`](/using-npm/config) help doc.  Many of the configuration
params have some effect on installation, since that's most of what npm
does.

These are some of the most common options related to installation.

<!-- AUTOGENERATED CONFIG DESCRIPTIONS START -->
<!-- automatically generated, do not edit manually -->
#### `save`

* Default: true
* Type: Boolean

Save installed packages to a package.json file as dependencies.

When used with the `npm rm` command, removes the dependency from
package.json.

#### `save-exact`

* Default: false
* Type: Boolean

Dependencies saved to package.json will be configured with an exact version
rather than using npm's default semver range operator.

#### `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
[folders](/configuring-npm/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`

#### `global-style`

* Default: false
* Type: Boolean

Causes npm to install the package into your local `node_modules` folder with
the same layout it uses with the global `node_modules` folder. Only your
direct dependencies will show in `node_modules` and everything they depend
on will be flattened in their `node_modules` folders. This obviously will
eliminate some deduping. If used with `legacy-bundling`, `legacy-bundling`
will be preferred.

#### `legacy-bundling`

* Default: false
* Type: Boolean

Causes npm to install the package such that versions of npm prior to 1.4,
such as the one included with node 0.8, can install the package. This
eliminates all automatic deduping. If used with `global-style` this option
will be preferred.

#### `strict-peer-deps`

* Default: false
* Type: Boolean

If set to `true`, and `--legacy-peer-deps` is not set, then _any_
conflicting `peerDependencies` will be treated as an install failure, even
if npm could reasonably guess the appropriate resolution based on non-peer
dependency relationships.

By default, conflicting `peerDependencies` deep in the dependency graph will
be resolved using the nearest non-peer dependency specification, even if
doing so will result in some packages receiving a peer dependency outside
the range set in their package's `peerDependencies` object.

When such and override is performed, a warning is printed, explaining the
conflict and the packages involved. If `--strict-peer-deps` is set, then
this warning is treated as a failure.

#### `package-lock`

* Default: true
* Type: Boolean

If set to false, then ignore `package-lock.json` files when installing. This
will also prevent _writing_ `package-lock.json` if `save` is true.

When package package-locks are disabled, automatic pruning of extraneous
modules will also be disabled. To remove extraneous modules with
package-locks disabled use `npm prune`.

#### `omit`

* Default: 'dev' if the `NODE_ENV` environment variable is set to
  'production', otherwise empty.
* Type: "dev", "optional", or "peer" (can be set multiple times)

Dependency types to omit from the installation tree on disk.

Note that these dependencies _are_ still resolved and added to the
`package-lock.json` or `npm-shrinkwrap.json` file. They are just not
physically installed on disk.

If a package type appears in both the `--include` and `--omit` lists, then
it will be included.

If the resulting omit list includes `'dev'`, then the `NODE_ENV` environment
variable will be set to `'production'` for all lifecycle scripts.

#### `ignore-scripts`

* Default: false
* Type: Boolean

If true, npm does not run scripts specified in package.json files.

Note that commands explicitly intended to run a particular script, such as
`npm start`, `npm stop`, `npm restart`, `npm test`, and `npm run-script`
will still run their intended script if `ignore-scripts` is set, but they
will *not* run any pre- or post-scripts.

#### `audit`

* Default: true
* Type: Boolean

When "true" submit audit reports alongside the current npm command to the
default registry and all registries configured for scopes. See the
documentation for [`npm audit`](/commands/npm-audit) for details on what is
submitted.

#### `bin-links`

* Default: true
* Type: Boolean

Tells npm to create symlinks (or `.cmd` shims on Windows) for package
executables.

Set to false to have it not do this. This can be used to work around the
fact that some file systems don't support symlinks, even on ostensibly Unix
systems.

#### `fund`

* Default: true
* Type: Boolean

When "true" displays the message at the end of each `npm install`
acknowledging the number of dependencies looking for funding. See [`npm
fund`](/commands/npm-fund) for details.

#### `dry-run`

* Default: false
* Type: Boolean

Indicates that you don't want npm to make any changes and that it should
only report what it would have done. This can be passed into any of the
commands that modify your local installation, eg, `install`, `update`,
`dedupe`, `uninstall`, as well as `pack` and `publish`.

Note: This is NOT honored by other network related commands, eg `dist-tags`,
`owner`, etc.

#### `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 to selecting all of the
  nested workspaces)

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.

#### `workspaces`

* Default: false
* Type: Boolean

Enable running a command in the context of **all** the configured
workspaces.

This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.

<!-- AUTOGENERATED CONFIG DESCRIPTIONS END -->

### Algorithm

Given a `package{dep}` structure: `A{B,C}, B{C}, C{D}`,
the npm install algorithm produces:

```bash
A
+-- B
+-- C
+-- D
```

That is, the dependency from B to C is satisfied by the fact that A already
caused C to be installed at a higher level. D is still installed at the top
level because nothing conflicts with it.

For `A{B,C}, B{C,D@1}, C{D@2}`, this algorithm produces:

```bash
A
+-- B
+-- C
   `-- D@2
+-- D@1
```

Because B's D@1 will be installed in the top-level, C now has to install
D@2 privately for itself. This algorithm is deterministic, but different
trees may be produced if two dependencies are requested for installation in
a different order.

See [folders](/configuring-npm/folders) for a more detailed description of
the specific folder structures that npm creates.

### See Also

* [npm folders](/configuring-npm/folders)
* [npm update](/commands/npm-update)
* [npm audit](/commands/npm-audit)
* [npm fund](/commands/npm-fund)
* [npm link](/commands/npm-link)
* [npm rebuild](/commands/npm-rebuild)
* [npm scripts](/using-npm/scripts)
* [npm config](/commands/npm-config)
* [npmrc](/configuring-npm/npmrc)
* [npm registry](/using-npm/registry)
* [npm dist-tag](/commands/npm-dist-tag)
* [npm uninstall](/commands/npm-uninstall)
* [npm shrinkwrap](/commands/npm-shrinkwrap)
* [package.json](/configuring-npm/package-json)
* [workspaces](/using-npm/workspaces)
