npm install error from the terminal

Question

Running just "npm install" will look for dependencies listed in your package.json. The error you're getting says that you don't have a package.json file set up (or you're in the wrong directory).

If you're trying to install a specific package, you should use 'npm install {package name}'. See here for more info about the command.

Otherwise, you'll need to create a package.json file for your dependencies or go to the right directory and then run 'npm install'.

I had this problem when trying to run 'npm install' in a Terminal window which had been opened before installing Node.js.

Opening a new Terminal window (i.e. bash session) worked. (Presumably this provided the correct environment variables for npm to run correctly.)

In my case it was due to a bad URL (http:// instead of git://, no .git at the end) for one of the dependencies.

You're likely not in the node directory. Try switching to the directory that you unpacked node to and try running the command there.