1<!DOCTYPE html><html><head> 2<meta charset="utf-8"> 3<title>npm-init</title> 4<style> 5body { 6 background-color: #ffffff; 7 color: #24292e; 8 9 margin: 0; 10 11 line-height: 1.5; 12 13 font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji"; 14} 15#rainbar { 16 height: 10px; 17 background-image: linear-gradient(139deg, #fb8817, #ff4b01, #c12127, #e02aff); 18} 19 20a { 21 text-decoration: none; 22 color: #0366d6; 23} 24a:hover { 25 text-decoration: underline; 26} 27 28pre { 29 margin: 1em 0px; 30 padding: 1em; 31 border: solid 1px #e1e4e8; 32 border-radius: 6px; 33 34 display: block; 35 overflow: auto; 36 37 white-space: pre; 38 39 background-color: #f6f8fa; 40 color: #393a34; 41} 42code { 43 font-family: SFMono-Regular, Consolas, "Liberation Mono", Menlo, Courier, monospace; 44 font-size: 85%; 45 padding: 0.2em 0.4em; 46 background-color: #f6f8fa; 47 color: #393a34; 48} 49pre > code { 50 padding: 0; 51 background-color: inherit; 52 color: inherit; 53} 54h1, h2, h3 { 55 font-weight: 600; 56} 57 58#logobar { 59 background-color: #333333; 60 margin: 0 auto; 61 padding: 1em 4em; 62} 63#logobar .logo { 64 float: left; 65} 66#logobar .title { 67 font-weight: 600; 68 color: #dddddd; 69 float: left; 70 margin: 5px 0 0 1em; 71} 72#logobar:after { 73 content: ""; 74 display: block; 75 clear: both; 76} 77 78#content { 79 margin: 0 auto; 80 padding: 0 4em; 81} 82 83#table_of_contents > h2 { 84 font-size: 1.17em; 85} 86#table_of_contents ul:first-child { 87 border: solid 1px #e1e4e8; 88 border-radius: 6px; 89 padding: 1em; 90 background-color: #f6f8fa; 91 color: #393a34; 92} 93#table_of_contents ul { 94 list-style-type: none; 95 padding-left: 1.5em; 96} 97#table_of_contents li { 98 font-size: 0.9em; 99} 100#table_of_contents li a { 101 color: #000000; 102} 103 104header.title { 105 border-bottom: solid 1px #e1e4e8; 106} 107header.title > h1 { 108 margin-bottom: 0.25em; 109} 110header.title > .description { 111 display: block; 112 margin-bottom: 0.5em; 113 line-height: 1; 114} 115 116footer#edit { 117 border-top: solid 1px #e1e4e8; 118 margin: 3em 0 4em 0; 119 padding-top: 2em; 120} 121</style> 122</head> 123<body> 124<div id="banner"> 125<div id="rainbar"></div> 126<div id="logobar"> 127<svg class="logo" role="img" height="32" width="32" viewBox="0 0 700 700"> 128<polygon fill="#cb0000" points="0,700 700,700 700,0 0,0"></polygon> 129<polygon fill="#ffffff" points="150,550 350,550 350,250 450,250 450,550 550,550 550,150 150,150"></polygon> 130</svg> 131<div class="title"> 132npm command-line interface 133</div> 134</div> 135</div> 136 137<section id="content"> 138<header class="title"> 139<h1 id="npm-init">npm-init</h1> 140<span class="description">Create a package.json file</span> 141</header> 142 143<section id="table_of_contents"> 144<h2 id="table-of-contents">Table of contents</h2> 145<div id="_table_of_contents"><ul><li><a href="#synopsis">Synopsis</a></li><li><a href="#description">Description</a></li><ul><li><a href="#forwarding-additional-options">Forwarding additional options</a></li></ul><li><a href="#examples">Examples</a></li><li><a href="#workspaces-support">Workspaces support</a></li><li><a href="#configuration">Configuration</a></li><ul><li><a href="#init-author-name"><code>init-author-name</code></a></li><li><a href="#init-author-url"><code>init-author-url</code></a></li><li><a href="#init-license"><code>init-license</code></a></li><li><a href="#init-module"><code>init-module</code></a></li><li><a href="#init-version"><code>init-version</code></a></li><li><a href="#yes"><code>yes</code></a></li><li><a href="#force"><code>force</code></a></li><li><a href="#scope"><code>scope</code></a></li><li><a href="#workspace"><code>workspace</code></a></li><li><a href="#workspaces"><code>workspaces</code></a></li><li><a href="#workspaces-update"><code>workspaces-update</code></a></li><li><a href="#include-workspace-root"><code>include-workspace-root</code></a></li></ul><li><a href="#see-also">See Also</a></li></ul></div> 146</section> 147 148<div id="_content"><h3 id="synopsis">Synopsis</h3> 149<pre><code class="language-bash">npm init <package-spec> (same as `npx <package-spec>`) 150npm init <@scope> (same as `npx <@scope>/create`) 151 152aliases: create, innit 153</code></pre> 154<h3 id="description">Description</h3> 155<p><code>npm init <initializer></code> can be used to set up a new or existing npm 156package.