Bower – How to install jquery.js only and not the whole package?

You can use bower-installer and an extra “install” section in your bower.json file like:

{
    "name": "test",
    "version": "0.0.0",
    "dependencies": {
        "jquery": "1.11.1",
        "normalize-css": "latest"
    },
    "install" : {
        "path"  : {
            "js": "_js/",
            "css": "_css/"
        }
    }
}

With that “install” section you can specify the install folder.
It than automatically creates the folders – if they’re not existing – and installs just the required files like jquery.js or normalize.css to the specified “css” or “js” folder.