sindresorhus/update-notifier

Bad advice when using npx

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#112 opened on Jun 12, 2017

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enhancementhelp wanted

Description

In this example, npx is using the locally-installed version of bower (node_modules/.bin/bower). update-notifier is correctly noticing that we're not using the latest version, but it suggests that npm i -g bower will fix that, which it will not, since it'll still use the locally-installed version, which is old.

pasted image at 2017_06_12 03_26 pm

=> $ npm -v
5.0.3
=> $ node -v
v6.9.5
=> $ npx -v
4.0.3

Contributor guide

Tech stack
javascriptnodejsshell
Domain
clitooling
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
basic npm/npx knowledge
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70
Research direction
Investigate how update notifier determines whether a package is locally or globally installed. The issue occurs when npx is used, which runs a locally installed version but the notifier suggests a global update. Look at the source code in the repo to find the logic that checks for the installation path and where it generates the update message. Consider checking if the process is invoked via npx (e.g., environment variable or argv) and skip the global suggestion in that case.