deno add

The deno add command adds dependencies to your project's configuration file. It is an alias for deno install [PACKAGES]. For more on how Deno handles dependencies, see Modules and dependencies.

Examples Jump to heading

Add packages from JSR and npm:

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deno add npm:express hono zod
deno add jsr:@std/path

Deno 2.8

Unprefixed package names are treated as npm packages by default, so the npm: prefix is no longer required at the CLI. deno add express is equivalent to deno add npm:express. JSR packages still need the jsr: prefix to stay unambiguous. The npm: prefix remains required in import specifiers.

By default, dependencies are added with a caret (^) version range. Use --save-exact to pin to an exact version:

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deno add --save-exact @std/path

This saves the dependency without the ^ prefix (e.g., 1.0.0 instead of ^1.0.0).

Where dependencies are stored Jump to heading

If your project has a package.json, npm packages will be added to dependencies in package.json. Otherwise, all packages are added to the imports field in deno.json.

To force every dependency to be written to package.json (creating one if needed), pass --package-json (Deno 2.8+):

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deno add --package-json npm:express jsr:@std/path

JSR packages added with --package-json are written in their npm-compatible form (npm:@jsr/...). The same flag works on deno install, deno remove, and deno uninstall.

To make this the default without passing the flag each time, set "preferPackageJson": true in deno.json.

Command line usage:

add

Add dependencies

Options Jump to heading

--allow-import, -I

Allow importing from remote hosts. Optionally specify allowed IP addresses and host names, with ports as necessary. Default value: deno.land:443,jsr.io:443,esm.sh:443,raw.esm.sh:443,cdn.jsdelivr.net:443,raw.githubusercontent.com:443,gist.githubusercontent.com:443.

--allow-scripts

Allow running npm lifecycle scripts for the given packages Note: Scripts will only be executed when using a node_modules directory (--node-modules-dir).

--cert

Load certificate authority from PEM encoded file.

--config, -c

Configure different aspects of deno including TypeScript, linting, and code formatting. Typically the configuration file will be called deno.json or deno.jsonc and automatically detected; in that case this flag is not necessary.

--deny-import

Deny importing from remote hosts. Optionally specify denied IP addresses and host names, with ports as necessary.

--dev, -D

Add the package as a dev dependency (under devDependencies). Note: this only applies when adding to a package.json file.

--env-file

Load environment variables from local file Only the first environment variable with a given key is used. Existing process environment variables are not overwritten, so if variables with the same names already exist in the environment, their values will be preserved. Where multiple declarations for the same environment variable exist in your .env file, the first one encountered is applied. This is determined by the order of the files you pass as arguments.

--frozen-lockfile

Error out if lockfile is out of date.

--import-map

Load import map file from local file or remote URL.

--jsr

assume unprefixed package names are jsr packages.

--lock

Check the specified lock file. (If value is not provided, defaults to "./deno.lock").

--lockfile-only

Install only updating the lockfile.

--min-dep-age

(Unstable) The age in minutes, ISO-8601 duration or RFC3339 absolute timestamp (e.g. '120' for two hours, 'P2D' for two days, '2025-09-16' for cutoff date, '2025-09-16T12:00:00+00:00' for cutoff time, '0' to disable).

--no-check

Skip type-checking. If the value of "remote" is supplied, diagnostic errors from remote modules will be ignored.

--no-config

Disable automatic loading of the configuration file.

--no-lock

Disable auto discovery of the lock file.

--no-npm

Do not resolve npm modules.

--no-remote

Do not resolve remote modules.

--no-save

Install the package(s) without adding them to the configuration file.

--node-modules-dir

Selects the node_modules directory mode for npm packages (not a path). One of: auto (create a local node_modules directory and install npm packages into it), manual (use the existing local node_modules directory, do not modify it), none (do not use a local node_modules directory; resolve npm packages from the global cache). Defaults to auto when the flag is passed without a value.

--node-modules-linker

Sets the linker mode for npm packages (isolated or hoisted).

--npm

assume unprefixed package names are npm packages (default).

--package-json

Force using package.json for dependency management instead of deno.json.

--reload, -r

Reload source code cache (recompile TypeScript). With no value, reloads everything. Pass a comma-separated list of specifiers to reload only those modules; npm: reloads all npm modules; npm:chalk reloads a single npm module; jsr:@std/http/file-server,jsr:@std/assert/assert-equals reloads specific modules.

--save-exact

Save exact version without the caret (^).

--save-optional, -O

Add the package as an optional dependency (under optionalDependencies). Note: this only applies when adding to a package.json file.

--unsafely-ignore-certificate-errors

DANGER: Disables verification of TLS certificates.

--unscoped

Use the package name without its scope as the alias (ex. jsr:@david/jsonc-morph is added as jsonc-morph). Packages given an explicit alias are unaffected.

--vendor

Toggles local vendor folder usage for remote modules and a node_modules folder for npm packages.

deno add

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