VS Code adds a <kbd>debug</kbd> button inline in the `package.json` file

1. **Open `package.json` and click debug above `scripts` section**

 [![code npm package debug][1]][1]

2. **Select script to debug**

 [![code npm package debug options][2]][2]

3. **Debugger should be attached**

 [![code debugger][3]][3]


 [1]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/71rVX.png
 [2]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/dHHYf.png
 [3]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/iLc7L.png

I have edited my package.json to customize the "start" script so it adds the --debug flag to node:

      "scripts": {
        "start": "node --debug server.js"
      }

Is there a way of adding new scripts for example a debug script that would do what my customized "start" is doing right now?

I'm looking to be able to execute:

    npm debug

Can I add a debug script to NPM?

According to the NPM*S* (NPM *Search*) docs on how to [perform a search query][4], you can use the following operators in the npmjs.com search bar:

| Search Syntax | Description |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `scope:types` | Show/filter results that belong to the @types scope |
| `author:sindresorhus` | Show/filter results in which sindresorhus is the author |
| `maintainer:sindresorhus` | Show/filter results in which sindresorhus is qualifier as a maintainer |
| `keywords:gulpplugin` | Show/filter results that have gulpplugin in the keywords (separate multiple keywords with commas, you may also exclude keywords e.g. `-framework`) |
| `not:deprecated` | Exclude deprecated packages from the results |
| `not:unstable` | Exclude packages whose version is < 1.0.0 |
| `not:insecure` | Exclude packages that are insecure or have vulnerable dependencies (as per nsp) |
| `is:deprecated` | Show/filter is deprecated packages |
| `is:unstable` | Show/filter packages whose version is < 1.0.0 |
| `is:insecure` | Show/filter packages that are insecure or have vulnerable dependencies (as per nsp) |
| `boost-exact:false` | Do not boost exact matches, defaults to true |
| `score-effect:14` | Set the effect that package scores have for the final search score, defaults to 15.3 |
| `quality-weight:1` | Set the weight that quality has for the each package score, defaults to 1.95 |
| `popularity-weight:1` | Set the weight that popularity has for the each package score, defaults to 3.3 |
| `maintenance-weight:1` | Set the weight that the quality has for the each package score, defaults to 2.05 |

### Further Reading

* [Searching for and choosing packages to download][1]:
* [Find NPM packages by keywords and authors][6]
* [npms][2] / [npms analyzer][3]


[1]: https://docs.npmjs.com/searching-for-and-choosing-packages-to-download
[2]: https://github.com/npms-io
[3]: https://github.com/npms-io/npms-analyzer
[4]: https://api-docs.npms.io/#api-Search
[5]: https://www.npmjs.com/search?q=author%3Asindresorhus%20keywords%3Apolyfill
[6]: https://stackoverflow.com/q/52853838/1366033

What ways are there to find npm packages?

Below is community maintained listing compiled from the answers below.


### npm Specific

- In console, `npm search <keyword>`
- https://www.npmjs.org/
- http://node-modules.com/ via https://stackoverflow.com/a/13593402
- https://openbase.com/ via https://stackoverflow.com/a/66827908/2752520

### Generic

- https://github.com
- https://libraries.io


### Dead

- http://browsenpm.org/ via https://stackoverflow.com/a/24338500
- https://github.com/joyent/node/wiki/modules
- http://toolbox.no.de/ aka http://nodetoolbox.com/
- http://packagefinder1-enome.dotcloud.com/
- http://eirikb.github.com/nipster/ via https://stackoverflow.com/a/10571033
- https://nodejsmodules.org/ via https://stackoverflow.com/a/17821476
- http://npmsearch.com/ via https://stackoverflow.com/a/34471018

How to find search/find npm packages

NPM's primary job is "to put things on your computer."  Their [folders documentation][0] details what it puts where

Due to differences between operating systems, the `.npmrc` config, and the [`prefix`][3] property, it's easiest to rely on npm to determine the global install directory by using [`npm root`][4] like this:

```bash
$ npm root -g
```

