<p>npm is the package manager for the Node JavaScript platform. It puts
modules in place so that node can find them, and manages dependency
conflicts intelligently.</p>
<p>It is extremely configurable to support a wide variety of use cases.
Most commonly, it is used to publish, discover, install, and develop node
programs.</p>
<p>Run <code>npm help</code> to get a list of available commands.</p>
<h2id="INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION</h2>
<p>You probably got npm because you want to install stuff.</p>
<p>Use <code>npm install blerg</code> to install the latest version of "blerg". Check out
<code><ahref="../doc/install.html">install(1)</a></code> for more info. It can do a lot of stuff.</p>
<p>Use the <code>npm search</code> command to show everything that's available.
Use <code>npm ls</code> to show everything you've installed.</p>
<h2id="DIRECTORIES">DIRECTORIES</h2>
<p>See <code><ahref="../doc/folders.html">folders(1)</a></code> to learn about where npm puts stuff.</p>
<p>In particular, npm has two modes of operation:</p>
<ul><li>global mode:<br/>npm installs packages into the install prefix at
<code>prefix/lib/node_modules</code> and bins are installed in <code>prefix/bin</code>.</li><li>local mode:<br/>npm installs packages into the current project directory, which
defaults to the current working directory. Packages are installed to
<code>./node_modules</code>, and bins are installed to <code>./node_modules/.bin</code>.</li></ul>
<p>Local mode is the default. Use <code>--global</code> or <code>-g</code> on any command to
operate in global mode instead.</p>
<h2id="DEVELOPER-USAGE">DEVELOPER USAGE</h2>
<p>If you're using npm to develop and publish your code, check out the
following help topics:</p>
<ul><li>json:
Make a package.json file. See <code><ahref="../doc/json.html">json(1)</a></code>.</li><li>link:
For linking your current working code into Node's path, so that you
don't have to reinstall every time you make a change. Use
<code>npm link</code> to do this.</li><li>install:
It's a good idea to install things if you don't need the symbolic link.
Especially, installing other peoples code from the registry is done via
Use the <code>npm publish</code> command to upload your code to the registry.</li></ul>
<h2id="CONFIGURATION">CONFIGURATION</h2>
<p>npm is extremely configurable. It reads its configuration options from
5 places.</p>
<ul><li>Command line switches:<br/>Set a config with <code>--key val</code>. All keys take a value, even if they
are booleans (the config parser doesn't know what the options are at
the time of parsing.) If no value is provided, then the option is set
to boolean <code>true</code>.</li><li>Environment Variables:<br/>Set any config by prefixing the name in an environment variable with
<code>npm_config_</code>. For example, <code>export npm_config_key=val</code>.</li><li>User Configs:<br/>The file at $HOME/.npmrc is an ini-formatted list of configs. If
present, it is parsed. If the <code>userconfig</code> option is set in the cli
or env, then that will be used instead.</li><li>Global Configs:<br/>The file found at ../etc/npmrc (from the node executable, by default
this resolves to /usr/local/etc/npmrc) will be parsed if it is found.
If the <code>globalconfig</code> option is set in the cli, env, or user config,
then that file is parsed instead.</li><li>Defaults:<br/>npm's default configuration options are defined in
lib/utils/config-defs.js. These must not be changed.</li></ul>
<p>See <code><ahref="../doc/config.html">config(1)</a></code> for much much more information.</p>
<h2id="CONTRIBUTIONS">CONTRIBUTIONS</h2>
<p>Patches welcome!</p>
<ul><li>code:
Read through <code><ahref="../doc/coding-style.html">coding-style(1)</a></code> if you plan to submit code.
You don't have to agree with it, but you do have to follow it.</li><li>docs:
If you find an error in the documentation, edit the appropriate markdown
file in the "doc" folder. (Don't worry about generating the man page.)</li></ul>
<p>Contributors are listed in npm's <code>package.json</code> file. You can view them
easily by doing <code>npm view npm contributors</code>.</p>
<p>If you would like to contribute, but don't know what to work on, check