<ul><li>a) a folder containing a program described by a package.json file</li><li>b) a gzipped tarball containing (a)</li><li>c) a url that resolves to (b)</li><li>d) a <code><name>@<version></code> that is published on the registry with (c)</li><li>e) a <code><name>@<tag></code> that points to (d)</li><li>f) a <code><name></code> that has a "latest" tag satisfying (e)</li><li>g) a <code><git remote url></code> that resolves to (b)</li></ul>
<p>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
<ul><li><p><code>npm install</code> (in package directory, no arguments):</p><p>Install the dependencies in the local node_modules folder.</p><p>In global mode (ie, with <code>-g</code> or <code>--global</code> appended to the command),
directory) as a global package.</p></li><li><p><code>npm install <folder></code>:</p><p>Install a package that is sitting in a folder on the filesystem.</p></li><li><p><code>npm install <tarball file></code>:</p><p>Install a package that is sitting on the filesystem. Note: if you just want
using <code>npm link</code>.</p><p>Example:</p><pre><code> npm install ./package.tgz</code></pre></li><li><p><code>npm install <tarball url></code>:</p><p>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://"</p><p>Example:</p><pre><code> npm install https://github.com/indexzero/forever/tarball/v0.5.6</code></pre></li><li><p><code>npm install <name> [--save|--save-dev|--save-optional]</code>:</p><p>Do a <code><name>@<tag></code> install, where <code><tag></code> is the "tag" config. (See
<code><ahref="../doc/config.html">config(1)</a></code>.)</p><p>In most cases, this will install the latest version
of the module published on npm.</p><p>Example:</p><p> npm install sax</p><p><code>npm install</code> takes 3 exclusive, optional flags which save or update
the package version in your main package.json:</p><ul><li><p><code>--save</code>: Package will appear in your <code>dependencies</code>.</p></li><li><p><code>--save-dev</code>: Package will appear in your <code>devDependencies</code>.</p></li><li><p><code>--save-optional</code>: Package will appear in your <code>optionalDependencies</code>.</p><p>Examples:</p><p> npm install sax --save
npm install node-tap --save-dev
npm install dtrace-provider --save-optional</p><p><strong>Note</strong>: If there is a file or folder named <code><name></code> in the current
fetch the package by name if it is not valid.</p></li></ul></li><li><p><code>npm install <name>@<tag></code>:</p><p>Install the version of the package that is referenced by the specified tag.
will fail.</p><p>Example:</p><pre><code> npm install sax@latest</code></pre></li><li><p><code>npm install <name>@<version></code>:</p><p>Install the specified version of the package. This will fail if the version
has not been published to the registry.</p><p>Example:</p><pre><code> npm install sax@0.1.1</code></pre></li><li><p><code>npm install <name>@<version range></code>:</p><p>Install a version of the package matching the specified version range. This
will follow the same rules for resolving dependencies described in <code><ahref="../doc/json.html">json(1)</a></code>.</p><p>Note that most version ranges must be put in quotes so that your shell will
treat it as a single argument.</p><p>Example:</p><p> npm install sax@">=0.1.0 <0.2.0"</p></li><li><p><code>npm install <git remote url></code>:</p><p>Install a package by cloning a git remote url. The format of the git
url is:</p><p><protocol>://[<user>@]<hostname><separator><path>[#<commit-ish>]</p><p><code><protocol></code> is one of <code>git</code>, <code>git+ssh</code>, <code>git+http</code>, or
