Question: Is there some URL from which I can download a given package from npm (as a tarball or something)? I need the exact files that were originally uploaded to npm.

Using `npm install` gets a different, generated package.json for example. I want the exact original set of files that was published.

Answer: 
Running `npm pack PACKAGE_NAME` will download a tarball of any package on npm. 

To extract it, just run `tar -xzf DOWNLOADED_FILE.tgz`

### Example:

```
npm pack react

```

then extract:

```
tar -xzf react-16.6.3.tgz

```
Yes, you can `npm install <git remote URL>` to download the full repository into `node_modules`. This will be directly from the repository's host, rather than via npm, though. See [the `npm install` docs](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/install) for more information.