</p> 157<p><code>initializer</code> in this case is an npm package named <code>create-<initializer></code>, 158which will be installed by <a href="../commands/npm-exec.html"><code>npm-exec</code></a>, and then have its 159main bin executed -- presumably creating or updating <code>package.json</code> and 160running any other initialization-related operations.</p> 161<p>The init command is transformed to a corresponding <code>npm exec</code> operation as 162follows:</p> 163<ul> 164<li><code>npm init foo</code> -> <code>npm exec create-foo</code></li> 165<li><code>npm init @usr/foo</code> -> <code>npm exec @usr/create-foo</code></li> 166<li><code>npm init @usr</code> -> <code>npm exec @usr/create</code></li> 167<li><code>npm init @usr@2.0.0</code> -> <code>npm exec @usr/create@2.0.0</code></li> 168<li><code>npm init @usr/foo@2.0.0</code> -> <code>npm exec @usr/create-foo@2.0.0</code></li> 169</ul> 170<p>If the initializer is omitted (by just calling <code>npm init</code>), init will fall 171back to legacy init behavior. It will ask you a bunch of questions, and 172then write a package.json for you. It will attempt to make reasonable 173guesses based on existing fields, dependencies, and options selected. It is 174strictly additive, so it will keep any fields and values that were already 175set. You can also use <code>-y</code>/<code>--yes</code> to skip the questionnaire altogether. If 176you pass <code>--scope</code>, it will create a scoped package.</p> 177<p><em>Note:</em> if a user already has the <code>create-<initializer></code> package 178globally installed, that will be what <code>npm init</code> uses. If you want npm 179to use the latest version, or another specific version you must specify 180it:</p> 181<ul> 182<li><code>npm init foo@latest</code> # fetches and runs the latest <code>create-foo</code> from 183the registry</li> 184<li><code>npm init foo@1.2.3</code> # runs <code>create-foo@1.2.3</code> specifically</li> 185</ul> 186<h4 id="forwarding-additional-options">Forwarding additional options</h4> 187<p>Any additional options will be passed directly to the command, so <code>npm init foo -- --hello</code> will map to <code>npm exec -- create-foo --hello</code>.</p> 188<p>To better illustrate how options are forwarded, here's a more evolved 189example showing options passed to both the <strong>npm cli</strong> and a create package, 190both following commands are equivalent:</p> 191<ul> 192<li><code>npm init foo -y --registry=<url> -- --hello -a</code></li> 193<li><code>npm exec -y --registry=<url> -- create-foo --hello -a</code></li> 194</ul> 195<h3 id="examples">Examples</h3> 196<p>Create a new React-based project using 197<a href="https://npm.im/create-react-app"><code>create-react-app</code></a>:</p> 198<pre><code class="language-bash">$ npm init react-app ./my-react-app 199</code></pre> 200<p>Create a new <code>esm</code>-compatible package using 201<a href="https://npm.im/create-esm"><code>create-esm</code></a>:</p> 202<pre><code class="language-bash">$ mkdir my-esm-lib && cd my-esm-lib 203$ npm init esm --yes 204</code></pre> 205<p>Generate a plain old package.json using legacy init:</p> 206<pre><code class="language-bash">$ mkdir my-npm-pkg && cd my-npm-pkg 207$ git init 208$ npm init 209</code></pre> 210<p>Generate it without having it ask any questions:</p> 211<pre><code class="language-bash">$ npm init -y 212</code></pre> 213<h3 id="workspaces-support">Workspaces support</h3> 214<p>It's possible to create a new workspace within your project by using the 215<code>workspace</code> config option. When using <code>npm init -w <dir></code> the cli will 216create the folders and boilerplate expected while also adding a reference 217to your project <code>package.json</code> <code>"workspaces": []</code> property in order to make 218sure that new generated <strong>workspace</strong> is properly set up as such.</p> 219<p>Given a project with no workspaces, e.g:</p> 220<pre><code>. 221+-- package.json 222</code></pre> 223<p>You may generate a new workspace using the legacy init:</p> 224<pre><code class="language-bash">$ npm init -w packages/a 225</code></pre> 226<p>That will generate a new folder and <code>package.json</code> file, while also updating 227your top-level <code>package.json</code> to add the reference to this new workspace:</p> 228<pre><code>. 