Upcoming breaking changes for NPM v12

Upcoming breaking changes for npm v12 Our next npm major version, v12, introduces security-related default changes to npm install . All these changes are available behind warnings in npm today on 11.16.0 or newer, so you can prepare before the upgrade. v12 is estimated to release in July 2026. Each change turns an npm install behavior that runs automatically today into one you explicitly opt into: allowScripts defaults to off:npm install will no longer executepreinstall ,install , orpostinstall scripts from dependencies unless they are explicitly allowed in your project. This includes nativenode-gyp builds (i.e., a package with abinding.gyp and no explicit install script still gets blocked, because npm runs an implicitnode-gyp rebuild for it).prepare scripts from git, file, and link dependencies are blocked the same way. To see what would be blocked, runnpm approve-scripts --allow-scripts-pending . Then allow the packages you trust withnpm approve-scripts and block the rest withnpm deny-scripts . The resulting allowlist is written topackage.json and should be committed. If your install routine runs scripts, you can observe warnings in npm 11.16.0+.- --allow-git defaults tonone :npm install will no longer resolve Git dependencies (direct or transitive) unless explicitly allowed via--allow-git . This closes a code-execution path where a Git dependency’s.npmrc could override the Git executable, even with--ignore-scripts . This change was previously announced on 2026-02-18 and is available in npm 11.10.0+. - --allow-remote defaults tonone :npm install will no longer resolve dependencies from remote URLs, such as https tarballs (direct or transitive), unless explicitly allowed via--allow-remote . This flag is available in npm 11.15.0+. The related--allow-file and--allow-directory flags are not changing their defaults in v12. How to prepare Upgrade to npm 11.16.0 or later, run your normal install, and review the warnings. Use npm approve-scripts --allow-scripts-pending to see which packages have scripts, approve the ones you trust, and commit the updated package.json . After that, only the scripts you approved keep running once you upgrade. Anything you leave unapproved will stop. More details are available in our docs at npm approve-scripts , npm deny-scripts , and allow-scripts config (for npx and global installs). Please share your comments and questions in our community discussion.