youmightnotneed

Find the CSS, HTML, or Web API that replaces your JavaScript dependencies. The same catalog runs at youmightnotneed.dev.

npx youmightnotneed

npx works whether or not the package is installed. It resolves a local node_modules/.bin copy first. The bare youmightnotneed command only works after a global install.

Reads the nearest package.json and prints what the platform now covers, grouped by how well supported the replacement is.

npx youmightnotneed [path] [options]

  path            A package.json, or a directory holding one.
  -p, --package   Check one npm package by name instead of reading a
                  package.json. Use it before you install something.
  -r, --rule      Print one rule in full by its id, including the conditions
                  and the shapes people hand-roll instead. Use it when you are
                  holding code rather than a package name.
  -v, --verbose   Print every condition where the dependency still wins.
      --json      Machine-readable output, with provenance for the data.
      --no-color  Disable colour. NO_COLOR is respected too.
  -h, --help      Show help.
      --version   Print the version.

Before adding a dependency, check whether the platform already covers it:

npx youmightnotneed --package axios --verbose

Run it with --verbose before you change anything. The conditions are the point: a dependency in package.json is not proof of what it is used for, so every finding is a "this may apply", and the report says when it does not.

Powered by @jomae/catalog. MIT.