npm-outdated(1) npm-outdated(1)
NAME
npm-outdated - Check for outdated packages
Synopsis
npm outdated [<package-spec> ...]
Description
This command will check the registry to see if any (or, specific)
installed packages are currently outdated.
By default, only the direct dependencies of the root project and direct
dependencies of your configured workspaces are shown. Use --all to find
all outdated meta-dependencies as well.
In the output:
o wanted is the maximum version of the package that satisfies the
semver range specified in package.json. If there's no available
semver range (i.e. you're running npm outdated --global, or the
package isn't included in package.json), then wanted shows the
currently-installed version.
o latest is the version of the package tagged as latest in the
registry. Running npm publish with no special configuration will
publish the package with a dist-tag of latest. This may or may not
be the maximum version of the package, or the most-recently
published version of the package, depending on how the package's
developer manages the latest npm help dist-tag.
o location is where in the physical tree the package is located.
o depended by shows which package depends on the displayed dependency
o package type (when using --long / -l) tells you whether this
package is a dependency or a dev/peer/optional dependency. Packages
not included in package.json are always marked dependencies.
o homepage (when using --long / -l) is the homepage value contained
in the package's packument
o depended by location (when using --long / -l) shows location of the
package that depends on the displayed dependency
o Red means there's a newer version matching your semver
requirements, so you should update now.
o Yellow indicates that there's a newer version above your semver
requirements (usually new major, or new 0.x minor) so proceed with
caution.
An example
$ npm outdated
Package Current Wanted Latest Location Depended by
glob 5.0.15 5.0.15 6.0.1 node_modules/glob dependent-package-name
nothingness 0.0.3 git git node_modules/nothingness dependent-package-name
npm 3.5.1 3.5.2 3.5.1 node_modules/npm dependent-package-name
local-dev 0.0.3 linked linked local-dev dependent-package-name
once 1.3.2 1.3.3 1.3.3 node_modules/once dependent-package-name
With these dependencies:
{
"glob": "^5.0.15",
"nothingness": "github:othiym23/nothingness#master",
"npm": "^3.5.1",
"once": "^1.3.1"
}
A few things to note:
o glob requires ^5, which prevents npm from installing glob@6, which
is outside the semver range.
o Git dependencies will always be reinstalled, because of how they're
specified. The installed committish might satisfy the dependency
specifier (if it's something immutable, like a commit SHA), or it
might not, so npm outdated and npm update have to fetch Git repos
to check. This is why currently doing a reinstall of a Git
dependency always forces a new clone and install.
o npm@3.5.2 is marked as "wanted", but "latest" is npm@3.5.1 because
npm uses dist-tags to manage its latest and next release channels.
npm update will install the newest version, but npm install npm
(with no semver range) will install whatever's tagged as latest.
o once is just plain out of date. Reinstalling node_modules from
scratch or running npm update will bring it up to spec.
Configuration
all
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
When running npm outdated and npm ls, setting --all will show all
outdated or installed packages, rather than only those directly
depended upon by the current project.
json
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
Whether or not to output JSON data, rather than the normal output.
o In npm pkg set it enables parsing set values with JSON.parse()
before saving them to your package.json.
Not supported by all npm commands.
long
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
Show extended information in ls, search, and help-search.
parseable
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
Output parseable results from commands that write to standard output.
For npm search, this will be tab-separated table format.
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
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.
before
o Default: null
o Type: null or Date
If passed to npm install, will rebuild the npm tree such that only
versions that were available on or before the given date are installed.
If there are no versions available for the current set of dependencies,
the command will error.
If the requested version is a dist-tag and the given tag does not pass
the --before filter, the most recent version less than or equal to that
tag will be used. For example, foo@latest might install foo@1.2 even
though latest is 2.0.
This config cannot be used with: min-release-age
min-release-age
o Default: null
o Type: null or Number
If set, npm will build the npm tree such that only versions that were
available more than the given number of days ago will be installed. If
there are no versions available for the current set of dependencies,
the command will error.
This flag is a complement to before, which accepts an exact date
instead of a relative number of days.
This config cannot be used with: before
This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
See Also
o npm help "package spec"
o npm help update
o npm help dist-tag
o npm help registry
o npm help folders
o npm help workspaces
NPM@11.12.0 March 2026 npm-outdated(1)
npm 11.12.0 - Generated Thu Mar 19 07:17:55 CDT 2026