node.js - Npm install ignores tilde (~) in version number

Question

I would like to install 1.8.x version a package, and be able to later automatically update this dependency inside the >=1.8.0 <1.9.0 range.

I tried to run this command:

npm install example-package@~1.8 --save

Unfortunately it adds this record to my package.json:

"example-package" : "^1.8.0"

But what I want is this:

"example-package" : "~1.8.0"

How is it possible to do it with npm install, without manually edit the package.json file?

Answer 1

The semver prefix is defined by the save-prefix config. The default value is a caret (^) which you can check by running the following npm config command:

npm config get save-prefix

Unfortunately, the npm install command has no option to specify this, so what you'll need to do is:

1. Set the save-prefix value to a tilde (~) by running:

   npm config set save-prefix="~"
   

2. Install your package by running:

   npm i example-package@1.8.0 --save
   

   Note: The tilde (~) must not be included in the install command.

3. Finally, set the save-prefix value back to it's default, i.e. a caret (^) by running:

   npm config delete save-prefix
   

   Note: You wouldn't do this last step if you wanted all future npm install's to use the tilde (~) prefix instead of a caret (^).

The above steps will add the following record in package.json:

"example-package" : "~1.8.0"

_{Note the tilde ~ instead of the default caret ^}

---

You can utilize the && operator to combine the aforementioned commands into a compound command. For instance:

npm config set save-prefix="~" && npm i example-package@1.8.0 --save && npm config delete save-prefix