npm-init(1) npm-init(1)
NAME
npm-init - Create a package.json file
Synopsis
npm init <package-spec> (same as `npx create-<package-spec>`)
npm init <@scope> (same as `npx <@scope>/create`)
aliases: create, innit
Description
npm init <initializer> can be used to set up a new or existing npm
package.
initializer in this case is an npm package named create-<initializer>,
which will be installed by npm help npm-exec, and then have its main
bin executed -- presumably creating or updating package.json and
running any other initialization-related operations.
The init command is transformed to a corresponding npm exec operation
as follows:
o npm init foo -> npm exec create-foo
o npm init @usr/foo -> npm exec @usr/create-foo
o npm init @usr -> npm exec @usr/create
o npm init @usr@2.0.0 -> npm exec @usr/create@2.0.0
o npm init @usr/foo@2.0.0 -> npm exec @usr/create-foo@2.0.0
If the initializer is omitted (by just calling npm init), init will
fall back to legacy init behavior. It will ask you a bunch of
questions, and then write a package.json for you. It will attempt to
make reasonable guesses based on existing fields, dependencies, and
options selected. It is strictly additive, so it will keep any fields
and values that were already set. You can also use -y/--yes to skip the
questionnaire altogether. If you pass --scope, it will create a scoped
package.
Note: if a user already has the create-<initializer> package globally
installed, that will be what npm init uses. If you want npm to use the
latest version, or another specific version you must specify it:
o npm init foo@latest # fetches and runs the latest create-foo from
the registry
o npm init foo@1.2.3 # runs create-foo@1.2.3 specifically
Forwarding additional options
Any additional options will be passed directly to the command, so npm
init foo -- --hello will map to npm exec -- create-foo --hello.
To better illustrate how options are forwarded, here's a more evolved
example showing options passed to both the npm cli and a create
package, both following commands are equivalent:
o npm init foo -y --registry=<url> -- --hello -a
o npm exec -y --registry=<url> -- create-foo --hello -a
Examples
Create a new React-based project using create-react-app
<https://npm.im/create-react-app>:
$ npm init react-app ./my-react-app
Create a new esm-compatible package using create-esm
<https://npm.im/create-esm>:
$ mkdir my-esm-lib && cd my-esm-lib
$ npm init esm --yes
Generate a plain old package.json using legacy init:
$ mkdir my-npm-pkg && cd my-npm-pkg
$ git init
$ npm init
Generate it without having it ask any questions:
$ npm init -y
Set the private flag to true in package.json:
$ npm init --init-private -y
Workspaces support
It's possible to create a new workspace within your project by using
the workspace config option. When using npm init -w <dir> the cli will
create the folders and boilerplate expected while also adding a
reference to your project package.json "workspaces": [] property in
order to make sure that new generated workspace is properly set up as
such.
Given a project with no workspaces, e.g:
+-- package.json
You may generate a new workspace using the legacy init:
$ npm init -w packages/a
That will generate a new folder and package.json file, while also
updating your top-level package.json to add the reference to this new
workspace:
+-- package.json
`-- packages
`-- a
`-- package.json
The workspaces init also supports the npm init <initializer> -w <dir>
syntax, following the same set of rules explained earlier in the
initial Description section of this page. Similar to the previous
example of creating a new React-based project using create-react-app
<https://npm.im/create-react-app>, the following syntax will make sure
to create the new react app as a nested workspace within your project
and configure your package.json to recognize it as such:
npm init -w packages/my-react-app react-app .
This will make sure to generate your react app as expected, one
important consideration to have in mind is that npm exec is going to be
run in the context of the newly created folder for that workspace, and
that's the reason why in this example the initializer uses the
initializer name followed with a dot to represent the current directory
in that context, e.g: react-app .:
+-- package.json
`-- packages
+-- a
| `-- package.json
`-- my-react-app
+-- README
+-- package.json
`-- ...
Configuration
init-author-name
o Default: ""
o Type: String
The value npm init should use by default for the package author's name.
init-author-url
o Default: ""
o Type: "" or URL
The value npm init should use by default for the package author's
homepage.
init-license
o Default: "ISC"
o Type: String
The value npm init should use by default for the package license.
init-module
o Default: "~/.npm-init.js"
o Type: Path
A module that will be loaded by the npm init command. See the
documentation for the init-package-json <https://github.com/npm/init-
package-json> module for more information, or npm help init.
init-type
o Default: "commonjs"
o Type: String
The value that npm init should use by default for the package.json type
field.
init-version
o Default: "1.0.0"
o Type: SemVer string
The value that npm init should use by default for the package version
number, if not already set in package.json.
init-private
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
The value npm init should use by default for the package's private
flag.
yes
o Default: null
o Type: null or Boolean
Automatically answer "yes" to any prompts that npm might print on the
command line.
force
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
Removes various protections against unfortunate side effects, common
mistakes, unnecessary performance degradation, and malicious input.
o Allow clobbering non-npm files in global installs.
o Allow the npm version command to work on an unclean git repository.
o Allow deleting the cache folder with npm cache clean.
o Allow installing packages that have an engines declaration
requiring a different version of npm.
o Allow installing packages that have an engines declaration
requiring a different version of node, even if --engine-strict is
enabled.
o Allow npm audit fix to install modules outside your stated
dependency range (including SemVer-major changes).
o Allow unpublishing all versions of a published package.
o Allow conflicting peerDependencies to be installed in the root
project.
o Implicitly set --yes during npm init.
o Allow clobbering existing values in npm pkg
o Allow unpublishing of entire packages (not just a single version).
If you don't have a clear idea of what you want to do, it is strongly
recommended that you do not use this option!
scope
o Default: the scope of the current project, if any, or ""
o Type: String
Associate an operation with a scope for a scoped registry.
Useful when logging in to or out of a private registry:
# log in, linking the scope to the custom registry
npm login --scope=@mycorp --registry=https://registry.mycorp.com
# log out, removing the link and the auth token
npm logout --scope=@mycorp
This will cause @mycorp to be mapped to the registry for future
installation of packages specified according to the pattern
@mycorp/package.
This will also cause npm init to create a scoped package.
# accept all defaults, and create a package named "@foo/whatever",
# instead of just named "whatever"
npm init --scope=@foo --yes
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.
workspaces-update
o Default: true
o Type: Boolean
If set to true, the npm cli will run an update after operations that
may possibly change the workspaces installed to the node_modules
folder.
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.
See Also
o npm help "package spec"
o init-package-json module <http://npm.im/init-package-json>
o package.json </configuring-npm/package-json>
o npm help version
o npm help scope
o npm help exec
o npm help workspaces
NPM@11.6.1 September 2025 npm-init(1)
npm 11.6.1 - Generated Sun Sep 28 18:24:44 CDT 2025