Setting NPM Version Without 'v' Prefix

By default, npm version creates git tags like v1.2.3. Some teams want plain tags like 1.2.3.

You can change that behavior with one config setting.

Command to remove v prefix

Run this in your project:

npm config set tag-version-prefix ""

After that, npm version patch will create tag format like 1.2.4 instead of v1.2.4.

Verify it works

1. bump version:

npm version patch

2. check latest git tag:

git tag --sort=-creatordate | head -n 3

You should see numeric tags without v.

Local vs global config

Project-only config:

npm config set tag-version-prefix "" --location=project

Global config on your machine:

npm config set tag-version-prefix "" --location=user

For team consistency, project-level config is usually safer.

CI and release note

If your release pipeline expects v* tags, changing this may break automation. Check your CI scripts first.

Things to confirm:

• changelog generator tag pattern
• deploy workflow trigger pattern
• semantic-release or custom release scripts

Rollback command

If you want default behavior again:

npm config delete tag-version-prefix

Then tags return to v1.2.3 style.