Check package version at runtime in nodejs? - node.js

Question

I have some of my entries in package.json defined as "*"
"dependencies": {
"express": "4.*",
"passport": "*",
"body-parser": "*",
"express-error-handler": "*"
},
I wan't to freeze those values to the current version. How can I know what version my packages are at run time? I don't mind checking one by one since I don't have many of them :)
BTW: I cannot do npm list --depth=0 because I cannot access the vm directly (PaaS restriction), just the logs.

Answer 1

You can use the fs module to read the directories in the node_modules directory and then read package.json in each of them.
var fs = require('fs');
var dirs = fs.readdirSync('node_modules');
var data = {};
dirs.forEach(function(dir) {
try{
var file = 'node_modules/' + dir + '/package.json';
var json = require(file);
var name = json.name;
var version = json.version;
data[name] = version;
}catch(err){}
});
console.debug(data['express']); //= 4.11.2

Answer 2

Just in case if you need the version on the front-end, there is an npm package just for this and it can be used both on client-side and server-side.
global-package-version
You can use it in your code like this
import globalPackageVersion from 'global-package-version';
// package name is 'lodash'
globalPackageVersion(require('lodash/package.json'));
// You can type 'packageVersion' in browser console to check lodash version
// => packageVersion = { lodash: '4.7.2'}
packageVersion becomes a global object when used in server side and becomes a window object when used on the client side. Works well with webpack and all other bundling tools.
Disclaimer: I am the author of this package :)

Answer 3

I've 'modernised' a bit #laggingreflex answer, this works on ES6+, node 10, tested on a lambda running in aws. It's an endpoint from an express app.
const fs = require("fs");
module.exports.dependencies = async (_req, res) => {
const dirs = fs.readdirSync("./node_modules");
const modulesInfo = dirs.reduce((acc, dir) => {
try {
const file = `${dir}/package.json`;
const { name, version } = require(file);
return { ...acc, [name]: version };
} catch (err) {}
}, {});
res.status(200).json(modulesInfo);
};

Answer 4

The accepted solution can be improved upon in both terms of performance and stability:
1: the package name IS THE directory. In typically cases where you are looking for a specific package, you do not need to load every module.
2: this code will not run on all os due to the way the paths are formed
3: using require means the path needs to be relative to the current file (this would only work if your file is located at the top of your project folder & along side node_modules). In most cases, using readFile or readFileSync is a easier approach.
const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');
const dirs = fs.readdirSync('node_modules');
const data = {};
//add ones you care about
const trackedPackages = ['express', 'passport', 'body-parser'];
dirs.forEach(function(dir) {
if(trackedPackages.indexOf(dir) > -1){
try{
const json = JSON.parse(
fs.readFileSync(path.join('node_modules', dir, 'package.json'), 'utf8')
);
data[dir] = json.version;
}catch(e){
console.log(`failed to read/parse package.json for ${dir}`, e);
}
}
});
console.debug(data['express']); //= 4.11.2