Bumping Node.js dependencies

By Flavio Copes

Learn how to update your package.json dependencies with npm-check-updates (ncu) and taze, targeting only minor or patch versions to avoid breaking changes.

I usually run ncu to upgrade package.json dependencies to the latest versions.

Sometimes however I want to update to the latest version of a major version, for example I’m on 1.2 and I don’t want to jump to 2.3, I want to stick to 1.3 for example, if it exists.

By default, ncu upgrades the package to the latest version available.

We have the option to only upgrade to minor versions (ignoring major new versions, with breaking changes) with ncu --target minor (or ncu -t minor).

Upgrade only patch versions with ncu -t patch.

I recently also found out about taze. A similar tool.

Use it as taze minor to bump to latest minor changes within the same major version.

Or if you prefer, taze major will check all changes and bump to the latest stable changes including majors.

Patch updates, use taze patch.

If you’re not sure whether a change deserves a major, minor or patch bump, I built a free semver advisor that helps with exactly this.

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