What Is the --Save Option for Npm Install?

David Miller
David Miller
• • 7 min read

I Saw Some Tutorial Where the Command Was: Npm Install --Save What Does the --Save Option Mean? 9 14 Answers Update Npm 5: as of Npm 5.0.0, Installed Modules...

What Is the --Save Option for Npm Install?

I saw some tutorial where the command was:

npm install --save

What does the --save option mean?

9

14 Answers

Update npm 5:

As of npm 5.0.0, installed modules are added as a dependency by default, so the --save option is no longer needed. The other save options still exist and are listed in the documentation for npm install.

Original answer:

Before version 5, NPM simply installed a package under node_modules by default. When you were trying to install dependencies for your app/module, you would need to first install them, and then add them (along with the appropriate version number) to the dependencies section of your package.json.

The --save option instructed NPM to include the package inside of the dependencies section of your package.json automatically, thus saving you an additional step.

In addition, there are the complementary options --save-dev and --save-optional which save the package under devDependencies and optionalDependencies, respectively. This is useful when installing development-only packages, like grunt or your testing library.

20

Update as of npm 5:

As of npm 5.0.0 (released in May 2017), installed modules are added as a dependency by default, so the --save option is no longer needed.
The other save options still exist and are listed in the documentation for npm install.

Original Answer:

To add package in dependencies:

npm install my_dep --save

or

npm install my_dep -S

or

npm i my_dep -S

To add package in devDependencies

npm install my_test_framework --save-dev

or

npm install my_test_framework -D

or

npm i my_test_framework -D

package.json

2

Update as of npm 5:

As of npm 5.0.0, installed modules are added as a dependency by default, so the --save option is no longer needed. The other save options still exist and are listed in the documentation for npm install.

Original answer:

It won't do anything if you don't have a package.json file. Start by running npm init to create one. Then calls to npm install --save or npm install --save-dev or npm install --save-optional will update the package.json to list your dependencies.

1

according to NPM Doc

So it seems that by running npm install package_name, the package dependency should be automatically added to package.json right?

3

You can also use -S, -D or -P which are equivalent of saving the package to an app dependency, a dev dependency or prod dependency. See more NPM shortcuts below:

-v: --version
-h, -?, --help, -H: --usage
-s, --silent: --loglevel silent
-q, --quiet: --loglevel warn
-d: --loglevel info
-dd, --verbose: --loglevel verbose
-ddd: --loglevel silly
-g: --global
-C: --prefix
-l: --long
-m: --message
-p, --porcelain: --parseable
-reg: --registry
-f: --force
-desc: --description
-S: --save
-P: --save-prod
-D: --save-dev
-O: --save-optional
-B: --save-bundle
-E: --save-exact
-y: --yes
-n: --yes false
ll and la commands: ls --long

This list of shortcuts can be obtained by running the following command:

$ npm help 7 config
0

npm v6.x update

Now you can be using one of npm i or npm i -S or npm i -P to install and save module as a dependency.

npm i is the alias of npm install

  1. npm i is equal to npm install, means default save module as a dependency;
  2. npm i -S is equal to npm install --save (npm v5-)
  3. npm i -P is equal to npm install --save-prod (npm v5+)

Must Read

check out your npm version

$ npm -v
6.14.4
David Miller

David Miller

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David Miller brings 15 years of experience in global economics, personal finance strategy, and market dynamics. He specializes in turning complex economic trends into actionable insights for everyday readers.