Explanation about ^ on the node_modules package versions

gistfile1.txt

Having the ^ character in front of the version number indicates that any version that is compatible with the specified version can be used. So, if you have "example-package": "^1.0.1" in your package.json file and you run npm install, npm will install the latest version of "example-package" that is compatible with version 1.0.1. This includes patch versions (e.g. 1.0.2, 1.0.3) and any new minor versions that starts with 1.0 (e.g. 1.0.x) but not new major versions (e.g. 2.0.0).

The package-lock.json file will not prevent having patched versions installed when the value of "example-package" is with the ^ on package.json.

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When you run npm install command, npm will look at the version specified in the package.json file and install the latest version of the package that is compatible with the version specified in the package.json, disregarding the version specified in the package-lock.json.

If you have "example-package": "^1.0.1" in your package.json file and you run npm install, npm will install the latest version of "example-package" that is compatible with version 1.0.1, this includes patch versions (e.g. 1.0.2, 1.0.3) and any new minor versions that starts with 1.0 (e.g. 1.0.x) but not new major versions (e.g. 2.0.0).

When the install process is done, npm will update the package-lock.json file with the exact versions of each package that were installed.

So, the package-lock.json file is used to ensure that the same versions of dependencies are installed across different environments, but it doesn't prevent you from having patched versions installed when the value of a package is with the ^ on package.json.