Deep "npm update"?

Question

Deep "npm update"?

Running npm update updates items listed in package.json; however, the dependencies of those items are still outdated.

The obvious workaround is to run npm update once more. Sometimes I need to run it 3+ times to have clean npm outdated. Is there a flag in npm update to perform a deep update?

Another extreme workaround is to reinstall

rm -rf node_modules
npm install

javascript
node.js
npm

Answer 1

As an ugly workaround I have this function defined in my ~/.bash_profile

function up {
    npm remove --save "$1";
    npm install --save "$1";
}

So whenever I want to update a dependency I just run up express or up yourFavoritePackage

Answer 2

If you take a look at the directory structure in node_modules you will notice that each module has its own subdir node_modules for its dependencies. You shouldn't need to run "npm update" more than once.