node-red-contrib-you-npm-version-checker

A Node-RED node to check and update npm package versions against the official npm registry.

Install

npm

cd ~/.node-red
npm install node-red-contrib-you-npm-version-checker

Then restart Node-RED.

GitHub

cd ~/.node-red/nodes
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/node-red-contrib-you-npm-version-checker.git
cd node-red-contrib-you-npm-version-checker
npm install

Restart Node-RED.

Features

• Check npm packages for outdated versions
• Compare installed vs latest versions using semver
• Periodic automatic checking (configurable interval)
• Install package updates directly from Node-RED
• Visual status indicators in the editor
• Supports scoped packages (@scope/package)

Usage

Node Configuration

| Property | Description | |----------|-------------| | Name | Display name for the node | | Packages | Comma-separated list of npm packages to monitor | | Check Interval | Minutes between automatic checks (default: 60) | | Check on Start | Run check when node starts (default: true) | | Auto-update | Automatically update outdated packages (default: false) |

Input

Send any message to trigger a version check. You can also:

| Message Property | Description | |-----------------|-------------| | msg.packages | Array to override configured packages | | msg.update | Set to true to update a package | | msg.package | Package name to update (required when msg.update is true) |

Example - Trigger update:

{
  "update": true,
  "package": "lodash"
}

Outputs

The node has 3 outputs:

1. All results - Complete array of package check results
2. Summary - Summary with totals (total, outdated, upToDate, errors)
3. Outdated only - Array of only outdated packages

Status Indicators

| Status | Color | Description | |--------|-------|-------------| | Ready | Grey | Initialized | | Checking... | Blue | Checking packages | | X outdated | Red | Packages need updating | | Up to date | Green | All packages current | | Updated: name | Green | Package updated successfully |

Example Payload (Output 1)

{
  "payload": [
    {
      "package": "lodash",
      "installed": "4.17.20",
      "latest": "4.17.21",
      "outdated": true,
      "diff": "patch"
    }
  ],
  "summary": {
    "total": 1,
    "outdated": 1,
    "upToDate": 0,
    "errors": 0
  },
  "timestamp": 1699999999999
}

Version Diff Values

• major - Breaking change (e.g., 4.x.x → 5.0.0)
• minor - New feature (e.g., 4.17.x → 4.18.0)
• patch - Bug fix (e.g., 4.17.20 → 4.17.21)
• not-installed - Package not found in node_modules
• unknown - Unable to determine difference

Example Flow

[{"id":"1","type":"inject","z":"flow","name":"Check now","topic":"","payload":"","payloadType":"date","x":120,"y":100,"wires":[["2"]]},
 {"id":"2","type":"npm-version-checker","z":"flow","name":"Check packages","packages":"lodash,express","interval":"60","checkOnStart":true,"x":300,"y":100,"wires":[["3"],["4"],["5"]]},
 {"id":"3","type":"debug","z":"flow","name":"All results","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"payload","x":550,"y":60,"wires":[]},
 {"id":"4","type":"debug","z":"flow","name":"Summary","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"payload","x":550,"y":100,"wires":[]},
 {"id":"5","type":"debug","z":"flow","name":"Outdated","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"payload","x":550,"y":140,"wires":[]}]

Requirements

• Node.js >=14.0.0
• Node-RED >=3.0.0
• Internet connection (to query npm registry)

Troubleshooting

"Package not found" errors

• Verify the package name at npmjs.com
• Use full name for scoped packages (e.g., @babel/core)

Node not appearing in palette

• Restart Node-RED after installation
• Check Node-RED logs for errors

Timeout errors

• Check internet connection
• npm registry may be slow (try again later)

Development

# Run tests
npm test

# Build package
npm run build

License

MIT - See LICENSE file.