104 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
104 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: npm-explain
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section: 1
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description: Explain installed packages
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---
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### Synopsis
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```bash
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npm explain <package-spec>
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alias: why
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```
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### Description
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This command will print the chain of dependencies causing a given package
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to be installed in the current project.
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If one or more package specs are provided, then only packages matching
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one of the specifiers will have their relationships explained.
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The package spec can also refer to a folder within `./node_modules`
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For example, running `npm explain glob` within npm's source tree will show:
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```bash
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glob@7.1.6
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node_modules/glob
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glob@"^7.1.4" from the root project
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glob@7.1.1 dev
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node_modules/tacks/node_modules/glob
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glob@"^7.0.5" from rimraf@2.6.2
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node_modules/tacks/node_modules/rimraf
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rimraf@"^2.6.2" from tacks@1.3.0
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node_modules/tacks
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dev tacks@"^1.3.0" from the root project
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```
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To explain just the package residing at a specific folder, pass that as the
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argument to the command. This can be useful when trying to figure out
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exactly why a given dependency is being duplicated to satisfy conflicting
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version requirements within the project.
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```bash
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$ npm explain node_modules/nyc/node_modules/find-up
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find-up@3.0.0 dev
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node_modules/nyc/node_modules/find-up
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find-up@"^3.0.0" from nyc@14.1.1
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node_modules/nyc
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nyc@"^14.1.1" from tap@14.10.8
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node_modules/tap
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dev tap@"^14.10.8" from the root project
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```
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### Configuration
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#### `json`
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* Default: false
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* Type: Boolean
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Whether or not to output JSON data, rather than the normal output.
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* In `npm pkg set` it enables parsing set values with JSON.parse() before
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saving them to your `package.json`.
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Not supported by all npm commands.
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#### `workspace`
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* Default:
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* Type: String (can be set multiple times)
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Enable running a command in the context of the configured workspaces of the
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current project while filtering by running only the workspaces defined by
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this configuration option.
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Valid values for the `workspace` config are either:
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* Workspace names
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* Path to a workspace directory
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* Path to a parent workspace directory (will result in selecting all
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workspaces within that folder)
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When set for the `npm init` command, this may be set to the folder of a
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workspace which does not yet exist, to create the folder and set it up as a
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brand new workspace within the project.
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This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
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### See Also
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* [package spec](/using-npm/package-spec)
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* [npm config](/commands/npm-config)
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* [npmrc](/configuring-npm/npmrc)
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* [npm folders](/configuring-npm/folders)
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* [npm ls](/commands/npm-ls)
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* [npm install](/commands/npm-install)
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* [npm link](/commands/npm-link)
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* [npm prune](/commands/npm-prune)
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* [npm outdated](/commands/npm-outdated)
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* [npm update](/commands/npm-update)
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