Caret Range - CI/CD Glossary Definition

A caret range (^) in npm allows updates that do not change the leftmost non-zero version component, so ^1.2.3 permits >=1.2.3 <2.0.0.

The zero-version twist

For 0.x versions the rules tighten because 0.y is treated as potentially breaking: ^0.2.3 resolves to >=0.2.3 <0.3.0, and ^0.0.3 resolves to >=0.0.3 <0.0.4.

Why it is the npm default

When you npm install a package, npm writes a caret range, betting that SemVer-respecting authors keep minor and patch releases compatible.

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