--- title: npm-dist-tag section: 1 description: Modify package distribution tags --- ### Synopsis <!-- AUTOGENERATED USAGE DESCRIPTIONS --> ### Description Add, remove, and enumerate distribution tags on a package: * add: Tags the specified version of the package with the specified tag, or the [`--tag` config](/using-npm/config#tag) if not specified. If you have two-factor authentication on auth-and-writes then you’ll need to include a one-time password on the command line with `--otp <one-time password>`, or at the OTP prompt. * rm: Clear a tag that is no longer in use from the package. If you have two-factor authentication on auth-and-writes then you’ll need to include a one-time password on the command line with `--otp <one-time password>`, or at the OTP prompt. * ls: Show all of the dist-tags for a package, defaulting to the package in the current prefix. This is the default action if none is specified. A tag can be used when installing packages as a reference to a version instead of using a specific version number: ```bash npm install <name>@<tag> ``` When installing dependencies, a preferred tagged version may be specified: ```bash npm install --tag <tag> ``` (This also applies to any other commands that resolve and install dependencies, such as `npm dedupe`, `npm update`, and `npm audit fix`.) Publishing a package sets the `latest` tag to the published version unless the `--tag` option is used. For example, `npm publish --tag=beta`. By default, `npm install <pkg>` (without any `@<version>` or `@<tag>` specifier) installs the `latest` tag. ### Purpose Tags can be used to provide an alias instead of version numbers. For example, a project might choose to have multiple streams of development and use a different tag for each stream, e.g., `stable`, `beta`, `dev`, `canary`. By default, the `latest` tag is used by npm to identify the current version of a package, and `npm install <pkg>` (without any `@<version>` or `@<tag>` specifier) installs the `latest` tag. Typically, projects only use the `latest` tag for stable release versions, and use other tags for unstable versions such as prereleases. The `next` tag is used by some projects to identify the upcoming version. Other than `latest`, no tag has any special significance to npm itself. ### Caveats This command used to be known as `npm tag`, which only created new tags, and so had a different syntax. Tags must share a namespace with version numbers, because they are specified in the same slot: `npm install <pkg>@<version>` vs `npm install <pkg>@<tag>`. Tags that can be interpreted as valid semver ranges will be rejected. For example, `v1.4` cannot be used as a tag, because it is interpreted by semver as `>=1.4.0 <1.5.0`. See <https://github.com/npm/npm/issues/6082>. The simplest way to avoid semver problems with tags is to use tags that do not begin with a number or the letter `v`. ### Configuration <!-- AUTOGENERATED CONFIG DESCRIPTIONS --> ### See Also * [package spec](/using-npm/package-spec) * [npm publish](/commands/npm-publish) * [npm install](/commands/npm-install) * [npm dedupe](/commands/npm-dedupe) * [npm registry](/using-npm/registry) * [npm config](/commands/npm-config) * [npmrc](/configuring-npm/npmrc)
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