hcengineering/platform · error

Unable to determine the path to the NPM tool: ${e}

Error message

Unable to determine the path to the NPM tool: ${e}

What it means

getNpmPath locates the npm executable: on Windows via 'npm.cmd' lookup, elsewhere via `command -v npm`. If locating npm throws (npm not installed, not on PATH, execSync failure) the error is rethrown as 'Unable to determine the path to the NPM tool: <cause>'; a subsequent existsSync check separately throws 'The NPM executable does not exist'.

Source

Thrown at foundations/utils/common/scripts/install-run.js:391

 */
function getNpmPath() {
    if (!_npmPath) {
        try {
            if (_isWindows()) {
                // We're on Windows
                const whereOutput = child_process__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_0__.execSync('where npm', { stdio: [] }).toString();
                const lines = whereOutput.split(os__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_2__.EOL).filter((line) => !!line);
                // take the last result, we are looking for a .cmd command
                // see https://github.com/microsoft/rushstack/issues/759
                _npmPath = lines[lines.length - 1];
            }
            else {
                // We aren't on Windows - assume we're on *NIX or Darwin
                _npmPath = child_process__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_0__.execSync('command -v npm', { stdio: [] }).toString();
            }
        }
        catch (e) {
            throw new Error(`Unable to determine the path to the NPM tool: ${e}`);
        }
        _npmPath = _npmPath.trim();
        if (!fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_1__.existsSync(_npmPath)) {
            throw new Error('The NPM executable does not exist');
        }
    }
    return _npmPath;
}
function _ensureFolder(folderPath) {
    if (!fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_1__.existsSync(folderPath)) {
        const parentDir = path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_3__.dirname(folderPath);
        _ensureFolder(parentDir);
        fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_1__.mkdirSync(folderPath);
    }
}
/**
 * Create missing directories under the specified base directory, and return the resolved directory.
 *

View on GitHub (pinned to 63e28dc964)

Solutions

  1. Install npm / Node.js (npm ships with the official Node installer)
  2. Fix PATH so npm is reachable, e.g. source nvm.sh or export PATH="$(npm config --global prefix)/bin:$PATH" in CI
  3. Verify with `command -v npm` (or `where npm` on Windows) before running the script
  4. Use an official node Docker image that includes npm

Example fix

// before (CI step)
- run: node common/scripts/install-run.js ...
// after
- run: |
    source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
    command -v npm   # sanity check
    node common/scripts/install-run.js ...
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

const { execSync } = require('child_process')
function assertNpmAvailable() {
  try {
    execSync(process.platform === 'win32' ? 'where npm' : 'command -v npm', { stdio: [] })
  } catch {
    throw new Error('npm is not installed or not on PATH; install Node.js or fix PATH before running')
  }
}

Type guard

null

Try / catch

try {
  runInstallScript()
} catch (e) {
  if (String(e.message).startsWith('Unable to determine the path to the NPM tool:')) {
    console.error('npm not found: install Node.js/npm or source nvm and fix PATH')
    process.exit(1)
  }
  throw e
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Running install-run.js on a machine where npm is not installed or not on PATH, so `command -v npm` (or the Windows lookup) fails inside getNpmPath.

Common situations: Minimal Docker images with node but no npm; corrupted PATH in CI; using a node runtime installed without npm (e.g. some manual builds); nvm not initialized in the shell running the script.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of hcengineering/platform@63e28dc964 (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f2e50e662e3f0466. Report an issue: GitHub.