You can [execute a command line binary with Node.js][5] like this:

```js
const { exec } = require('child_process')
const { promisify } = require('util');

async function main() {
    let execAsync = promisify(exec);
    let { stdout: globalPath } = await execAsync("npm root -g");
    console.log(globalPath);
}
```

----

Alternatively, in order to access the npm module programmatically, you'll need to install it locally:

```bash
$ npm i npm --save
```

And then you can run the following code:

```js
const npm = require("npm")
const { promisify } = require('util');

async function main() {
    await promisify(npm.load)()
    let globalPath = npm.root
    console.log(globalPath)
}
```

----

### Further Reading

* [Where does npm install packages?][1]
* [Global npm install location on windows?][2]

[0]: https://docs.npmjs.com/files/folders
[1]: https://stackoverflow.com/q/5926672/1366033
[2]: https://stackoverflow.com/q/33819757/1366033
[3]: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/prefix.html
[4]: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/root.html
[5]: https://stackoverflow.com/q/20643470/1366033

I want to programmatically find out the folder where npm installs global modules. This question is similar, but the answer doesn't work for globally installed modules: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7899403/how-to-get-details-of-npm-installed-modules-programatically

How to programmatically get the location where npm installs global modules

When you install Meteor, it **does not** automatically install node && npm. When installing Meteor, it will download something called `dev_bundle` which has NodeJS and all the NPM modules needed by Meteor. All these modules are pre-compiled for your platform but are not "installed" per-se.

Check out this post if you want to use the node distribubtion included with Meteor: https://meteorhacks.com/how-meteor-uses-node. I suggest you just install Node on your own, though.

I've [installed meteor][1] on my machine:

    curl https://install.meteor.com/ | sh

My understanding is that it meteor runs off of [node.js][2] and automatically installs it.  And node automatically installs [npm][3].

I'm working through the [Discover Meteor tutorial][4] and it has me run:

    npm install -g mup

But I get the following output:

    -bash: npm: command not found

Do I need to run it from a different directory? Or download / install something extra onto my machine.  Add it to my PATH?

[1]: https://www.meteor.com/install
[2]: https://nodejs.org/
[3]: https://www.npmjs.com/
[4]: https://book.discovermeteor.com/chapter/deploying#initializing-meteor-up

I've installed meteor - where is npm?

You can use [**npm-run-all**][1] to combine multiple commands in a lot of different ways

For example, if you had the following scripts in your `package.json`:

```json
"scripts": {
    "clean": "rimraf dist",
    "lint":  "eslint src",
    "build": "babel src -o lib"
}
```

You could run them all sequentially like this:

```bash
$ npm-run-all clean lint build
```

See this question for [how to run multiple npm commands in parallel][2]


[1]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/npm-run-all
[2]: https://stackoverflow.com/a/59585721/1366033

 Let's say I have 

    "scripts": {
        "pre-build": "echo \"Welcome\" && exit 1",
        "build_logic": "start cmd.exe @cmd /k \"yo esri-appbuilder-js:widget && exit 1\"",
        "post_build":  "start C:\\WebAppBuilderForArcGIS\\startupShortcut",
        "exit" : "start cmd.exe @cmd /k \"echo \"goodbye\" && exit 1\""
      },

What NPM command can I run to let all of these scripts launch sequentially. When I use pre/post fixing they launch sequentially but they don't wait for the parent script to finish before executing. I am assuming the only solution is like: https://stackoverflow.com/q/25371192/3174123 ? I know this can be done with Gulp but I would like to stick with NPM for now to explore its capabilities. Thanks for any help!

