List installed npm packages

Use npm ls --depth=0 for a project's top-level dependencies and npm ls --global --depth=0 for global packages associated with the active npm installation. list and ls are aliases.

npm ls --depth=0
npm ls --all
npm ls --global --depth=0
npm ls lodash

In current npm, an unqualified npm ls defaults to the root project's immediate dependencies. Use --all to request the full logical dependency tree. Older npm versions had different defaults, so an explicit depth makes a shared command clearer.

Read the dependency tree

Output such as express@4.19.2 identifies the installed package version; example version numbers are not upgrade recommendations. npm presents a logical dependency tree, which does not necessarily mirror the physical directory layout after hoisting or deduplication.

Pay attention to these annotations:

• extraneous: a package is present but is not required by the dependency tree npm expects. This is broader than simply being absent from the root manifest.
• UNMET DEPENDENCY or a missing dependency: an expected dependency is absent.
• invalid: an installed version fails an applicable declared constraint.

An error exit status is not automatically a harmless peer-dependency warning. Read the reported problem, identify which package requires it, and fix the manifest or installation. A service starting successfully does not prove that all code paths and tooling will work.

Filter or export the result

npm ls --omit=dev --depth=0
npm outdated
npm ls --global --depth=0 > global-packages.txt
npm ls --global --depth=0 --json > global-packages.json

--omit=dev filters development dependencies from the listing; it does not uninstall them. npm outdated compares installed versions with available releases. A saved listing is useful as an inventory, but it is not itself an installation manifest.

Global packages depend on the active npm prefix. Switching Node versions through a version manager can therefore change the global list. Confirm node --version, npm --version, and npm prefix --global when results differ between terminals.

To trace a command, use command -v command-name in a POSIX shell or Get-Command command-name in PowerShell, then inspect its symlink or shim and the supplying package's bin field. The command name and package name need not be identical.

References

• npm ls