npm ERR! git dep preparation failed when trying to install package.json

Question

I'm trying to install package.json file using the command npm install, but I'm getting the following error.

npm ERR! git dep preparation failed
npm ERR! command C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe C:\Users\DHRUV\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\npm\bin\npm-cli.js install --force --cache=C:\Users\DHRUV\AppData\Local\npm-cache --prefer-offline=false --prefer-online=false --offline=false --no-progress --no-save --no-audit
npm ERR! npm WARN using --force Recommended protections disabled.
npm ERR! npm ERR! code 128
npm ERR! npm ERR! command failed
npm ERR! npm ERR! command git ls-remote ssh://[email protected]/gulpjs/gulp.git
npm ERR! npm ERR! Host key verification failed.
npm ERR! npm ERR! fatal: Could not read from remote repository.
npm ERR! npm ERR!
npm ERR! npm ERR! Please make sure you have the correct access rights
npm ERR! npm ERR! and the repository exists.
npm ERR!

I have installed Git and node.

package.json:

{
  "name": "LandTransfer",
  "version": "0.0.0",
  "scripts": {
    "ng": "ng",
    "start": "ng serve",
    "build": "ng build",
    "test": "ng test --watch=false",
    "lint": "ng lint",
    "e2e": "ng e2e",
    "postinstall": "node patch.js"
  },
  "private": true,
  "dependencies": {
    "@angular/animations": "7.1.0",
    "@angular/cdk": "^7.1.0",
    "@angular/common": "7.1.0",
    "@angular/compiler": "7.1.0",
    "@angular/core": "7.1.0",
    "@angular/forms": "7.1.0",
    "@angular/http": "7.1.0",
    "@angular/material": "^7.1.0",
    "@angular/platform-browser": "7.1.0",
    "@angular/platform-browser-dynamic": "7.1.0",
    "@angular/platform-server": "7.1.0",
    "@angular/router": "7.1.0",
    "bootstrap": "^4.3.1",
    "core-js": "^2.5.7",
    "ethers": "^4.0.20",
    "rxjs": "^6.3.3",
    "truffle-contract": "^4.0.1",
    "tslib": "^1.9.0",
    "typedarray-to-buffer": "^3.1.5",
    "web3": "1.0.0-beta.37",
    "zone.js": "^0.8.26"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@angular-devkit/build-angular": "^0.12.1",
    "@angular-devkit/core": "0.8.1",
    "@angular/cli": "^7.1.0",
    "@angular/compiler-cli": "7.1.0",
    "@angular/language-service": "7.1.0",
    "@types/jasmine": "^2.8.12",
    "@types/jasminewd2": "^2.0.6",
    "@types/node": "^6.14.2",
    "codelyzer": "^4.4.4",
    "jasmine-core": "^2.99.1",
    "jasmine-spec-reporter": "^4.2.1",
    "karma": "^3.1.1",
    "karma-chrome-launcher": "^2.2.0",
    "karma-cli": "^1.0.1",
    "karma-coverage-istanbul-reporter": "^1.4.3",
    "karma-jasmine": "^1.1.2",
    "karma-jasmine-html-reporter": "^0.2.2",
    "protractor": "^5.4.1",
    "protractor-console-plugin": "^0.1.1",
    "ts-node": "^3.3.0",
    "tslint": "^5.11.0",
    "typescript": "3.1.6",
    "webpack": "^4.26.1",
    "webpack-dev-server": "^3.1.10"
  }
}

Answer 1

Try this

Step 1:

$ npm cache clean --force

Step 2:

Delete node_modules by $ rm -rf node_modules also delete package-lock.json

Step 3:

Update the npm to the latest stable version

npm install -g [email protected]

Step 3:

npm install

To start again,

$ npm start

Answer 2

I just spent about 3 hours debugging this. What eventually worked for me was the following

nvm install 14
nvm use 14
npm install --legacy-peer-deps 

Answer 3

I got this error because I had a dependency that was referencing a fork with the version identifier github:author/repo#branch. Not sure if the branch name changed or what, but npm was no longer able to clone it.

I swapped back to the original version on npm and was able to npm install successfully.

Extra notes: This was in a Laravel Sail environment, and by running npm install from within the Docker container as the root user (sail root-shell) I got a more verbose error message telling me the exact dependency that was causing issues.