229+-- package.json 230`-- packages 231 `-- a 232 `-- package.json 233</code></pre> 234<p>The workspaces init also supports the <code>npm init <initializer> -w <dir></code> 235syntax, following the same set of rules explained earlier in the initial 236<strong>Description</strong> section of this page. Similar to the previous example of 237creating a new React-based project using 238<a href="https://npm.im/create-react-app"><code>create-react-app</code></a>, the following syntax 239will make sure to create the new react app as a nested <strong>workspace</strong> within your 240project and configure your <code>package.json</code> to recognize it as such:</p> 241<pre><code class="language-bash">npm init -w packages/my-react-app react-app . 242</code></pre> 243<p>This will make sure to generate your react app as expected, one important 244consideration to have in mind is that <code>npm exec</code> is going to be run in the 245context of the newly created folder for that workspace, and that's the reason 246why in this example the initializer uses the initializer name followed with a 247dot to represent the current directory in that context, e.g: <code>react-app .</code>:</p> 248<pre><code>. 249+-- package.json 250`-- packages 251 +-- a 252 | `-- package.json 253 `-- my-react-app 254 +-- README 255 +-- package.json 256 `-- ... 257</code></pre> 258<h3 id="configuration">Configuration</h3> 259<h4 id="init-author-name"><code>init-author-name</code></h4> 260<ul> 261<li>Default: ""</li> 262<li>Type: String</li> 263</ul> 264<p>The value <code>npm init</code> should use by default for the package author's name.</p> 265<h4 id="init-author-url"><code>init-author-url</code></h4> 266<ul> 267<li>Default: ""</li> 268<li>Type: "" or URL</li> 269</ul> 270<p>The value <code>npm init</code> should use by default for the package author's 271homepage.</p> 272<h4 id="init-license"><code>init-license</code></h4> 273<ul> 274<li>Default: "ISC"</li> 275<li>Type: String</li> 276</ul> 277<p>The value <code>npm init</code> should use by default for the package license.</p> 278<h4 id="init-module"><code>init-module</code></h4> 279<ul> 280<li>Default: "~/.npm-init.js"</li> 281<li>Type: Path</li> 282</ul> 283<p>A module that will be loaded by the <code>npm init</code> command. See the 284documentation for the 285<a href="https://github.com/npm/init-package-json">init-package-json</a> module for 286more information, or <a href="../commands/npm-init.html">npm init</a>.</p> 287<h4 id="init-version"><code>init-version</code></h4> 288<ul> 289<li>Default: "1.0.0"</li> 290<li>Type: SemVer string</li> 291</ul> 292<p>The value that <code>npm init</code> should use by default for the package version 293number, if not already set in package.json.</p> 294<h4 id="yes"><code>yes</code></h4> 295<ul> 296<li>Default: null</li> 297<li>Type: null or Boolean</li> 298</ul> 299<p>Automatically answer "yes" to any prompts that npm might print on the 300command line.</p> 301<h4 id="force"><code>force</code></h4> 302<ul> 303<li>Default: false</li> 304<li>Type: Boolean</li> 305</ul> 306<p>Removes various protections against unfortunate side effects, common 307mistakes, unnecessary performance degradation, and malicious input.</p> 308<ul> 309<li>Allow clobbering non-npm files in global installs.</li> 310<li>Allow the <code>npm version</code> command to work on an unclean git repository.</li> 311<li>Allow deleting the cache folder with <code>npm cache clean</code>.</li> 312<li>Allow installing packages that have an <code>engines</code> declaration requiring a 313different version of npm.</li> 314<li>Allow installing packages that have an <code>engines</code> declaration requiring a 315different version of <code>node</code>, even if <code>--engine-strict</code> is enabled.</li> 316<li>Allow <code>npm audit fix</code> to install modules outside your stated dependency 317range (including SemVer-major changes).</li> 318<li>Allow unpublishing all versions of a published package.</li> 319<li>Allow conflicting peerDependencies to be installed in the root project.</li> 320<li>Implicitly set <code>--yes</code> during <code>npm init</code>.</li> 321<li>Allow clobbering existing values in <code>npm pkg</code></li> 322<li>Allow unpublishing of entire packages (not just a single version).</li> 323</ul> 324<p>If you don't have a clear idea of what you want to do, it is strongly 325recommended that you do not use this option!</p> 326<h4 id="scope"><code>scope</code></h4> 327<ul> 328<li>Default: the scope of the current project, if any, or ""</li> 329<li>Type: String</li> 330</ul> 331<p>Associate an operation with a scope for a scoped registry.