bower init command error (gitbash) in windows

Question

When i run bower init in gitbash ,following error is displayed:

bower ENOINT Register requires an interactive shell

Additional error details: Note that you can manually force an interactive shell with --config.interactive

Answer 1

Issue: mintty.exe

Issue 802 does provide a good explanation:

I've tracked this down to an issue with mintty.exe.

In the bower/lib/config.js file (line 34 for bower v 1.4.1), tty.isatty(1) returns false under mintty.exe, but true if you run cygwin.bat (which is bash --login -i using the Windows terminal).

Here's a convenient way to check your terminal:

node -e "var tty=require('tty'); console.log('tty.isatty(1):' + tty.isatty(1))"

Possibly related: mintty - issue #56 "Improve support for native console programs".

For those stumbling across this issue looking for a solution, the obvious quick workaround for this issue is to simply avoid using mintty.
This doesn't mean you have to return to using the Windows terminal for bash, as there are other alternatives:

• See Terminal Setup in Windows 7 and/or Replacing default git bash console with Console2 for instructions for configuring Console2 with bash.
• Turn off the menus, tool bars, and status bars,
• create a shortcut named "Cygwin" or "Bash", change the shortcut's icon to C:\cygwin64\Cygwin-Terminal.ico and you'll probably never know the difference.

P.S. If you've ever noted other issues with mintty.exe, like msysgit not prompting for a password properly or the node repl not working, this is probably the same issue.

---

Workarounds:

• do this from the run command

    cmd.exe /C "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe" --login -i

then bower init will work and you can do everything in minw64, mintty, or git-bash whatever it is called.

OR

If you are using windows run bower init using CMD

OR

if you are using git bash follow these steps:

• Uninstall existing GIT bash
• Reinstall GIT bash
• Set up during installation:
  • 3a: Select> Use Git form the Windows Command Prompt
  • 3b: Select> Checkout Windows-style, commit Unix-style line endings
  • 3c: Select> Use Windows' default console window