Find and update outdated dependencies
Dependencies pinned months ago quietly fall behind. The deno outdated subcommand compares what your lockfile resolves to against the newest versions on JSR and npm, and can rewrite deno.json for you.
This script imports one dependency at an old version, the kind of pin that accumulates in any project over time.
import { basename } from "jsr:@std/path@1.0.6";
console.log(basename("/tmp/projects/report.txt"));The walkthrough below uses a project with a deno.json import map and a lockfile created back when these versions were current: { "imports": { "@std/path": "jsr:@std/path@^1.0.6", "chalk": "npm:chalk@^4.1.0" } }
Running deno outdated prints a table. Current is what the lockfile resolves today, Update is the newest version that still satisfies the semver range in deno.json, and Latest is the newest version overall: deno outdated ┌───────────────┬─────────┬────────┬────────┐ │ Package │ Current │ Update │ Latest │ ├───────────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤ │ jsr:@std/path │ 1.0.6 │ 1.1.5 │ 1.1.5 │ ├───────────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤ │ npm:chalk │ 4.1.0 │ 4.1.2 │ 5.6.2 │ └───────────────┴─────────┴────────┴────────┘ Run deno update --latest to update to the latest available versions, or deno outdated --help for more information.
The --update flag applies the Update column. It respects the semver ranges, so chalk moves to the newest 4.x release and does not cross into the 5.x major: deno outdated --update Updated 2 dependencies: - jsr:@std/path ^1.0.6 -> ^1.1.5 - npm:chalk ^4.1.0 -> ^4.1.2
Adding --latest crosses major version boundaries and applies the Latest column instead: deno outdated --update --latest Updated 2 dependencies: - jsr:@std/path ^1.0.6 -> ^1.1.5 - npm:chalk ^4.1.0 -> ^5.6.2
Both forms rewrite deno.json in place. After --update --latest the import map reads: { "imports": { "@std/path": "jsr:@std/path@^1.1.5", "chalk": "npm:chalk@^5.6.2" } }
Major version jumps can contain breaking changes, so review the changelog before reaching for --latest. The plain deno outdated command makes no changes at all and is always safe to run.
Run this example locally using the Deno CLI:
deno run https://docs.deno.com/examples/scripts/deno_outdated.ts