[node.js] Error: EACCES: permission denied

FWIW I had the same symptoms, but with a different package. Creating package.json and running npm init did NOT solve my issue.

On this system, apparently new folders in this location were being created with root permissions. During npm install, new folders are created. This caused npm install to fail partway, even with sudo.

The solution was to run npm install app in a different location with no root umask.