The Hidden Risk in Installing Dependencies (And How to Avoid It)

It was a Tuesday afternoon, and the pressure was on. We were in the final sprint of a major feature release, and I had just one piece of the puzzle left: a small, seemingly simple data formatting task. I remembered a utility library I’d used on a personal project a while back. It was perfect — a quick, one-line solution to my problem. Feeling the deadline breathing down my neck, I did what any developer in a hurry would do. I npm intstalled a random formatter package without a second thought, implemented the function in minutes, and pushed my code. A small victory. Or so I thought.

The next morning, our entire build pipeline was broken. After a frantic investigation, we found the culprit. The simple library I installed had a messy web of its own dependencies. One of these, an old and unmaintained sub-package, conflicted directly with a core library in our application, bringing everything to a halt.

That hasty install cost us a morning of productivity and delayed our feature release. That chaotic day transformed my approach. Now, I see npm install as the final step in a crucial evaluation process. Here’s the checklist I developed from that "dependency hell" experience to ensure a new package is a helping hand, not a hidden landmine.

1. Security

Assess whether the package introduces any security risks to your application.

• Scan for Vulnerabilities: Use tools like npm audit or Snyk to check for known security holes in the package and its dependencies.

• Review Source Activity: Check the repository for recent, legitimate commits to ensure it’s not hijacked or abandoned.

• Evaluate Dependencies: Understand that the package’s own dependencies are also being added to your project, each carrying potential risk.

2. Maintenance & Community

Verify that the package is actively supported and will be viable long-term.

• Check Recent Activity: Look for recent updates and releases; a package that hasn’t been updated in over a year is a red flag.

• Review Open Issues: A high number of unresolved issues and a lack of maintainer responses can signal an abandoned project.

• Gauge Community Size: A strong community on platforms like GitHub or Stack Overflow indicates a reliable and trusted package.

3. Documentation

Ensure you can understand and implement the package correctly and efficiently.

• Look for Clear Examples: Good documentation provides practical, copy-paste-ready examples for common use cases.

• Check for Completeness: A comprehensive API reference is crucial for understanding all the package’s capabilities.

• Confirm It’s Up-to-Date: The documentation should correspond to the latest version of the package to avoid confusion.

4. Dependencies

Be aware of what other packages are being installed transitively.

• Mind the Dependency Count: A package with minimal dependencies is often preferable as it reduces complexity and potential conflicts.

• Analyze the Dependency Tree: Use tools to visualize the entire dependency chain you are about to add to your project.

• Watch for Bloat: Avoid packages that bring in large, unnecessary libraries that can swell your application’s size.

5. Licensing

Confirm that you are legally permitted to use the package in your project.

• Identify the License: Quickly find the package’s license (e.g., MIT, Apache 2.0, GPL) in its repository.

• Ensure License Compatibility: Verify that the package’s license works with your project’s own license and business model.

• Check for Commercial Use: If your project is commercial, confirm the license doesn’t restrict its use for profit.

6. Performance & Size

Evaluate the impact the package will have on your application’s speed and resource usage.

• Check Bundle Size: For web development, use tools like BundlePhobia to see how much the package will slow down user load times.

• Consider Performance Overhead: Assess if the package’s operations are computationally expensive and could create bottlenecks.

• Evaluate Resource Consumption: For backend services, consider the potential memory and CPU impact on your servers.

7. Compatibility

Make sure the package will integrate smoothly with your existing tech stack.

• Verify Environment Support: Confirm the package works with your version of Node.js, your target browsers, or your operating system.

• Check Framework Integration: If you use a framework like React or Angular, ensure the package is designed to be compatible.

• Anticipate Conflicts: Be aware of potential clashes with other libraries you are already using in your project.

In the end, building robust software isn’t about avoiding tools, but about choosing them wisely. The pressure to move fast can lead to costly mistakes when we treat package installation as a triviality. By taking just a few moments to run through this checklist, you shift from reactively fixing problems to proactively preventing them. This small investment of time up front pays massive dividends, protecting your project’s stability, security, and long-term health, and solidifying your role as a truly diligent and professional engineer.

Want to see a random mix of weekend projects, half-baked ideas, and the occasional useful bit of code? Feel free to follow me on Twitter! https://x.com/praveen_sripati