update package.json version automatically

Question

Before I do a small release and tag it, I\'d like to update the package.json to reflect the new version of the program.

Is there a way to edit the file package

Answer 1

As an addition to npm version you can use the --no-git-tag-version flag if you want a version bump but no tag or a new commit:

npm --no-git-tag-version version patch

https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/version

Answer 2

This is what I normally do with my projects:

npm version patch
git add *;
git commit -m "Commit message"
git push
npm publish

The first line, npm version patch, will increase the patch version by 1 (x.x.1 to x.x.2) in package.json. Then you add all files -- including package.json which at that point has been modified. Then, the usual git commit and git push, and finally npm publish to publish the module.

I hope this makes sense...

Merc.

Answer 3

If you are using yarn you can use

yarn version --patch

This will increment package.json version by patch (0.0.x), commit, and tag it with format v0.0.0

Likewise you can bump minor or major version by using --minor or --major

When pushing to git ensure you also push the tags with --follow-tags

git push --follow-tags

You can also create a script for it

    "release-it": "yarn version --patch && git push --follow-tags"

Simply run it by typing yarn release-it

Answer 4

npm version is probably the correct answer. Just to give an alternative I recommend grunt-bump. It is maintained by one of the guys from angular.js.

Usage:

grunt bump
>> Version bumped to 0.0.2

grunt bump:patch
>> Version bumped to 0.0.3

grunt bump:minor
>> Version bumped to 0.1.0

grunt bump
>> Version bumped to 0.1.1

grunt bump:major
>> Version bumped to 1.0.0

If you're using grunt anyway it might be the simplest solution.

Answer 5

I want to add some clarity to the answers this question got.

Even thought there are some answers here that are tackling properly the problem and providing a solution, they are not the correct ones. The correct answer to this question is to use npm version

Is there a way to edit the file package.json automatically?

Yes, what you can do to make this happen is to run the npm version command when needed, you can read more about it here npm version, but the base usage would be npm version patch and it would add the 3rd digit order on your package.json version (1.0.X)

Would using a git pre-release hook help?

You could configure to run the npm version command on the pre-release hook, as you need, but that depends if that is what you need or not in your CD/CI pipe, but without the npm version command a git pre-release hook can't do anything "easily" with the package.json

The reason why npm version is the correct answer is the following:

1. If the user is using a folder structure in which he has a package.json he is using npm if he is using npm he has access to the npm scripts.
2. If he has access to npm scripts he has access to the npm version command.
3. Using this command he doesn't need to install anything more in his computer or CD/CI pipe which on the long term will reduce the maintainability effort for the project, and will help with the setup

The other answers in which other tools are proposed are incorrect.

gulp-bump works but requires another extra package which could create issues in the long term (point 3 of my answer)

grunt-bump works but requires another extra package which could create issues in the long term (point 3 of my answer)

Answer 6

Just in case if you want to do this using an npm package semver link

let fs = require('fs');
let semver = require('semver');

if (fs.existsSync('./package.json')) {
    var package = require('./package.json');
    let currentVersion = package.version;
    let type = process.argv[2];
    if (!['major', 'minor', 'patch'].includes(type)) {
        type = 'patch';
    }

    let newVersion = semver.inc(package.version, type);
    package.version = newVersion;
    fs.writeFileSync('./package.json', JSON.stringify(package, null, 2));

    console.log('Version updated', currentVersion, '=>', newVersion);
}

package.json should look like,

{
  "name": "versioning",
  "version": "0.0.0",
  "description": "Update version in package.json using npm script",
  "main": "version.js",
  "scripts": {
    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1",
    "version": "node version.js"
  },
  "author": "Bhadresh Arya",
  "license": "ISC",
  "dependencies": {
    "semver": "^7.3.2"
  }
}

just pass major, minor, patch argument with npm run version. Default will be patch.

example: npm run version or npm run verison patch or npm run verison minor or npm run version major

Git Repo