node/deps/npm/doc/cli/npm-dist-tag.md

npm-dist-tag(1) -- Modify package distribution tags

SYNOPSIS

npm dist-tag add <pkg>@<version> [<tag>]
npm dist-tag rm <pkg> <tag>
npm dist-tag ls [<pkg>]

DESCRIPTION

Add, remove, and enumerate distribution tags on a package:

• add: Tags the specified version of the package with the specified tag, or the --tag config if not specified.

• rm: Clear a tag that is no longer in use from the package.

• ls: Show all of the dist-tags for a package, defaulting to the package in the curren prefix.

A tag can be used when installing packages as a reference to a version instead of using a specific version number:

npm install <name>@<tag>

When installing dependencies, a preferred tagged version may be specified:

npm install --tag <tag>

This also applies to npm dedupe.

Publishing a package always sets the "latest" tag to the published version.

PURPOSE

Tags can be used to provide an alias instead of version numbers. For example, npm currently uses the tag "next" to identify the upcoming version, and the tag "latest" to identify the current version.

A project might choose to have multiple streams of development, e.g., "stable", "canary".

CAVEATS

This command used to be known as npm tag, which only created new tags, and so had a different syntax.

Tags must share a namespace with version numbers, because they are specified in the same slot: npm install <pkg>@<version> vs npm install <pkg>@<tag>.

Tags that can be interpreted as valid semver ranges will be rejected. For example, v1.4 cannot be used as a tag, because it is interpreted by semver as >=1.4.0 <1.5.0. See https://github.com/npm/npm/issues/6082.

The simplest way to avoid semver problems with tags is to use tags that do not begin with a number or the letter v.

SEE ALSO

• npm-tag(1)
• npm-publish(1)
• npm-install(1)
• npm-dedupe(1)
• npm-registry(7)
• npm-config(1)
• npm-config(7)
• npm-tag(3)
• npmrc(5)