The obvious

visit npmjs.com to find modules. Use bundlephobia to get size information of the packages.

Use npmtrends or npmcharts to compare the popularity of packages.

installing a package

npm i express

installing a package as dev dependency

npm i --save-dev express
or
npm i -D express

installing a package globally

npm i express -g

removing a package

npm uninstall express

(add -g to install / uninstall globally)

The not so obvious

get outdated packages

npm outdated

show all installed packages

npm list

(ls, la and ll can be used as aliases for list)

show all globally installed packages

npm list --global

you should probably use it like this, otherwise the output will be quite long, because this also shows the dependencies of your globally installed packages.

npm list --global --depth=0

visit the package page on npmjs.com

npm home <package>

Getting information about packages

show which version is used and which packages are requiring the specified module

npm ls express

show all available versions, description, contributers of a package

npm view express

Local Development with packages aka Linking

in my-module (will later on be used in the host project)

npm link

in the host project (which is going to use my-module)

npm link my-module

If you link a package, it'll be automatically updated in the target application

or just install the local module via the file system

npm install ../my-module

show all globally linked modules

npm ls -g --depth=0 --link=true

Creating a local package

npm init

or

npm init -y 

to answer all the questions during the installation process with yes.

Do you have some useful npm commands, that you are using on a regular basis? Or some lifesavers? Please add them in the comments!

Thanks for reading!