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1 ---
2 title: npm-diff
3 section: 1
4 description: The registry diff command
5 github_repo: npm/cli
6 github_branch: release/v9
7 github_path: docs/lib/content/commands/npm-diff.md
8 redirect_from:
9 - /cli-documentation/v9/cli-commands/diff
10 - /cli-documentation/v9/cli-commands/npm-diff
11 - /cli-documentation/v9/commands/diff
12 - /cli-documentation/v9/commands/npm-diff
13 - /cli-documentation/v9/diff
14 - /cli-documentation/v9/npm-diff
15 - /cli/v9/cli-commands/diff
16 - /cli/v9/cli-commands/npm-diff
17 - /cli/v9/commands/diff
18 - /cli/v9/diff
19 - /cli/v9/npm-diff
20 ---
21
22 ### Synopsis
23
24 ```bash
25 npm diff [...<paths>]
26 ```
27
28 ### Description
29
30 Similar to its `git diff` counterpart, this command will print diff patches of files for packages published to the npm registry.
31
32 - `npm diff --diff=<spec-a> --diff=<spec-b>`
33
34 Compares two package versions using their registry specifiers, e.g: `npm diff --diff=pkg@1.0.0 --diff=pkg@^2.0.0`. It's also possible to compare across forks of any package, e.g: `npm diff --diff=pkg@1.0.0 --diff=pkg-fork@1.0.0`.
35
36 Any valid spec can be used, so that it's also possible to compare directories or git repositories, e.g: `npm diff --diff=pkg@latest --diff=./packages/pkg`
37
38 Here's an example comparing two different versions of a package named `abbrev` from the registry:
39
40 ```bash
41 npm diff --diff=abbrev@1.1.0 --diff=abbrev@1.1.1
42 ```
43
44 On success, output looks like:
45
46 ```bash
47 diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
48 index v1.1.0..v1.1.1 100644
49 --- a/package.json
50 +++ b/package.json
51 @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
52 {
53 "name": "abbrev",
54 - "version": "1.1.0",
55 + "version": "1.1.1",
56 "description": "Like ruby's abbrev module, but in js",
57 "author": "Isaac Z. Schlueter <i@izs.me>",
58 "main": "abbrev.js",
59 ```
60
61 Given the flexible nature of npm specs, you can also target local directories or git repos just like when using `npm install`:
62
63 ```bash
64 npm diff --diff=https://github.com/npm/libnpmdiff --diff=./local-path
65 ```
66
67 In the example above we can compare the contents from the package installed from the git repo at `github.com/npm/libnpmdiff` with the contents of the `./local-path` that contains a valid package, such as a modified copy of the original.
68
69 - `npm diff` (in a package directory, no arguments):
70
71 If the package is published to the registry, `npm diff` will fetch the tarball version tagged as `latest` (this value can be configured using the `tag` option) and proceed to compare the contents of files present in that tarball, with the current files in your local file system.
72
73 This workflow provides a handy way for package authors to see what package-tracked files have been changed in comparison with the latest published version of that package.
74
75 - `npm diff --diff=<pkg-name>` (in a package directory):
76
77 When using a single package name (with no version or tag specifier) as an argument, `npm diff` will work in a similar way to [`npm-outdated`](npm-outdated) and reach for the registry to figure out what current published version of the package named `<pkg-name>` will satisfy its dependent declared semver-range. Once that specific version is known `npm diff` will print diff patches comparing the current version of `<pkg-name>` found in the local file system with that specific version returned by the registry.
78
79 Given a package named `abbrev` that is currently installed:
80
81 ```bash
82 npm diff --diff=abbrev
83 ```
84
85 That will request from the registry its most up to date version and will print a diff output comparing the currently installed version to this newer one if the version numbers are not the same.
86
87 - `npm diff --diff=<spec-a>` (in a package directory):
88
89 Similar to using only a single package name, it's also possible to declare a full registry specifier version if you wish to compare the local version of an installed package with the specific version/tag/semver-range provided in `<spec-a>`.
90
91 An example: assuming `pkg@1.0.0` is installed in the current `node_modules` folder, running:
92
93 ```bash
94 npm diff --diff=pkg@2.0.0
95 ```
96
97 It will effectively be an alias to `npm diff --diff=pkg@1.0.0 --diff=pkg@2.0.0`.
98
99 - `npm diff --diff=<semver-a> [--diff=<semver-b>]` (in a package directory):
100
101 Using `npm diff` along with semver-valid version numbers is a shorthand to compare different versions of the current package.
