npm-outdated

Check for outdated packages

SYNOPSIS

npm outdated [[<@scope>/]<pkg> ...]

DESCRIPTION

This command will check the registry to see if any (or, specific) installed packages are currently outdated.

In the output:

wanted is the maximum version of the package that satisfies the semver range specified in package.json. If there's no available semver range (i.e. you're running npm outdated --global, or the package isn't included in package.json), then wanted shows the currently-installed version.
latest is the version of the package tagged as latest in the registry. Running npm publish with no special configuration will publish the package with a dist-tag of latest. This may or may not be the maximum version of the package, or the most-recently published version of the package, depending on how the package's developer manages the latest dist-tag(1).
location is where in the dependency tree the package is located. Note that npm outdated defaults to a depth of 0, so unless you override that, you'll always be seeing only top-level dependencies that are outdated.
package type (when using --long / -l) tells you whether this package is a dependency or a devDependency. Packages not included in package.json are always marked dependencies.
Red means there's a newer version matching your semver requirements, so you should update now.
Yellow indicates that there's a newer version above your semver requirements (usually new major, or new 0.x minor) so proceed with caution.

An example

$ npm outdated
Package      Current   Wanted   Latest  Location
glob          5.0.15   5.0.15    6.0.1  test-outdated-output
nothingness    0.0.3      git      git  test-outdated-output
npm            3.5.1    3.5.2    3.5.1  test-outdated-output
local-dev      0.0.3   linked   linked  test-outdated-output
once           1.3.2    1.3.3    1.3.3  test-outdated-output

With these dependencies:

{
  "glob": "^5.0.15",
  "nothingness": "github:othiym23/nothingness#master",
  "npm": "^3.5.1",
  "once": "^1.3.1"
}

A few things to note:

glob requires ^5, which prevents npm from installing glob@6, which is outside the semver range.
Git dependencies will always be reinstalled, because of how they're specified. The installed committish might satisfy the dependency specifier (if it's something immutable, like a commit SHA), or it might not, so npm outdated and npm update have to fetch Git repos to check. This is why currently doing a reinstall of a Git dependency always forces a new clone and install.
`npm@3.5.2is marked as "wanted", but "latest" isnpm@3.5.1because npm uses dist-tags to manage itslatestandnextrelease channels.npm updatewill install the _newest_ version, butnpm install npm(with no semver range) will install whatever's tagged aslatest`.
once is just plain out of date. Reinstalling node_modules from scratch or running npm update will bring it up to spec.

CONFIGURATION

json

Default: false
Type: Boolean

Show information in JSON format.

long

Default: false
Type: Boolean

Show extended information.

parseable

Default: false
Type: Boolean

Show parseable output instead of tree view.

global

Default: false
Type: Boolean

Check packages in the global install prefix instead of in the current project.

depth

Default: 0
Type: Int

Max depth for checking dependency tree.