# npmx.dev

npmx.dev is a web frontend for the npm registry that reads the same registry data as npmjs.com but ships a different UI and feature set. Started by [Daniel Roe](https://roe.dev) in January 2026 after years of frustration with the frozen state of npmjs.com under GitHub ownership.

Within a fortnight of launch, the repo accumulated ~1,000 issues and pull requests and passed 100 contributors — numbers that reflect pent-up demand from an incumbent that had stopped merging anything. The [[alternative-frontend-pattern|URL-swap trick]] (same paths, hostname changed to `npmx.dev` or `xnpmjs.com`) made adoption near-free: browser extensions, bookmarks, and muscle memory all carry over.

The project's effect on npmjs.com has been visible: a month after launch, npmjs.com shipped dark mode — the single most upvoted feature request on their tracker for roughly five years. Other long-dormant tickets have reportedly seen movement since.

## Architecture highlights

- MIT-licensed. The npm registry proper remains closed-source, as does the npmjs.com website; npmx is the first meaningfully open alternative.
- Runs its own PDS at [npmx.social](https://npmx.dev/pds) for ATProto-backed social features (likes, comments). Lexicons are public in the repo so other tools can read/write the same records.
- Admin actions (claiming a package, editing access) are proxied through the user's local `npm` CLI, so npmx doesn't hold credentials for a registry it doesn't own.

## Feature catalog

See [[features-to-steal-from-npmx]] for the full list — 17 features ranging from transitive install size to install-script disclosure to multi-forge repository stats to ATProto-backed comments.

## Derivatives

- [nugx.org](https://nugx.org/) — same-pattern alternative frontend for NuGet, explicitly "inspired by npmx" in its own words.

## Repo

[github.com/npmx-dev/npmx.dev](https://github.com/npmx-dev/npmx.dev) — MIT licensed.

## Related

- [[features-to-steal-from-npmx]] — Nesbitt's deep feature tour
- [[alternative-frontend-pattern]] — the structural pattern npmx follows
- [[open-source-security-astral]] — adjacent: registry-side supply chain posture from a tool vendor