brew install npm "npm: command not found"

Question

I've installed node using brew install node and when I use the node -v I get following v5.0.0. However when I try to run the npm command I get npm: command not found.

I've tried to run brew install npm, however I just got following response node-5.0.0 already installed.

It happened with node also returning command not found, but that I fixed by running brew link node, however npm still does not seem to work.

How can I resolve this problem?

do you try to run brew doctor? Remove completely nodejs from your system and try to reinstall again — vmkcom, Nov 06 '15 at 20:56

score 81 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 14 '16 at 18:42

81

I encountered the same issue. After searching and reading different things online, what worked for me was:

$ brew postinstall node

However, first please do execute:

$ brew doctor

and follow the instructions there first, like the comment in your question mentions.

answered Apr 14 '16 at 18:42

mpavel

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For me this was due to a linking issue when running `brew install node`. After having successfully running `brew link node` I also needed to run `brew postinstall node` for it to add `npm` too. – RichieAHB Nov 25 '16 at 11:12
THANK YOU! you made my day sir! – rvandoni Jan 12 '18 at 15:41
After finding dozens of how-tos with hundreds of lines of instructions that go deep into the guts of Homebrew, this worked and should be the correct answer. – Zack Morris Mar 15 '18 at 21:46
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UPDATE: Although this does work, running `brew remove --force yarn && brew remove --force node` then running `brew install node` fixed npm so that I didn't need to call `brew postinstall node` anymore. Then I called `brew install yarn`. So I think part of the problem was having multiple versions of yarn and/or node installed. – Zack Morris Mar 16 '18 at 19:51
`brew doctor` helped me remember I had contributed so my core repo was not in master, then I could reinstall node and it fixed it – Efren Jan 16 '20 at 22:25

Andreas Louv · Accepted Answer · 2022-08-22T06:19:48.777

54

Try running

$ brew postinstall node

If you ever ran sudo npm / sudo yarn, then you might need to change the owner of your global node_modules folder:

$ sudo chown -R "$(id -un)" "${NODE_PATH:-/usr/local/lib/node_modules}"

edited Aug 22 '22 at 06:19

answered Nov 06 '15 at 21:40

Andreas Louv

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The `--without-npm` option is no longer valid – Staghouse Mar 10 '19 at 08:09

score 49 · Answer 3 · edited Jul 26 '22 at 15:42

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Try the following:

$ brew update
$ brew uninstall node
$ brew install node
$ sudo chown -R YourLocalUserName /usr/local/lib/node_modules/
$ brew postinstall node

edited Jul 26 '22 at 15:42

Sun

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answered Jun 04 '17 at 16:46

dian.in

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this is a proper working answer for mac users. step 4 is the solution to the issue – Dipesh Jun 10 '20 at 10:46
Thanks, it works for me. The only thing is -R username. Actually, I think sudo brew posinstall node might work too if it's a privilege problem. – Roger Guo May 26 '21 at 02:40
Worked for me (and step 4 was my missing link) – jack Jun 07 '22 at 16:54

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 27 '17 at 07:56

3

the same problem with you, I fixed by:

/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npm-cli.js i -g npm

answered Dec 27 '17 at 07:56

zhulinpinyu

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This worked for me, and other nodejs packages won't be lost, thank you. – ShuangSong Jul 09 '23 at 19:28

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 24 '17 at 18:07

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I used cyrillic (non-latin) characters in my hostname/computername on mac. And that was the problem. After i changed this and reinstalled node/npm with Homebrew everything worked like normal. No utf8 in 2017? :/

answered Sep 24 '17 at 18:07

tedi

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score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Nov 07 '21 at 13:05

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running: echo 'export PATH="/opt/homebrew/opt/node@16/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc should work, change node@16 to just node or which ever version you just installed.

answered Nov 07 '21 at 13:05

Pianisimo

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Might be obvious, but this works only if you're using ZSH – dgebert Aug 09 '22 at 15:01

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 24 '23 at 14:56

I fixed it by running brew link node@18, remember to use @ if you installed a specific version from the brew, otherwise brew link node should work.

If you are not sure what version you install, you can go to the folder /opt/homebrew/Cellar/ to check what version of node you have installed.

brew install npm "npm: command not found"

7 Answers7

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