---
title: npm-query
section: 1
description: Dependency selector query
---

### Synopsis

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<!-- see lib/commands/query.js -->

```bash
npm query <selector>
```

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<!-- see lib/commands/query.js -->

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### Description

The `npm query` command allows for usage of css selectors in order to retrieve
an array of dependency objects.

### Piping npm query to other commands

```bash
# find all dependencies with postinstall scripts & uninstall them
npm query ":attr(scripts, [postinstall])" | jq 'map(.name)|join("\n")' -r | xargs -I {} npm uninstall {}

# find all git dependencies & explain who requires them
npm query ":type(git)" | jq 'map(.name)' | xargs -I {} npm why {}
```

### Extended Use Cases & Queries

```stylus
// all deps
*

// all direct deps
:root > *

// direct production deps
:root > .prod

// direct development deps
:root > .dev

// any peer dep of a direct deps
:root > * > .peer

// any workspace dep
.workspace

// all workspaces that depend on another workspace
.workspace > .workspace

// all workspaces that have peer deps
.workspace:has(.peer)

// any dep named "lodash"
// equivalent to [name="lodash"]
#lodash

// any deps named "lodash" & within semver range ^"1.2.3"
#lodash@^1.2.3
// equivalent to...
[name="lodash"]:semver(^1.2.3)

// get the hoisted node for a given semver range
#lodash@^1.2.3:not(:deduped)

// querying deps with a specific version
#lodash@2.1.5
// equivalent to...
[name="lodash"][version="2.1.5"]

// has any deps
:has(*)

// deps with no other deps (ie. "leaf" nodes)
:empty

// manually querying git dependencies
[repository^=github:],
[repository^=git:],
[repository^=https://github.com],
[repository^=http://github.com],
[repository^=https://github.com],
[repository^=+git:...]

// querying for all git dependencies
:type(git)

// get production dependencies that aren't also dev deps
.prod:not(.dev)

// get dependencies with specific licenses
[license=MIT], [license=ISC]

// find all packages that have @ruyadorno as a contributor
:attr(contributors, [email=ruyadorno@github.com])
```

### Example Response Output

- an array of dependency objects is returned which can contain multiple copies of the same package which may or may not have been linked or deduped

```json
[
  {
    "name": "",
    "version": "",
    "description": "",
    "homepage": "",
    "bugs": {},
    "author": {},
    "license": {},
    "funding": {},
    "files": [],
    "main": "",
    "browser": "",
    "bin": {},
    "man": [],
    "directories": {},
    "repository": {},
    "scripts": {},
    "config": {},
    "dependencies": {},
    "devDependencies": {},
    "optionalDependencies": {},
    "bundledDependencies": {},
    "peerDependencies": {},
    "peerDependenciesMeta": {},
    "engines": {},
    "os": [],
    "cpu": [],
    "workspaces": {},
    "keywords": [],
    ...
  },
  ...
```

### Configuration

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#### `global`

* Default: false
* Type: Boolean

Operates in "global" mode, so that packages are installed into the `prefix`
folder instead of the current working directory. See
[folders](/configuring-npm/folders) for more on the differences in behavior.

* packages are installed into the `{prefix}/lib/node_modules` folder, instead
  of the current working directory.
* bin files are linked to `{prefix}/bin`
* man pages are linked to `{prefix}/share/man`

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#### `workspace`

* Default:
* 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:

* Workspace names
* Path to a workspace directory
* 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.

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#### `workspaces`

* Default: null
* 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:

- 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.

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#### `include-workspace-root`

* Default: false
* 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.

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## See Also

* [dependency selectors](/using-npm/dependency-selectors)

