Command not found after npm install in zsh

Question

I'm having some problems installing vows via npm in zsh. Here's what I get. I tried installing it with and without the -g option. Do you have any idea what's wrong here?

[❤  ~/Desktop/sauce-node-demo:master] npm install -g vows
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/vows
npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/vows
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/eyes
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/diff
npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/eyes
npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/diff
/usr/local/share/npm/bin/vows -> /usr/local/share/npm/lib/node_modules/vows/bin/vows
vows@0.6.4 /usr/local/share/npm/lib/node_modules/vows
├── eyes@0.1.8
└── diff@1.0.3
[❤  ~/Desktop/sauce-node-demo:master] vows
zsh: command not found: vows

Thanks

Have you tried refreshing the shell's path cache via rehash ? — Brian Agnew, Oct 05 '12 at 10:05
I don't know why, but going to bash (by typing bash itself and hit enter) in the same terminal then switching back to zsh (by typing zsh itself and hit enter), fixes it!! — Ali Baghban, Jan 11 '22 at 18:13

score 183 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 02 '16 at 08:37

183

add source /home/YOUUSERNAME/.bash_profile at the beginning of ~/.zshrc

And all missing commands will be detected.

For Mac users : add source /Users/YOUUSERNAME/.bash_profile

answered Nov 02 '16 at 08:37

Abdennour TOUMI

76,783
33
229
231

14

For me I had to source ~/.bashrc – Royalist Jul 17 '18 at 12:38
5

I'm using WSL on Windows 10, and I had to add `source /home/USERNAME/.profile' to get it to work, but it worked like a charm – Luke Mar 12 '19 at 04:05
2

I had to source .bashrc instead of bash_profile. When I sourced bash_profile I got a ton of commands not found in zsh – NoobCoderChick Jan 28 '20 at 05:25
3

My user folder in Mac OS Catalina does not contain this `.bash_profile`. I cant find it with search either. After updating the `.zshrc` file and reopening the terminal, its first line was `no such file or directory: /Users/m...i/.bash_profile`. Might this be a breaking change of Catalina? – MQoder Feb 23 '20 at 00:44
1

This also works for Mac users: `source /Users/$USER/.bash_profile` or maybe even easier `source $HOME/.bash_profile` – Glenn85 Jun 12 '20 at 12:32

score 114 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 14 '16 at 21:05

114

If you installed Node.js using Homebrew, npm binaries can be found in /usr/local/share/npm/bin. You should make sure this directory is in your PATH environment variable. So, in your ~/.zshrc file add export PATH=/usr/local/share/npm/bin:$PATH.

edited Mar 14 '16 at 21:05

simeg

1,842
2
26
34

answered Mar 28 '13 at 21:42

Andrew Ferk

3,518
2
23
24

28

On mac, I added `export PATH="$HOME/.npm-packages/bin:$PATH"` to my `~/.zshrc`. – Dan Sandland Aug 02 '17 at 04:13
$HOME/.npm-global/bin worked for me with npm v6.9.0 – Kevin Hooke Mar 23 '20 at 03:22
2

What if you didn't install Node.js via Homebrew or you can't remember? And how do you find 'usr/local/share/npm/bin'? – user70848 Nov 16 '20 at 17:22
Super. This is the perfect soulution. Thanks – Mohan Krishna Sai Apr 29 '22 at 08:41

score 48 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 12 '20 at 06:59

48

If you have added using nvm please add the following to your .zshrc file and restart the terminal since the binaries of the file are not being detected by zsh shell we specify the path

export NVM_DIR="$([ -z "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME-}" ] && printf %s "${HOME}/.nvm" || printf %s "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/nvm")"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" # This loads nvm

answered Mar 12 '20 at 06:59

Aman Shukla

644
6
6

1

Thanks! This worked for me on Ubuntu 20.04. Now I can use nvm, npm, node commands :) – German Jr Feb 11 '21 at 13:35
1

This works for me on Ubuntu 18.04. – supunbatagoda Oct 21 '21 at 05:22
worked for me on MacOX 11.6.1, thanks! – Yingqiang Gao Jan 27 '22 at 09:28
Worked on MacOX 12.2.1 – Jose CC Apr 05 '22 at 14:10

score 24 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 29 '18 at 16:31

24

For Mac users:

Alongside the following: nvm, iterm2, zsh

I found using the .bashrc rather than .profile or .bash_profile caused far less issues.

