Why "npm update" will update the module(s) but not its SemVer in package.json?

Question

1. In "package.json," I clearly have an outdated express module version --> "4.10.0"

2. "npm outdated" is recommending an update to "4.17.1"

3. although "npm update" updated the express module to "4.17.1", "package.json" remains "4.10.0"

My question is: how do I update both the module(s) and "package.json" simultaneously?

Answer 1

If you have a package to update you can install a specific version with npm (instead of update)

npm install --save-exact express@4.16.1

Yarn also supports this for add/upgrade without the extra option.

yarn upgrade express@4.16.1

It's unwieldy for large updates though, see Raphael's answer

Answer 2

Consider using npm-check-updates.

At first I didn't want to install something for this basic task but npm lacks this "basic" option