Why do I get a "SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier" error when I use the Node.js Interactive Window in Visual Studio 2017?

Question

I'm new to Node.js and npm and I'm trying to configure a JavaScript development environment in Visual Studio 2017. I have downloaded and installed the latest recommended version of Node.js (currently v6.11.1).

From a command prompt I verified that my Node.js path is configured correctly and that I am pointing at the expected version. To do this I ran:

node -v

and as expected I got back:

v6.11.1

I also configured Visual Studio to use this version. To do that I went to Tools > Options, added the Node.js root folder to my list of External Web Tools, and moved the path to the top of the list as you see in the following screenshot.

I have verified that the Visual Studio tooling is in fact using this version by modifying my package.json file and verifying that the packages have downloaded. Here is a screenshot showing that:

I also launched the Node.js Interactive Window directly from my project node as is shown in the screenshot below:

But when I try to run an npm command from the interactive window I get a "SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier" error like the screenshot below:

So my question is – Why do I get a "SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier" error?

Answer 1

As I was just finishing up this question I was able to speak with a colleague who said that he ran across the same problem. For some strange reason (maybe some of you experts can comment on this) the npm command must be prefixed with a dot like this:

.npm install -g nsp

I find this completely nonintuitive, but it solved my problem. I hope this will help someone else.