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Deceptive Deprecation: The Truth About npm Deprecated Packages

Aqua 8 min read
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Summary (TL;DR)
Researchers found that 8.2% of top npm packages are officially deprecated, but the real number is closer to 21.2% when considering archived repos, deleted repos, or no linked repo. Some maintainers deprecate packages instead of fixing vulnerabilities, leaving users unaware of risks. Deprecated packages get 2.1 billion weekly downloads. A new open-source tool, Dependency Deprecation Checker, scans package.json for deprecated dependencies. Recommendations include defining deprecation criteria, using the tool, and updating or replacing deprecated packages.