gatsbyjs/gatsby · error

There was a problem loading the local ${command} command. Ga

Error message

There was a problem loading the local ${command} command. Gatsby may not be installed in your site's "node_modules" directory. Perhaps you need to run "npm install"? You might need to delete your "package-lock.json" as well.

What it means

Thrown when `resolveCwd.silent` cannot find `gatsby/dist/commands/<command>` (or the legacy `gatsby/dist/utils/<command>`). `isLocalSite` passed (gatsby is declared in `package.json`) but the package is not actually installed under `node_modules`, so the command module cannot be resolved.

Source

Thrown at packages/gatsby-cli/src/create-cli.ts:79

    command: string
  ): ((...args: Array<unknown>) => void) | never {
    if (!isLocalSite) {
      cli.showHelp()
      report.verbose(`current directory: ${directory}`)
      return report.panic(
        `gatsby <${command}> can only be run for a gatsby site.\n` +
          `Either the current working directory does not contain a valid package.json or ` +
          `'gatsby' is not specified as a dependency`
      )
    }

    try {
      const cmdPath =
        resolveCwd.silent(`gatsby/dist/commands/${command}`) ||
        // Old location of commands
        resolveCwd.silent(`gatsby/dist/utils/${command}`)
      if (!cmdPath)
        return report.panic(
          `There was a problem loading the local ${command} command. Gatsby may not be installed in your site's "node_modules" directory. Perhaps you need to run "npm install"? You might need to delete your "package-lock.json" as well.`
        )

      report.verbose(`loading local command from: ${cmdPath}`)

      const cmd = require(cmdPath)
      if (cmd instanceof Function) {
        return cmd
      }

      return report.panic(
        `Handler for command "${command}" is not a function. Your Gatsby package might be corrupted, try reinstalling it and running the command again.`
      )
    } catch (err) {
      cli.showHelp()
      return report.panic(
        `There was a problem loading the local ${command} command. Gatsby may not be installed. Perhaps you need to run "npm install"?`,
        err

View on GitHub (pinned to 8b06340921)

Solutions

1. Run `npm install` (or `yarn`) in the project root to install gatsby into `node_modules`.
2. If install still fails, delete the lockfile (`package-lock.json` / `yarn.lock`) and `node_modules`, then reinstall.
3. Verify `node_modules/gatsby/dist/commands/<command>.js` exists after install.
4. Ensure the gatsby version declared in `package.json` is resolvable from the registry.

Example fix

# before: gatsby declared but not installed
gatsby develop  # -> error

# after
rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
npm install
gatsby develop

// Verify gatsby is installed under node_modules before invoking
const fs = require('fs'); const path = require('path')
const cmdFile = path.join('node_modules', 'gatsby', 'dist', 'commands', `${command}.js`)
if (!fs.existsSync(cmdFile)) throw new Error('Run npm install first')

When it happens

Trigger: `package.json` declares gatsby but `node_modules/gatsby` is absent or incomplete (missing `dist/commands/<command>.js`). Typical after a clone without install, a failed/partial install, or a corrupted lockfile.

Common situations: Fresh clone where `npm install`/`yarn` was not run; switching package managers left a stale/incomplete `node_modules`; a lockfile conflict resolved incorrectly; a globally-installed gatsby being shadowed by a broken local one.

Related errors

• There was a problem loading the local ${command} command. Ga
• gatsby <${command}> can only be run for a gatsby site. Eithe
• Handler for command "${command}" is not a function. Your Gat
• Could not find "gatsby" in ${rootPath}. Perhaps it wasn't in
• Could not find a suitable version of gatsby-cli. Please repo

AI-assisted analysis of gatsbyjs/gatsby@8b06340921 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/29c9eb17ce6a53e0. Report an issue: GitHub.