Simply by adding the latter to my .zshrc file:

source $HOME/.bashrc

answered Nov 29 '18 at 16:31

Tim.G

241
2
3

4

I had to use `source $HOME/.bash_profile` but this is by far the best answer. I actually already had sdkman and node configured normally for bash. I added the node modules to the path but kept getting 'permission denied'. This fixes that issue! Back to coding! – Brooks DuBois Dec 19 '19 at 19:51
If you are already configured bash for best use, then this is the best answer – legacy May 25 '22 at 07:24

score 24 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 18 '19 at 21:33

24

Mac users only
assuming you installed nvm prior, and npm correctly
(step-by-step guide below on how to install it:
install nvm for Mac users ).

you need to:

Find the '.zshrc' file:

Open Terminal.
Type open ~ to access your home directory.
Press Cmd + Shift + . to show the hidden files in Finder.
Locate the .zshrc.

Edit the '.zshrc' file:

add: source /Users/_user_Name_/.bash_profile to the top of the file (where _user_Name_ stands for your user.
Save the file, and close the Terminal window.

answered Oct 18 '19 at 21:33

Eden Sharvit

645
9
13

Even though this may look like a hack, I find it to be a good way to bring in all of my pre-installed stuff from bash to a zsh after Catalina upgrade. – Maxim V. Pavlov Oct 22 '19 at 06:47
This, for me, is the answer, as simply running `source /Users/_user_Name_/.bash_profile` lasted only for the duration of the current session. – The Onin Nov 17 '19 at 21:33
Just so it's clear, it looks like 'open ~' will open a new Finder window, which you could just open normally. And 'Cmd + Shift + .' is a toggle to hide/show hidden files. I believe the ability to view hidden files from Finder is a setting that has to be configured first, so maybe going through Terminal is the way around that. But if this setting has already been configured, it doesn't seem necessary to use Terminal to open Finder. – user70848 Nov 16 '20 at 17:27
`.bash_profile` does not necessarily contain valid `zsh` code; `bash` and `zsh` are two similar, but distinct, shells. – chepner Jul 18 '21 at 12:56
In my case `.bash_profile` was `oh-my-zsh`. If anybody struggles with that. – Adam Orłowski Dec 11 '21 at 10:09

score 16 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 26 '18 at 18:58

16

On Ubuntu, after installing ZSH, and prevously on the bash terminal installed Node or other packages,

First open:

nano .zshrc

And uncomment the second line:

export PATH=$HOME/bin:/usr/local/bin:$PATH

This works for me, and without writting any line, and I think this option is available on Mac too.

answered Oct 26 '18 at 18:58

Jesus Romero

181
1
6

But this doesn't work for me. And even if I do add source $HOME/bin in my .zshrc it doesn't work. I get some output on the shell prompt every time I open it. – Animesh Kumar Jan 03 '21 at 03:45

score 10 · Answer 7 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

for macOS users: consider using .profile instead of .bash_profile. You may still need to manually add it to ~/.zshrc:

source $HOME/.profile

Note that there is no such file by default! Quoting slhck https://superuser.com/a/473103:

Anyway, you can simply create the file if it doesn't exist and open it in a text editor.
touch ~/.profile
open -e !$

The added value is that it feels good man to use a single file to set up the environment, regardless of the shell used. Loading a bash config file in zsh felt awkward.

Quoting an accepted answer by Cos https://stackoverflow.com/a/415444/2445063

.profile is simply the login script filename originally used by /bin/sh. bash, being generally backwards-compatible with /bin/sh, will read .profile if one exists

Following Filip Ekberg's research / opinion https://stackoverflow.com/a/415410/2445063

.profile is the equivalent of .bash_profile for the root. I think the name is changed to let other shells (csh, sh, tcsh) use it as well. (you don't need one as a user)

getting back to slhck, a note of attention regarding bash:

(…) once you create a file called ~/.bash_profile, your ~/.profile will not be read anymore.

