Is package lock json needed for deployment?
This is not recommended unless deploying a CLI tool or otherwise using the publication process for producing production packages. If both package-lock. json and npm-shrinkwrap. json are present in the root of a project, npm-shrinkwrap.
If you're collaborating on a shared project with multiple developers, and you want to ensures that installations remain identical for all developers and environments, you need to use package-lock. json . package-lock. json is automatically generated for any operations where npm modifies either package.
The file package-lock. json should not be in the . gitignore file.
lock. json is created for locking the dependency with the installed version. It will install the exact latest version of that package in your application and save it in package.
npm install will generate a new package-lock. json if it does not exist or it will update the dependency tree if it does not match the packages specified in the package. json . npm ci will install packages based on package-lock.
So when you delete package-lock. json, all those consistency goes out the window. Every node_module you depend on will be updated to the latest version it is theoretically compatible with. This means no major changes, but minors and patches.
It is highly recommended you commit the generated package lock to source control: this will allow anyone else on your team, your deployments, your CI/continuous integration, and anyone else who runs npm install in your package source to get the exact same dependency tree that you were developing on.
You may have noticed it before; you install a package using npm and suddenly a new file called package-lock. json appears in your project directory. Don't delete that package-lock file, run npm install and regenerate it!
You still need a package. json if you don't publish your project to the NPM registry or make it publicly accessible in any other way. A package is also required for your project. JSON is required before npm version check can be used to install any NPM packages.
package-lock. json file is essentially used to lock dependencies to a specific version number. This file is automatically generated (or re-generated) when there is a change in either the node_modules tree or package. json file.
Should I use npm install or npm ci?
Because npm ci installs dependencies from a locked file, it is a faster and more reliable way to install dependencies than npm install, which could install different versions of dependencies based on the state of the package. json file.
The package-lock. json file stores the version information of each installed package unchanged, and npm will use those package versions when running the npm install command.

To avoid differences in installed dependencies on different environments and to generate the same results on every environment we should use the package-lock. json file to install dependencies. Ideally, this file should be on your source control with the package.
- Update the master branch with the latest changes: git checkout master git pull.
- Merge your feature branch into master : git merge mybranch. ...
- Open your editor (e.g. VSCode) and: ...
- Install packages, which will re-generate package-lock.json : npm install.
You may have noticed it before; you install a package using npm and suddenly a new file called package-lock. json appears in your project directory. Don't delete that package-lock file, run npm install and regenerate it!