npm cache clean v/s npm cache verify

Question

What is the difference between the following:

• npm cache clean
• npm cache verify

Also what does the force option do?

It would be great if I could get an understanding specific to development on Windows platform.

Answer 1

npm cache usually stored in the folder _cacache which is located at C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache\_cacache

This directory is a cacache-based content-addressable cache that stores all http request data as well as other package-related data.

when you run the command npm cache verify, you can see this path along with other details.

ie; npm cache verify: Verifies the contents of the cache folder, garbage collecting any unneeded data, and verifying the integrity of the cache index and all cached data.

npm cache clean --force delete the entire cache. Please note, --force is a mandatory parameter, post npm v5. if you try to run npm cache clean without --force parameter, an error message will be shown.