Get the version of any npm package in JavaScript

Getting the version of a different package

The version of any npm package is in its package.json file. From within your JavaScript code you get access to the package.json of all the installed packages by using require. The basic functionality of require is that it reads a JavaScript file, executes the file, and then proceeds to return the exports object^[1]. Assuming you are working from within a JavaScript file that´s located in the root directory of your package, the following snippet will provide you the contents of the file as a JSON object:

//replace <package-name> with real package name
const package = require('./node_modules/<package-name>/package.json'); 

//access the version or any other property
let version = package.version; 

You need to replace the prefixed ./ path location by one or multiple ../ if your JavaScript is not at the root but in a deeper nested directory of your current package. Each ../ will move you one level up in the directory tree. E.g. ../../node_modules/<package-name>/package.json.

Getting the version of your current package

//you don´t need the package name of your current package
const package = require('./package.json'); 

//access the version or any other property
let version = package.version;