Is there a way to force npm to generate package-lock.json?
node.jsNpmPackage lock.jsonnode.js Problem Overview
I deleted it by accident and have made many changes to package.json since. An npm install or npm update do not generate package-lock.json anymore. I tried clearing my npm cache and my nvm cache, but nothing seems to be working. I tried it on several versions of Node.js (6.10.3 Node.js - 3.10.10 npm is what I would like it to work on), and it doesn't work on any.
Is there a way to force npm to generate the package-lock.json file?
node.js Solutions
Solution 1 - node.js
In npm 6.x and 7.x you can use
npm i --package-lock-only
According to the docs of npm v6, npm v7 or latest version:
> The --package-lock-only argument will only update the package-lock.json, instead of checking node_modules and downloading dependencies.
Solution 2 - node.js
By default, package-lock.json is updated whenever you run npm install. However, this can be disabled globally by setting package-lock=false in ~/.npmrc.
When the global package-lock=false setting is active, you can still force a project’s package-lock.json file to be updated by running:
npm install --package-lock
This command is the only surefire way of forcing a package-lock.json update.
Solution 3 - node.js
This is answered in the comments; package-lock.json is a feature in npm v5 and higher. npm shrinkwrap is how you create a lockfile in all versions of npm.
Solution 4 - node.js
As several answer explained the you should run:
npm i
BUT if it does not solve...
Check the version of your npm executable. (For me it was 3.x.x which doesn't uses the package-lock.json (at all))
npm -v
It should be at least 5.x.x (which introduced the package-lock.json file.)
To update npm on Linux, follow these instructions.
For more details about package files, please read this medium story.
Solution 5 - node.js
If you're like me, you tried all the answers here and wondered why no package-lock.json was appearing in your Git "Changed Files". In this case, check to make sure nobody has added package-lock.json to the .gitignore in the past!
Not really a direct answer, but maybe it will help someone else who spent entirely too long on this
Solution 6 - node.js
If your npm version is lower than version 5 then install the higher version for getting the automatic generation of package-lock.json.
Example: Upgrade your current npm to the version 6.14.0 (example - You can choose any other latest version)
npm i -g npm@6.14.0
You could view the latest npm version list by
npm view npm versions
Solution 7 - node.js
When working with local packages, the only way I found to reliably regenerate the package-lock.json file is to delete it, as well as in the linked modules and all corresponding node_modules folders and let it be regenerated with npm i