Listing NPM User-Installed Packages

Open a Terminal or Command Prompt:

• Navigate to the directory where your Node.js project is located.

Use the npm list Command:

• Type the following command in the terminal:

npm list --depth=0

• This command will list all user-installed packages directly in the current directory and their versions.

Understand the Output:

• The output will display a tree-like structure, showing the package name and its version.
• If you have nested dependencies (packages that depend on other packages), you can adjust the --depth parameter to control how many levels of dependencies are displayed.

Example:

├── [email protected]
└── [email protected]

In this example, package1 and package2 are directly installed in the current directory.

Additional Notes:

• To list all global packages installed on your system, use the -g flag:

  npm list -g
  

• To search for specific packages, use the --depth parameter and the package name:

  npm list package1 --depth=0
  

Listing NPM User-Installed Packages

Command:

npm list --depth=0

• --depth=0: This flag specifies that you only want to list the top-level packages and not their dependencies.

Example Output:

├── [email protected]
└── [email protected]

Listing Global Packages

npm list -g --depth=0

• -g: This flag indicates that you want to list the packages installed globally.

Listing Packages in a Specific Directory

cd your-project-directory
npm list --depth=0

• Replace your-project-directory with the actual path to the directory.

Listing NPM User Packages in a Node.js Script

You can also use Node.js's child_process module to execute the npm list command programmatically:

const { exec } = require('child_process');

exec('npm list --depth=0', (error, stdout, stderr) => {
  if (error) {
    console.error(`Error: ${error}`);
    return;
  }
  console.log(stdout);
});

This will execute the npm list command and print the output to the console.

Alternative Methods for Listing NPM User-Installed Packages

Using npx:

• npx is a tool bundled with npm that allows you to execute packages from the npm registry without installing them globally.
• You can use npx to run the npm list command:

npx npm list --depth=0

Using npm-check:

• npm-check is a popular tool that helps you manage your project's dependencies. It can also list installed packages:

npm install -g npm-check
npm-check --list

Using package.json:

• The package.json file in your project's root directory contains a list of dependencies. While it doesn't directly display the installed versions, you can inspect it to see which packages are included:

{
  "dependencies": {
    "package1": "^1.2.3",
    "package2": "~4.5.6"
  }
}

Using a Visual Studio Code Extension:

• Many popular code editors and IDEs, like Visual Studio Code, offer extensions that can help you manage your project's dependencies and view a list of installed packages.

Using a Dependency Manager:

• Dependency managers like yarn or pnpm can also provide commands to list installed packages. For example, in yarn:

yarn list

Using a Custom Script:

• You can create a custom script in your package.json file to execute the npm list command or other relevant commands.