Show npm Package Downloads in the Mac Menu Bar

What you need

Check it in Terminal:

Terminal

curl -s https://api.npmjs.org/downloads/point/last-week/react

Add a Web Address meter with your package in the address and the key path downloads.
Web address
```
https://api.npmjs.org/downloads/point/last-week/PACKAGE
```
Refresh every hour; npm updates these numbers once a day. Set a range or use a text face.

In Customize This Meter… (from the meter’s menu):

Settings for this meter
Setting	Value
Source	Web Address
Web address	`https://api.npmjs.org/downloads/point/last-week/PACKAGE`
Key path	`downloads`
Refresh every	1 hour
Range	0 to a weekly goal
Label	`NPM`
Face	LCD Readout, Split-Flap or Sparkline

Tested: Run on October 29, 2026: react 246,493,837 last week; @anthropic-ai/sdk 10,581,790 yesterday.

More on this source, including every format it reads, in the Web Address guide.

npm’s counts trail by about a day, and a day’s numbers can change a little as they settle.

Replace last-week with last-day or last-month.

Put the scope in as is: https://api.npmjs.org/downloads/point/last-week/@scope/name.

For unscoped packages npm answers several at once. A Script meter can add them:

Command

curl -s -m 8 https://api.npmjs.org/downloads/point/last-week/pkg-one,pkg-two | jq '[.[].downloads] | add'

What the meter says, why, and what to do
Symptom	Cause	Fix
No number found in the response	The key path doesn’t match the reply.	Run `curl -s` with the address and read the JSON. Dots walk into objects, numbers pick array items (`items.0.count`).
Couldn’t reach the address	No network, a typo in the host, or the service is down.	Open the address in your browser. Multimeter tries again at the next refresh.
The server answered 404	The package name is misspelled or the package is brand new.	npm has no stats for a package until its first full day.

Why does the number only change once a day?

npm publishes download counts in daily batches. Refreshing more often than hourly only repeats the same number.