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1.TH "SPEC" "7" "February 2026" "NPM@11.11.0" ""2.SH "NAME"3\fBspec\fR - Package name specifier4.SS "Description"5.P6Commands like \fBnpm install\fR and the dependency sections in the \fBpackage.json\fR use a package name specifier. This can be many different things that all refer to a "package". Examples include a package name, git url, tarball, or local directory. These will generally be referred to as \fB<package-spec>\fR in the help output for the npm commands that use this package name specifier.7.SS "Package name"8.RS 09.IP \(bu 410\fB\[lB]<@scope>/\[rB]<pkg>\fR11.IP \(bu 412\fB\[lB]<@scope>/\[rB]<pkg>@<tag>\fR13.IP \(bu 414\fB\[lB]<@scope>/\[rB]<pkg>@<version>\fR15.IP \(bu 416\fB\[lB]<@scope>/\[rB]<pkg>@<version range>\fR17.RE 018 19.P20Refers to a package by name, with or without a scope, and optionally tag, version, or version range. This is typically used in combination with the \fBregistry\fR \fI\(la/using-npm/config#registry\(ra\fR config to refer to a package in a registry.21.P22Examples:23.RS 024.IP \(bu 425\fBnpm\fR26.IP \(bu 427\fB@npmcli/arborist\fR28.IP \(bu 429\fB@npmcli/arborist@latest\fR30.IP \(bu 431\fBnpm@6.13.1\fR32.IP \(bu 433\fBnpm@^4.0.0\fR34.RE 035 36.SS "Aliases"37.RS 038.IP \(bu 439\fB<alias>@npm:<name>\fR40.RE 041 42.P43Primarily used by commands like \fBnpm install\fR and in the dependency sections in the \fBpackage.json\fR, this refers to a package by an alias. The \fB<alias>\fR is the name of the package as it is reified in the \fBnode_modules\fR folder, and the \fB<name>\fR refers to a package name as found in the configured registry.44.P45See \fBPackage name\fR above for more info on referring to a package by name, and \fBregistry\fR \fI\(la/using-npm/config#registry\(ra\fR for configuring which registry is used when referring to a package by name.46.P47Examples:48.RS 049.IP \(bu 450\fBsemver@npm:@npmcli/semver-with-patch\fR51.IP \(bu 452\fBsemver@npm:semver@7.2.2\fR53.IP \(bu 454\fBsemver@npm:semver@legacy\fR55.RE 056 57.SS "Folders"58.RS 059.IP \(bu 460\fB<folder>\fR61.RE 062 63.P64This refers to a package on the local filesystem. Specifically this is a folder with a \fBpackage.json\fR file in it. This \fIshould\fR always be prefixed with a \fB/\fR or \fB./\fR (or your OS equivalent) to reduce confusion. npm currently will parse a string with more than one \fB/\fR in it as a folder, but this is legacy behavior that may be removed in a future version.65.P66Examples:67.RS 068.IP \(bu 469\fB./my-package\fR70.IP \(bu 471\fB/opt/npm/my-package\fR72.RE 073 74.SS "Tarballs"75.RS 076.IP \(bu 477\fB<tarball file>\fR78.IP \(bu 479\fB<tarball url>\fR80.RE 081 82.P83Examples:84.RS 085.IP \(bu 486\fB./my-package.tgz\fR87.IP \(bu 488\fBhttps://registry.npmjs.org/semver/-/semver-1.0.0.tgz\fR89.RE 090 91.P92Refers to a package in a tarball format, either on the local filesystem or remotely via url. This is the format that packages exist in when uploaded to a registry.93.SS "git urls"94.RS 095.IP \(bu 496\fB<git:// url>\fR97.IP \(bu 498\fB<github username>/<github project>\fR99.RE 0100 101.P102Refers to a package in a git repo. This can be a full git url, git shorthand, or a username/package on GitHub. You can specify a git tag, branch, or other git ref by appending \fB#ref\fR.103.P104Examples:105.RS 0106.IP \(bu 4107\fBhttps://github.com/npm/cli.git\fR108.IP \(bu 4109\fBgit@github.com:npm/cli.git\fR110.IP \(bu 4111\fBgit+ssh://git@github.com/npm/cli#v6.0.0\fR112.IP \(bu 4113\fBgithub:npm/cli#HEAD\fR114.IP \(bu 4115\fBnpm/cli#c12ea07\fR116.RE 0117 118.SS "See also"119.RS 0120.IP \(bu 4121\fBnpm-package-arg\fR \fI\(lahttps://npm.im/npm-package-arg\(ra\fR122.IP \(bu 4123npm help scope124.IP \(bu 4125npm help config126.RE 0127