[node.js] npm - how to show the latest version of a package

How do I use npm to show the latest version of a module? I am expecting something like npm --latest express to print out v3.0.0.

The npm view <pkg> version prints the last version by release date. That might very well be an hotfix release for a older stable branch at times.

The solution is to list all versions and fetch the last one by version number

$ npm view <pkg> versions --json | jq -r '.[-1]'

Or with awk instead of jq:

$ npm view <pkg> --json  | awk '/"$/{print gensub("[ \"]", "", "G")}'

There is also another easy way to check the latest version without going to NPM if you are using VS Code.

In package.json file check for the module you want to know the latest version. Remove the current version already present there and do CTRL + space or CMD + space(mac).The VS code will show the latest versions

If you're looking for the current and the latest versions of all your installed packages, you can also use:

npm outdated

You can see all the version of a module with npm view. eg: To list all versions of bootstrap including beta.

npm view bootstrap versions

But if the version list is very big it will truncate. An --json option will print all version including beta versions as well.

npm view bootstrap versions --json

If you want to list only the stable versions not the beta then use singular version

npm view bootstrap@* versions

Or

npm view bootstrap@* versions --json

And, if you want to see only latest version then here you go.

npm view bootstrap version

As of October 2014:

For latest remote version:

npm view <module_name> version  

Note, version is singular.

If you'd like to see all available (remote) versions, then do:

npm view <module_name> versions

Note, versions is plural. This will give you the full listing of versions to choose from.

To get the version you actually have locally you could use:

npm list --depth=0 | grep <module_name>

Note, even with package.json declaring your versions, the installed version might actually differ slightly - for instance if tilda was used in the version declaration

Should work across NPM versions 1.3.x, 1.4.x, 2.x and 3.x