NAME

       npx - Run a command from a local or remote npm package

   Synopsis
         npm exec -- <pkg>[@<version>] [args...]
         npm exec --package=<pkg>[@<version>] -- <cmd> [args...]
         npm exec -c '<cmd> [args...]'
         npm exec --package=foo -c '<cmd> [args...]'

         npx <pkg>[@<specifier>] [args...]
         npx -p <pkg>[@<specifier>] <cmd> [args...]
         npx -c '<cmd> [args...]'
         npx -p <pkg>[@<specifier>] -c '<cmd> [args...]'

         alias: npm x, npx

         --package=<pkg> (may be specified multiple times)
         -p is a shorthand for --package only when using npx executable
         -c <cmd> --call=<cmd> (may not be mixed with positional arguments)

   Description
       This command allows you to run an arbitrary command from an npm package (either one installed locally, or
       fetched remotely), in a similar context as running it via npm run.

       Whatever  packages  are  specified  by  the --package option will be provided in the PATH of the executed
       command, along with any locally installed package executables.  The --package  option  may  be  specified
       multiple  times,  to  execute  the  supplied  command  in an environment where all specified packages are
       available.

       If any requested packages are not present in the local project dependencies, then they are installed to a
       folder in the npm cache, which is added to the PATH environment variable  in  the  executed  process.   A
       prompt is printed (which can be suppressed by providing either --yes or --no).

       Package  names  provided  without  a  specifier will be matched with whatever version exists in the local
       project.  Package names with a specifier will only be considered a match if they have the exact same name
       and version as the local dependency.

       If no -c or --call option is provided, then the positional arguments are used  to  generate  the  command
       string.   If  no  --package  options are provided, then npm will attempt to determine the executable name
       from the package specifier  provided  as  the  first  positional  argument  according  to  the  following
       heuristic:

       • If  the  package  has a single entry in its bin field in package.json, or if all entries are aliases of
         the same command, then that command will be used.

       • If the package has multiple bin entries, and one of them matches  the  unscoped  portion  of  the  name
         field, then that command will be used.

       • If this does not result in exactly one option (either because there are no bin entries, or none of them
         match the name of the package), then npm exec exits with an error.

       To  run  a  binary other than the named binary, specify one or more --package options, which will prevent
       npm from inferring the package from the first command argument.

   npx vs npm exec
       When run via the npx binary, all flags and options must be set prior to any positional  arguments.   When
       run  via  npm exec, a double-hyphen -- flag can be used to suppress npm's parsing of switches and options
       that should be sent to the executed command.

       For example:

         $ npx foo@latest bar --package=@npmcli/foo

       In this case, npm will resolve the foo package name, and run the following command:

         $ foo bar --package=@npmcli/foo

       Since the --package option comes after the positional arguments, it is treated  as  an  argument  to  the
       executed command.

       In contrast, due to npm's argument parsing logic, running this command is different:

         $ npm exec foo@latest bar --package=@npmcli/foo

       In  this  case,  npm  will parse the --package option first, resolving the @npmcli/foo package.  Then, it
       will execute the following command in that context:

         $ foo@latest bar

       The double-hyphen character is recommended to explicitly tell npm to stop parsing  command  line  options
       and switches.  The following command would thus be equivalent to the npx command above:

         $ npm exec -- foo@latest bar --package=@npmcli/foo

   Examples
       Run the version of tap in the local dependencies, with the provided arguments:

         $ npm exec -- tap --bail test/foo.js
         $ npx tap --bail test/foo.js

       Run  a  command  other  than  the  command  whose name matches the package name by specifying a --package
       option:

         $ npm exec --package=foo -- bar --bar-argument
         # ~ or ~
         $ npx --package=foo bar --bar-argument

       Run an arbitrary shell script, in the context of the current project:

         $ npm x -c 'eslint && say "hooray, lint passed"'
         $ npx -c 'eslint && say "hooray, lint passed"'

   Compatibility with Older npx Versions
       The npx binary was rewritten in npm v7.0.0, and the standalone npx package deprecated at that time.   npx
       uses  the  npm  exec  command  instead  of  a  separate  argument  parser  and install process, with some
       affordances to maintain backwards compatibility with the arguments it accepted in previous versions.

       This resulted in some shifts in its functionality:

       • Any npm config value may be provided.

       • To prevent security and user-experience problems from  mistyping  package  names,  npx  prompts  before
         installing anything.  Suppress this prompt with the -y or --yes option.

       • The --no-install option is deprecated, and will be converted to --no.

       • Shell fallback functionality is removed, as it is not advisable.

       • The  -p  argument  is  a shorthand for --parseable in npm, but shorthand for --package in npx.  This is
         maintained, but only for the npx executable.

       • The --ignore-existing option is removed.  Locally installed bins are always  present  in  the  executed
         process PATH.

       • The --npm option is removed.  npx will always use the npm it ships with.

       • The --node-arg and -n options are removed.

       • The --always-spawn option is redundant, and thus removed.

       • The  --shell option is replaced with --script-shell, but maintained in the npx executable for backwards
         compatibility.

   See Also
       • npm help run-script

       • npm help scripts

       • npm help test

       • npm help start

       • npm help restart

       • npm help stop

       • npm help config

       • npm help exec

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