Using --package-lock-only Flag to Generate or Update Package-lock.json without Node Module Installation

"If you want to generate or update a package-lock.json file without actually installing the node modules into your node_modules directory, you can use the --package-lock-only flag with the npm install command.

Here’s the command you would use:

npm install --package-lock-only

When you run this command, npm will generate or update the package-lock.json file based on the dependencies specified in your package.json file, without installing those dependencies.

Note that:

• This command is useful for updating the lock file to match new versions specified in package.json (or to generate the initial lock file) without modifying the current state of node_modules.
• The package-lock.json ensures that subsequent installs will use the exact dependency versions listed, providing a consistent install experience."