npm provides several shorthand commands out of the box.
Here's the list
{
"un": "uninstall",
"rb": "rebuild",
"list": "ls",
"ln": "link",
"create": "init",
"i": "install",
"it": "install-test",
"cit": "install-ci-test",
"up": "update",
"c": "config",
"s": "search",
"se": "search",
"unstar": "star",
"tst": "test",
"t": "test",
"ddp": "dedupe",
"v": "view",
"run": "run-script"
}
which also can be found in the source.