On npm install: Unhandled rejection Error: EACCES: permission denied

Question

I have managed to corrupt my npm install, and whenever I try to install packages using npm install, I receive error messages along these lines:

Answer 1

This happens if the first time you run NPM it's with sudo, for example when trying to do an npm install -g.

The cache folders need to be owned by the current user, not root.

sudo chown -R $USER:$GROUP ~/.npm
sudo chown -R $USER:$GROUP ~/.config

This will give ownership to the above folders when running with normal user permissions (not as sudo).

It's also worth noting that you shouldn't be installing global packages using SUDO. If you do run into issues with permissions, it's worth changing your global directory. The docs recommend:

mkdir ~/.npm-global

npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'

Then updating your PATH in wherever you define that (~/.profile etc.)

export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH

You'll then need to make sure the PATH env variable is set (restarting terminal or using the source command)

https://docs.npmjs.com/resolving-eacces-permissions-errors-when-installing-packages-globally