How do I update each dependency in package.json to

Question

I copied package.json from another project and now want to bump all of the dependencies to their latest versions since this is a fresh project and I don't mind fixing something if it breaks.

What's the easiest way to do this?

The best way I know of now is to run npm info express version then update package.json manually for each one. There must be a better way.

{
  "name": "myproject",
  "description": "my node project",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "engines": {
    "node": "0.8.4",
    "npm": "1.1.65"
  },
  "private": true,
  "dependencies": {
    "express": "~3.0.3", // how do I get these bumped to latest?
    "mongodb": "~1.2.5",
    "underscore": "~1.4.2",
    "rjs": "~2.9.0",
    "jade": "~0.27.2",
    "async": "~0.1.22"
  }
}

---

I am now a collaborator on npm-check-updates, which is a great solution to this problem.

Answer 1

To update one dependency to its lastest version without having to manually open the package.json and change it, you can run

npm install {package-name}@* {save flags?}

i.e.

npm install express@* --save

For reference, npm-install

---

As noted by user Vespakoen on a rejected edit, it's also possible to update multiple packages at once this way:

npm install --save package-nave@* other-package@* whatever-thing@*

He also apports a one-liner for the shell based on npm outdated. See the edit for code and explanation.

---

PS: I also hate having to manually edit package.json for things like that ;)

Answer 2

npm-check-updates

https://www.npmjs.com/package/npm-check-updates

npm-check-updates allows you to upgrade your package.json dependencies to the latest versions, regardless of existing version constraints.

$ npm install -g npm-check-updates

$ ncu -u

dependencies updated! thats all!

Answer 3

One easy step:

$ npm install -g npm-check-updates && ncu -a && npm i

Answer 4

1. Use * as the version for the latest releases, including unstable
2. Use latest as version definition for the latest stable version
3. Modify the package.json with exactly the latest stable version number using LatestStablePackages

Here is an example:

"dependencies": {
        "express": "latest"  // using the latest STABLE version
    ,   "node-gyp": "latest"    
    ,   "jade": "latest"
    ,   "mongoose": "*" // using the newest version, may involve the unstable releases
    ,   "cookie-parser": "latest"
    ,   "express-session": "latest"
    ,   "body-parser": "latest"
    ,   "nodemailer":"latest"
    ,   "validator": "latest"
    ,   "bcrypt": "latest"
    ,   "formidable": "latest"
    ,   "path": "latest"
    ,   "fs-extra": "latest"
    ,   "moment": "latest"
    ,   "express-device": "latest"
},

Answer 5

I really like how npm-upgrade works. It is a simple command line utility that goes through all of your dependencies and lets you see the current version compared to the latest version and update if you want.

Here is a screenshot of what happens after running npm-upgrade in the root of your project (next to the package.json file):

For each dependency you can choose to upgrade, ignore, view the changelog, or finish the process. It has worked great for me so far.

Answer 6

Updtr!

Based on npm outdated, updtr installs the latest version and runs npm test for each dependency. If the test succeeds, updtr saves the new version number to your package.json. If the test fails, however, updtr rolls back its changes.

https://github.com/peerigon/updtr