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bower.json specification

bower.json is used for configuring packages that can be used as a dependency of another package. This is similar to Node’s package.json or Ruby’s Gemfile.

You can interactively create a bower.json with bower init.

{
  "name": "blue-leaf",
  "description": "Physics-like animations for pretty particles",
  "main": [
    "js/motion.js",
    "sass/motion.scss"
  ],
  "dependencies": {
    "get-size": "~1.2.2",
    "eventEmitter": "~4.2.11"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "qunit": "~1.16.0"
  },
  "moduleType": [
    "amd",
    "globals",
    "node"
  ],
  "keywords": [
    "motion",
    "physics",
    "particles"
  ],
  "authors": [
    "Betty Beta <bbeta@example.com>"
  ],
  "license": "MIT",
  "ignore": [
    "**/.*",
    "node_modules",
    "bower_components",
    "test",
    "tests"
  ],
  "private": true
}

name

Required

Type: String

The name of the package as stored in the registry.

  • Must be unique.
  • Should be slug style for simplicity, consistency and compatibility. Example: unicorn-cake
  • Lowercase, a-z, can contain digits, 0-9, can contain dash or dot but not start/end with them.
  • Consecutive dashes or dots not allowed.
  • 50 characters or less.

description

Recommended

Type: String

Any character. Max 140.

Help users identify and search for your package with a brief description. Describe what your package does, rather than what it's made of. Will be displayed in search/lookup results on the CLI and the website that can be used to search for packages.

version

Deprecated

Use git or svn tags instead. This field is ignored by Bower.

main

Recommended

Type: String or Array of String

The entry-point files necessary to use your package. Only one file per filetype.

Entry-point files have module exports and may use module imports. While Bower does not directly use main files, they are listed with the commands bower list --json and bower list --paths, so they can be used by build tools.

Let's say your package looks like this:

package
  js/
    motion.js
    run.js
    walk.js
  sass/
    motion.scss
    run.scss
    walk.scss
  img/
    motion.png
    walk.png
    run.png
  fonts/
    icons.woff2
    icons.woff
  dist/
    movement.js
    movement.min.js
    movement.css
    movement.min.css

motion.js has module imports for run.js and walk.js. motion.scss has module imports for run.scss and walk.scss. main would be

"main": [
  "js/motion.js",
  "sass/motion.scss",
]

Image and font files may be used or referenced within the JS or Sass files, but are not main files as they are not entry-points.

  • Use source files with module exports and imports over pre-built distribution files.
  • Do not include minified files.
  • Do not include assets files like images, fonts, audio, or video
  • Filenames should not be versioned (Bad: package.1.1.0.js; Good: package.js).
  • Globs like js/*.js are not allowed.

moduleType

Recommended

Type: String or Array of String

The type of module defined in the main JavaScript file. Can be one or an array of the following strings:

  • globals: JavaScript module that adds to global namespace, using window.namespace or this.namespace syntax
  • amd: JavaScript module compatible with AMD, like RequireJS, using define() syntax
  • node: JavaScript module compatible with node and CommonJS using module.exports syntax
  • es6: JavaScript module compatible with ECMAScript 6 modules, using export and import syntax
  • yui: JavaScript module compatible with YUI Modules, using YUI.add() syntax

license

Recommended

Type: String or Array of String

SPDX license identifier or path/url to a license.

ignore

Recommended

Type: Array of String

A list of files for Bower to ignore when installing your package.

Note: symbolic links will always be ignored. However bower.json will never be ignored.

The ignore rules follow the same rules specified in the gitignore pattern spec.

Default ignores are as follows:

  "ignore": [
    "**/.*",
    "node_modules",
    "bower_components",
    "test",
    "tests"
  ]

keywords

Recommended

Type: Array of String

Same format requirements as name.

Used for search by keyword. Helps make your package easier to discover without people needing to know its name.

authors

Type: Array of (String or Object)

A list of people that authored the contents of the package.

Either:

"authors": [
  "John Doe",
  "John Doe <john@doe.com>",
  "John Doe <john@doe.com> (http://johndoe.com)"
]

or:

"authors": [
  { "name": "John Doe" },
  { "name": "John Doe", "email": "john@doe.com" },
  { "name": "John Doe", "email": "john@doe.com", "homepage": "http://johndoe.com" }
]

homepage

Type: String

URL to learn more about the package. Falls back to GitHub project if not specified and it’s a GitHub endpoint.

repository

Type: Object

The repository in which the source code can be found.

"repository": {
  "type": "git",
  "url": "git://github.com/foo/bar.git"
}

dependencies

Type: Object

Dependencies are specified with a simple hash of package name to a semver compatible identifier or URL.

  • Key must be a valid name.
  • Value must be a valid semver range, a Git URL, or a URL (inc. tarball and zipball).
  • Git URLs can be restricted to a reference (revision SHA, branch, or tag) by appending it after a hash, e.g. https://github.com/owner/package.git#branch.
  • Value can be an owner/package shorthand, i.e. owner/package. By default, the shorthand resolves to GitHub -> git://github.com/{{owner}}/{{package}}.git. This may be changed in .bowerrc shorthand_resolver.
  • Local paths may be used as values for local development, but they will be disallowed when registering.

devDependencies

Type: Object

Same rules as dependencies.

Dependencies that are only needed for development of the package, e.g., test framework or building documentation.

resolutions

Type: Object

Dependency versions to automatically resolve with if conflicts occur between packages.

Example:

"resolutions": {
  "angular": "1.3.0-beta.16"
}

private

Type: Boolean

If set to true, Bower will refuse to publish it. This is a way to prevent accidental publication of private repositories.