npm-ci(1) npm-ci(1)
NAME
npm-ci - Clean install a project
Synopsis
npm ci
aliases: clean-install, ic, install-clean, isntall-clean
Description
This command is similar to npm help install, except it's meant to be
used in automated environments such as test platforms, continuous
integration, and deployment -- or any situation where you want to make
sure you're doing a clean install of your dependencies.
The main differences between using npm install and npm ci are:
o The project must have an existing package-lock.json or npm-
shrinkwrap.json.
o If dependencies in the package lock do not match those in
package.json, npm ci will exit with an error, instead of updating
the package lock.
o npm ci can only install entire projects at a time: individual
dependencies cannot be added with this command.
o If a node_modules is already present, it will be automatically
removed before npm ci begins its install.
o It will never write to package.json or any of the package-locks:
installs are essentially frozen.
NOTE: If you create your package-lock.json file by running npm install
with flags that can affect the shape of your dependency tree, such as
--legacy-peer-deps or --install-links, you must provide the same flags
to npm ci or you are likely to encounter errors. An easy way to do this
is to run, for example, npm config set legacy-peer-deps=true
--location=project and commit the .npmrc file to your repo.
Example
Make sure you have a package-lock and an up-to-date install:
$ cd ./my/npm/project
$ npm install
added 154 packages in 10s
$ ls | grep package-lock
Run npm ci in that project
$ npm ci
added 154 packages in 5s
Configure Travis CI to build using npm ci instead of npm install:
# .travis.yml
install:
- npm ci
# keep the npm cache around to speed up installs
cache:
directories:
- "$HOME/.npm"
Configuration
install-strategy
o Default: "hoisted"
o Type: "hoisted", "nested", "shallow", or "linked"
Sets the strategy for installing packages in node_modules. hoisted
(default): Install non-duplicated in top-level, and duplicated as
necessary within directory structure. nested: (formerly --legacy-
bundling) install in place, no hoisting. shallow (formerly --global-
style) only install direct deps at top-level. linked: (experimental)
install in node_modules/.store, link in place, unhoisted.
legacy-bundling
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
o DEPRECATED: This option has been deprecated in favor of --install-
strategy=nested
Instead of hoisting package installs in node_modules, install packages
in the same manner that they are depended on. This may cause very deep
directory structures and duplicate package installs as there is no de-
duplicating. Sets --install-strategy=nested.
global-style
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
o DEPRECATED: This option has been deprecated in favor of --install-
strategy=shallow
Only install direct dependencies in the top level node_modules, but
hoist on deeper dependencies. Sets --install-strategy=shallow.
omit
o Default: 'dev' if the NODE_ENV environment variable is set to
'production'; otherwise, empty.
o Type: "dev", "optional", or "peer" (can be set multiple times)
Dependency types to omit from the installation tree on disk.
Note that these dependencies are still resolved and added to the
package-lock.json or npm-shrinkwrap.json file. They are just not
physically installed on disk.
If a package type appears in both the --include and --omit lists, then
it will be included.
If the resulting omit list includes 'dev', then the NODE_ENV
environment variable will be set to 'production' for all lifecycle
scripts.
include
o Default:
o Type: "prod", "dev", "optional", or "peer" (can be set multiple
times)
Option that allows for defining which types of dependencies to install.
This is the inverse of --omit=<type>.
Dependency types specified in --include will not be omitted, regardless
of the order in which omit/include are specified on the command-line.
strict-peer-deps
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
If set to true, and --legacy-peer-deps is not set, then any conflicting
peerDependencies will be treated as an install failure, even if npm
could reasonably guess the appropriate resolution based on non-peer
dependency relationships.
By default, conflicting peerDependencies deep in the dependency graph
will be resolved using the nearest non-peer dependency specification,
even if doing so will result in some packages receiving a peer
dependency outside the range set in their package's peerDependencies
object.
When such an override is performed, a warning is printed, explaining
the conflict and the packages involved. If --strict-peer-deps is set,
then this warning is treated as a failure.
foreground-scripts
o Default: false unless when using npm pack or npm publish where it
defaults to true
o Type: Boolean
Run all build scripts (ie, preinstall, install, and postinstall)
scripts for installed packages in the foreground process, sharing
standard input, output, and error with the main npm process.
Note that this will generally make installs run slower, and be much
noisier, but can be useful for debugging.
ignore-scripts
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
If true, npm does not run scripts specified in package.json files.
Note that commands explicitly intended to run a particular script, such
as npm start, npm stop, npm restart, npm test, and npm run will still
run their intended script if ignore-scripts is set, but they will not
run any pre- or post-scripts.
allow-git
o Default: "all"
o Type: "all", "none", or "root"
Limits the ability for npm to fetch dependencies from git references.
That is, dependencies that point to a git repo instead of a version or
semver range. Please note that this could leave your tree incomplete
and some packages may not function as intended or designed.
all allows any git dependencies to be fetched and installed. none
prevents any git dependencies from being fetched and installed. root
only allows git dependencies defined in your project's package.json to
be fetched installed. Also allows git dependencies to be fetched for
other commands like npm view
audit
o Default: true
o Type: Boolean
When "true" submit audit reports alongside the current npm command to
the default registry and all registries configured for scopes. See the
documentation for npm help audit for details on what is submitted.
bin-links
o Default: true
o Type: Boolean
Tells npm to create symlinks (or .cmd shims on Windows) for package
executables.
Set to false to have it not do this. This can be used to work around
the fact that some file systems don't support symlinks, even on
ostensibly Unix systems.
fund
o Default: true
o Type: Boolean
When "true" displays the message at the end of each npm install
acknowledging the number of dependencies looking for funding. See npm
help fund for details.
dry-run
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
Indicates that you don't want npm to make any changes and that it
should only report what it would have done. This can be passed into any
of the commands that modify your local installation, eg, install,
update, dedupe, uninstall, as well as pack and publish.
Note: This is NOT honored by other network related commands, eg dist-
tags, owner, etc.
workspace
o Default:
o Type: String (can be set multiple times)
Enable running a command in the context of the configured workspaces of
the current project while filtering by running only the workspaces
defined by this configuration option.
Valid values for the workspace config are either:
o Workspace names
o Path to a workspace directory
o Path to a parent workspace directory (will result in selecting all
workspaces within that folder)
When set for the npm init command, this may be set to the folder of a
workspace which does not yet exist, to create the folder and set it up
as a brand new workspace within the project.
This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
workspaces
o Default: null
o Type: null or Boolean
Set to true to run the command in the context of all configured
workspaces.
Explicitly setting this to false will cause commands like install to
ignore workspaces altogether. When not set explicitly:
o Commands that operate on the node_modules tree (install, update,
etc.) will link workspaces into the node_modules folder. - Commands
that do other things (test, exec, publish, etc.) will operate on
the root project, unless one or more workspaces are specified in
the workspace config.
This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
include-workspace-root
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
Include the workspace root when workspaces are enabled for a command.
When false, specifying individual workspaces via the workspace config,
or all workspaces via the workspaces flag, will cause npm to operate
only on the specified workspaces, and not on the root project.
This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
install-links
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
When set file: protocol dependencies will be packed and installed as
regular dependencies instead of creating a symlink. This option has no
effect on workspaces.
See Also
o npm help install
o package-lock.json </configuring-npm/package-lock-json>
NPM@11.9.0 February 2026 npm-ci(1)
npm 11.9.0 - Generated Mon Feb 9 18:19:01 CST 2026