Npm outdated command print the list of the outdated package in your project. In the project, there are a lot of packages to check which are outdated.

There are two ways to check outdated packages

Manual ways
NPM command

Manual ways

In manual ways, you open package.json files and compare every package manually.

NPM command

Npm, provide inbuilt functionality for the outdated package. So simple, you run one npm command, and you get a list of all npm outdated packages in your terminal.

 npm outdated <options>

Output

rajdeepsingh@officialrajdeepsingh:~/Downloads/officialstaticblog$ npm outdated
Package                     Current  Wanted             Latest  Location                                 Depended by
@next/swc-linux-arm64-gnu    12.1.4  12.1.5  11.1.3-canary.104  node_modules/@next/swc-linux-arm64-gnu   officialstaticblog
@next/swc-linux-arm64-musl   12.1.4  12.1.5  11.1.3-canary.104  node_modules/@next/swc-linux-arm64-musl  officialstaticblog
eslint                       8.12.0  8.12.0             8.13.0  node_modules/eslint                      officialstaticblog
eslint-config-next           12.1.4  12.1.4             12.1.5  node_modules/eslint-config-next          officialstaticblog
marked                       4.0.12  4.0.14             4.0.14  node_modules/marked                      officialstaticblog
next                         12.1.4  12.1.4             12.1.5  node_modules/next                        officialstaticblog
rajdeepsingh@officialrajdeepsingh:~/Downloads/officialstaticblog$

Npm provides lots more options or flags to improve the work experience.

You can check all options with the npm help command.

npm outdated -help

Output

rajdeepsingh@officialrajdeepsingh:~/Downloads/officialstaticblog$ npm outdated -help
    npm outdated
    Check for outdated packages
    Usage:
    npm outdated [[<@scope>/]<pkg> ...]
    Options:
    [-a|--all] [--json] [-l|--long] [-p|--parseable] [-g|--global]
    [-w|--workspace <workspace-name> [-w|--workspace <workspace-name> ...]]
    Run "npm help outdated" for more info

The list of options we discuss in the articles is common, and everybody uses them daily.

--all or -a

-all flags or options help print all the outdated packages. The list is based on your project increase or decrease. For an indication -all flags use colour.

    Package                                    Current        Wanted             Latest  Location                                                                                       Depended by
    @humanwhocodes/config-array                  0.9.5         0.9.5             0.10.2  node_modules/@humanwhocodes/config-array                                                       eslint
    @next/env                                   12.1.4        12.1.4             12.1.5  node_modules/@next/env                                                                         next
    @next/eslint-plugin-next                    12.1.4        12.1.4             12.1.5  node_modules/@next/eslint-plugin-next                                                          eslint-config-next
    @next/swc-android-arm-eabi                 MISSING        12.1.4    12.1.1-canary.0  -                                                                                              next
    @next/swc-android-arm64                    MISSING        12.1.4  11.1.3-canary.104  -                                                                                              next
    @next/swc-darwin-arm64                     MISSING        12.1.4             11.1.2  -   
    .....

--json

--json print the data in the terminal in json structure. It helps to visualise and debug the packages.json file more easily.

    {
      "@next/swc-linux-arm64-gnu": {
        "current": "12.1.4",
        "wanted": "12.1.5",
        "latest": "11.1.3-canary.104",
        "dependent": "officialstaticblog",
        "location": "/home/rajdeepsingh/Downloads/officialstaticblog/node_modules/@next/swc-linux-arm64-gnu"
      },
      "@next/swc-linux-arm64-musl": {
        "current": "12.1.4",
        "wanted": "12.1.5",
        "latest": "11.1.3-canary.104",
        "dependent": "officialstaticblog",
        "location": "/home/rajdeepsingh/Downloads/officialstaticblog/node_modules/@next/swc-linux-arm64-musl"
      },
      "eslint": {
        "current": "8.12.0",
        "wanted": "8.12.0",
        "latest": "8.13.0",
        "dependent": "officialstaticblog",
        "location": "/home/rajdeepsingh/Downloads/officialstaticblog/node_modules/eslint"
      },
      "eslint-config-next": {
        "current": "12.1.4",
        "wanted": "12.1.4",
        "latest": "12.1.5",
        "dependent": "officialstaticblog",
        "location": "/home/rajdeepsingh/Downloads/officialstaticblog/node_modules/eslint-config-next"
      },
      "marked": {
        "current": "4.0.12",
        "wanted": "4.0.14",
        "latest": "4.0.14",
        "dependent": "officialstaticblog",
        "location": "/home/rajdeepsingh/Downloads/officialstaticblog/node_modules/marked"
      },
      "next": {
        "current": "12.1.4",
        "wanted": "12.1.4",
        "latest": "12.1.5",
        "dependent": "officialstaticblog",
        "location": "/home/rajdeepsingh/Downloads/officialstaticblog/node_modules/next"
      }
    }

--long or -l

-l flag help to provide extendable information of very npm packages.

    Package                     Current  Wanted             Latest  Location                                 Depended by         Package Type     Homepage
    @next/swc-linux-arm64-gnu    12.1.4  12.1.5  11.1.3-canary.104  node_modules/@next/swc-linux-arm64-gnu   officialstaticblog  dependencies
    @next/swc-linux-arm64-musl   12.1.4  12.1.5  11.1.3-canary.104  node_modules/@next/swc-linux-arm64-musl  officialstaticblog  dependencies
    eslint                       8.12.0  8.12.0             8.13.0  node_modules/eslint                      officialstaticblog  devDependencies  https://eslint.org
    eslint-config-next           12.1.4  12.1.4             12.1.5  node_modules/eslint-config-next          officialstaticblog  devDependencies  https://github.com/vercel/next.js#readme
    marked                       4.0.12  4.0.14             4.0.14  node_modules/marked                      officialstaticblog  devDependencies  https://marked.js.org
    next                         12.1.4  12.1.4             12.1.5  node_modules/next                        officialstaticblog  dependencies     https://nextjs.org
    rajdeepsingh@officialrajdeepsingh:~/Downloads/officialstaticblog$

-g or --global

The global flag help print all the global package currently installed on your machine or laptop.

    Package   Current  Wanted  Latest  Location               Depended by
    expo-cli  4.12.11   5.3.1   5.3.1  node_modules/expo-cli  global
    npm         8.3.0   8.7.0   8.7.0  node_modules/npm       global
    rajdeepsingh@officialrajdeepsingh:~/Downloads/officialstaticblog$

-w or --workspace

workspace print all outdated package lists in your workspace

  npm outdated -w

References

https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v8/commands/npm-outdated#synopsis

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