decolua/9router · error · Error

install finished but package is missing — see install.log

Error message

install finished but package is missing — see install.log

What it means

Thrown by runInstall after `npm install <pxpipe-package>@latest` exits with code 0 (npm reported success) but getInstallInfo() still cannot find the installed package in the PXPIPE host directory. It guards against installs that 'succeed' yet leave nothing loadable — e.g. npm wrote to a different location, the package resolved to an empty/failed install, or the install-info probe looks in the wrong place. The install.log tail (getInstallLogTail) is the diagnostic source.

Source

Thrown at src/lib/pxpipe/install.js:111

      cwd: PXPIPE_DIR,
      stdio: ["ignore", outFd, outFd],
      windowsHide: true,
      env: { ...process.env, PATH: EXTENDED_PATH },
    });
    const timer = setTimeout(() => {
      child.kill("SIGKILL");
      reject(new Error("npm install timed out after 5 minutes — see install.log"));
    }, INSTALL_TIMEOUT_MS);
    child.once("error", (e) => { clearTimeout(timer); reject(e); });
    child.once("exit", (code) => {
      clearTimeout(timer);
      if (code === 0) resolve();
      else reject(new Error(`npm install exited with code ${code} — see install.log`));
    });
  }).finally(() => fs.closeSync(outFd));

  const info = getInstallInfo();
  if (!info.installed) throw new Error("install finished but package is missing — see install.log");
  return info;
}

export function getInstallLogTail(maxLines = 200) {
  try {
    if (!fs.existsSync(INSTALL_LOG)) return "";
    const lines = fs.readFileSync(INSTALL_LOG, "utf8").split(/\r?\n/).filter(Boolean);
    return lines.slice(-maxLines).join("\n");
  } catch {
    return "";
  }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 90b52e06ff)

Solutions

Read the install log via getInstallLogTail() (the install.log in the pxpipe dir) to see what npm actually did.
Check PXPIPE_DIR for node_modules/<package> and verify its package.json main/exports still point at the expected entry (transformAnthropicMessages).
Delete PXPIPE_DIR (including package-lock.json) and re-run the install so npm does a clean resolution instead of reusing a broken tree.
If npm hoisted the package (monorepo), run the install outside any workspace or pin the install to the host dir (e.g. --install-links / --prefix PXPIPE_DIR, or set workspaces=false in the host package.json).
Clear the npm cache (npm cache verify / npm cache clean --force) if npm repeatedly reports success without installing, then retry Repair in the dashboard.

Example fix

// before
fs.writeFileSync(pkgJson, JSON.stringify({ name: "9router-pxpipe-host", private: true }, null, 2));
// after: keep npm from hoisting into a parent workspace
fs.writeFileSync(pkgJson, JSON.stringify({ name: "9router-pxpipe-host", private: true, workspaces: false }, null, 2));
// and install with an explicit prefix:
// spawn(npm, ["install", `${PXPIPE_PACKAGE}@latest`, "--prefix", PXPIPE_DIR, ...])

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

import fs from "fs";
import path from "path";
function isPxpipeInstalled(pxpipeDir, pkgName) {
  const pkgPath = path.join(pxpipeDir, "node_modules", pkgName, "package.json");
  try {
    const pkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(pkgPath, "utf8"));
    return Boolean(pkg.main || pkg.exports);
  } catch { return false; }
}
// run before loadPxpipe(); if false, reinstall or inspect getInstallLogTail()

Try / catch

try {
  await installPxpipe();
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.includes("install finished but package is missing")) {
    console.error("pxpipe install incomplete:", getInstallLogTail(50));
    // wipe PXPIPE_DIR and retry once
  } else throw e;
}

Prevention

After npm exits 0, assert node_modules/<pkg> exists before declaring success (install.log tail is the evidence source).
Avoid installing inside a monorepo workspace root — npm hoists the package out of the host dir; set workspaces:false or use --prefix.
Clear PXPIPE_DIR (incl. package-lock.json) on reinstall to avoid stale/partial trees.
Watch disk space and npm cache health (npm cache verify) in CI/sandboxed environments.
Pin the pxpipe version instead of @latest so upstream renames can't silently change the layout.

When it happens

Trigger: npm install exits 0 but the expected package directory/entry (checked by getInstallInfo/libraryEntry) is absent under PXPIPE_DIR — for example npm installed the package into a parent node_modules because PXPIPE_DIR sits inside a workspace, or the package name/layout changed upstream so the expected entry no longer exists.

Common situations: Running under a monorepo where npm hoists the package outside the host dir; a read-only or redirected npm prefix/cache; a partial/corrupted npm cache giving a phantom success; pxpipe upstream renamed its package entry point; disk-full or antivirus interference; running the server from a different cwd so PXPIPE_DIR resolves elsewhere.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of decolua/9router@90b52e06ff (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9af493efb44ecac1. Report an issue: GitHub.