Does this tool validate the package name?

Yes. It checks the name against npm's naming rules: lowercase, URL-safe characters only (letters, numbers, hyphens, dots, underscores), with an optional @scope/ prefix for scoped packages. Names that violate these rules are rejected with a specific error instead of producing an invalid manifest.

What's the difference between "module" and "commonjs" type?

Setting "type": "module" makes Node.js treat .js files in the package as native ES modules (import/export), while "commonjs" (the default when the field is omitted) treats them as CommonJS (require/module.exports). Pick "module" if your codebase uses ES import/export syntax directly under Node, or "commonjs" if it uses require().

Can I add scoped packages as dependencies?

Yes, enter the full scoped name (e.g. @types/node) in the dependency name field along with a version range like ^20.0.0, and it's placed as-is into the dependencies or devDependencies object.

What if I leave a dependency's version blank?

It defaults to "latest", though pinning an actual version or range (e.g. ^1.2.0) is strongly recommended for reproducible installs.

package.json Generator - Build a Valid npm Manifest

Overview

Introduction

Every Node.js or npm-based project starts with a package.json, and getting the shape right by hand, especially the scripts and dependency blocks, is easy to get subtly wrong (a missing comma, an invalid semver, a name npm rejects on publish).

This tool builds a valid package.json from a form: fill in the package metadata, add scripts and dependencies as rows, and get back formatted, ready-to-save JSON.

What Is package.json Generator?

A form-driven generator for the package.json manifest that every Node.js/npm project requires, covering name, version, description, license, module type, Node engine constraint, npm scripts, and dependency/devDependency lists.

Every field is validated against npm's actual rules before the JSON is produced, so the output is a manifest npm and Node will accept, not just JSON that happens to parse.

How package.json Generator Works

Package name is checked against npm's naming pattern (lowercase, URL-safe characters, optional @scope/ prefix) and version against semantic versioning's MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH shape.

Scripts and dependency rows are collected into ordinary objects, empty rows are dropped, and the whole manifest is serialized with JSON.stringify(pkg, null, 2) so the resulting file matches what `npm init` would produce in formatting.

When To Use package.json Generator

Use it when bootstrapping a new Node.js or npm package and you want a correct, complete package.json without running `npm init` and then hand-editing scripts and dependencies afterward.

It's also useful for quickly assembling a manifest to paste into a new repository, a coding exercise, or a reproducible bug report.

Often used alongside tsconfig.json Generator, ESLint Flat Config Generator and Husky Git Hooks Generator.

Features

Advantages

Validates package name and version against npm and semver rules instead of accepting anything.
Repeatable rows for scripts, dependencies, and devDependencies make it fast to assemble a full manifest without typing raw JSON.
Output is deterministically formatted 2-space-indented JSON, matching common npm/editor conventions.

Limitations

Doesn't resolve dependency versions against the npm registry; version strings are taken as entered, not verified to exist.
Covers the common manifest fields only; advanced fields like `exports` maps, `workspaces`, or `peerDependencies` aren't included and would need manual addition.

Examples

A minimal library manifest

Input

name: my-lib, version: 1.0.0, license: MIT, type: module, script build: tsc, dependency: zod ^3.22.0

Output

{
  "name": "my-lib",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "type": "module",
  "scripts": {
    "build": "tsc"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "zod": "^3.22.0"
  },
  "license": "MIT"
}

Best Practices & Notes

Best Practices

Pin dependency versions with a caret range (^1.2.0) rather than leaving them blank/"latest", so installs stay reproducible over time.
Set `engines.node` to the Node version range your CI and production environment actually run, so contributors get an early warning on mismatched versions.
Keep `scripts` names conventional (dev, build, test, lint) so tooling and contributors can guess entry points without reading documentation.

Developer Notes

Name validation uses npm's own accepted pattern (lowercase, URL-safe characters, optional @scope/ prefix, no leading dot or underscore) and version validation checks for a MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH shape with optional pre-release/build metadata suffixes per semver 2.0.0. Empty script/dependency rows are filtered out before serialization so partially-filled form rows never leak into the output as empty-string keys.

package.json Generator Use Cases

Bootstrapping package.json for a new npm package or internal tool
Quickly assembling a manifest for a bug report or minimal reproduction repo
Teaching or demonstrating what a well-formed package.json looks like

Common Mistakes

Publishing a package name that doesn't follow npm's lowercase/URL-safe rules, which npm rejects at publish time rather than at manifest-authoring time.
Leaving dependency versions as "latest" in a committed manifest, which makes installs non-reproducible across machines and time.

Tips

Use the tsconfig Generator next if this package.json is for a TypeScript project, so the build script and tsconfig target/module settings line up.

package.json Generator