npm Registry

Overview

The npm Registry API is the backend behind npm install — package metadata, versions, tarballs, downloads, and search — all keyless and free. The definitive data source for package analytics, dependency graphs, and npm tooling.

Quick Start

Latest version metadata (verified live — react):

curl "https://registry.npmjs.org/react/latest"

{
  "name": "react",
  "version": "19.0.0",
  "description": "React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces.",
  "dist": { "tarball": "https://registry.npmjs.org/react/-/react-19.0.0.tgz" }
}

Full package metadata (all versions):

curl "https://registry.npmjs.org/react"

Download counts:

curl "https://api.npmjs.org/downloads/point/last-week/react"
curl "https://api.npmjs.org/downloads/range/2026-01-01:2026-08-22/react"

Search:

curl "https://registry.npmjs.org/-/v1/search?text=state%20management&size=5"

Authentication

None for reads — keyless.

Rate Limits & Notes

• Reads are free; heavy crawlers should use the Accept: application/vnd.npm.install-v1+json header (abbreviated metadata).
• registry.npmjs.org serves package data; api.npmjs.org serves download stats.
• The full metadata doc can be large (all versions) — request /latest or use abbreviated metadata for speed.
• CouchDB-style _id/_rev fields are present in raw docs — ignore them.

FAQ

Is the npm Registry API free? Yes — reads are free and keyless.

How do I get download counts? https://api.npmjs.org/downloads/point/last-month/<package>.

How do I keep responses small? Use /latest or the abbreviated-metadata Accept header.