1--- 2section: cli-commands 3title: npm-outdated 4description: Check for outdated packages 5--- 6 7# npm-outdated(1) 8 9## Check for outdated packages 10 11### Synopsis 12 13```bash 14npm outdated [[<@scope>/]<pkg> ...] 15``` 16 17### Description 18 19This command will check the registry to see if any (or, specific) installed 20packages are currently outdated. 21 22In the output: 23 24* `wanted` is the maximum version of the package that satisfies the semver 25 range specified in `package.json`. If there's no available semver range (i.e. 26 you're running `npm outdated --global`, or the package isn't included in 27 `package.json`), then `wanted` shows the currently-installed version. 28* `latest` is the version of the package tagged as latest in the registry. 29 Running `npm publish` with no special configuration will publish the package 30 with a dist-tag of `latest`. This may or may not be the maximum version of 31 the package, or the most-recently published version of the package, depending 32 on how the package's developer manages the latest [dist-tag](npm-dist-tag). 33* `location` is where in the dependency tree the package is located. Note that 34 `npm outdated` defaults to a depth of 0, so unless you override that, you'll 35 always be seeing only top-level dependencies that are outdated. 36* `package type` (when using `--long` / `-l`) tells you whether this package is 37 a `dependency` or a `devDependency`. Packages not included in `package.json` 38 are always marked `dependencies`. 39* `homepage` (when using `--long` / `-l`) is the `homepage` value contained in the package's `package.json` 40* Red means there's a newer version matching your semver requirements, so you should update now. 41* Yellow indicates that there's a newer version above your semver requirements (usually new major, or new 0.x minor) so proceed with caution. 42 43### An example 44 45```bash 46$ npm outdated 47Package Current Wanted Latest Location 48glob 5.0.15 5.0.15 6.0.1 test-outdated-output 49nothingness 0.0.3 git git test-outdated-output 50npm 3.5.1 3.5.2 3.5.1 test-outdated-output 51local-dev 0.0.3 linked linked test-outdated-output 52once 1.3.2 1.3.3 1.3.3 test-outdated-output 53``` 54 55With these `dependencies`: 56```json 57{ 58 "glob": "^5.0.15", 59 "nothingness": "github:othiym23/nothingness#master", 60 "npm": "^3.5.1", 61 "once": "^1.3.1" 62} 63``` 64 65A few things to note: 66 67* `glob` requires `^5`, which prevents npm from installing `glob@6`, which is 68 outside the semver range. 69* Git dependencies will always be reinstalled, because of how they're specified. 70 The installed committish might satisfy the dependency specifier (if it's 71 something immutable, like a commit SHA), or it might not, so `npm outdated` and 72 `npm update` have to fetch Git repos to check. This is why currently doing a 73 reinstall of a Git dependency always forces a new clone and install. 74* `npm@3.5.2` is marked as "wanted", but "latest" is `npm@3.5.1` because npm 75 uses dist-tags to manage its `latest` and `next` release channels. `npm update` 76 will install the _newest_ version, but `npm install npm` (with no semver range) 77 will install whatever's tagged as `latest`. 78* `once` is just plain out of date. Reinstalling `node_modules` from scratch or 79 running `npm update` will bring it up to spec. 80 81### Configuration 82 83#### json 84 85* Default: false 86* Type: Boolean 87 88Show information in JSON format. 89 90#### long 91 92* Default: false 93* Type: Boolean 94 95Show extended information. 96 97#### parseable 98 99* Default: false 100* Type: Boolean 101 102Show parseable output instead of tree view. 103 104#### global 105 106* Default: false 107* Type: Boolean 108 109Check packages in the global install prefix instead of in the current 110project. 111 112#### depth 113 114* Default: 0 115* Type: Int 116 117Max depth for checking dependency tree. 118 119### See Also 120 121* [npm update](/cli-commands/npm-update) 122* [npm dist-tag](/cli-commands/npm-dist-tag) 123* [npm registry](/using-npm/registry) 124* [npm folders](/configuring-npm/folders) 125