Just to add my 10 cents here, don't forget to do this AND close the terminal completely. Then open it again and it should work. None of the solutions worked for me before quitting everything and reopen again. Perfect! — filipe.costa01, Feb 06 '19 at 08:20
The best answer for me, as a Ubuntu user. I just needed to source the `.profile` file into my `.zshrc` file. Just add `source ~/.profile` at the start of the `.zshrc` file & reload & you should be ok. — Kayote, Jun 17 '19 at 10:56

score 10 · Answer 8 · edited Oct 09 '21 at 10:46

10

Another thing to try and the answer for me was to uncomment the first export in ~/.zshrc:

# If you come from bash you might have to change your $PATH.
export PATH=$HOME/bin:/usr/local/bin:$PATH

edited Oct 09 '21 at 10:46

janw

7,168
9
31
54

answered Aug 31 '18 at 14:50

Mikeumus

3,067
9
38
59

Aliaksei · Answer 9 · 2021-05-26T14:45:08.213

9

I solved this by brew upgrade node

edited May 26 '21 at 14:45

answered Jun 16 '20 at 15:34

Aliaksei

701
6
13

1

This worked for me just now and should be anyone's first step before attempting to hard-modify system files as a follow-up step should this not work for you. – dvsander Mar 09 '21 at 10:01
Worked for me thanks. Hate invisible errors like these – sparker Sep 22 '21 at 10:07

Shah · Answer 10 · 2021-09-23T03:44:46.687

Go to your terminal and run: nano .zshrc

NOTE: If you don't have this directory, you can create it using mkdir command: mkdir ~/.zshrc

Paste the following anywhere below the line containing "export ZSH":

export NVM_DIR="$([ -z "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME-}" ] && printf %s "${HOME}/.nvm" || printf %s "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/nvm")"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" # This loads nvm

Now simply hit ^X and you will be asked if you would like to save. Say 'yes' and hit return, then hit return again if it says you are changing a file. You may need to restart your terminal after saving.

Try using node -v as a quick test if you've installed node before.

score 7 · Answer 11 · answered Feb 16 '19 at 13:53

7

In my humble opinion, first, you have to make sure you have any kind of Node version installed. For that type:

nvm ls

And if you don't get any versions it means I was right :) Then you have to type:

nvm install <node_version**>

** the actual version you can find in Node website

Then you will have Node and you will be able to use npm commands

answered Feb 16 '19 at 13:53

daxtersky

399
2
9

Thanks @daxtersky. That's exactly what I needed. – Washington Braga Jun 18 '19 at 14:06
This did it for me too. node --version was different that `nvm ls` after running the command it is good now. – Michael Nelles Jan 29 '20 at 00:45

score 6 · Answer 12 · answered Jan 21 '20 at 03:22

6

For me the accepted answer for adding export PATH=/usr/local/share/npm/bin:$PATH to .zshrc didn't work. I tried adding the NVM_DIR as well which solved my issue.

Try vi .bashrc
You will find a line like the following. Copy it.

export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm" [ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" # This loads nvm [ -s "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" # This loads nvm bash_completion
Paste the copied content to .zshrc file
Restart the terminal

I hope this solves your issue.

answered Jan 21 '20 at 03:22

Augustin Jose

278
3
11

My situation: 1. I had installed Node via nvm, and everything was working. 2. Then in the meanwhile I switched from `bash` to `zsh` and node. stopped working. So the above answer was the fix for me. – razvang Dec 08 '20 at 10:36
This really worked like a charm. Thanks a lot! – Blessing Feb 17 '22 at 20:36

score 6 · Answer 13 · answered Mar 25 '20 at 23:01

6

For anyone who is still having problem. Don't forget to logout and login again.

answered Mar 25 '20 at 23:01

Odgiiv

663
1
9
31

1

this was the solution on Mac OS Catalina. – David Schumann Jun 23 '20 at 19:25
1

can you clarify? where do i login and logout ? gosh, my facebook account? my instagram account? my twitter account? – noogui Aug 13 '20 at 11:23
1

your computer ofc – Odgiiv Aug 14 '20 at 20:23

score 2 · Answer 14 · edited Oct 09 '21 at 10:45

2

In my case, reinstalling node solved the issue. Anyone can install node via below website:

https://nodejs.org/en/download/

edited Oct 09 '21 at 10:45

janw

7,168
9
31
54

answered Nov 18 '20 at 03:40

shubham

583
6
15

4

Reinstalling node js solves the problem because the nodejs' and npm's binary path are added to the PATH system variable as part of the setup. Reinstalling should be a last resort, setting npm path in zshrc or other solutions involving setting the path should be considered first. – 123survesh May 18 '21 at 16:28

score 1 · Answer 15 · answered Sep 17 '19 at 07:18

In my case, i installed node with NVM and after installing z Shell, node and nvm command didn't worked. So what worked for me was installing nvm again with this command :

