npmrc Helper

A VSCode extension that provides IntelliSense for package manager configuration files — hover documentation, auto-completion, and diagnostics — supporting:

• .npmrc — npm (v8 / v9 / v10 / v11) and pnpm (v10 / v11) auth + registry only
• pnpm-workspace.yaml — pnpm v11+ everything else (camelCase keys, catalogs, overrides, workspace fields, per-subproject packageConfigs)
• .yarnrc.yml — Yarn Berry (v2 / v3 / v4)

Why both .npmrc and pnpm-workspace.yaml? Starting with pnpm v11, .npmrc is reduced to auth + registry (tokens, scoped registries, always-auth). Every other setting (hoistPattern, nodeLinker, saveExact, proxies, SSL, …) lives in pnpm-workspace.yaml using camelCase keys. Per-subproject overrides previously placed in nested .npmrc files now go under packageConfigs["<project-name>"]. See pnpm settings, pnpm-workspace.yaml, and pnpm .npmrc.

Features

🔍 Hover Documentation

Hover over any config key to see a rich popup with:

• Type and default value
• Allowed values (for enum-type keys)
• Package manager badge — npm or pnpm for .npmrc, yarn berry for .yarnrc.yml
• Version badge — since vX for keys added in newer versions, removed in vX for removed keys
• Full description
• Direct link to the official docs

✅ Auto-completion

.npmrc

• Key completion: Start typing to get suggestions filtered to the active package manager (npm or pnpm, auto-detected)
• Value completion: After key=, suggestions for keys with a fixed set of valid values (e.g. loglevel, access, audit-level)
• Deprecated and removed keys appear at the bottom with a strikethrough

pnpm-workspace.yaml

• Key completion: All workspace fields (packages, catalog, overrides, packageConfigs, allowBuilds, …) plus all pnpm settings in camelCase (nodeLinker, hoistPattern, autoInstallPeers, saveExact, …)
• Value completion: After key: , suggestions for keys with a fixed set of valid values (e.g. nodeLinker, packageImportMethod, resolutionMode)

.yarnrc.yml

• Key completion: All Yarn Berry configuration keys with docs
• Value completion: After key: , suggestions for enum-type keys (e.g. nodeLinker, pnpMode, cacheMigrationMode)

⚠️ Diagnostics

.npmrc

• Unknown config keys → warning squiggle
• Keys removed in newer npm versions (e.g. node-version, ci-name) → warning + strikethrough
• Deprecated keys (e.g. production, shrinkwrap) → hint + strikethrough
• Values that don't match the allowed set → warning
• Lines missing = → warning
• Scoped entries (@scope:registry=…, //host/:_authToken=…) are correctly skipped

pnpm-workspace.yaml

• Unknown top-level keys → warning squiggle
• Migration hints: kebab-case keys (e.g. node-linker) are flagged with the camelCase replacement (nodeLinker)
• allowBuilds migration: onlyBuiltDependencies, neverBuiltDependencies, ignoredBuiltDependencies, onlyBuiltDependenciesFile are flagged with a hint to use allowBuilds: { <pkg>: true | false }
• Deprecated keys → hint + strikethrough
• Invalid enum values → warning
• Nested keys (e.g. catalog entries) are skipped — only top-level keys are validated

.yarnrc.yml

• Unknown config keys → warning squiggle
• Deprecated keys → hint + strikethrough
• Invalid enum values → warning

🤖 Auto-detection: npm vs pnpm

For .npmrc files, the extension automatically determines whether the project uses npm or pnpm by looking for pnpm-lock.yaml or pnpm-workspace.yaml in the directory tree. Completions and diagnostics are scoped accordingly.

In pnpm v11+ projects, .npmrc is reserved for auth + registry only (_authToken, //registry.../:_authToken, @scope:registry, _auth, always-auth, registry). Move everything else — including proxies and SSL — to pnpm-workspace.yaml.

📸 Preview — pnpm-workspace.yaml

Hover documentation, camelCase key completion, enum value suggestions, and migration diagnostics for kebab-case keys:

Supported Configurations

npm (v8 – v11)

All keys from the npm config documentation across versions v8, v9, v10, and v11, including:

pnpm (v10 / v11)

pnpm reads two files:

• .npmrc — auth + registry only (registry, _auth, _authToken, always-auth, @scope:registry=…, //host/:_authToken=…).
• pnpm-workspace.yaml — everything else (camelCase keys).

Workspace-only fields

Selected camelCase settings (formerly kebab-case in .npmrc)

Example

# pnpm-workspace.yaml
packages:
  - "apps/*"
  - "packages/*"

nodeLinker: isolated
autoInstallPeers: true
saveExact: true

allowBuilds:
  esbuild: true
  "@swc/core": true
  canvas: false

packageConfigs:
  "@my-org/web":
    nodeLinker: hoisted
    publicHoistPattern:
      - "*types*"

# .npmrc — auth + registry only
registry=https://registry.npmjs.org/
//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${NPM_TOKEN}
@my-org:registry=https://npm.pkg.github.com/
//npm.pkg.github.com/:_authToken=${GH_TOKEN}

Yarn Berry (v2 / v3 / v4)

All keys from the Yarn Berry yarnrc.yml docs, including:

Getting Started

Development

git clone <repo>
cd npmrc-helper
npm install
# Open in VSCode and press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host

Build & Package

npm run compile        # compile TypeScript
npm run lint           # run ESLint
npm run package        # produce npmrc-helper-x.x.x.vsix

Install from VSIX

Extensions panel → ··· → Install from VSIX…

Requirements

• VSCode ^1.85.0
• Node.js ^20

Extension Settings

This extension has no configurable settings at this time.

License

MIT