Running NPM scripts sequentially

You can use [**npx**][1] *plus* [**mkdirp**][2] for a relatively lightweight, portable solution without global installs

Add this to `package.json`:

```js
"scripts": {
  "create-dir": "npx mkdirp _site/assets",
}
```

And then use like this:

```bash
$ npm run create-dir
```

[1]: https://medium.com/@maybekatz/introducing-npx-an-npm-package-runner-55f7d4bd282b
[2]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/mkdirp

I'm trying to have a script that looks like this:

    {
        "scripts":
            "setup": "mkdir -p ./my-dir"
    }

And it fails, at least on Windows, even if I run it from a Git Bash prompt. Even trying just `mkdir ./my-dir` doesn't work. I can't figure out any reason it should fail.

The error it gives is a "syntax incorrect" error:

    > my-app@0.0.1 stage C:\my-app
    > mkdir ./my-dir
    
    The syntax of the command is incorrect.
    
    npm ERR! Windows_NT 6.1.7601
    npm ERR! argv "C:\\Program Files\\nodejs\\node.exe" "C:\\Program Files\\nodejs\\node_modules\\npm\\bin\\npm-cli.js" "run" "stage"
    npm ERR! node v6.4.0
    npm ERR! npm  v3.10.3
    npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE
    npm ERR! my-app@0.0.1 stage: `mkdir ./my-dir`
    npm ERR! Exit status 1
    npm ERR!
    npm ERR! Failed at the my-app@0.0.1 stage script 'mkdir ./my-dir'.
    npm ERR! Make sure you have the latest version of node.js and npm installed.
    npm ERR! If you do, this is most likely a problem with the my-app package,
    npm ERR! not with npm itself.
    npm ERR! Tell the author that this fails on your system:
    npm ERR!     mkdir ./my-dir
    npm ERR! You can get information on how to open an issue for this project with:
    npm ERR!     npm bugs my-app
    npm ERR! Or if that isn't available, you can get their info via:
    npm ERR!     npm owner ls my-app
    npm ERR! There is likely additional logging output above.
    
    npm ERR! Please include the following file with any support request:
    npm ERR!     C:\my-app\npm-debug.log

If this won't work, is there a cross-platform friendly way to initialize an empty directory?


Can't use mkdir in NPM script from Windows

It depends on exactly what you're trying to do in the scripts, but it's likely that you can use **npm cli packages** to effectively add cross-platform commands to any shell.

For example, if you wanted to *delete a directory*, you could use separate syntaxes for windows and linux:

```bash
rm -rf _site     # bash
rd /s /q _site   # cmd
```

Or instead, you could use the npm package [**`rimraf`**][1] which works cross platform:

```
npx rimraf _site
```

To take Dave P's example above, you could set environment variables with [**`cross-env`**][3] like this:

```json
"scripts": {
    "test": "npx cross-env NODE_ENV=test mocha",
}
```

And if you don't want to use [**`npx`**][4] to install scripts live, you can install them globally ahead of time like this:

```bash
npm i cross-env -g
```



Here's a post I wrote on [making NPM scripts work cross platform][2] which explores some of these options

[1]: https://github.com/isaacs/rimraf#cli
[2]: https://docgov.dev/posts/npm-scripts/
[3]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/cross-env
[4]: https://medium.com/@maybekatz/introducing-npx-an-npm-package-runner-55f7d4bd282b

I would like to create a `package.json` build script that executes slightly different set of commands when run from Windows, Linux, Mac.

The problem is that I cannot find a way to put it in `package.json` file that will run without problems at every system.

Here is an example that I would like to have:

 "scripts" : {
 "build.windows" : "echo do windows specific stuff",
 "build.linux" : "echo do linux specific stuff",
 "build.mac" : "echo do mac specific stuff",
 "build" : "??????????????" <- what to put here to execute script designed for OS
 on which npm is running
 }

npm package.json OS specific script

The syntax for [`npm install`][1] includes both of the following overloads:

```bash
npm install [<@scope>/]<name>@<tag>
npm install [<@scope>/]<name>@<version>
```

For tag, you can specify either `@latest` and `@beta` like this:

```bash
npm install @11ty/eleventy@latest # latest stable release
npm install @11ty/eleventy@beta # latest beta release
```

Interestingly, if you don't specify a tag, the default, set by your [npm config][2], is `@latest`


You can also find out which versions are available by running [`npm view`][4]

```bash
npm view @11ty/eleventy
```

[![npm view][5]][5]


 [1]: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/install
 [2]: https://docs.npmjs.com/misc/config#tag
 [4]: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/view.html
 [5]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/14pRi.png

I need to install a _beta_ version `3.0.0` of [react-docgen][1].

