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

### Synopsis

<!-- AUTOGENERATED USAGE DESCRIPTIONS -->

### 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": [],
    ...
  },
  ...
```
### Package lock only mode

If package-lock-only is enabled, only the information in the package
lock (or shrinkwrap) is loaded.  This means that information from the
package.json files of your dependencies will not be included in the
result set (e.g. description, homepage, engines).

### Package lock only mode

If package-lock-only is enabled, only the information in the package
lock (or shrinkwrap) is loaded.  This means that information from the
package.json files of your dependencies will not be included in the
result set (e.g. description, homepage, engines).

### Configuration

<!-- AUTOGENERATED CONFIG DESCRIPTIONS -->
## See Also

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

