NPM Dependency Manager

An intuitive Electron desktop app designed specifically for quickly managing, checking, and updating your project's global and local NPM dependencies.

✨ Features

• 📌 Manage global and local NPM dependencies from a user-friendly interface.
• 📂 Quickly scan directories for projects containing package.json files.
• ⚙️ Clearly separate production and development dependencies.
• ✅ Easily update all or selectively chosen dependencies.
• 🌗 Supports Light, Dark, and System theme modes.
• 🔐 Secure, native OS prompts (sudo) for installing global updates.

📥 Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js version 16.x or higher is required.
• Git
• Supported OS: Windows, macOS, Linux

Setup

git clone https://github.com/d4rylp/npm-dep.git
cd npm-pkg
npm install

🚀 Running the Application

To launch in development mode:

npm run start

This command:

• Compiles TypeScript files.
• Copies the HTML and CSS files to the build directory.
• Starts the Electron app.

🎯 Usage Guide

1. Click "Pick Folder" to select the directory you wish to manage.
2. The application scans the chosen folder and identifies projects with package.json.
3. Review dependencies, check current vs. latest versions, and perform updates:
   • Update all dependencies at once.
   • Or update selected dependencies individually.
4. Use the theme selector to switch between Light, Dark, or System themes.

📂 Project Structure

src/
├── app/          # Frontend HTML and CSS
│   ├── index.html
│   └── styles.css
├── utils/        # Electron backend logic
│   ├── main.ts
│   └── preload.ts
dist/             # Compiled files output
package.json      # Project dependencies and scripts
tsconfig.json     # TypeScript configuration

⚙️ Scripts

Available scripts in package.json:

{
  "compile": "tsc",
  "copy-html-css": "cp -r src/app dist/app",
  "start": "npm run compile && npm run copy-html-css && electron .",
  "build": "npm run compile && npm run copy-html-css && electron-builder"
}

🖥️ Electron IPC API

The application uses Electron's Inter-Process Communication (IPC) for backend-frontend interaction.

Renderer API (window.api)

• pickFolder()
• getFolders(basePath)
• checkUpdates(folderPath, isDev)
• installUpdates(folderPath, isDev)
• installSpecificUpdates(folderPath, deps[], isDev)
• checkGlobalUpdates()
• installGlobalUpdates()
• installSpecificGlobalUpdates(deps[])

🛠️ Technologies & Libraries

• Electron
• npm-check-updates
• fast-glob
• sudo-prompt
• fix-path

🔒 Permissions & Security

Some operations, particularly global dependency updates, require administrative privileges. These are securely managed with sudo-prompt which invokes native OS prompts for elevated permissions.

⚠️ Limitations

• Currently supports only NPM-based projects (not compatible with Yarn, pnpm, etc.).
• Assumes managed projects adhere strictly to having a package.json file.
• Global updates may fail silently if permission requests are denied.

📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Credits

Developed with ❤️ by Daryl Peter.