How do I update development dependencies with NPM?

Question

Here's the part of my package.json:

{
    ...
    "devDependencies": {
        "gulp": "~3.8",
        ...
    },
    ...
}

I'm running the following commands:

gulp --version

CLI version 3.8.7
Local version 3.8.6

npm update
gulp --version

CLI version 3.8.7
Local version 3.8.6

rm -Rf ./node_modules/
npm install

gulp --version

CLI version 3.8.7
Local version 3.8.7

The npm update command has no effect.

It's only after I manually delete the node_modules directory and run npm install development packages are updated. What is the reason for this? Is it possible to actually update development packages without such a hassle?

Did you try `npm update -g`? I suppose gulp is installed globally. `npm update` should update devDependencies — Marc Bachmann, Aug 03 '14 at 13:49
Gulp is installed both globally and locally. That's why it shows two versions (CLI and Local). I'm trying to update local development version, but it's not working. — Slava Fomin II, Aug 03 '14 at 17:06
Does this answer your question? [How do I update devDependencies in NPM?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10068592/how-do-i-update-devdependencies-in-npm) — Alex Parloti, Jun 25 '20 at 13:13

Hassan Siddique · Answer 1 · 2021-06-08T18:29:40.857

7

Just run the following command to update the devDependencies.

npm update

Edited, If above command does not work then try to use following.

npm update -D

OR

npm update --save-dev

edited Jun 08 '21 at 18:29

answered Jan 13 '15 at 12:48

Hassan Siddique

1,590
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1

@HassanSiddique that's the command that doesn't work. Solved my problem with npm-check-updates package though, thanks. – zimmerbimmer Jun 09 '21 at 22:34

Alex Ljamin · Answer 2 · 2017-12-02T23:55:28.273

I'm not sure why the previous answer receives upvotes if the OP mentioned that npm update did not work for him.

I have recently stumbled upon the same problem, in particular running npm update -g did not have any effect on my devDependecies in package.json file.

I gave a go to npm-check-updates package by running npm install npm-check-updates -g. To see outdated dependencies run ncu. Then run ncu -u to update all the dependencies.

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 18 '17 at 10:55

1

to update gulp server you can use

npm i -g npm

Which update lates version of it

answered Dec 18 '17 at 10:55

Abdulla Nilam

36,589
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score -1 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 25 '20 at 13:12

-1

The command below will update only the devDependecies

npm update --save-dev

answered Jun 25 '20 at 13:12

Alex Parloti

668
1
9
25

How do I update development dependencies with NPM?

4 Answers4