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/master/install.sh | bash
sudo zsh install.sh

Above commands installed nvm again, since node was already installed, it added the node path automatically in .zshrc file and everything worked.

score 1 · Answer 16 · answered Sep 12 '20 at 20:25

FOR MAC: I tried some of the above but to no avail, could not get anything to work.

I did have BREW INSTALLED, so although this not be the best approach, with zsh, I did:

sudo chown -R $(whoami) /usr/local/share/man/man8 (for brew access)
brew update && brew install npm (I had had node installed)
npm -v (to confirm install)
nano ~/.zshrc (to empty file changes and save)

This worked for me. Hope this helps someone. #1 bothers me, but I will live with for now.

score 1 · Answer 17 · answered Mar 13 '21 at 10:11

Using Node v12+ on Mac Catalina, global dependencies are showing up in /$HOME/.npm-global/bin

Adding

export PATH="$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$PATH"

To ~/.bash_profile to keep everything in one place, and then adding

source $HOME/.bash_profile

To ~/.zshrc if it's not already there will do the trick. No need to logout and back in, just restart terminal.

score 1 · Answer 18 · answered Jun 09 '21 at 01:24

1

I had the same problem while installing Vercel CLI.

In my case, install with sudo.

example: sudo npm i -g vercel

answered Jun 09 '21 at 01:24

R.M. Reza

448
1
6
13

score 1 · Answer 19 · edited Oct 09 '21 at 10:42

1

It works for me in zsh. Try nvm install --latest-npm

edited Oct 09 '21 at 10:42

janw

7,168
9
31
54

answered Oct 08 '21 at 07:30

Anja Ishmukhametova

1,426
15
14

score 1 · Answer 20 · answered Dec 27 '21 at 08:03

Just writing this in my terminal fixed the issue. Note that I had to write it separately in my project folder.

export PATH="$HOME/.npm-packages/bin:$PATH"
export PATH="$HOME/.node/bin:$PATH"

Source: https://cloudlinuxtech.com/npm-command-not-found-fix/

score 1 · Answer 21 · answered May 04 '22 at 11:33

1

In my case nvm seemed to have forgotten the global default - maybe some install i did since first adding it.

Simply re-aliasing did the trick:

nvm alias default [insert version number here]

Open a new terminal in order for this to take effect

answered May 04 '22 at 11:33

James Trickey

892
8
18

score 0 · Answer 22 · answered Jun 29 '15 at 17:39

I think the problem is more about the ZSH completion.

You need to add this line in your .zshrc:

zstyle ':completion:*' rehash true

If you have Oh-my-zsh, a PR has been made, you can integrate it until it is pulled: https://github.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh/issues/3440

score 0 · Answer 23 · answered Sep 09 '21 at 08:22

0

For OSX Catalina users

brew install node@14

I'm using node 14 cause angular won't support latest version (Don't know why).. Then

echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/node@14/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc

answered Sep 09 '21 at 08:22

Archil Labadze

3,361
4
24
39

I’ve heard Brew is not ideal for production environments because it may cause issues with company security policies. I would not recommend this unless it is your personal machine. – Shah Sep 23 '21 at 03:43
Thanks @Shah I'll keep this in mind, never thought that brew has some security issues. Thanks a lot. – Archil Labadze Sep 24 '21 at 06:31
It’s not Brew, it’s more so that your company may not give permissions for certain actions – Shah Sep 24 '21 at 15:17

score 0 · Answer 24 · answered Feb 07 '22 at 13:15

0

Sometimes simple things work. Uninstalling node and installing again worked for me.

brew uninstall node
brew install node
npm update

answered Feb 07 '22 at 13:15

Jyoti Duhan

770
1
12
24

Command not found after npm install in zsh

24 Answers24

Linked