npm Package Scraper — Downloads, Scores & Metadata Extraction

Extract detailed npm package data from the official registry. Search by keyword or look up specific packages to get version info, download counts, quality scores, dependencies, maintainers, and more. Perfect for developer tool research and JavaScript ecosystem analysis.

Features

• Keyword Search — find packages by topic (e.g., "web scraping", "state management")
• Direct Lookup — fetch full metadata for specific packages by name
• Download Statistics — monthly download counts from the npm downloads API
• Quality Scores — npm search score, quality, popularity, and maintenance ratings
• Dependency Tree — list of dependencies and devDependencies with counts
• Pagination Support — extract up to 250 packages per search query
• Author & Maintainer Data — publisher info, author name, and maintainer list

Output Example

{
  "name": "express",
  "description": "Fast, unopinionated, minimalist web framework",
  "version": "4.18.2",
  "keywords": ["framework", "http", "rest", "web"],
  "author": "TJ Holowaychuk",
  "publisher": "dougwilson",
  "homepage": "http://expressjs.com/",
  "repository": "https://github.com/expressjs/express",
  "npm": "https://www.npmjs.com/package/express",
  "lastPublished": "2024-10-01T00:00:00.000Z",
  "score": 0.87,
  "quality": 0.95,
  "popularity": 0.97,
  "maintenance": 0.68,
  "monthlyDownloads": 32000000,
  "source": "search:web framework",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-03-18T10:00:00.000Z"
}

Use Cases

• JavaScript Ecosystem Analysis — compare package popularity and maintenance across categories
• Competitor Research — benchmark your npm package against alternatives
• Tech Stack Auditing — evaluate dependency health, update frequency, and quality scores
• Market Research — discover trending technologies by analyzing download growth patterns
• Supply Chain Security — audit package metadata, maintainers, and dependency chains
• Content Creation — generate data-driven articles about npm trends and top packages

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
searchQueries	array	[]	Keywords to search (e.g., "web scraping")
packageNames	array	[]	Specific package names (e.g., "react", "express")
maxPackagesPerQuery	integer	50	Max packages per search (1-250)
includeDownloads	boolean	true	Fetch monthly download counts (slower)

How It Works

The scraper queries the official npm registry search API for keyword searches and the package endpoint for direct lookups. For each package, it collects metadata, scoring information, and optionally fetches monthly download statistics from the npm downloads API. Built-in rate limiting ensures stable operation without hitting API limits.