npm-check-updates

npm-check-updates (also available as ncu) is a dependency upgrade tool for JavaScript projects. It compares the versions in package.json against the latest published versions, ignoring the ranges currently specified, and lists the available upgrades. Running ncu -u rewrites package.json only; you then run npm install to update installed packages and the lockfile. ncu -g checks globally installed packages.

Upgrades keep existing range operators: ^1.2.0 becomes ^2.0.0, 1.x becomes 2.x, and * stays *. A "less than" range such as <2.0.0 is replaced with a caret range. Prerelease versions are ignored unless --pre is passed. The --target option sets the upgrade level: semver (respect existing ranges, including explicit upper bounds), minor, patch, or a dist-tag such as @next. Output is color-coded by upgrade type: red for major (and major version zero), cyan for minor, green for patch.

Packages can be selected with --filter or positional arguments (names, wildcards, regex) and excluded with --reject or a ! prefix. ncu -i starts an interactive mode where you pick upgrades with arrow keys, space, and Enter. It can be combined with --format group and --interactiveSelect to control which upgrades are pre-selected. Options can come from the command line or from config files in the current directory, next to package.json, or in $HOME. The tool works with npm, yarn, pnpm, deno, and bun, and can be used as a CLI or as a module (pure ESM, also loadable from CommonJS via require()). It requires Node.js ^22.22.2 || ^24.15.0 || >=26.0.0 and npm >=10. It suits JavaScript and TypeScript developers who maintain project dependencies.

Installation

# via npm
npm install -g npm-check-updates

# via npx
npx npm-check-updates