`npm` is installed wrongly on windows machine

[anonrig]

I'm getting the following error when trying to run a simple npx command on Windows. I opened the issue to this repository because we are distributing npm, we define the location of npm in a Windows machine.

I reinstalled Node.js from nodejs.org with the latest v22, and I can not use npm at all. Any input/help is appreciated.

PS: I'm using PowerShell.

PS C:\Users\yagiz\Desktop\coding\node> npx node-benchmark-compare .\bench.txt
npm error code ENOENT
npm error syscall lstat
npm error path C:\Users\yagiz\AppData\Roaming\npm
npm error errno -4058
npm error enoent ENOENT: no such file or directory, lstat 'C:\Users\yagiz\AppData\Roaming\npm'
npm error enoent This is related to npm not being able to find a file.
npm error enoent
npm error A complete log of this run can be found in: C:\Users\yagiz\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_logs\2024-06-21T20_29_57_155Z-debug-0.log

cc @nodejs/platform-windows

[richardlau]

Maybe related to npm/cli#7089?

[anonrig]

cc @nodejs/npm this impacts all windows npm users.

[richardlau]

Also we used to create AppData\Roaming\npm in the msi installer, but stopped doing so: 0ae8bf8

[abrowncownow]

@anonrig Can you post the details of the log C:\Users\yagiz\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_logs\2024-06-21T20_29_57_155Z-debug-0.log

[anonrig]

@anonrig Can you post the details of the log C:\Users\yagiz\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_logs\2024-06-21T20_29_57_155Z-debug-0.log

0 verbose cli C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\npm\bin\npm-cli.js
1 info using npm@10.8.1
2 info using node@v22.3.0
3 silly config load:file:C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\npm\npmrc
4 silly config load:file:C:\Users\yagiz\Desktop\coding\node\.npmrc
5 silly config load:file:C:\Users\yagiz\.npmrc
6 silly config load:file:C:\Users\yagiz\AppData\Roaming\npm\etc\npmrc
7 verbose title npm exec node-benchmark-compare .\bench.txt
8 verbose argv "exec" "--" "node-benchmark-compare" ".\\bench.txt"
9 verbose logfile logs-max:10 dir:C:\Users\yagiz\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_logs\2024-06-21T20_29_57_155Z-
10 verbose logfile C:\Users\yagiz\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_logs\2024-06-21T20_29_57_155Z-debug-0.log
11 silly logfile start cleaning logs, removing 1 files
12 silly logfile done cleaning log files
13 silly packumentCache heap:4345298944 maxSize:1086324736 maxEntrySize:543162368
14 http fetch GET 200 https://registry.npmjs.org/node-benchmark-compare 152ms (cache revalidated)
15 silly packumentCache heap:4345298944 maxSize:1086324736 maxEntrySize:543162368
16 verbose stack Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, lstat 'C:\Users\yagiz\AppData\Roaming\npm'
16 verbose stack     at async lstat (node:internal/fs/promises:1026:18)
16 verbose stack     at async #loadActual (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\npm\node_modules\@npmcli\arborist\lib\arborist\load-actual.js:112:20)
16 verbose stack     at async exec (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\npm\node_modules\libnpmexec\lib\index.js:203:26)
16 verbose stack     at async Npm.exec (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\npm\lib\npm.js:207:9)
16 verbose stack     at async module.exports (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\npm\lib\cli\entry.js:74:5)
17 error code ENOENT
18 error syscall lstat
19 error path C:\Users\yagiz\AppData\Roaming\npm
20 error errno -4058
21 error enoent ENOENT: no such file or directory, lstat 'C:\Users\yagiz\AppData\Roaming\npm'
22 error enoent This is related to npm not being able to find a file.
22 error enoent
23 verbose cwd C:\Users\yagiz\Desktop\coding\node
24 verbose os Windows_NT 10.0.22631
25 verbose node v22.3.0
26 verbose npm  v10.8.1
27 verbose exit -4058
28 verbose code -4058
29 error A complete log of this run can be found in: C:\Users\yagiz\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_logs\2024-06-21T20_29_57_155Z-debug-0.log

[tniessen]

Does npm i -g npm also fail or does it perhaps resolve the issue?

[anonrig]

Does npm i -g npm also fail or does it perhaps resolve the issue?

It might but running it would destroy the repro in case someone needs it?

[lukekarrys]

@anonrig does it work if you use cmd instead of PowerShell? this is just to figure out if it is also a side effect of #52682

[huseyinacacak-janea]

I've looked into this issue and seen that this is caused by stopping creating AppData\Roaming\npm as @richardlau said. Since this is a security concern, it is unlikely that this commit will be reverted.

There are workarounds mentioned on the internet. Their basic idea is to create the appropriate folder, either manually by creating an empty folder or by installing a global module. The basic command to create this folder would be npm i -g npm, as this does not install an additional module, but moves the npm folder to global.

Additionally, you could install the module as an extra step before running npx node-benchmark-compare .\bench.txt. For example, in this case, you could run npm i -g node-benchmark-compare.

The npx documentation might be misleading for some users. It can be updated accordingly.

@lukekarrys, I tried from cmd and it is the same.

[anonrig]

This might be a security issue, but regardless we should never ship a broken/buggy software. If this is indeed the default behavior, than I ask myself "why are we shipping a broken feature on Windows?"

cc @nodejs/tsc

[anonrig]

@anonrig does it work if you use cmd instead of PowerShell? this is just to figure out if it is also a side effect of #52682

Didn't fix the issue.