Node.js Cheatsheet

# Via NodeSource (e.g. Node.js 20 LTS)
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs

# Via NodeSource
curl -fsSL https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo bash -
sudo dnf install -y nodejs

sudo pacman -S nodejs npm

brew install node

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.7/install.sh | bash
# OR
wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.7/install.sh | bash
source ~/.bashrc

nvm install 20               # Install Node.js v20
nvm install --lts            # Install latest LTS release
nvm use 20                   # Switch to Node.js v20 in current shell
nvm use default              # Switch to configured default version
nvm alias default 20         # Set default Node.js version
nvm uninstall 18             # Remove Node.js v18

nvm ls                       # List locally installed versions
nvm ls-remote                # List available remote versions
nvm current                  # Print active version

node app.js                  # Execute JS file
node -e "console.log(1+1)"   # Evaluate inline JS string
node -p "process.versions"   # Evaluate expression and print result
node --check app.js          # Validate syntax without executing

node --watch app.js          # Restart process automatically on file changes (Node 18+)
node --watch-path=./src app.js # Watch specific directory

node --version               # Print Node version
node -v
node --env-file=.env app.js  # Load .env variables natively (Node 20+)
node --max-old-space-size=4096 app.js # Set V8 heap memory limit to 4GB
node --inspect app.js        # Enable V8 inspector / Chrome DevTools
node --inspect-brk app.js    # Break at script start and wait for debugger

npm init -y                  # Create package.json with defaults
npm install                  # Install all dependencies in package.json
npm install pkg              # Install dependency (production)
npm install -D pkg           # Install dev dependency (--save-dev)
npm install -g pkg           # Install package globally
npm uninstall pkg            # Remove package
npm update                   # Update dependencies according to semver
npm outdated                 # Check for outdated dependencies
npm audit                    # Scan dependencies for vulnerabilities
npm audit fix                # Automatically fix vulnerable packages
npm cache clean --force      # Purge local NPM cache
npx pkg                      # Execute package binary directly (without global install)