Managing Dependencies

What it is#

Vite+ wraps dependency management too. vp add, vp remove, vp update, and friends run through whichever package manager the project uses — Vite+ detects it from the packageManager field or the lockfile. You type the same commands whether the repo is on pnpm, npm, yarn, or bun.

Why you'd care#

You stop context-switching between pnpm add, npm install --save, and yarn add. One muscle memory works across every project, and Vite+ makes sure the right package manager (and Node version) is used each time.

Before#

bash

# depends on the repo…
pnpm add lodash
npm install lodash
yarn add lodash

After#

bash

vp add lodash    # works the same everywhere

Do it yourself#

In your project:

1. Add packages#

bash

vp add zod                 # runtime dependency
vp add -D vitest-fetch-mock  # dev dependency

2. Remove a package#

bash

vp remove zod

(vp rm, vp un, and vp uninstall are aliases.)

3. Keep things fresh#

bash

vp outdated   # what's behind
vp update     # bump to latest allowed by your ranges
vp dedupe     # flatten duplicate versions

4. Understand your tree#

bash

vp list          # installed packages
vp why zod       # why is this package here?
vp info zod      # registry metadata for a package

5. Escape hatch#

Anything Vite+ doesn't wrap directly, forward straight to the package manager:

bash

vp pm <command>

Gotchas#

Don't mix tools. Running npm install in a pnpm project can corrupt the lockfile. Let vp pick the package manager so you never guess.
vp add respects the project's declared packageManager. If a repo pins pnpm@10, vp add uses exactly that.
The full alias set: vp remove = rm/un/uninstall; vp update = up; vp list = ls; vp why = explain; vp info = view/show. Use whichever sticks.

Recap#

vp add / remove / update (plus outdated, dedupe, list, why, info) give you one dependency workflow over any package manager, with vp pm as the escape hatch. That wraps the Beginner series — you can now install Vite+, scaffold a project, run the daily loop, and manage packages. The Intermediate series goes under the hood of vp check and vp test, and shows how to bring an existing project onto Vite+.