</p> 332<p>Useful when logging in to or out of a private registry:</p> 333<pre><code># log in, linking the scope to the custom registry 334npm login --scope=@mycorp --registry=https://registry.mycorp.com 335 336# log out, removing the link and the auth token 337npm logout --scope=@mycorp 338</code></pre> 339<p>This will cause <code>@mycorp</code> to be mapped to the registry for future 340installation of packages specified according to the pattern 341<code>@mycorp/package</code>.</p> 342<p>This will also cause <code>npm init</code> to create a scoped package.</p> 343<pre><code># accept all defaults, and create a package named "@foo/whatever", 344# instead of just named "whatever" 345npm init --scope=@foo --yes 346</code></pre> 347<h4 id="workspace"><code>workspace</code></h4> 348<ul> 349<li>Default:</li> 350<li>Type: String (can be set multiple times)</li> 351</ul> 352<p>Enable running a command in the context of the configured workspaces of the 353current project while filtering by running only the workspaces defined by 354this configuration option.</p> 355<p>Valid values for the <code>workspace</code> config are either:</p> 356<ul> 357<li>Workspace names</li> 358<li>Path to a workspace directory</li> 359<li>Path to a parent workspace directory (will result in selecting all 360workspaces within that folder)</li> 361</ul> 362<p>When set for the <code>npm init</code> command, this may be set to the folder of a 363workspace which does not yet exist, to create the folder and set it up as a 364brand new workspace within the project.</p> 365<p>This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.</p> 366<h4 id="workspaces"><code>workspaces</code></h4> 367<ul> 368<li>Default: null</li> 369<li>Type: null or Boolean</li> 370</ul> 371<p>Set to true to run the command in the context of <strong>all</strong> configured 372workspaces.</p> 373<p>Explicitly setting this to false will cause commands like <code>install</code> to 374ignore workspaces altogether. When not set explicitly:</p> 375<ul> 376<li>Commands that operate on the <code>node_modules</code> tree (install, update, etc.) 377will link workspaces into the <code>node_modules</code> folder. - Commands that do 378other things (test, exec, publish, etc.) will operate on the root project, 379<em>unless</em> one or more workspaces are specified in the <code>workspace</code> config.</li> 380</ul> 381<p>This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.</p> 382<h4 id="workspaces-update"><code>workspaces-update</code></h4> 383<ul> 384<li>Default: true</li> 385<li>Type: Boolean</li> 386</ul> 387<p>If set to true, the npm cli will run an update after operations that may 388possibly change the workspaces installed to the <code>node_modules</code> folder.</p> 389<h4 id="include-workspace-root"><code>include-workspace-root</code></h4> 390<ul> 391<li>Default: false</li> 392<li>Type: Boolean</li> 393</ul> 394<p>Include the workspace root when workspaces are enabled for a command.</p> 395<p>When false, specifying individual workspaces via the <code>workspace</code> config, or 396all workspaces via the <code>workspaces</code> flag, will cause npm to operate only on 397the specified workspaces, and not on the root project.</p> 398<p>This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.</p> 399<h3 id="see-also">See Also</h3> 400<ul> 401<li><a href="../using-npm/package-spec.html">package spec</a></li> 402<li><a href="http://npm.im/init-package-json">init-package-json module</a></li> 403<li><a href="../configuring-npm/package-json.html">package.json</a></li> 404<li><a href="../commands/npm-version.html">npm version</a></li> 405<li><a href="../using-npm/scope.html">npm scope</a></li> 406<li><a href="../commands/npm-exec.html">npm exec</a></li> 407<li><a href="../using-npm/workspaces.html">npm workspaces</a></li> 408</ul></div> 409 410<footer id="edit"> 411<a href="https://github.com/npm/cli/edit/latest/docs/content/commands/npm-init.md"> 412<svg role="img" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16" height="16" fill="currentcolor" style="vertical-align: text-bottom; margin-right: 0.3em;"> 413<path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M11.013 1.427a1.75 1.75 0 012.474 0l1.086 1.086a1.75 1.75 0 010 2.474l-8.61 8.61c-.21.21-.47.364-.756.445l-3.251.93a.75.75 0 01-.927-.928l.929-3.25a1.75 1.75 0 01.445-.758l8.61-8.61zm1.414 1.06a.25.25 0 00-.354 0L10.811 3.75l1.439 1.44 1.263-1.263a.25.25 0 000-.354l-1.086-1.086zM11.189 6.25L9.75 4.81l-6.286 6.287a.25.25 0 00-.064.108l-.558 1.953 1.953-.558a.249.249 0 00.108-.064l6.286-6.286z"></path> 414</svg> 415Edit this page on GitHub 416</a> 417</footer> 418</section> 419 420 421 422</body></html>