npmyarnpkg

How to update package-lock.json without doing npm install?

Question

What is the way to update/generate package-lock.json without making a real installation of node_modules (what npm install does)?

I want just a valid package-lock.json based on my package.json, that's it.

Motivation

You might use yarn locally, when CI server uses npm. It's probably not the best practice, but still might ok as a temporary solution.

Bonus question: Same for yarn. Is it possible to generate yarn-lock.json without doing a real installation?

Solution

  • npm

    As of npm 6.x, you can use the following command:

    npm i --package-lock-only

    Documentation (https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/install.html) says:

    The --package-lock-only argument will only update the package-lock.json, instead of checking node_modules and downloading dependencies.

    yarn

    As of yarn 3.0.0, you can use the following command:

    yarn install --mode update-lockfile

    Documentation (https://yarnpkg.com/cli/install#options-mode%20%230) says:

    If the --mode=<mode> option is set, Yarn will change which artifacts are generated.

    update-lockfile will skip the link step altogether, and only fetch packages that are missing from the lockfile (or that have no associated checksums). This mode is typically used by tools like Renovate or Dependabot to keep a lockfile up-to-date without incurring the full install cost.

    As of Sep. 10, 2019: yarn doesn't seem to support generating a lock-file without installing the modules. Relevant GitHub issue: https://github.com/yarnpkg/yarn/issues/5738