I recently made a switch from npm to bun. Saying that it’s faster than npm might be an understatement but while learning advance topics regarding bun was on my todo list, understanding the distinction between two similar commands - bun install and bun add, was on my top priority list.

They may look alike but they serve different purposes and they are pretty simple to understand. With this blog you will help you manage dependencies efficiently and avoid confusion.

1. bun add - Installing new packages

bun add is used when adding a new dependency to your project. It automatically installs the package and updates your package.json and bun.lockb.

bun add react
bun add -d typescript

Use when:

• You’re adding a new library.
• You want to save it as a dev dependency (-d flag).

bun add axios

This instantly installs Axios and saves it to your project dependencies — much faster than npm install axios.

2. bun install — Reinstalling Dependencies

bun install is equivalent to npm install or yarn install. It reads your bun.lockb or package.json and installs everything listed there.

bun install

Use when:

• You’ve cloned a project and want to install existing dependencies.
• You’ve deleted your node_modules folder.
• You’re syncing dependencies after a version update.

Bun optimizes installation using caching and parallel downloads, so it’s extremely fast compared to npm or yarn.

3. Key Differences at a Glance

Summary

• bun install → Installs everything from your package.json.
• bun add → Adds and installs new dependencies.

See you next time, till then remember, bun add is what adds packages and bun install is what goes and install all packages. (Credit debit joke winks)

Ciao