Endpoint change
In February 2017, npm announced plans to deprecate the existing search endpoint (GET /-/all) on September 1, 2017. The endpoint was designed at a time when the npm registry was much smaller. It worked by returning a list of all hosted packages that the client would then parse and search.
With the growing size of the registry this became a problem. npmjs.org began migrating both newer and older clients over to use a new search service at GET /-/v1/search. More details can be found here.
Search in Nexus Repository Manager
In late May 2017, npmjs.org deprecated the old search API ahead of schedule. This meant that searches through Nexus Repository Manager resulted in an error response passed back from the remote.
You’ll be pleased to know that search is back in 3.7! Sonatype has added a new search endpoint to Nexus Repository Manager to support the new search service. Users will now be able to take advantage of the npm search parameters listed here.
Who does this affect?
Anyone using an npm client since v4.2.0 and Nexus Repository Manager 3.7 will have access to the new search service. It will be available to users of all repository types (Proxy, Hosted and Group).
Users of the GET /-/all endpoint will still get results from Hosted repositories as we continue to support the old endpoint in Nexus Repository Manager.