NPM global install “cannot find module”

Question

I wrote a module which I published to npm a moment ago (https://npmjs.org/package/wisp)

So it installs fine from the command line:

$ npm i -g wisp

However, when I run it from the command line, I keep getting an error that optimist isn't installed:

$ wisp 
Error: Cannot find module 'optimist'
    at Function.Module._resolveFilename (module.js:338:15)
    at Function.Module._load (module.js:280:25)
    at Module.require (module.js:362:17)
    at require (module.js:378:17)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/wisp/wisp:12:10)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/wisp/wisp:96:4)
    at Module._compile (module.js:449:26)
    at Object.exports.run (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/coffee-script/lib/coffee-script/coffee-script.js:68:25)
    at compileScript (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/coffee-script/lib/coffee-script/command.js:135:29)
    at fs.stat.notSources.(anonymous function) (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/coffee-script/lib/coffee-script/command.js:110:18)

However, I have specified in package.json as a dependancy:

{
  "name": "wisp",
  "author": "Brendan Scarvell <[e-mail]>",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "description": "Global nodejs file server",
  "dependencies": {
    "optimist": "~0.3.4"
  },
  "repository": "git://github.com/tehlulz/wisp",
  "bin": {
    "wisp" : "./wisp"
  }
}

Does anyone know what to do to get this running? I know its to do with the bin part adding the executable to bin and the node_modules in that directory being empty. No idea how to resolve this.

Answer 1

$ vim /etc/profile.d/nodejs.sh

NODE_PATH=/usr/lib/nodejs:/usr/lib/node_modules:/usr/share/javascript
export NODE_PATH="$NODE_PATH"

Answer 2

In my case both node and npm were in same path (/usr/bin). The NODE_PATH was empty, so the npm placed the global modules into /usr/lib/node_modules where require(...) successfully find them. The only exception was the npm module, which came with the nodejs package. Since I'm using 64 bit system, it was placed into /usr/lib64/node_modules. This is not where require(...) searches in case of empty NODE_PATH and node started from /usr/bin. So I had two options:

• link /usr/lib64/node_modules/npm to /usr/lib/node_modules/npm
• move modules from /usr/lib/node_modules/* to /usr/lib64/node_modules/ and set NODE_PATH=/usr/lib64/node_modules

Both worked. I'm using OpenSUSE 42.1 and the nodejs package from updates repository. Version is 4.4.5.

Answer 3

By default node does not look inside the /usr/local/lib/node_module for loading global modules. Refer the module loading explained in http://nodejs.org/api/modules.html#modules_loading_from_the_global_folders

So either you have to 1)add the /usr/local/lib/node_module to NODE_PATH and export it or 2)copy the installed node modules to /usr/local/lib/node . (As explained in the link for loading module node will search in this path and will work)

Answer 4

For some (like me) that nothing else worked, try this:

brew cleanup
brew link node
brew uninstall node
brew install node

Hope it helps someone :)

Answer 5

For Mac User's It's Best use the manual installation:

To minimize the chance of permissions errors, you can configure npm to use a different directory. In this example, it will be a hidden directory on your home folder.

1. Back-up your computer before you start.

2. Make a directory for global installations:

   mkdir ~/.npm-global

3. Configure npm to use the new directory path:

   npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'

4. Open or create a ~/.profile file and add this line:

   export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH

5. Back on the command line, update your system variables:

   source ~/.profile

6. Test: Download a package globally without using sudo.

   npm install -g jshint

Instead of steps 2-4, you can use the corresponding ENV variable (e.g. if you don't want to modify ~/.profile):

NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX=~/.npm-global

Reference : https://docs.npmjs.com/getting-started/fixing-npm-permissions

Answer 6

On windows if you just did a clean install and you get this you need blow away your npm cache in \AppData\Roaming