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To add a particular package:
terminal
bun add preact
To specify a version, version range, or tag:
terminal
bun add zod@3.20.0
bun add zod@^3.0.0
bun add zod@latest

​
--dev

Alias — --development, -d, -D
To add a package as a dev dependency ("devDependencies"):
terminal
bun add --dev @types/react
bun add -d @types/react

​
--optional

To add a package as an optional dependency ("optionalDependencies"):
terminal
bun add --optional lodash

​
--peer

To add a package as a peer dependency ("peerDependencies"):
terminal
bun add --peer @types/bun

​
--exact

Alias — -E
To pin a package to the resolved version, use --exact. Bun writes the exact version number to your package.json instead of a version range.
terminal
bun add react --exact
bun add react -E
The difference in package.json:
package.json
{
  "dependencies": {
    // without --exact
    "react": "^18.2.0", // this matches >= 18.2.0 < 19.0.0

    // with --exact
    "react": "18.2.0" // this matches only 18.2.0 exactly
  }
}
To view a complete list of options for this command:
terminal
bun add --help

​
--global

Alias — bun add --global, bun add -g, bun install --global and bun install -g
To install a package globally, use the -g/--global flag. This does not modify the package.json of your current project. Use it to install command-line tools.
terminal
bun add --global cowsay # or `bun add -g cowsay`
cowsay "Bun!"

 ______
< Bun! >
 ------
        \   ^__^
         \  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
                ||     ||
bunfig.toml
[install]
# where `bun add --global` installs packages
globalDir = "~/.bun/install/global"

# where globally-installed package bins are linked
globalBinDir = "~/.bun/bin"

​
Trusted dependencies

Unlike other npm clients, Bun does not execute arbitrary lifecycle scripts for installed dependencies, such as postinstall. These scripts represent a potential security risk, as they can execute arbitrary code on your machine. To tell Bun to allow lifecycle scripts for a particular package, add the package to trustedDependencies in your package.json.
package.json
{
  "name": "my-app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "trustedDependencies": ["my-trusted-package"] 
}
Bun reads this field and runs lifecycle scripts for my-trusted-package.

​
Git dependencies

To add a dependency from a public or private git repository:
terminal
bun add git@github.com:moment/moment.git
To install private repositories, your system needs the appropriate SSH credentials to access the repository.
Bun supports a variety of protocols, including github, git, git+ssh, and git+https.
package.json
{
  "dependencies": {
    "dayjs": "git+https://github.com/iamkun/dayjs.git",
    "lodash": "git+ssh://github.com/lodash/lodash.git#4.17.21",
    "moment": "git@github.com:moment/moment.git",
    "zod": "github:colinhacks/zod"
  }
}

​
Tarball dependencies

A package name can correspond to a publicly hosted .tgz file. Bun downloads and installs the package from that tarball URL rather than from the package registry.
terminal
bun add zod@https://registry.npmjs.org/zod/-/zod-3.21.4.tgz
bun add writes the URL to your package.json:
package.json
{
  "dependencies": {
    "zod": "https://registry.npmjs.org/zod/-/zod-3.21.4.tgz"
  }
}

​
CLI Usage

bun add <package> <@version>

​
Dependency Management

​
--production
boolean
Don’t install devDependencies. Alias: -p
​
--omit
string
Exclude dev, optional, or peer dependencies from install
​
--global
boolean
Install globally. Alias: -g
​
--dev
boolean
Add dependency to devDependencies. Alias: -d
​
--optional
boolean
Add dependency to optionalDependencies
​
--peer
boolean
Add dependency to peerDependencies
​
--exact
boolean
Add the exact version instead of the ^ range. Alias: -E
​
--only-missing
boolean
Only add dependencies to package.json if they are not already present

​
Project Files & Lockfiles

​
--yarn
boolean
Write a yarn.lock file (yarn v1). Alias: -y
​
--no-save
boolean
Don’t update package.json or save a lockfile
​
--save
boolean
default:"true"
Save to package.json
​
--frozen-lockfile
boolean
Disallow changes to lockfile
​
--trust
boolean
Add to trustedDependencies in the project’s package.json and install the package(s)
​
--save-text-lockfile
boolean
Save a text-based lockfile
​
--lockfile-only
boolean
Generate a lockfile without installing dependencies

​
Installation Control

​
--dry-run
boolean
Don’t install anything
​
--force
boolean
Always request the latest versions from the registry & reinstall all dependencies. Alias: -f
​
--no-verify
boolean
Skip verifying integrity of newly downloaded packages
​
--ignore-scripts
boolean
Skip lifecycle scripts in the project’s package.json (dependency scripts are never run)
​
--analyze
boolean
Recursively analyze & install dependencies of files passed as arguments (using Bun’s bundler). Alias: -a

​
Network & Registry

​
--ca
string
Provide a Certificate Authority signing certificate
​
--cafile
string
Same as —ca, but as a file path to the certificate
​
--registry
string
Use a specific registry by default, overriding .npmrc, bunfig.toml, and environment variables
​
--network-concurrency
number
default:"48"
Maximum number of concurrent network requests

​
Performance & Resource

​
--backend
string
default:"clonefile"
Platform-specific optimizations for installing dependencies. One of clonefile, hardlink, symlink, or copyfile
​
--concurrent-scripts
number
default:"5"
Maximum number of concurrent jobs for lifecycle scripts

​
Caching

​
--cache-dir
string
Store & load cached data from a specific directory path
​
--no-cache
boolean
Ignore manifest cache entirely

​
Output & Logging

​
--silent
boolean
Don’t log anything
​
--verbose
boolean
Excessively verbose logging
​
--no-progress
boolean
Disable the progress bar
​
--no-summary
boolean
Don’t print a summary

​
Global Configuration & Context

​
--config
string
Specify path to config file (bunfig.toml). Alias: -c
​
--cwd
string
Set a specific current working directory

​
Help

​
--help
boolean
Print this help menu. Alias: -h