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HomeBlogWeb DevelopmentHow to Get a List of Globally Installed NPM Packages in Node.js?
Node.js is one of the commonly used runtime environments for JavaScript that helps in creating fast and scalable network-related applications. Node.js is getting more popular and is widely adopted due to several advanced features like an event-driven model and non-blocking I/O model. These features makes it lightweight and powerful. Not only this, developers prefer it for data-intensive real-time applications supported across distributed devices.
In 2009, Ryan Dahl introduced Node as a server-side platform, especially for creating web servers and networking tools. With Node.js, the idea of a responsive web has become a reality. It lets you leverage JavaScript and several modules to add core functionalities to the applications. Node.js comes with a rich collection of modules that reduces the complications of creating and writing server applications.
Today, top giants, such as IBM, SAP, LinkedIn, Paypal, etc., in the market are relying on Node.js for their website’s interactivity and core working. To learn more, you can simply go through the entire Node js course syllabus of the most common Node training programs.
In this article, we will discuss npm and how you can install npm packages globally and check which npm packages are installed globally. Getting information about npm list global packages is straightforward as you have to run some npm commands from your terminal. So let us get to it.
Node.js comes with npm (the world's largest software registry). Being open-source, it lets developers worldwide use the npm to share and install packages. Most companies use npm to work on their critical development process.
The npm has three major components- the website, the Command Line Interface (CLI), and the registry.
Below are some reasons that make npm more preferable over others.
You can install the packages locally or globally as per your requirement using npm. We will understand both the perspective and what is the difference between local and global packages.
Whenever you use the “require” function to include the packages, it is done locally. However, all the packages should be installed in different locations to ensure that different applications on your computer will run a different version of each package whenever required. Because if you are using the global package and there is a slight change in that package, all the applications will have to use the latest change. It might be a nightmare if it impacts your crucial applications while on the run, as it can crash your application.
You can install some executable commands locally and then run them with the help of npx, but some packages work better when they are installed globally. Some examples are npm, vue-cli, grunt-cli, mocha, and others.
Also, you might have some of your packages installed globally, whether you are aware or not. Continue reading to get the npm global list details. It is recommended to join a Full-stack Developer Bootcamp online to get a hands-on expereince of working with npm packages.
Every npm package comes with some set of dependencies that helps them to perform effortlessly and efficiently. While looking at your npm list global packages, you will have two different options.
However, the command is similar to performing both the steps, but the results are pretty different. To view the npm global packages list and their dependencies, you can run the following npm list command followed by the “-g” flag where g stands for global.
npm list -g
As you can see in the above result, all the global packages are displayed in a tree-like structure. I do not have any dependencies installed with the packages, so they are not visible in the above result.
But, if you want to see the list of npm global packages without displaying their dependencies, you can simply hit the below command from the command line terminal.
npm list -g --depth=0
The result is similar to the above command with dependencies, as we do not have any dependencies installed for these packages on the system.
Also, if you want to check if the particular package is installed globally or not, you can hit the below-mentioned “npm list -g” command followed by the package name that you want to check.
npm list -g express
Execute the following command from the command-line terminal to get the npm list of all global packages and their dependencies.
npm list -g
If you have a long list of globally installed packages, this command might take some time to retrieve the list and display it on your terminal.
After the successful execution of the command, you will see the tree-like structure displaying all globally installed packages with dependencies. It might work for some developers who want to understand the entire package structure better, but it is not a user-friendly option to get the details.
To get the top-level view of all the globally installed packages, you can use the npm command as above but with a slight difference. Or you can say it is a modified version of the above command.
Running this command will display the tree-like structure but less dense compared to list of packages and is easier to understand.
npm list -g --depth 0
As per the above command, you can see the –depth 0 flags. It specifies that the npm will only retrieve the top-level packages of the tree. Also, executing this command might take time to display the result. But, this time, the result is more user-friendly and easy to understand which package you have installed personally and which have not.
The above section explains how you can install the packages globally and get different outputs depending on your requirement. We observed how to display the entire list of all the installed packages. This is handy as now you can easily see the packages you want to delete from your system. Let us understand this with the help of an example.
Suppose I have another package named “moment” installed on my system. It is a package required at an individual level for a project, so it is easier to remove. You can easily remove a globally installed package using a straightforward command. But to remove any package you should have the sudo access.
You can also remove any other package off your system using the following command -
sudo npm uninstall -g moment
The terminal asks for the password due to the sudo command. But, if you have the package installed that you want to delete, it will get deleted after executing this command.
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Managing NPM global packages effectively is crucial for maintaining a clean and consistent development environment. Here are some of the best practices you can implement.
