.\" Generated with Ronnjs/v0.1
.\" http://github.com/kapouer/ronnjs/
.
.TH "NPM\-FAQ" "1" "November 2011" "" ""
.
.SH "NAME"
\fBnpm-faq\fR \-\- Frequently Asked Questions
.
.SH "Where can I find these docs in HTML?"
\fIhttp://npmjs\.org/doc/\fR, or run:
.
.IP "" 4
.
.nf
npm config set viewer browser
.
.fi
.
.IP "" 0
.
.P
to open these documents in your default web browser rather than \fBman\fR\|\.
.
.SH "It didn\'t work\."
That\'s not really a question\.
.
.SH "Why didn\'t it work?"
I don\'t know yet\.
.
.P
Read the error output, and if you can\'t figure out what it means,
do what it says and post a bug with all the information it asks for\.
.
.SH "Where does npm put stuff?"
See \fBnpm help folders\fR
.
.P
tl;dr:
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
Use the \fBnpm root\fR command to see where modules go, and the \fBnpm bin\fR
command to see where executables go
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
Global installs are different from local installs\.  If you install
something with the \fB\-g\fR flag, then its executables go in \fBnpm bin \-g\fR
and its modules go in \fBnpm root \-g\fR\|\.
.
.IP "" 0
.
.SH "How do I install something everywhere?"
Install it globally by tacking \fB\-g\fR or \fB\-\-global\fR to the command\.
.
.SH "I installed something globally, but I can\'t `require()` it"
Install it locally\.
.
.SH "I don\'t wanna\."
Check out \fBnpm link\fR\|\.  You might like it\.
.
.SH "No, I really want 0\.x style \'everything global\' style\."
Ok, fine\.  Do this:
.
.IP "" 4
.
.nf
echo \'export NODE_PATH="\'$(npm root \-g)\'"\' >> ~/\.bashrc
\|\. ~/\.bashrc
npm config set global true
.
.fi
.
.IP "" 0
.
.P
This is not recommended\.
.
.P
Many things \fBwill not work\fR if you do this\.  Make sure you read and
understand \fBnpm help config\fR and \fBnpm help global\fR before you complain
about things being broken\.
.
.P
When you realize what a mistake it was, do this to switch back:
.
.IP "" 4
.
.nf
npm config delete global \-\-local
.
.fi
.
.IP "" 0
.
.SH "If \'npm\' is an acronym, why is it never capitalized?"
Contrary to the belief of many, "npm" is not in fact an abbreviation for
"Node Package Manager"\.  It is a recursive bacronymic abbreviation for
"npm is not an acronym"\.  (If it was "ninaa", then it would be an
acronym, and thus incorrectly named\.)
.
.P
"NPM", however, \fIis\fR an acronym (more precisely, a capitonym) for the
National Association of Pastoral Musicians\.  You can learn more
about them at \fIhttp://npm\.org/\fR\|\.
.
.P
In software, "NPM" is a non\-parametric mapping utility written by
Chris Rorden\.  You can analyze pictures of brains with it\.  Learn more
about the (capitalized) NPM program at \fIhttp://www\.cabiatl\.com/mricro/npm/\fR\|\.
.
.P
The first seed that eventually grew into this flower was a bash utility
named "pm", which was a shortened descendent of "pkgmakeinst", a
bash function that was used to install various different things on different
platforms, most often using Yahoo\'s \fByinst\fR\|\.  If \fBnpm\fR was ever an
acronym for anything, it was \fBnode pm\fR or maybe \fBnew pm\fR\|\.
.
.P
So, in all seriousness, the "npm" project is named after its command\-line
utility, which was organically selected to be easily typed by a right\-handed
programmer using a US QWERTY keyboard layout, ending with the
right\-ring\-finger in a postition to type the \fB\-\fR key for flags and
other command\-line arguments\.  That command\-line utility is always
lower\-case, though it starts most sentences it is a part of\.
.
.SH "How do I list installed packages?"
\fBnpm ls\fR
.
.SH "How do I search for packages?"
\fBnpm search\fR
.
.P
Arguments are greps\.  \fBnpm search jsdom\fR shows jsdom packages\.
.
.SH "How do I update npm?"
.
.nf
npm update npm \-g
.
