---
title: Migrate from npm install to bun install
sidebarTitle: Migrate from npm to bun
mode: center
---

`bun install` is a Node.js compatible npm client designed to be an incredibly fast successor to npm.

We've put a lot of work into making sure that the migration path from `npm install` to `bun install` is as easy as running `bun install` instead of `npm install`.

- **Designed for Node.js & Bun**: `bun install` installs a Node.js compatible `node_modules` folder. You can use it in place of `npm install` for Node.js projects without any code changes and without using Bun's runtime.
- **Automatically converts `package-lock.json`** to bun's `bun.lock` lockfile format, preserving your existing resolved dependency versions without any manual work on your part. You can secretly use `bun install` in place of `npm install` at work without anyone noticing.
- **`.npmrc` compatible**: bun install reads npm registry configuration from npm's `.npmrc`, so you can use the same configuration for both npm and Bun.
- **Hardlinks**: On Windows and Linux, `bun install` uses hardlinks to conserve disk space and install times.

```bash terminal icon="terminal"
# It only takes one command to migrate
bun i

# To add dependencies:
bun i @types/bun

# To add devDependencies:
bun i -d @types/bun

# To remove a dependency:
bun rm @types/bun
```

---

## Run package.json scripts faster

Run scripts from package.json, executables from `node_modules/.bin` (sort of like `npx`), and JavaScript/TypeScript files (just like `node`) - all from a single simple command.

| NPM                | Bun              |
| ------------------ | ---------------- |
| `npm run <script>` | `bun <script>`   |
| `npm exec <bin>`   | `bun <bin>`      |
| `node <file>`      | `bun <file>`     |
| `npx <package>`    | `bunx <package>` |

When you use `bun run <executable>`, it will choose the locally-installed executable

```sh terminal icon="terminal"
# Run a package.json script:
bun my-script
bun run my-script

# Run an executable in node_modules/.bin:
bun my-executable # such as tsc, esbuild, etc.
bun run my-executable

# Run a JavaScript/TypeScript file:
bun ./index.ts
```

---

## Workspaces? Yes.

`bun install` supports workspaces similarly to npm, with more features.

In package.json, you can set `"workspaces"` to an array of relative paths.

```json package.json icon="file-json"
{
  "name": "my-app",
  "workspaces": ["packages/*", "apps/*"]
}
```

---

### Filter scripts by workspace name

In Bun, the `--filter` flag accepts a glob pattern, and will run the command concurrently for all workspace packages with a `name` that matches the pattern, respecting dependency order.

```sh terminal icon="terminal"
bun --filter 'lib-*' my-script
# instead of:
# npm run --workspace lib-foo --workspace lib-bar my-script
```

---

## Update dependencies

To update a dependency, you can use `bun update <package>`. This will update the dependency to the latest version that satisfies the semver range specified in package.json.

```sh terminal icon="terminal"
# Update a single dependency
bun update @types/bun

# Update all dependencies
bun update

# Ignore semver, update to the latest version
bun update @types/bun --latest

# Update a dependency to a specific version
bun update @types/bun@1.3.3

# Update all dependencies to the latest versions
bun update --latest
```

---

### View outdated dependencies

To view outdated dependencies, run `bun outdated`. This is like `npm outdated` but with more compact output.

```sh terminal icon="terminal"
bun outdated
```

```txt
┌────────────────────────────────────────┬─────────┬────────┬────────┐
│ Package                                │ Current │ Update │ Latest │
├────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│ @types/bun (dev)                       │ 1.1.6   │ 1.1.10 │ 1.1.10 │
├────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│ @types/react (dev)                     │ 18.3.3  │ 18.3.8 │ 18.3.8 │
├────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│ @typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin (dev) │ 7.16.1  │ 7.18.0 │ 8.6.0  │
├────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│ @typescript-eslint/parser (dev)        │ 7.16.1  │ 7.18.0 │ 8.6.0  │
├────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│ @vscode/debugadapter (dev)             │ 1.66.0  │ 1.67.0 │ 1.67.0 │
├────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│ esbuild (dev)                          │ 0.21.5  │ 0.21.5 │ 0.24.0 │
├────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│ eslint (dev)                           │ 9.7.0   │ 9.11.0 │ 9.11.0 │
├────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│ mitata (dev)                           │ 0.1.11  │ 0.1.14 │ 1.0.2  │
├────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│ prettier-plugin-organize-imports (dev) │ 4.0.0   │ 4.1.0  │ 4.1.0  │
├────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│ source-map-js (dev)                    │ 1.2.0   │ 1.2.1  │ 1.2.1  │
├────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│ typescript (dev)                       │ 5.5.3   │ 5.6.2  │ 5.6.2  │
└────────────────────────────────────────┴─────────┴────────┴────────┘
```

---

## List installed packages

To list installed packages, you can use `bun pm ls`. This will list all the packages that are installed in the `node_modules` folder using Bun's lockfile as the source of truth. You can pass the `-a` flag to list all installed packages, including transitive dependencies.

```sh terminal icon="terminal"
# List top-level installed packages:
bun pm ls
```

```txt
my-pkg node_modules (781)
├── @types/node@20.16.5
├── @types/react@18.3.8
├── @types/react-dom@18.3.0
├── eslint@8.57.1
├── eslint-config-next@14.2.8
...
```

```sh terminal icon="terminal"
# List all installed packages:
bun pm ls -a
```

```txt
my-pkg node_modules
├── @alloc/quick-lru@5.2.0
├── @isaacs/cliui@8.0.2
│   └── strip-ansi@7.1.0
│       └── ansi-regex@6.1.0
├── @jridgewell/gen-mapping@0.3.5
├── @jridgewell/resolve-uri@3.1.2
...
```

---

## Create a package tarball

To create a package tarball, you can use `bun pm pack`. This will create a tarball of the package in the current directory.

```sh terminal icon="terminal"
# Create a tarball
bun pm pack
```

```txt
Total files: 46
Shasum: 2ee19b6f0c6b001358449ca0eadead703f326216
Integrity: sha512-ZV0lzWTEkGAMz[...]Gl4f8lA9sl97g==
Unpacked size: 0.41MB
Packed size: 117.50KB
```

---

## Shebang

If the package references `node` in the `#!/usr/bin/env node` shebang, `bun run` will by default respect it and use the system's `node` executable. You can force it to use Bun's `node` by passing `--bun` to `bun run`.

When you pass `--bun` to `bun run`, we create a symlink to the locally-installed Bun executable named `"node"` in a temporary directory and add that to your `PATH` for the duration of the script's execution.

```sh terminal icon="terminal"
# Force using Bun's runtime instead of node
bun --bun my-script

# This also works:
bun run --bun my-script
```

---

## Global installs

You can install packages globally using `bun i -g <package>`. This will install into a `.bun/install/global/node_modules` folder inside your home directory by default.

```sh terminal icon="terminal"
# Install a package globally
bun i -g eslint

# Run a globally-installed package without the `bun run` prefix
eslint --init
```
