Search npm Registry

Search the npm registry for packages by keyword, name, or description.

Usage

npx tsx scripts/search.ts <query> [options]

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
query	Yes	Search query (can be package name, keyword, or description text)

Options

Option	Description
--size=N	Number of results to return (default: 20, max: 250)
--from=N	Offset for pagination (default: 0)
--no-cache	Bypass cache and fetch fresh data from API

Output

Found 1,234 packages for "http"

1. express (4.18.2)
   Fast, unopinionated, minimalist web framework
   Score: 0.98 (quality: 0.95, popularity: 1.0, maintenance: 0.99)
   https://www.npmjs.com/package/express

2. axios (1.6.0)
   Promise based HTTP client for the browser and node.js
   Score: 0.97 (quality: 0.94, popularity: 1.0, maintenance: 0.98)
   https://www.npmjs.com/package/axios

Script Execution (Preferred)

npx tsx scripts/search.ts <query> [options]

Options:

• --size=N - Number of results to return (default: 20, max: 250)
• --from=N - Offset for pagination (default: 0)
• --no-cache - Bypass cache and fetch fresh data from API

Run from the npm-registry plugin directory: ~/.claude/plugins/cache/npm-registry/

Search API

GET https://registry.npmjs.org/-/v1/search

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Type	Description
text	Yes	string	Search query (can be package name, keyword, or description text)
size	No	number	Number of results to return (default: 20, max: 250)
from	No	number	Offset for pagination (default: 0)

Examples

Search for HTTP-related packages:

https://registry.npmjs.org/-/v1/search?text=http&size=10

Search with pagination:

https://registry.npmjs.org/-/v1/search?text=react&size=20&from=20

Response Format

Each result contains:

• package.name - Package name
• package.version - Latest version
• package.description - Package description
• package.keywords - Array of keywords (if available)
• package.author - Author information
• package.links - URLs to npm, homepage, repository, bugs
• score.final - Overall score (0-1)
• score.detail.quality - Quality score (0-1)
• score.detail.popularity - Popularity score (0-1)
• score.detail.maintenance - Maintenance score (0-1)
• searchScore - Relevance to search query

Search Tips

• Keyword search: Use common keywords like "http", "database", "testing"
• Specific packages: Type the package name directly
• Combine terms: Use multiple words for more specific results
• Author search: Search by author name to find their packages

Caching

Search results are cached for 1 hour. The npm registry search index is updated frequently but package metadata changes less often.

Use the --no-cache flag to bypass the cache and fetch fresh results.

Related

• Use npm-info to get detailed package metadata
• Use npm-exists to quickly check if a package name is available
• Use npm-downloads to view download statistics

Error Handling

If the search returns no results, try:

1. Using more general search terms
2. Checking for typos in the query
3. Exploring alternative keywords

Rate limiting: The npm registry may rate limit excessive requests. If you encounter rate limiting, wait a few minutes before trying again.