102
103 It needs to be run from a package directory, such that for a package named `pkg` running `npm diff --diff=1.0.0 --diff=1.0.1` is the same as running `npm diff --diff=pkg@1.0.0 --diff=pkg@1.0.1`.
104
105 If only a single argument `<version-a>` is provided, then the current local file system is going to be compared against that version.
106
107 Here's an example comparing two specific versions (published to the configured registry) of the current project directory:
108
109 ```bash
110 npm diff --diff=1.0.0 --diff=1.1.0
111 ```
112
113 Note that tag names are not valid `--diff` argument values, if you wish to compare to a published tag, you must use the `pkg@tagname` syntax.
114
115 #### Filtering files
116
117 It's possible to also specify positional arguments using file names or globs pattern matching in order to limit the result of diff patches to only a subset of files for a given package, e.g:
118
119 ```bash
120 npm diff --diff=pkg@2 ./lib/ CHANGELOG.md
121 ```
122
123 In the example above the diff output is only going to print contents of files located within the folder `./lib/` and changed lines of code within the `CHANGELOG.md` file.
124
125 ### Configuration
126
127 #### `diff`
128
129 - Default:
130 - Type: String (can be set multiple times)
131
132 Define arguments to compare in `npm diff`.
133
134 #### `diff-name-only`
135
136 - Default: false
137 - Type: Boolean
138
139 Prints only filenames when using `npm diff`.
140
141 #### `diff-unified`
142
143 - Default: 3
144 - Type: Number
145
146 The number of lines of context to print in `npm diff`.
147
148 #### `diff-ignore-all-space`
149
150 - Default: false
151 - Type: Boolean
152
153 Ignore whitespace when comparing lines in `npm diff`.
154
155 #### `diff-no-prefix`
156
157 - Default: false
158 - Type: Boolean
159
160 Do not show any source or destination prefix in `npm diff` output.
161
162 Note: this causes `npm diff` to ignore the `--diff-src-prefix` and `--diff-dst-prefix` configs.
163
164 #### `diff-src-prefix`
165
166 - Default: "a/"
167 - Type: String
168
169 Source prefix to be used in `npm diff` output.
170
171 #### `diff-dst-prefix`
172
173 - Default: "b/"
174 - Type: String
175
176 Destination prefix to be used in `npm diff` output.
177
178 #### `diff-text`
179
180 - Default: false
181 - Type: Boolean
182
183 Treat all files as text in `npm diff`.
184
185 #### `global`
186
187 - Default: false
188 - Type: Boolean
189
190 Operates in "global" mode, so that packages are installed into the `prefix` folder instead of the current working directory. See [folders](/cli/v9/configuring-npm/folders) for more on the differences in behavior.
191
192 - packages are installed into the `{prefix}/lib/node_modules` folder, instead of the current working directory.
193 - bin files are linked to `{prefix}/bin`
194 - man pages are linked to `{prefix}/share/man`
195
196 #### `tag`
197
198 - Default: "latest"
199 - Type: String
200
201 If you ask npm to install a package and don't tell it a specific version, then it will install the specified tag.
202
203 Also the tag that is added to the package@version specified by the `npm tag` command, if no explicit tag is given.
204
205 When used by the `npm diff` command, this is the tag used to fetch the tarball that will be compared with the local files by default.
206
207 #### `workspace`
208
209 - Default:
210 - Type: String (can be set multiple times)
211
212 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.
213
214 Valid values for the `workspace` config are either:
215
216 - Workspace names
217 - Path to a workspace directory
218 - Path to a parent workspace directory (will result in selecting all workspaces within that folder)
219
220 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.
221
222 This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
223
224 #### `workspaces`
225
226 - Default: null
227 - Type: null or Boolean
228
229 Set to true to run the command in the context of **all** configured workspaces.
230
231 Explicitly setting this to false will cause commands like `install` to ignore workspaces altogether. When not set explicitly:
232
233 - 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.
234
235 This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
236
237 #### `include-workspace-root`
238
239 - Default: false
240 - Type: Boolean
241
242 Include the workspace root when workspaces are enabled for a command.
243
244 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.
245
246 This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
247
248 ## See Also
249
250 - [npm outdated](/cli/v9/commands/npm-outdated)
251 - [npm install](/cli/v9/commands/npm-install)
252 - [npm config](/cli/v9/commands/npm-config)
253 - [npm registry](/cli/v9/using-npm/registry)