.fi
.
.P
You can also update all outdated local packages by doing \fBnpm update\fR without
any arguments, or global packages by doing \fBnpm update \-g\fR\|\.
.
.P
Occasionally, the version of npm will progress such that the current
version cannot be properly installed with the version that you have
installed already\.  (Consider, if there is ever a bug in the \fBupdate\fR
command\.)
.
.P
In those cases, you can do this:
.
.IP "" 4
.
.nf
curl http://npmjs\.org/install\.sh | sh
.
.fi
.
.IP "" 0
.
.SH "What is a `package`?"
A package is:
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
a) a folder containing a program described by a package\.json file
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
b) a gzipped tarball containing (a)
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
c) a url that resolves to (b)
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
d) a \fB<name>@<version>\fR that is published on the registry with (c)
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
e) a \fB<name>@<tag>\fR that points to (d)
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
f) a \fB<name>\fR that has a "latest" tag satisfying (e)
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
g) a \fBgit\fR url that, when cloned, results in (a)\.
.
.IP "" 0
.
.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
after packing it up into a tarball (b)\.
.
.P
Git urls can be of the form:
.
.IP "" 4
.
.nf
git://github\.com/user/project\.git#commit\-ish
git+ssh://user@hostname:project\.git#commit\-ish
git+http://user@hostname/project/blah\.git#commit\-ish
git+https://user@hostname/project/blah\.git#commit\-ish
.
.fi
.
.IP "" 0
.
.P
The \fBcommit\-ish\fR can be any tag, sha, or branch which can be supplied as
an argument to \fBgit checkout\fR\|\.  The default is \fBmaster\fR\|\.
.
.SH "How do I install node with npm?"
You don\'t\.  Try one of these:
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
\fIhttp://github\.com/isaacs/nave\fR
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
\fIhttp://github\.com/visionmedia/n\fR
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
\fIhttp://github\.com/creationix/nvm\fR
.
.IP "" 0
.
.SH "How can I use npm for development?"
See \fBnpm help developers\fR and \fBnpm help json\fR\|\.
.
.P
You\'ll most likely want to \fBnpm link\fR your development folder\.  That\'s
awesomely handy\.
.
.P
To set up your own private registry, check out \fBnpm help registry\fR\|\.
.
.SH "Can I list a url as a dependency?"
Yes\.  It should be a url to a gzipped tarball containing a single folder
that has a package\.json in its root, or a git url\.
(See "what is a package?" above\.)
.
.SH "How do I symlink to a dev folder so I don\'t have to keep re\-installing?"
See \fBnpm help link\fR
.
.SH "The package registry website\.  What is that exactly?"
See \fBnpm help registry\fR\|\.
.
.SH "What\'s up with the insecure channel warnings?"
Until node 0\.4\.10, there were problems sending big files over HTTPS\.  That
means that publishes go over HTTP by default in those versions of node\.
.
.SH "I forgot my password, and can\'t publish\.  How do I reset it?"
Go to \fIhttp://admin\.npmjs\.org/reset\fR\|\.
.
.SH "I get ECONNREFUSED a lot\.  What\'s up?"
Either the registry is down, or node\'s DNS isn\'t able to reach out\.
This happens a lot if you don\'t follow \fIall\fR the steps in the Cygwin
setup doc\.
.
.P
To check if the registry is down, open up \fIhttp://registry\.npmjs\.org/\-/short\fR
in a web browser\.  This will also tell you if you are just unable to
access the internet for some reason\.
.
.P
If the registry IS down, let me know by emailing or posting an issue\.
We\'ll have someone kick it or something\.
.
.SH "Who does npm?"
\fBnpm view npm author\fR
.
.P
\fBnpm view npm contributors\fR
.
.SH "I have a question or request not addressed here\. Where should I put it?"
Discuss it on the mailing list, or post an issue\.
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
\fInpm\-@googlegroups\.com\fR
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
\fIhttp://github\.com/isaacs/npm/issues\fR
.
.IP "" 0
.
.SH "Why does npm hate me?"
npm is not capable of hatred\.  It loves everyone, especially you\.
.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
npm help npm
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
npm help developers
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
npm help json
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
npm help config
.
.IP "\(bu" 4
npm help folders
.
.IP "" 0