1. Check and verify compatibility with the current Node.js version. Eg: node -v
npm -v
2. Update globally installed packages for security patches and latest features. Eg: npm update -g
3. Review and uninstall unused global packages to declutter. Eg: npm list -g --depth=0
npm uninstall -g <package-name>
4. Backup global package list for reference or for when you want to recreate a specific environment. Eg: npm list -g --depth=0 > global-packages.txt
5. Install specific versions globally for consistency across projects. Eg: npm install -g eslint@7.2.0
6. Document the global dependencies of your project to guide and help other developers. Eg: ## Global dependencies
7. Define project-specific npm scripts locally to avoid reliance on globally installed binaries. Eg: In ‘package.json’:
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“scripts”: {
“lint”: “eslint .”
}Run locally
npm run lint
8. Use local Installations for project-specific tools to avoid global conflicts. Eg: npm install eslint --save-dev
9. Use npx for running temporary commands without globally installing packages. Eg: npx eslint --version
10. Regularly check for security vulnerabilities. Eg: npm audit
Common issues with NPM global packages include issues that arise during installing, updating or usage. Here is a list of some common problems and their potential solutions.
There may be incompatibility between globally installed packages and the Node.js version.
Solution: Ensure global packages are compatible with the installed Node.js version. Upgrade Node.js if necessary.
Permission issues may occur when installing global packages without appropriate permissions
Solution: Run the installation command with elevated privileges using ‘sudo’ or you can set up NPM to avoid permission issues.
sudo npm install -g <package-name>
Sometimes there can be conflicts between global packages and project-specific dependencies or the dependencies may be outdated.
Solution: Update the global packages or reinstall them to resolve dependency issues.
npm update -g <package-name>
You can also use ‘npx’ for project-specific commands or install project dependencies locally to avoid global conflicts.
Solution: Update npm to latest version.
npm install -g npm
Corrupted or outdated NPM cache can cause issues like installation failure.
Solution: Clear npm cache and try reinstalling the problematic package.
npm cache clean -f
Solution: Check and set necessary environment variables such as PATH. To include NPM global binaries.
Global packages are installed in a directory that might not be in your system’s PATH.
Solution: Confirm that the NPM global binaries directory is included in your PATH. You can add it to your shell configuration file (eg. ‘.bashrc’ or ‘.zshrc’).
export PATH=$(npm bin -g):$PATH
Connectivity issues may sow down package downloads as it may lead to network timeouts.
Solution: Use a faster mirror or VPN. You can also use the ‘--registry’ flag to specify a registry.
npm install -g <package-name> --registry=https://registry.npmjs.org/
Security software can block NPM operations
Solution: Temporarily disable your firewall or antivirus to see if it’s causing the issue. Adjust settings if needed.
Using any tool might not be friendly at first, but you can master as you gain more hands-on experience. This is also true for the command-line commands. There is a command available to perform any task. Different flags accompany each command for various functions and modify the basic functionality.
In this article we learned how you can use the "npm list" global packages command with the “g” flag to check the list of all globally installed packages and get other important information regarding the global packages. You can dig deeper to understand the tree-like structure and know more about your packages. If you are a developer dealing with packages and dependencies, this command will do wonders for you.
You can even remove some of the packages and their dependencies. Not only this, you can even update the node list global packages to their latest version if required. It will make you some space on the disk that you can utilize for better purposes, like improving the system’s health. If you want to learn more about npm list installed packages, we recommend you go through the knowledgeHut’s Node.js course syllabus.
Whenever you install the packages globally using npm, it will place all the packages in a single place to be used by each application. The location depends on the setup, irrespective of where you install that global package and its dependencies.
If you install a package locally with dependencies, the module will only be available for a specific project that you have installed in the same directory.
Install the package global with dependencies. Depending on your Operating System setup, it will put the module into your Node.Js path and will be available to access from any project without installing it separately for each project.
You can simply follow the below-mentioned commands to update the global npm packages.
First, you need to know which package is outdated, and you can do this by running the below command.
npm outdated -g --depth=0
To update that above-mentioned global package, you can run the following command. But make sure that you can update a single package using this command.
npm update -g <package_name>
You can replace the package name with the required one you want to update.
If in case you want to update all the available packages at the same time using a single command. You can use the following syntax.
npm update -g
Npm allows you to install the packages globally to be used by other applications also. Thus, it places all the global packages in a single place and makes them accessible to each application. By default, NPM installs global packages into node_modules/npm.
Using the “g” flag while installing the packages will specify the npm that the mentioned package will be installed globally. Below is the command.
npm install -g <package name>
To simply check whether the mentioned package is installed globally or not along with its dependencies, you can hit the following command.
npm list -g
To check if the Node is installed globally or not, along with its dependencies, you can execute the below-mentioned npm list command followed by the “-g” flag. Also, you need to replace the package name with the “npm”.
npm list -g node
This command displays the npm package. Any project or application on the system can access it and use it in their project.
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