.TH "NPM\-DIST\-TAG" "1" "November 2022" "9.1.1"
.SH "NAME"
\fBnpm-dist-tag\fR
.SH Synopsis
<!\-\- AUTOGENERATED USAGE DESCRIPTIONS \-\->

.SH Description
.P
Add, remove, and enumerate distribution tags on a package:

.RS 1
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add: Tags the specified version of the package with the specified tag,
.br
or the \fB\-\-tag\fP config if not specified\. If you have
.br
two\-factor authentication on auth\-and\-writes then you’ll need to include a
.br
one\-time password on the command line with
.br
\fB\-\-otp <one\-time password>\fP, or at the OTP prompt\.
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rm: Clear a tag that is no longer in use from the package\. If you have
.br
two\-factor authentication on auth\-and\-writes then you’ll need to include
.br
a one\-time password on the command line with \fB\-\-otp <one\-time password>\fP,
.br
or at the OTP prompt\.
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ls: Show all of the dist\-tags for a package, defaulting to the package in
.br
the current prefix\. This is the default action if none is specified\.

.RE
.P
A tag can be used when installing packages as a reference to a version instead
.br
of using a specific version number:
.RS 2
.nf
npm install <name>@<tag>
.fi
.RE
.P
When installing dependencies, a preferred tagged version may be specified:
.RS 2
.nf
npm install \-\-tag <tag>
.fi
.RE
.P
(This also applies to any other commands that resolve and install
.br
dependencies, such as \fBnpm dedupe\fP, \fBnpm update\fP, and \fBnpm audit fix\fP\|\.)
.P
Publishing a package sets the \fBlatest\fP tag to the published version unless the
.br
\fB\-\-tag\fP option is used\. For example, \fBnpm publish \-\-tag=beta\fP\|\.
.P
By default, \fBnpm install <pkg>\fP (without any \fB@<version>\fP or \fB@<tag>\fP
.br
specifier) installs the \fBlatest\fP tag\.
.SH Purpose
.P
Tags can be used to provide an alias instead of version numbers\.
.P
For example, a project might choose to have multiple streams of development
.br
and use a different tag for each stream, e\.g\., \fBstable\fP, \fBbeta\fP, \fBdev\fP,
.br
\fBcanary\fP\|\.
.P
By default, the \fBlatest\fP tag is used by npm to identify the current version
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of a package, and \fBnpm install <pkg>\fP (without any \fB@<version>\fP or \fB@<tag>\fP
.br
specifier) installs the \fBlatest\fP tag\. Typically, projects only use the
.br
\fBlatest\fP tag for stable release versions, and use other tags for unstable
.br
versions such as prereleases\.
.P
The \fBnext\fP tag is used by some projects to identify the upcoming version\.
.P
Other than \fBlatest\fP, no tag has any special significance to npm itself\.
.SH Caveats
.P
This command used to be known as \fBnpm tag\fP, which only created new tags,
.br
and so had a different syntax\.
.P
Tags must share a namespace with version numbers, because they are
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specified in the same slot: \fBnpm install <pkg>@<version>\fP vs
.br
\fBnpm install <pkg>@<tag>\fP\|\.
.P
Tags that can be interpreted as valid semver ranges will be rejected\. For
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example, \fBv1\.4\fP cannot be used as a tag, because it is interpreted by
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semver as \fB>=1\.4\.0 <1\.5\.0\fP\|\.  See https://github.com/npm/npm/issues/6082
.P
The simplest way to avoid semver problems with tags is to use tags that do
.br
not begin with a number or the letter \fBv\fP\|\.
.SH Configuration
<!\-\- AUTOGENERATED CONFIG DESCRIPTIONS \-\->

.SH See Also

.RS 1
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package spec
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npm publish
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npm install
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npm dedupe
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npm registry
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npm config
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npmrc

.RE