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Check for outdated dependencies. 
bun outdated

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Behavior

bun outdated compares installed package versions against the latest available versions in the registry. It shows which packages have updates available.

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Output

The command displays a table with:
  • Package - Package name and type (dev, peer, optional)
  • Current - Currently installed version
  • Update - Latest version matching the semver range
  • Latest - Absolute latest version available
$ bun outdated
bun outdated v1.0.0

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Package       │ Current │ Update  │ Latest  │ Type      │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ react         │ 18.2.0  │ 18.2.1  │ 19.0.0  │           │
│ typescript    │ 5.0.0   │ 5.0.4   │ 5.3.3   │ dev       │
│ @types/node   │ 20.0.0  │ 20.10.5 │ 20.10.5 │ dev       │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Filtering

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Check specific packages

bun outdated react typescript

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Pattern matching

# Check all @types/* packages
bun outdated "@types/*"

# Check all packages starting with "babel-"
bun outdated "babel-*"

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Check all packages

bun outdated "*"

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Workspaces

In a workspace project, check outdated dependencies across all workspaces: 
bun outdated --recursive
Check specific workspace: 
bun outdated --filter "my-package"
Check multiple workspaces: 
bun outdated --filter "@myorg/*"
Output includes workspace information: 
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Package    │ Current │ Update  │ Latest  │ Workspace        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ react      │ 18.2.0  │ 18.2.1  │ 19.0.0  │ @myorg/frontend  │
│ react      │ 18.2.0  │ 18.2.1  │ 19.0.0  │ @myorg/backend   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Flags

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--recursive (-r)

Check outdated dependencies in all workspace packages. 
bun outdated --recursive

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--filter <pattern>

Check specific workspace(s). 
bun outdated --filter "packages/app"
bun outdated --filter "@myorg/*"

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--cwd <path>

Run command in specified directory. 
bun outdated --cwd ./my-project

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--verbose

Show detailed information including all available versions. 
bun outdated --verbose

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--silent

Suppress output if no packages are outdated (useful in scripts). 
bun outdated --silent

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Exit codes

  • 0 - No outdated packages or command succeeded
  • 1 - Error occurred
The command doesn’t exit with a non-zero code when outdated packages are found.

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Understanding version columns

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Current

The version currently installed in node_modules.

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Update

The latest version that satisfies the semver range in package.json. For example, if package.json has: 
{"react": "^18.2.0"}
And versions available are:
  • 18.2.0 (current)
  • 18.2.1 (patch)
  • 18.3.0 (minor)
  • 19.0.0 (major)
The “Update” column shows 18.3.0 (latest that satisfies ^18.2.0).

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Latest

The absolute latest version available in the registry, ignoring semver ranges.

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Color coding

Versions are color-coded to show update type:
  • Green - Patch update (1.0.0 → 1.0.1)
  • Yellow - Minor update (1.0.0 → 1.1.0)
  • Red - Major update (1.0.0 → 2.0.0)

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Examples

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Check all dependencies

$ bun outdated
bun outdated v1.0.0

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Package    │ Current │ Update  │ Latest  │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ react      │ 18.2.0  │ 18.2.1  │ 19.0.0  │
│ typescript │ 5.0.0   │ 5.0.4   │ 5.3.3   │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Check specific packages

$ bun outdated react typescript
bun outdated v1.0.0

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Package    │ Current │ Update  │ Latest  │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ react      │ 18.2.0  │ 18.2.1  │ 19.0.0  │
│ typescript │ 5.0.0   │ 5.0.4   │ 5.3.3   │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Check with pattern

$ bun outdated "@types/*"
bun outdated v1.0.0

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Package      │ Current │ Update  │ Latest  │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ @types/node  │ 20.0.0  │ 20.10.5 │ 20.10.5 │
│ @types/react │ 18.0.0  │ 18.2.45 │ 18.2.45 │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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No outdated packages

$ bun outdated
bun outdated v1.0.0

# No output - all packages are up to date

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Updating packages

After checking for outdated packages, update them: 
# Update to latest compatible versions (respects semver ranges)
bun update

# Update to absolute latest versions (ignores semver ranges)
bun update --latest

# Update specific packages
bun update react typescript

# Interactive update
bun update --interactive
See bun update for details.

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CI/CD usage

Check for outdated dependencies in CI: 
# Exit successfully even if packages are outdated
bun outdated

# To fail CI if packages are outdated, manually check output
if bun outdated | grep -q "│"; then
  echo "Outdated packages found"
  exit 1
fi

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Performance

bun outdated is fast because:
  • It reads from Bun’s package manifest cache
  • It queries registries in parallel
  • It reuses lockfile information when possible
Typical check time for 100+ packages: < 2 seconds

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