npm-diff(1) npm-diff(1)
NAME
npm-diff - The registry diff command
Synopsis
npm diff [...<paths>]
Description
Similar to its git diff counterpart, this command will print diff
patches of files for packages published to the npm registry.
o npm diff --diff=<spec-a> --diff=<spec-b>
Compares two package versions using their registry specifiers, e.g: npm
diff --diff=pkg@1.0.0 --diff=pkg@^2.0.0. It's also possible to compare
across forks of any package, e.g: npm diff --diff=pkg@1.0.0 --diff=pkg-
fork@1.0.0.
Any valid spec can be used, so that it's also possible to compare
directories or git repositories, e.g: npm diff --diff=pkg@latest
--diff=./packages/pkg
Here's an example comparing two different versions of a package named
abbrev from the registry:
npm diff --diff=abbrev@1.1.0 --diff=abbrev@1.1.1
On success, output looks like:
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index v1.1.0..v1.1.1 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
{
"name": "abbrev",
- "version": "1.1.0",
+ "version": "1.1.1",
"description": "Like ruby's abbrev module, but in js",
"author": "Isaac Z. Schlueter <i@izs.me>",
"main": "abbrev.js",
Given the flexible nature of npm specs, you can also target local
directories or git repos just like when using npm install:
npm diff --diff=https://github.com/npm/libnpmdiff --diff=./local-path
In the example above we can compare the contents from the package
installed from the git repo at github.com/npm/libnpmdiff with the
contents of the ./local-path that contains a valid package, such as a
modified copy of the original.
o npm diff (in a package directory, no arguments):
If the package is published to the registry, npm diff will fetch the
tarball version tagged as latest (this value can be configured using
the tag option) and proceed to compare the contents of files present in
that tarball, with the current files in your local file system.
This workflow provides a handy way for package authors to see what
package-tracked files have been changed in comparison with the latest
published version of that package.
o npm diff --diff=<pkg-name> (in a package directory):
When using a single package name (with no version or tag specifier) as
an argument, npm diff will work in a similar way to npm-outdated <npm-
outdated> and reach for the registry to figure out what current
published version of the package named <pkg-name> will satisfy its
dependent declared semver-range. Once that specific version is known
npm diff will print diff patches comparing the current version of <pkg-
name> found in the local file system with that specific version
returned by the registry.
Given a package named abbrev that is currently installed:
npm diff --diff=abbrev
That will request from the registry its most up to date version and
will print a diff output comparing the currently installed version to
this newer one if the version numbers are not the same.
o npm diff --diff=<spec-a> (in a package directory):
Similar to using only a single package name, it's also possible to
declare a full registry specifier version if you wish to compare the
local version of an installed package with the specific
version/tag/semver-range provided in <spec-a>.
An example: assuming pkg@1.0.0 is installed in the current node_modules
folder, running:
npm diff --diff=pkg@2.0.0
It will effectively be an alias to npm diff --diff=pkg@1.0.0
--diff=pkg@2.0.0.
o npm diff --diff=<semver-a> [--diff=<semver-b>] (in a package
directory):
Using npm diff along with semver-valid version numbers is a shorthand
to compare different versions of the current package.
It needs to be run from a package directory, such that for a package
named pkg running npm diff --diff=1.0.0 --diff=1.0.1 is the same as
running npm diff --diff=pkg@1.0.0 --diff=pkg@1.0.1.
If only a single argument <version-a> is provided, then the current
local file system is going to be compared against that version.
Here's an example comparing two specific versions (published to the
configured registry) of the current project directory:
npm diff --diff=1.0.0 --diff=1.1.0
Note that tag names are not valid --diff argument values, if you wish
to compare to a published tag, you must use the pkg@tagname syntax.
Filtering files
It's possible to also specify positional arguments using file names or
globs pattern matching in order to limit the result of diff patches to
only a subset of files for a given package, e.g:
npm diff --diff=pkg@2 ./lib/ CHANGELOG.md
In the example above the diff output is only going to print contents of
files located within the folder ./lib/ and changed lines of code within
the CHANGELOG.md file.
Configuration
diff
o Default:
o Type: String (can be set multiple times)
Define arguments to compare in npm diff.
diff-name-only
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
Prints only filenames when using npm diff.
diff-unified
o Default: 3
o Type: Number
The number of lines of context to print in npm diff.
diff-ignore-all-space
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
Ignore whitespace when comparing lines in npm diff.
diff-no-prefix
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
Do not show any source or destination prefix in npm diff output.
Note: this causes npm diff to ignore the --diff-src-prefix and --diff-
dst-prefix configs.
diff-src-prefix
o Default: "a/"
o Type: String
Source prefix to be used in npm diff output.
diff-dst-prefix
o Default: "b/"
o Type: String
Destination prefix to be used in npm diff output.
diff-text
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
Treat all files as text in npm diff.
global
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
Operates in "global" mode, so that packages are installed into the
prefix folder instead of the current working directory. See npm help
folders for more on the differences in behavior.
o packages are installed into the {prefix}/lib/node_modules folder,
instead of the current working directory.
o bin files are linked to {prefix}/bin
o man pages are linked to {prefix}/share/man
tag
o Default: "latest"
o Type: String
If you ask npm to install a package and don't tell it a specific
version, then it will install the specified tag.
It is the tag added to the package@version specified in the npm dist-
tag add command, if no explicit tag is given.
When used by the npm diff command, this is the tag used to fetch the
tarball that will be compared with the local files by default.
If used in the npm publish command, this is the tag that will be added
to the package submitted to the registry.
workspace
o Default:
o 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:
o Workspace names
o Path to a workspace directory
o Path to a parent workspace directory (will result in selecting all
workspaces within that folder)
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
o Default: null
o Type: null or Boolean
Set to true to run the command in the context of all configured
workspaces.
Explicitly setting this to false will cause commands like install to
ignore workspaces altogether. When not set explicitly:
o Commands that operate on the node_modules tree (install, update,
etc.) will link workspaces into the node_modules folder. - Commands
that do other things (test, exec, publish, etc.) will operate on
the root project, unless one or more workspaces are specified in
the workspace config.
This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
include-workspace-root
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
Include the workspace root when workspaces are enabled for a command.
When false, specifying individual workspaces via the workspace config,
or all workspaces via the workspaces flag, will cause npm to operate
only on the specified workspaces, and not on the root project.
This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
SEE ALSO
o npm help outdated
o npm help install
o npm help config
o npm help registry
NPM@10.8.1 May 2024 npm-diff(1)
npm 10.8.1 - Generated Sat Jun 1 13:12:47 CDT 2024