Dependency Doctor

A CLI tool to scan your node_modules and detect dependency version conflicts.

Outputs structured JSON (or human-readable) so you can quickly see which packages are fragmented and how to unify them.

Why?

Large node_modules often install multiple major versions of the same package.

This tool flags where versions can be safely unified and where major conflicts exist.

Features

• Scans all installed dependencies (nested too)

• Groups by package + version

• Flags conflicts in plain English

  • ✅ Safe to unify → all consumers accept the same version
  • 🔒 Locked to version → a dependency is pinned to one version, blocking deduplication
  • ⚠️ Major version conflict → consumers demand different major versions, no single version works

• Prints actionable suggestions (upgrade, downgrade, or accept duplication)

Install

npm install -g dependencydoctor

Or run once with npx:

npx dependencydoctor
npx dependencydoctor --json

Usage

dep-doctor
dep-doctor --json   # machine-friendly output

Example Output

Conflict: semver
  Installed: 7.7.2 @ node_modules/aws-cdk-lib/node_modules/semver
  Installed: 7.3.4 @ node_modules/@amzn/motecdk/node_modules/semver

Status: ⚠️ Major version conflict
→ No single version satisfies all constraints.

Plan A: Upgrade @amzn/motecdk to a version that uses semver@^7.7 

Plan B: Downgrade aws-cdk-lib to a version compatible with semver@^7.3