Find the true size of an npm package. Why?
| For package users | For package authors |
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- Get insights: Package dependencies can be deceiving—a package with one direct dependency may actually install 100 indirect dependencies. Find out everything getting installed.
- Install cost: The size of
node_modules can easily get out of control. Be mindful of what you're installing and keep it in check. - Bundle cost: Importing a large dependency to your web app can easily impact its performance. It can bloat your app, slow-down load time, and increase memory usage. Optimize for ESM packages that are tree-shakeable.
| - Install speed: This is especially important if your package is used by CLI tools that can be loaded with npx.
- Unideal environments: Your package may be downloaded with slow internet, on slow devices, with little storage. It may even be downloaded within the browser via WebContainers.
- Security: Keeping dependencies to a minimum will reduce points of failure: unexpected breaking changes, malicious code, and dependency bloat.
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