Which npm version of the javascript module should be installed with a DefinitelyTyped typescript wrapper?

Question

I'm seeing some API drift between the type declarations/definitions of a typescript DefinitelyTyped module (e.g. @types/prompts) and the javascript module it is meant to 'wrap'. How is one supposed to correctly pair versions for the the types package, and the version for the underlying javascript package?

Say I add a dependency on @types/prompts": "^2.0.14" in my package.json. How do I make sure I get the right version of javascript npm package that goes with it?

The npm package @types/prompts has no explicit dependency on the javascript module in its package.json, and there doesn't seem to be any mention of compatibility that I can see in the README.

All I've found is a loose comment in @types/prompts's index.d.ts mentioning:

// Type definitions for prompts 2.0
// Project: https://github.com/terkelg/prompts
...

Is there a convention we're supposed to follow? I'd be interested in hearing about a general approach, not necessarily just for this example.

References:

• typescript types package: https://github.com/DefinitelyTyped/DefinitelyTyped/tree/master/types/prompts
• upstream javascript module: https://github.com/terkelg/prompts

Answer 1

In my experience, usually major and minor versions are being kept in sync between the upstream package and its @types package. Then the patch version would not match, due to the need of being able to fix a bug.

An example with react:

• The current version of react is 17.0.2
• The current version of @types/react is 17.0.37

The only part which isn't super clear is when a patch of the upstream package changes types. Is that change already applied in the types package?

So for example react decides to publish 17.0.3 which contains a non-breaking difference in types. How do we know if 17.0.37 includes that change? But for that, it's probably a better idea for react to actually publish 17.1.0 to address that new change.