"Couldn't read dependencies" error with npm

Question

I wanted to start a Node app and created a package.json file with a tutorial. Here is the json file:

{     "name": "Dashboard",     "version": "0.0.0",     "description": "Client-A Dashboard",     "dependencies": {         "socket.io": "latest",         "express": "latest",         "jade": "latest"     },     "author": "tD" } 

I verified JSON file before trying to run it, but still I got an error message when I ran the npm install command:

npm ERR! install Couldn't read dependencies npm ERR! Error: ENOENT, open 'C:\projects\Client-A\Live\package.json' npm ERR! If you need help, you may report this log at: npm ERR!     <http://github.com/isaacs/npm/issues> npm ERR! or email it to: npm ERR!     <[email protected]>  npm ERR! System Windows_NT 6.1.7601 npm ERR! command "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\nodejs\\\\node.exe" "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\nodejs\\node_modules\\npm\\bin\\npm-cli.js" "install" npm ERR! cwd C:\projects\Client-A\Live\ npm ERR! node -v v0.8.22 npm ERR! npm -v 1.2.14 npm ERR! path C:\projects\Client-A\Live\package.json npm ERR! code ENOENT npm ERR! errno 34 npm ERR! npm ERR! Additional logging details can be found in: npm ERR!     C:\projects\Client-A\Live\npm-debug.log npm ERR! not ok code 0 

and here is the npm-degub.log file

0 info it worked if it ends with ok 1 verbose cli [ 'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\nodejs\\\\node.exe', 1 verbose cli   'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\nodejs\\node_modules\\npm\\bin\\npm-cli.js', 1 verbose cli   'install' ] 2 info using [email protected] 3 info using [email protected] 4 verbose node symlink C:\Program Files (x86)\nodejs\\node.exe 5 verbose read json C:\projects\Client-A\Live\package.json 6 error install Couldn't read dependencies 7 error Error: ENOENT, open 'C:\projects\Client-A\Live\package.json' 8 error If you need help, you may report this log at: 8 error     <http://github.com/isaacs/npm/issues> 8 error or email it to: 8 error     <[email protected]> 9 error System Windows_NT 6.1.7601 10 error command "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\nodejs\\\\node.exe" "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\nodejs\\node_modules\\npm\\bin\\npm-cli.js" "install" 11 error cwd C:\projects\Client-A\Live\scoreboard 12 error node -v v0.8.22 13 error npm -v 1.2.14 14 error path C:\projects\Client-A\Live\package.json 15 error code ENOENT 16 error errno 34 17 verbose exit [ 34, true ] 

Answer 1

I had an "Invalid Name"

I switched from "name": "Some Name",... to "name": "Some-Name",...

Guess name needs to be a sluggy string.

Answer 2

Try to add this:

"private": true,

it worked for me.

EDIT (for people asking why):

The Oficial documentation states the following:

---

If you set "private": true in your package.json, then npm will refuse to publish it. This is a way to prevent accidental publication of private repositories. If you would like to ensure that a given package is only ever published to a specific registry (for example, an internal registry), then use the publishConfig hash described below to override the registry config param at publish-time.

---

The error messages you are getting may be related to violating this "rule" in a way (mine was).

• Either you are marking a unpublished package (like your own app) as "private": false.
• Or you are neglecting to include any value at all.