nodejs/node · error · Error

${tag} is not a dist-tag on ${spec.name}

Error message

${tag} is not a dist-tag on ${spec.name}

What it means

`npm dist-tag rm <pkg> <tag>` fetches current tags and requires the named tag to exist; if tags[tag] is falsy it logs an info line and throws '<tag> is not a dist-tag on <pkg>'. This prevents no-op or misspelled deletions.

Source

Thrown at deps/npm/lib/commands/dist-tag.js:136

      },
      spec,
    }
    await otplease(this.npm, reqOpts, o => npmFetch(url, o))
    output.standard(`+${t}: ${spec.name}@${version}`)
  }

  async remove (spec, tag, opts) {
    spec = npa(spec || '')
    log.verbose('dist-tag del', tag, 'from', spec.name)

    if (!spec.name) {
      throw this.usageError()
    }

    const tags = await this.fetchTags(spec, opts)
    if (!tags[tag]) {
      log.info('dist-tag del', tag, 'is not a dist-tag on', spec.name)
      throw new Error(tag + ' is not a dist-tag on ' + spec.name)
    }
    const version = tags[tag]
    delete tags[tag]
    const url =
      `/-/package/${spec.escapedName}/dist-tags/${encodeURIComponent(tag)}`
    const reqOpts = {
      ...opts,
      method: 'DELETE',
      spec,
    }
    await otplease(this.npm, reqOpts, o => npmFetch(url, o))
    output.standard(`-${tag}: ${spec.name}@${version}`)
  }

  async list (spec, opts) {
    if (!spec) {
      if (this.npm.global) {
        throw this.usageError()

View on GitHub (pinned to 1b2de5e052)

Solutions

1. List existing tags first: `npm dist-tag ls <pkg>`
2. Correct the tag name to match an existing one
3. Make deletion idempotent in scripts by checking the list before calling rm

async function tagExists(npm, spec, tag) {
  const tags = await fetchTags(npm, spec) // same endpoint npm uses
  return Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(tags, tag)
}

function hasDistTag(tags, tag) {
  return tags && Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(tags, tag)
}

try {
  await npmDistTagRm(pkg, tag)
} catch (e) {
  if (/is not a dist-tag/.test(e.message)) { /* already gone; treat as success */ }
  else throw e
}

When it happens

Trigger: Removing a tag that was already deleted, never created, or misspelled; operating on the wrong package name.

Common situations: Re-running a release script after a partial failure; concurrent publishes removing the same tag; typos like 'lates' instead of 'latest'.

Related errors

• No dist-tags found for ${spec.name}
• Tag name must not be a valid SemVer range: ${t}
• invalid version range: ${spec}
• Tag name must not be a valid SemVer range: ${defaultTag.trim
• Cannot use --no-workspaces and --workspace at the same time

AI-assisted analysis of nodejs/node@1b2de5e052 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/234d548801b91024. Report an issue: GitHub.