[javascript] "Couldn't read dependencies" error with npm

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 ]

This question is related to javascript json node.js npm

The answer is


I had an "Invalid Name"

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

Guess name needs to be a sluggy string.


Try to update npm,It works for me

[sudo] npm install -g npm

I got the same exception also, but it was previously running fine in another machine. Anyway above solution didn't worked for me. What i did to resolve it?

  1. Copy dependencies list into clipboard.
  2. enter "npm init" to create fresh new package.json
  3. Paste the dependencies again back to package.json
  4. run "npm install" again!

Done :) Hope it helps.


I ran into this problem after I cloned a git repository to a directory, renamed the directory, then tried to run npm install. I'm not sure what the problem was, but something was bungled. Deleting everything, re-cloning (this time with the correct directory name), and then running npm install resolved my issue.


Verify user account, you are working on. If any system user has no permissions for installation packages, npm particulary also is showing this message.


My mistake was the I named the file packages.json instead of package.json


This doesn't look like your issue, but for the sake of others, for me this was caused by an invalid version number in package.json (had to change 2.4 to 2.4.0).


It's simple, you're just not in the right directory.

Go to the C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\npm and you should be able to run this command properly.



Problem with not reading the json is linked to permission issues with the file.

Using this command will do the trick:

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


I got this error when I had a space in my "name" within the packagae.json file.

"NPM Project" rather than "NPMProject"


Recently, I've started to get an error:

npm ERR! install Couldn't read dependencies
npm ERR! Error: Invalid version: "1.0"

So, you may need to specify version of your package with 3 numbers, e.g. 1.0.0 instead of 1.0 if you get similar error.


I resolved that problem just moving my project from E: to C:. I think it happened becouse nodejs and npm was installed in my C: and the project was in my E:


I was following a doc on line and thought this error meant a problem with the dependencies in NPM. however after a third look. I realized that it was a typo. I did not add a comma after the first dependency in package.json that the tutorial asked me to edit.


I figured out I wasn't in the correct folder. I needed goto the folder I just cloned before I ran this command.


1)Nodejs installs in C:\ProgramFiles in some cases. Try installing in C: drive or another directory if you don't have admin rights.

2)Make sure you are not installing behind a company's proxy setting. This can sometimes affect installation.

3) Finally, make sure you run the npm command from this directory: Path\nodejs\node_modules\npm where Path is your own directory.


For me it was the version. Yes, the line you put at the root, like :

{
    "name": "your-project",
    "version": "0.1"
    ...
}

Yes, npm doesn't like version like this, it prefers something like "0.0.1".

Don't ask me why, I'll tell you it's totally stupid (or "how to loose time easily")


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