Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Versioning
• Tilde
• caret
• References

Introduction

npm uses the package.json file to specify the version of a package that your app depends on. npm uses the tilde (~) and caret (^) to designate which patch and minor versions to use respectively.

Versioning

npm packages follow Semantic Versioning.

major.minor.patch
1.0.2

Tilde

if you see ~1.0.2 it means to install version 1.0.2 or the latest patch version such as 1.0.4.

caret

If you see ^1.0.2 it means to install version 1.0.2 or the latest minor or patch version such as 1.1.0.

References

• What’s the difference between a tilde (~) and a caret (^) in a npm package.json file? / Michael Lee
• package.json の version 指定 - Qiita