Creating an Angular Project Using npx Without Installing It Globally

In this guide, we'll show you how to create an Angular project using npx without needing to install the Angular CLI globally on your machine. This approach helps you run the Angular CLI directly from npm, keeping your environment clean and up-to-date.

What is npx?

npx is a package runner tool that comes with npm (Node Package Manager). It allows you to run Node.js packages without globally installing them. This is particularly useful when you want to run a package once or avoid potential version conflicts with globally installed packages.

Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following installed:

• Node.js: If you don’t have it installed yet, download and install Node.js, which also includes npm.

  • To verify if it's installed, you can check the versions using:

    node -v
    npm -v

Steps to Create an Angular Project Using npx

1. Create the Angular Project with npx

Instead of installing Angular CLI globally, use npx to run Angular CLI directly from npm. This ensures you're always using the latest version without the need to globally install the CLI.

Use this command to create a new Angular project:

npx -p @angular/cli@<your_preferred_angular_version> ng new my-angular-project
npx -p @angular/cli@17.2.0 ng new my-angular-project

This will:

• Download the latest version of Angular CLI (@angular/cli) using npx.

• Create a new Angular project named my-angular-project in a folder with the same name.

2. Answer the Configuration Prompts

During the creation process, you will be prompted with a few configuration questions:

• Would you like to add Angular routing?: Choose Yes or No based on your need for routing.

• Which stylesheet format would you like to use?: Choose from options like CSS, SCSS, Sass, Less, or Stylus.

Example prompt:

? Would you like to add Angular routing? No
? Which stylesheet format would you like to use? CSS

3. Install Dependencies

After the project is created, npx will automatically install all necessary dependencies using npm. You will see output indicating the installation is in progress, like this:

installing packages...
added 120 packages from 100 contributors and audited 120 packages in 10.245s

4. Navigate to Your Project Directory

Change into your new project's directory:

cd my-angular-project

5. Serve Your Application

To start the development server and view your app, run:

npm start

This will start a local server, and you can open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:4200 to see the default Angular application running.

6. Generate Components or Other Elements Using npx

Once your Angular project is set up, you might want to generate new components, services, modules, etc. Typically, you would use Angular CLI commands like ng generate component, ng generate service, etc.

However, when using npx, these commands might not work directly because the Angular CLI is not globally installed. If you encounter this issue, you can resolve it by running npx before the command like so:

npx ng generate component my-component

This ensures that the latest version of the Angular CLI is used to generate the my-component component, even without a global installation.

Example of Component Generation

To generate a new component named my-component, use the following:

npx ng generate component my-component

This will create the my-component component inside your project.

7. Customize Your Angular Project

You can now start customizing your project by adding new features, installing additional npm packages, and modifying components or services. For instance, you can continue using npx for various ng generate commands as needed throughout the development process.

Advantages of Using npx

• No Global Installation: You don’t need to install Angular CLI globally on your machine, keeping your environment clean and reducing version conflicts.

• Up-to-Date Version: Always use the latest version of Angular CLI without manually updating or managing a global installation.

• Quick Setup: Easily create Angular projects without dealing with versioning issues or cluttering your global environment.

• Efficient Project Management: You don’t need to worry about maintaining or cleaning up global Angular CLI installations when you only need it temporarily.

Conclusion

Using npx to create an Angular project is an excellent way to avoid installing Angular CLI globally, keeping your system clean and ensuring you always have the latest version of the Angular CLI. By leveraging npx for project setup and generation commands like npx ng generate component, you streamline the development process and reduce unnecessary dependencies.

This approach is ideal for developers who want to quickly start projects, avoid global installs, and always use the most recent Angular features.