1NPM-DOCTOR(1) NPM-DOCTOR(1)
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6 npm-doctor - Check the health of your npm environment
7 Synopsis
9 npm doctor [ping] [registry] [versions] [environment] [permissions] [cache]
10 Note: This command is unaware of workspaces.
12 Description
14 npm doctor runs a set of checks to ensure that your npm installation
15 has what it needs to manage your JavaScript packages. npm is mostly a
16 standalone tool, but it does have some basic requirements that must be
17 met:
18 • Node.js and git must be executable by npm.
20 • The primary npm registry, registry.npmjs.com, or another service
22 that uses the registry API, is available.
23 • The directories that npm uses, node_modules (both locally and glob‐
25 ally), exist and can be written by the current user.
26 • The npm cache exists, and the package tarballs within it aren't
28 corrupt.
29 Without all of these working properly, npm may not work properly. Many
32 issues are often attributable to things that are outside npm's code
33 base, so npm doctor confirms that the npm installation is in a good
34 state.
35 Also, in addition to this, there are also very many issue reports due
37 to using old versions of npm. Since npm is constantly improving, run‐
38 ning npm@latest is better than an old version.
39 npm doctor verifies the following items in your environment, and if
41 there are any recommended changes, it will display them. By default npm
42 runs all of these checks. You can limit what checks are ran by specify‐
43 ing them as extra arguments.
44 npm ping
46 By default, npm installs from the primary npm registry, reg‐
47 istry.npmjs.org. npm doctor hits a special ping endpoint within the
48 registry. This can also be checked with npm ping. If this check fails,
49 you may be using a proxy that needs to be configured, or may need to
50 talk to your IT staff to get access over HTTPS to registry.npmjs.org.
51 This check is done against whichever registry you've configured (you
53 can see what that is by running npm config get registry), and if you're
54 using a private registry that doesn't support the /whoami endpoint sup‐
55 ported by the primary registry, this check may fail.
56 npm -v
58 While Node.js may come bundled with a particular version of npm, it's
59 the policy of the CLI team that we recommend all users run npm@latest
60 if they can. As the CLI is maintained by a small team of contributors,
61 there are only resources for a single line of development, so npm's own
62 long-term support releases typically only receive critical security and
63 regression fixes. The team believes that the latest tested version of
64 npm is almost always likely to be the most functional and defect-free
65 version of npm.
66 node -v
68 For most users, in most circumstances, the best version of Node will be
69 the latest long-term support (LTS) release. Those of you who want ac‐
70 cess to new ECMAscript features or bleeding-edge changes to Node's
71 standard library may be running a newer version, and some may be re‐
72 quired to run an older version of Node because of enterprise change
73 control policies. That's OK! But in general, the npm team recommends
74 that most users run Node.js LTS.
75 npm config get registry
77 You may be installing from private package registries for your project
78 or company. That's great! Others may be following tutorials or Stack‐
79 Overflow questions in an effort to troubleshoot problems you may be
80 having. Sometimes, this may entail changing the registry you're point‐
81 ing at. This part of npm doctor just lets you, and maybe whoever's
82 helping you with support, know that you're not using the default reg‐
83 istry.
84 which git
86 While it's documented in the README, it may not be obvious that npm
87 needs Git installed to do many of the things that it does. Also, in
88 some cases – especially on Windows – you may have Git set up in such a
89 way that it's not accessible via your PATH so that npm can find it.
90 This check ensures that Git is available.
91 Permissions checks
93 • Your cache must be readable and writable by the user running npm.
94 • Global package binaries must be writable by the user running npm.
96 • Your local node_modules path, if you're running npm doctor with a
98 project directory, must be readable and writable by the user run‐
99 ning npm.
100 Validate the checksums of cached packages
103 When an npm package is published, the publishing process generates a
104 checksum that npm uses at install time to verify that the package
105 didn't get corrupted in transit. npm doctor uses these checksums to
106 validate the package tarballs in your local cache (you can see where
107 that cache is located with npm config get cache). In the event that
108 there are corrupt packages in your cache, you should probably run npm
109 cache clean -f and reset the cache.
110 Configuration
112 registry
113 • Default: "https://registry.npmjs.org/"
114 • Type: URL
116 The base URL of the npm registry.
119 See Also
121 • npm help bugs
122 • npm help help
124 • npm help ping
126 November 2023 NPM-DOCTOR(1)