Is it possible to install a *beta* version via npm? 


[1]: https://github.com/reactjs/react-docgen


How to install beta version via npm

You can use [**npm-run-all**][1] to combine multiple commands in a lot of different ways

For example, if you had the following scripts in your `package.json`:

```json
"scripts": {
    "lint":  "eslint src",
    "build": "babel src -o lib"
}
```

You could run them in parallel like this:

```bash
$ npm-run-all --parallel lint build
```

See this question for [how to run multiple npm commands sequentially][2]

[1]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/npm-run-all
[2]: https://stackoverflow.com/a/59585697/1366033

In my `package.json`, I defined two scripts. How do I run them at the same time?

```
"scripts": {
    "server": "webpack-dev-server",
    "webpack": "webpack -wd",
},
````

How can I run multiple npm scripts at the same time?

Here are some command line utilities that help with this


### TypeSync

> Install missing TypeScript typings for dependencies in your package.json

* [github](https://github.com/jeffijoe/typesync) - 988 ⭐
* [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/typesync) - 14k/wk

    ```bash
    # installation
    npm i -g typesync
    # usage
    npx typesync
    ```

### Typed-Install

> Easily install new packages and their types, every time.

* [github](https://github.com/xavdid/typed-install) - 87 ⭐
* [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/typed-install) - 1k/wk

    ```bash
    # installation
    npm i -g typed-install
    # usage
    typedi lodash
    ```

### TS-Typie

> A small utility for installing TypeScript definition files using npm
 
* [github](https://github.com/T-Specht/ts-typie) - 25⭐
* [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/ts-typie) - 0.3k/wk

    ```bash
    # installation
    npm i -g ts-typie
    # usage
    npx ts-typie
    ```

Is there a way to configure `npm` in such a way so that whenever I install a package, it will:

1. Check if it has type definitions inside it
2. If it does not, try to install `@types/PACKAGE` with the `--save-dev` flag

Ideally, I'd like this to happen automatically (as a plugin or something) without writing a shell script that will limit the API. For example, I might write a shell script such as: (note that this doesn't really answer all the requirements)

    #!/bin/bash
    npm install --save $1 && npm install --save-dev @types/$1

But this limits me because maybe I want to `--save-dev` both of the packages or want to use some special flags in the command. Also, it creates a dependency on bash which I'd like to avoid.

Alternatively, if there is a way to make a shellscript that won't be limiting in that way, that would be okay too.

Also, the above example doesn't actually check if the package has type definitions already (in which case I *don't* want to download any from `@types`).

Install type definitions automatically when I install an npm package

To search by author and keyword, you can use the following query in the npmjs.com search bar:

<pre><code><a href="https://www.npmjs.com/search?q=author%3Asindresorhus%20keywords%3Apolyfill">author:sindresorhus keywords:polyfill</a></code></pre>

According to the npm docs on [Searching for and choosing packages to download][1]:

> npm search uses [npms][2] and the [npms analyzer][3] in the website searchbar

According to the NPM*S* (NPM *Search*) docs on how to [perform a search query][4], you can use the following operators:

