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274 lines (193 loc) · 7.29 KB
last_modified 2026-03-12
title deno install
oldUrl
/runtime/manual/tools/script_installer/
/runtime/reference/cli/script_installer/
/runtime/manual/tools/script_installer/
/runtime/manual/tools/cache/
/runtime/reference/cli/cache/
command install
openGraphLayout /open_graph/cli-commands.jsx
openGraphTitle deno install
description Install and cache dependencies for your project

deno install installs dependencies and caches them for your project. For more on how Deno handles modules, see Modules and dependencies.

Examples

deno install

Use this command to install all dependencies defined in deno.json and/or package.json.

The dependencies will be installed in the global cache, but if your project has a package.json file, a local node_modules directory will be set up as well.

deno install [PACKAGES]

Use this command to install particular packages and add them to deno.json or package.json.

deno install jsr:@std/testing npm:express

:::tip

You can also use deno add which is an alias to deno install [PACKAGES]

:::

If your project has a package.json file, the packages coming from npm will be added to dependencies in package.json. Otherwise all packages will be added to deno.json.

deno install --entrypoint [FILES]

Use this command to install all dependencies that are used in the provided files and their dependencies.

This is particularly useful if you use jsr:, npm:, http: or https: specifiers in your code and want to cache all the dependencies before deploying your project.

import * as colors from "jsr:@std/fmt/colors";
import express from "npm:express";
deno install -e main.js
Download jsr:@std/fmt
Download npm:express

:::tip

If you want to set up local node_modules directory, you can pass --node-modules-dir=auto flag.

Some dependencies might not work correctly without a local node_modules directory.

:::

deno install --global [PACKAGE_OR_URL]

Use this command to install provide package or script as a globally available binary on your system.

This command creates a thin, executable shell script which invokes deno using the specified CLI flags and main module. It is placed in the installation root.

Example:

deno install --global --allow-net --allow-read jsr:@std/http/file-server
Download jsr:@std/http/file-server...

✅ Successfully installed file-server.
/Users/deno/.deno/bin/file-server

To change the executable name, use -n/--name:

deno install -g -N -R -n serve jsr:@std/http/file-server

The executable name is inferred by default:

  • Attempt to take the file stem of the URL path. The above example would become 'file-server'.
  • If the file stem is something generic like 'main', 'mod', 'index' or 'cli', and the path has no parent, take the file name of the parent path. Otherwise settle with the generic name.
  • If the resulting name has an '@...' suffix, strip it.

To change the installation root, use --root:

deno install -g -N -R --root /usr/local/bin jsr:@std/http/file-server

The installation root is determined, in order of precedence:

  • --root option
  • DENO_INSTALL_ROOT environment variable
  • $HOME/.deno/bin

These must be added to the path manually if required.

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.deno/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc

You must specify permissions that will be used to run the script at installation time.

deno install -g -N -R jsr:@std/http/file-server -- -p 8080

The above command creates an executable called file_server that runs with network and read permissions and binds to port 8080.

For good practice, use the import.meta.main idiom to specify the entry point in an executable script.

Example:

// https://example.com/awesome/cli.ts
async function myAwesomeCli(): Promise<void> {
  // -- snip --
}

if (import.meta.main) {
  myAwesomeCli();
}

When you create an executable script make sure to let users know by adding an example installation command to your repository:

# Install using deno install

deno install -n awesome_cli https://example.com/awesome/cli.ts

deno install --global --compile [PACKAGE_OR_URL]

Use this command to compile a package or script into a standalone, self-contained binary. The resulting executable can be distributed and run without requiring Deno to be installed on the target system.

deno install --global --compile -A npm:@anthropic-ai/claude-code

This combines the behavior of deno compile with global installation — producing a native binary placed in the installation root (same as --global without --compile).

deno install --prod

Use this command to install only production dependencies, skipping devDependencies from package.json.

deno install --prod

This is useful when deploying an application where development dependencies like test frameworks or build tools are not needed.

The --prod flag conflicts with --global and --dev.

--skip-types

When combined with --prod, the --skip-types flag additionally skips @types/* packages from both package.json dependencies and deno.json imports:

deno install --prod --skip-types

:::caution

The --skip-types flag identifies type packages by checking if the package name starts with @types/. This heuristic may not cover all type-only packages.

:::

--prod with --entrypoint

When --prod is combined with --entrypoint, the module graph is built as "code only", which excludes type-only dependencies:

deno install --prod --entrypoint main.ts

This provides the most precise production install — only dependencies that are actually imported at runtime by the specified entrypoint (and its transitive imports) will be installed.

Native Node.js addons

A lot of popular packages npm packages like npm:sqlite3 or npm:duckdb depend on "lifecycle scripts", eg. preinstall or postinstall scripts. Most often running these scripts is required for a package to work correctly.

Unlike npm, Deno does not run these scripts by default as they pose a potential security vulnerability.

You can still run these scripts by passing the --allow-scripts=<packages> flag when running deno install:

deno install --allow-scripts=npm:sqlite3

Install all dependencies and allow npm:sqlite3 package to run its lifecycle scripts.

--quiet flag

The --quiet flag suppresses diagnostic output when installing dependencies. When used with deno install, it will hide progress indicators, download information, and success messages.

deno install --quiet jsr:@std/http/file-server

This is useful for scripting environments or when you want cleaner output in CI pipelines.

Uninstall

You can uninstall dependencies or binary script with deno uninstall command:

deno uninstall express
Removed express
deno uninstall -g file-server
deleted /Users/deno/.deno/bin/file-server
✅ Successfully uninstalled file-server

See deno uninstall page for more details.