npm Cheat Sheet

npm cheat sheet with real commands and snippets for setup, core workflows, debugging, and production-safe automation patterns. If you are working across tools, pair this with the Nix Cheat Sheet and sed Cheat Sheet.

Setup and Installation

Goal: Verify installation and CLI metadata

# Resolve command path from current shell
command -v npm

# Print installed version to confirm runtime
npm --version

# Read top-level help before using subcommands
npm --help

Goal: Install or upgrade the tool on a workstation

# Install package with Homebrew on macOS
brew install npm

# Upgrade to the latest available package
brew upgrade npm

# Re-check version after upgrade
npm --version

Goal: Run day-to-day commands

# Create package.json in current directory
npm init -y

# Install a runtime dependency
npm install axios

# Install a development dependency
npm install -D typescript

# Run package scripts
npm run build

Core Workflows

Goal: Capture command help for quick offline lookup

# Create docs folder for generated command references
mkdir -p docs/cli

# Write help output to a timestamped file
npm --help > docs/cli/npm-help.txt

# Search help output for a keyword
rg "config|auth|deploy" docs/cli/npm-help.txt

Goal: Wrap repetitive commands in a script

# Create scripts directory for local automation
mkdir -p scripts

# Write repeatable health-check script
cat > scripts/check-npm.sh <<'SH'
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
npm --version
npm --help >/dev/null
SH

# Make script executable and run it
chmod +x scripts/check-npm.sh && ./scripts/check-npm.sh

Configuration and Environment

Goal: Pin environment variables for predictable runs

# Define environment profile for local commands
export NPM_PROFILE=dev

# Persist profile in local shell configuration
echo 'export NPM_PROFILE=dev' >> ~/.zshrc

# Reload shell profile changes
source ~/.zshrc

Automation and CI

Goal: Add tool checks to CI pipeline

# Run lint/test/build in strict mode
set -euo pipefail

# Verify CLI exists before invoking workflow
command -v npm

# Exit quickly if command is unavailable
npm --version

Debugging and Troubleshooting

Goal: Collect diagnostics when commands fail

# Capture command output and exit code
npm --help > /tmp/npm-debug.log 2>&1; echo $?

# Inspect captured diagnostics
tail -n 80 /tmp/npm-debug.log

# Check current shell PATH entries
echo $PATH | tr ':' '\n'

Common Gotchas

• Pin npm versions in CI so local and pipeline behavior match.
• Check tool authentication context before running write or deploy commands.
• Prefer non-interactive flags in scripts to avoid stalled jobs.
• Capture stderr logs in CI artifacts for faster incident triage.
• Keep secrets in environment variables, not committed scripts.

Related Sheets

• Nix Cheat Sheet — daily Nix commands and production-ready examples.
• sed Cheat Sheet — daily sed commands and production-ready examples.
• SSH Cheat Sheet — daily SSH commands and production-ready examples.