Semver Range Checker

What it's for

Package managers pick a dependency’s version from a range such as ^1.2.3 or ~1.2, and the rules (above all for 0.x versions and pre-releases) aren’t obvious. This shows exactly what a range allows and which versions it matches.

For example, when npm install won’t pick up 1.10.0-beta.1 although your package.json says ^1.2.3, test it here to see that a pre-release is only matched when the range itself names one.

How to use it

Type the range and choose the Rules:

• npm follows node-semver, as used by npm, pnpm and Yarn: ^, ~, x and * wildcards, partial versions (1.2), comparators (>=1.0.0 <2), hyphen ranges (1.2 - 1.4) and || between alternatives.
• Cargo follows Rust’s Cargo.toml: requirements separated by commas, all of which must hold, and a bare version such as 1.2 meaning ^1.2.

Comparators gives the range in the plain form the tools compare against (<2.0.0-0 means below 2.0.0 and none of its pre-releases), and In words says the same. Type versions to test, separated by spaces, commas or lines, and each one is marked, with the highest match named. The rules choice is remembered. Copy a link to this input keeps the range and versions.

Example

Choose Try an example, which types this range:

^1.2.3 || >=2.1.0 <2.3

It means at least 1.2.3 and below 2.0.0, or at least 2.1.0 and below 2.3.0. Of the example’s versions, 1.2.3, 1.9.0 and 2.1.5 match, and the highest is 2.1.5; 1.10.0-beta.1 doesn’t, being a pre-release.

Good to know

The npm rules are those of node-semver without its includePrerelease and loose options. Build metadata (+build.5) is ignored when comparing, as semver says. Other ecosystems differ: Python, Ruby (~>) and Maven ranges aren’t read, except that ~> is taken as npm’s ~.