NPM Package Download Momentum Tracker

Compare download velocity across NPM packages — last-week vs prior-week download ratios, ranked by momentum. Developer audience. Official NPM API, no key required.

Who This Is For

• Open-source maintainers tracking adoption velocity of their packages vs competitors
• Engineering teams evaluating which dependencies have growing vs shrinking community trust
• Investors/analysts monitoring developer-ecosystem trends
• DevOps/Platform engineers identifying fast-growing tooling before it hits mainstream

Key Features & Value

• Cross-package momentum ranking: not a single-package lookup — compare up to 15 packages side by side
• Momentum labels: SURGING (>=2.0x), HOT (>=1.5x), WARM (>=1.1x), COOL (>=0.9x), DECLINING (<0.9x), NEW (no prior data)
• Rich metadata: description, latest version, absolute download counts for both periods
• No API key needed: uses NPM's public download-counts endpoint and public registry

Quick Start

Run with default packages (react, vue, svelte, angular, next, express):

{
  "packages": "react,vue,svelte,angular,next,express"
}

Or compare your own set:

{
  "packages": "vite,esbuild,webpack,parcel,rollup"
}

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
packages	string	Yes	react,vue,svelte,angular,next,express	Comma-separated NPM package names (max 15)

Output Structure

{
  "packageName": "vite",
  "description": "Native-ESM powered web dev build tool",
  "latestVersion": "7.3.2",
  "lastWeekDownloads": 12847935,
  "priorWeekDownloads": 11230627,
  "momentumRatio": 1.14,
  "momentumLabel": "WARM"
}

Each run produces one result item per package, ranked by momentum ratio descending.

Usage Examples

1. Framework momentum comparison Input: react,vue,svelte,solid-js,angular Use case: See which frontend frameworks are gaining or losing download velocity.

2. Build-tool ecosystem check Input: vite,esbuild,webpack,parcel,rollup,swc Use case: Monitor the shift from Webpack to Vite/esbuild.

3. AI-agent workflow — weekly dependency health report

{
  "packages": "lodash,moment,axios,dayjs,chalk,commander,express"
}

Output feeds into a dashboard or Slack alert when any package shows DECLINING momentum.

4. Zapier/automation — Slack alert for SURGING packages

• Cron trigger runs the actor weekly
• Filter output rows where momentumLabel = "SURGING" or "HOT"
• Post to Slack channel: "⚡ NPM Momentum Alert: {packageName} is {momentumLabel} ({momentumRatio}x week-over-week)"

5. CI/CD — pre-deploy dependency sanity check Before a release, run the actor on your top 5 NPM deps. If any show DECLINING momentum, surface a warning in CI.

6. New-tech scouting Input: oxc,biome,bun,deno,hono,effect-ts Use case: Track early-stage developer-tooling adoption velocity across the JS ecosystem.

Integration Notes

• Zapier/Make/n8n: HTTP GET output via Apify webhook. Filter on momentumLabel field.
• MCP: Include as a tool for agents to query package momentum on demand.
• AI Agent: Call with { "packages": "your,packages,here" }, process the ranked list programmatically.
• API: Uses NPM's public API — no key management needed. Rate limit: ~250 req/min per IP from sandbox; the actor caps at 45 calls (3 per package × 15 packages = 45).

Pricing & Typical Cost

• Run start: $0.01 (one per actor execution)
• Per result item: $0.004 (one per package)
• Typical 10-package run: $0.01 + 10 × $0.004 = $0.05 total
• Maximum 15-package run: $0.01 + 15 × $0.004 = $0.07 total

Troubleshooting

• "No results": Check package names exist on npmjs.com. Common issue: typos or org-scoped packages (use @scope/name format).
• Slow run: The actor makes 3 API calls per package (2 download counts + 1 metadata). With 15 packages that's 45 calls — each is fast (<1s) but sequential retries can add up.
• Auth: No API key is needed. NPM's registry requires no auth for public package reads.
• MomentumRatio = null: The package has no prior-week download data (newly published). Labeled "NEW".

Changelog

• 1.0 (2026-07-19): Initial release. Cross-package momentum ranking via NPM download-points API + registry metadata.