How to update specific sub-package version by using npm

Question

I had checked global package minimatch for gulp

$ npm list -g minimatch

+-- [email protected]
| `-- [email protected]
|   +-- [email protected]
|   | +-- [email protected]
|   | | `-- [email protected]  deduped
|   | `-- [email protected]
|   `-- [email protected]
|     `-- [email protected]
|       `-- [email protected]
|         +-- [email protected]
|         | `-- [email protected]  deduped
|         `-- [email protected]

Now, i wanted to update all minimatch versions from specific gulp package (all [email protected] and [email protected]) to latest version.

Is their any command in npm that updates my existing package dependencies?

Answer 1

Here is my solution, you can create symbolic link for minimatch package by using

npm ln
npm link (in package dir)
npm link [<@scope>/]<pkg>[@<version>]

here is link for more explanation https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/link

I think you must not update them manually, because if something comes up wrong, you will have to delete everything and install again. it there are some migration issue disturbing you then try.

npm audit [--json|--parseable]
npm audit fix [--force|--package-lock-only|--dry-run|--production|--only=dev]

here is documentation https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/link

Answer 2

You can't and you shouldn't update subpackages (packages used as dependencies for other packages).

Node modules are designed to contain all dependencies with specified versions inside the node_modules, in order to avoid problems with new updates. Let's say your [email protected] introduces some new features, now [email protected] might stop working, and in turn [email protected] might stop working as well.

You should either:

Update to a new gulp version without worrying about minimatch

npm update gulp

or use the latest version of minimatch directly, using

npm install minimatch

If however you really want to perform the operation for whatever reason, you could try the following ugly hack:

• install minimatch somewhere in a random location with npm install [email protected]
• go to the node_modules folder in this location and copy the minimatch folder
• find your gulp installation folder (this may depend on your system, C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\gulp on Windows or /usr/lib/node_modules/gulp/ on Linux)
• search for minimatch inside the gulp installation folder (find . | grep minimatch)
• replace all the found minimatch folders with the one you just installed in the random location

At this point gulp should use the updated minimatch, although npm list will still display the old version number.
Again, this is highly not recommended and only provided for the sake of answering the question.