# npm-ci

Install a project with a clean slate

## SYNOPSIS

    npm ci

## EXAMPLE

Make sure you have a package-lock and an up-to-date install:

    $ cd ./my/npm/project
    $ npm install
    added 154 packages in 10s
    $ ls | grep package-lock

Run `npm ci` in that project

    $ npm ci
    added 154 packages in 5s

Configure Travis to build using `npm ci` instead of `npm install`:

    # .travis.yml
    install:
    - npm ci
    # keep the npm cache around to speed up installs
    cache:
      directories:
      - "$HOME/.npm"

## DESCRIPTION

This command is similar to `npm-install(1)`, except it's meant to be used in automated environments such as test platforms, continuous integration, and deployment -- or any situation where you want to make sure you're doing a clean install of your dependencies. It can be significantly faster than a regular npm install by skipping certain user-oriented features. It is also more strict than a regular install, which can help catch errors or inconsistencies caused by the incrementally-installed local environments of most npm users.

In short, the main differences between using `npm install` and `npm ci` are:

- The project must have an existing `package-lock.json` or `npm-shrinkwrap.json`.
- If dependencies in the package lock do not match those in `package.json`, `npm ci` will exit with an error, instead of updating the package lock.
- `npm ci` can only install entire projects at a time: individual dependencies cannot be added with this command.
- If a `node_modules` is already present, it will be automatically removed before `npm ci` begins its install.
- It will never write to `package.json` or any of the package-locks: installs are essentially frozen.

## SEE ALSO

- npm-install(1)
- npm-package-locks(5)