See the NPM docs and semver docs:
-
~version“Approximately equivalent to version”, will update you to all future patch versions, without incrementing the minor version.~1.2.3will use releases from 1.2.3 to <1.3.0. -
^version“Compatible with version”, will update you to all future minor/patch versions, without incrementing the major version.^2.3.4will use releases from 2.3.4 to <3.0.0.
See Comments below for exceptions, in particular for pre-one versions, such as ^0.2.3