| Search Syntax | Description |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `scope:types` | Show/filter results that belong to the @types scope |
| `author:sindresorhus` | Show/filter results in which sindresorhus is the author |
| `maintainer:sindresorhus` | Show/filter results in which sindresorhus is qualifier as a maintainer |
| `keywords:gulpplugin` | Show/filter results that have gulpplugin in the keywords (separate multiple keywords with commas, you may also exclude keywords e.g. `-framework`) |
| `not:deprecated` | Exclude deprecated packages from the results |
| `not:unstable` | Exclude packages whose version is < 1.0.0 |
| `not:insecure` | Exclude packages that are insecure or have vulnerable dependencies (as per nsp) |
| `is:deprecated` | Show/filter is deprecated packages |
| `is:unstable` | Show/filter packages whose version is < 1.0.0 |
| `is:insecure` | Show/filter packages that are insecure or have vulnerable dependencies (as per nsp) |
| `boost-exact:false` | Do not boost exact matches, defaults to true |
| `score-effect:14` | Set the effect that package scores have for the final search score, defaults to 15.3 |
| `quality-weight:1` | Set the weight that quality has for the each package score, defaults to 1.95 |
| `popularity-weight:1` | Set the weight that popularity has for the each package score, defaults to 3.3 |
| `maintenance-weight:1` | Set the weight that the quality has for the each package score, defaults to 2.05 |

**See Also**: [How to find search/find npm packages][6]

[1]: https://docs.npmjs.com/searching-for-and-choosing-packages-to-download
[2]: https://github.com/npms-io
[3]: https://github.com/npms-io/npms-analyzer
[4]: https://api-docs.npms.io/#api-Search
[5]: https://www.npmjs.com/search?q=author%3Asindresorhus%20keywords%3Apolyfill
[6]: https://stackoverflow.com/q/10568512/1366033

Considering I want to find all packages by several criteria  and list them, e.g. find by [`polyfill` keyword][1] and filter by [specific user][2].

How can this be done?

The reason I'm asking on SO is that I suspect that this feature is not officially supported by NPM CLI tool and website and may require the use of NPM API.

  [1]: https://www.npmjs.com/search?q=keywords:polyfill
  [2]: https://www.npmjs.com/~sindresorhus

Find NPM packages by keywords and authors

It doesn't look like the [`live-server` npm package][1] or the [live server vs code extension][2] currently have this functionality baked in.

However, you can make a local url publically available via [ngrok][3]

1. Run live-server:

    ```bash
    npx live-server
    ```

2. Then, in a separate terminal, run ngrok:

    ```bash
    npx ngrok http 8080
    ```

[![screenshot of windows terminal][4]][4]



  [1]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/live-server
  [2]: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ritwickdey.LiveServer
  [3]: https://ngrok.com/
  [4]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/e0jzp.png

Live Server is quite handy while developing and debugging.  This feature is available in node packages


    $ npm install browser-sync --save-dev

Then below command will provide the Local and External URL to get the live updates in our HTML page.

    $ gulp watch


The External URL is used to access the live changes that is made to web pages through the device connected through WiFi. This feature helps in multiple device testing at the time of development. Currently the Live Server plugin in visual studio code,enable us to view changes only in the system where it is being developed (local).

Is there any plugin or setting changes in Live Server that enable External URL feature?

How to get external URL for Live Server in Visual Studio Code?

This behavior has been documented on the npm blog under [**New Package Moniker rules**][1]:

> We’ve recently made some changes to how package naming works to better fight typosquatting, and help package authors pick names that stand out.
> 
> If you are publishing a new package—that is, a package that has not been in the registry before, we remove punctuation from its name and compare it to existing package names. ***If the names are identical without punctuation, we do not allow the package to be created***.
> 
> Because `react-native` exists, no one can publish variations like:
> 
> * `reactnative`
> * `react_native`
> * `react.native`

[1]: https://blog.npmjs.org/post/168978377570/new-package-moniker-rules



I want to publish my package to npm. the error I get is: Package name too similar to existing packages

    403 Forbidden - PUT https://registry.npmjs.org/mypack.... - Package name too similar to existing packages; try renaming your package to '@user../mypackage...' and publishing with 'npm publish --access=public' instead

but when I try to install:

    npm I mypackage...

I get the error not found:

    npm ERR! 404 Not Found - GET https://registry.npmjs.org/mypackage... - Not found

Is there a way to check if the name is good for npm and not just guess? because I can't delete the package after I publish..


