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Yarn Package Manager ​

Yarn is a fast, reliable, and secure alternative to npm for managing JavaScript dependencies.

This doc is a practical reference to Yarn CLI commands grouped by purpose.

Project Initialization ​

shell
# Create a new package.json file interactively
yarn init

# Create a package.json with default values (no prompts)
yarn init -y

Installing Dependencies ​

shell
# Install all dependencies listed in package.json
yarn install

# Add a new runtime dependency
yarn add lodash

# Add a specific version
yarn add [email protected]

# Add a package from a GitHub repository (the master branch) to the current workspace using a URL
yarn add lodash@https://github.com/lodash/lodash

# Add as a development-only dependency
yarn add typescript -D
yarn add typescript --dev

# Add as a peer dependency
yarn add react -P
yarn add react --peer

# Add as an optional dependency
yarn add fsevents -O
yarn add fsevents --optional

# Add a global package
yarn global add typescript

Removing & Upgrading Dependencies ​

shell
# Remove a dependency
yarn remove lodash

# Remove a global package
yarn global remove typescript

# Upgrade a dependency to the latest version respecting semver
yarn upgrade lodash

# Interactive upgrade menu (choose what to upgrade)
yarn upgrade-interactive

# Interactive upgrade to latest versions, ignoring semver
yarn upgrade-interactive --latest

Running Scripts ​

shell
# Run a custom script from package.json (e.g., "build", "test", etc.)
yarn run build

# Shortcut for yarn run start
yarn start

# Shortcut for yarn run test
yarn test

Managing Dependencies ​

shell
# List all installed packages
yarn list

# Show why a specific package was installed (dependency tree)
yarn why react

# Show which dependencies are outdated
yarn outdated

Cache & Cleanup ​

shell
# List all cached packages
yarn cache list

# Clean the cache
yarn cache clean

# Run a clean script (if defined in package.json)
yarn clean

Workspaces (Monorepos) ​

shell
# Show workspace dependency graph
yarn workspaces info

# Run a command in a specific workspace
yarn workspace my-package build

Configuration ​

shell
# Get a config value
yarn config get registry

# Set a config value
yarn config set registry https://registry.npmjs.org/

Miscellaneous ​

shell
# Set Yarn version for the project (Yarn 2+ feature)
yarn set version canary

# CI Safe Install: Ensures the yarn.lock file is not changed – great for CI environments
yarn install --frozen-lockfile

References & Resources ​