Download source from npm without installing it

Question

How can I download the source code of a package from npm without actually installing it (i.e. without using npm install thepackage)?

Answer 1

npm pack XXX is the quickest to type and it'll download an archive.

Alternatively:

npm v XXX dist.tarball | xargs curl | tar -xz

this command will also:

• Download the package with progress bar
• Extracts into a folder called package