@bobfrankston/bobup

List and update all globally-installed @bobfrankston/* npm packages.

Cross-platform — runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS. The CLI uses npm to do all work, and the library spawns npm.cmd on Windows / npm elsewhere automatically.

Requirements

• Node.js ≥ 22 (uses node:util.styleText)
• npm available in PATH
• Permission to install globally (on Linux/macOS that may mean a user-level npm prefix or sudo, depending on how npm was set up)

Install

npm install -g @bobfrankston/bobup

CLI

bobup                          Show usage
bobup list                     List packages that need updating (outdated only)
bobup list all                 List every installed package (alias: bobup listall, bobup list -all)
bobup list -csv                Comma-separated names (script-friendly; combine with `all`)
bobup list -json               JSON array of package descriptors (combine with `all`)
bobup update all               Update every outdated package
bobup update <selectors...>    Update by index, range, comma-list, or name

bobup with no arguments prints usage. bobup list is concise — only the outdated packages — so the indexes you see are exactly what update will operate on. Pass all (or -all / --all / use listall) to see everything.

Colored output is produced through @bobfrankston/themecolors, which adapts color choices to the detected terminal background — no light-on-light or dark-on-dark surprises.

Script-friendly output

bobup list -csv                # @bobfrankston/foo,@bobfrankston/bar
bobup list all -csv            # every installed name, comma-separated
bobup list -json               # JSON array of {name, short, installed, latest, status, problems}
bobup list all -json           # same, for every installed package

-csv and -json are mutually exclusive. Both suppress the human-readable formatting and the broken-package advisory so output stays parseable.

Selectors

Mix and match — all are space-separated; commas are within a single selector.

| Form | Meaning | |-------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------| | N | 1-based index against the most recent bobup list (outdated) | | N-M | Inclusive range (against the outdated list) | | N,M,... | Comma list (against the outdated list) | | name | Short or full package name (resolved against ALL installed, so you can force-reinstall a current or broken package by name) | | all | Every outdated package — broken packages are skipped, see below |

Examples

bobup                          # show usage
bobup list                     # show only outdated
bobup list all                 # show everything (or: bobup listall)
bobup update 1                 # update outdated item 1
bobup update 1-4               # update outdated items 1 through 4
bobup update 1,3-5             # update outdated 1, 3, 4, 5
bobup update logit npmlatest   # update by name (works even if current)
bobup update 1,3-5,logit       # any combination
bobup update all               # update every outdated package

Each update runs npm install -g @bobfrankston/<name> and the npm output streams to your terminal so you see the install progress.

Broken installs

If npm list -g can't determine a package's installed version, bobup labels it Broken and shows a diagnostic line under the row (missing directory, missing/unreadable package.json, missing bin shim, etc.).

bobup update all and numeric/range selectors skip broken packages — npm install -g rarely recovers a broken global install on its own, and silently re-running it can leave more debris. Bobup prints the recommended uninstall/reinstall recipe at the end of the run so you can repair them by hand:

npm uninstall -g @bobfrankston/<name> && npm install -g @bobfrankston/<name>

If you still want to force bobup to attempt an install on a broken package, pass it by name (e.g. bobup update brother-print).

Library API

bobup is also a normal library — useful when another tool wants to drive update logic itself.

import {
    listInstalled,
    getLatestVersions,
    parseSelectors,
    updatePackages,
    listAsJson,
    Package,
    PackageJson,
    UpdateResult
} from "@bobfrankston/bobup";

// Discover installed @bobfrankston packages
const pkgs = listInstalled();

// Fill in the .latest field via `npm outdated -g`
getLatestVersions(pkgs);

// JSON-friendly view (with computed status: "current" | "outdated" | "broken")
const json: PackageJson[] = listAsJson(pkgs);
console.log(JSON.stringify(json, null, 2));

// Resolve user input ("all", "1-3", names, etc.) against the list
const targets = parseSelectors(["1-3", "logit"], pkgs);

// Run the updates (sequential — npm global prefix is shared state)
const results: UpdateResult[] = await updatePackages(targets, {
    inherit: false,                        // capture instead of stream
    logmsg: (m) => console.log(m)          // optional logger
});

for (const r of results)
    console.log(r.package.name, r.success ? "OK" : r.error);

API summary

• listInstalled(): Package[] — globally-installed @bobfrankston/* packages, sorted. Each Package includes a problems: string[] array that is non-empty when npm couldn't determine the installed version (filesystem-level diagnosis is performed automatically for broken installs).
• getLatestVersions(pkgs): Package[] — fills latest from npm outdated -g. Mutates and returns input.
• listAsJson(pkgs): PackageJson[] — pure transform that returns JSON-friendly descriptors with a computed status field ("current" | "outdated" | "broken"). Run getLatestVersions first if you want the status to reflect outdated state.
• parseSelectors(selectors, pkgs): Package[] — resolves ["1-3", "all", "name", ...] against the list. Throws on bad selectors.
• updatePackage(pkg, opts?): Promise<UpdateResult> — single update.
• updatePackages(pkgs, opts?): Promise<UpdateResult[]> — sequential batch.

UpdateOptions:

• inherit?: boolean — if true, npm streams stdio directly to the parent (default false, captured).
• logmsg?: (msg: string) => void — optional logger; library never writes to console on its own.

Notes

• Discovery uses npm list -g --depth=0 --json.
• Latest-version lookup uses npm outdated -g --json (a single call, not one-per-package).
• Updates run sequentially because the npm global prefix isn't safe for concurrent installs.