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To add a particular package:
terminal
bun add preact
To specify a version, version range, or tag:
terminal
bun add zod@3.20.0 bun add zod@^3.0.0 bun add zod@latest

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--dev

Alias — --development, -d, -D
To add a package as a dev dependency ("devDependencies"):
terminal
bun add --dev @types/react bun add -d @types/react

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--optional

To add a package as an optional dependency ("optionalDependencies"):
terminal
bun add --optional lodash

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--peer

To add a package as a peer dependency ("peerDependencies"):
terminal
bun add --peer @types/bun

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--exact

Alias — -E
To add a package and pin to the resolved version, use --exact. This will resolve the version of the package and add it to your package.json with an exact version number instead of a version range.
terminal
bun add react --exact bun add react -E
This will add the following to your package.json:
package.json
{  "dependencies": {  // without --exact  "react": "^18.2.0", // this matches >= 18.2.0 < 19.0.0   // with --exact  "react": "18.2.0" // this matches only 18.2.0 exactly  } }
To view a complete list of options for this command:
terminal
bun add --help

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--global

Note — This would not modify package.json of your current project folder. Alias - bun add --global, bun add -g, bun install --global and bun install -g
To install a package globally, use the -g/--global flag. This will not modify the package.json of your current project. Typically this is used for installing command-line tools.
terminal
bun add --global cowsay # or `bun add -g cowsay` cowsay "Bun!" 
 ______ < Bun! >  ------  \ ^__^  \ (oo)\_______  (__)\ )\/\  ||----w |  || ||
bunfig.toml
[install] # where `bun add --global` installs packages globalDir = "~/.bun/install/global"  # where globally-installed package bins are linked globalBinDir = "~/.bun/bin"

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Trusted dependencies

Unlike other npm clients, Bun does not execute arbitrary lifecycle scripts for installed dependencies, such as postinstall. These scripts represent a potential security risk, as they can execute arbitrary code on your machine. To tell Bun to allow lifecycle scripts for a particular package, add the package to trustedDependencies in your package.json.
package.json
{  "name": "my-app",  "version": "1.0.0",  "trustedDependencies": ["my-trusted-package"]  }
Bun reads this field and will run lifecycle scripts for my-trusted-package.

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Git dependencies

To add a dependency from a public or private git repository:
terminal
bun add git@github.com:moment/moment.git
To install private repositories, your system needs the appropriate SSH credentials to access the repository.
Bun supports a variety of protocols, including github, git, git+ssh, git+https, and many more.
package.json
{  "dependencies": {  "dayjs": "git+https://github.com/iamkun/dayjs.git",  "lodash": "git+ssh://github.com/lodash/lodash.git#4.17.21",  "moment": "git@github.com:moment/moment.git",  "zod": "github:colinhacks/zod"  } }

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Tarball dependencies

A package name can correspond to a publicly hosted .tgz file. During installation, Bun will download and install the package from the specified tarball URL, rather than from the package registry.
terminal
bun add zod@https://registry.npmjs.org/zod/-/zod-3.21.4.tgz
This will add the following line to your package.json:
package.json
{  "dependencies": {  "zod": "https://registry.npmjs.org/zod/-/zod-3.21.4.tgz"  } }

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CLI Usage

bun add <package> <@version>

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Dependency Management

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--production
boolean
Don’t install devDependencies. Alias: -p
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--omit
string
Exclude dev, optional, or peer dependencies from install
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--global
boolean
Install globally. Alias: -g
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--dev
boolean
Add dependency to devDependencies. Alias: -d
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--optional
boolean
Add dependency to optionalDependencies
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--peer
boolean
Add dependency to peerDependencies
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--exact
boolean
Add the exact version instead of the ^ range. Alias: -E
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--only-missing
boolean
Only add dependencies to package.json if they are not already present

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Project Files & Lockfiles

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--yarn
boolean
Write a yarn.lock file (yarn v1). Alias: -y
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--no-save
boolean
Don’t update package.json or save a lockfile
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--save
boolean
default:"true"
Save to package.json (true by default)
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--frozen-lockfile
boolean
Disallow changes to lockfile
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--trust
boolean
Add to trustedDependencies in the project’s package.json and install the package(s)
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--save-text-lockfile
boolean
Save a text-based lockfile
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--lockfile-only
boolean
Generate a lockfile without installing dependencies

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Installation Control

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--dry-run
boolean
Don’t install anything
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--force
boolean
Always request the latest versions from the registry & reinstall all dependencies. Alias: -f
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--no-verify
boolean
Skip verifying integrity of newly downloaded packages
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--ignore-scripts
boolean
Skip lifecycle scripts in the project’s package.json (dependency scripts are never run)
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--analyze
boolean
Recursively analyze & install dependencies of files passed as arguments (using Bun’s bundler). Alias: -a

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Network & Registry

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--ca
string
Provide a Certificate Authority signing certificate
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--cafile
string
Same as —ca, but as a file path to the certificate
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--registry
string
Use a specific registry by default, overriding .npmrc, bunfig.toml, and environment variables
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--network-concurrency
number
default:"48"
Maximum number of concurrent network requests (default 48)

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Performance & Resource

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--backend
string
default:"clonefile"
Platform-specific optimizations for installing dependencies. Possible values: clonefile (default), hardlink, symlink, copyfile
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--concurrent-scripts
number
default:"5"
Maximum number of concurrent jobs for lifecycle scripts (default 5)

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Caching

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--cache-dir
string
Store & load cached data from a specific directory path
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--no-cache
boolean
Ignore manifest cache entirely

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Output & Logging

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--silent
boolean
Don’t log anything
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--verbose
boolean
Excessively verbose logging
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--no-progress
boolean
Disable the progress bar
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--no-summary
boolean
Don’t print a summary

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Global Configuration & Context

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--config
string
Specify path to config file (bunfig.toml). Alias: -c
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--cwd
string
Set a specific current working directory

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Help

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--help
boolean
Print this help menu. Alias: -h