How to fix npm ERR! code E408 npm ERR! 408 Request Timeout in npm

The quickest fix is to increase npm's timeout values to accommodate slower connections:

npm config set fetch-timeout 300000
npm config set fetch-retry-maxtimeout 120000
npm config set fetch-retry-mintimeout 20000

These settings mean:
- fetch-timeout: 5 minutes (300000ms) for the entire request
- fetch-retry-maxtimeout: 2 minutes between retries
- fetch-retry-mintimeout: 20 seconds minimum before first retry

Alternatively, add these directly to ~/.npmrc:

fetch-timeout=300000
fetch-retry-maxtimeout=120000
fetch-retry-mintimeout=20000
fetch-retries=5

Corrupted cache or lock files can cause timeouts. Remove the cache and local dependencies, then reinstall:

npm cache clean --force
rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
npm install

This forces npm to download fresh from the registry without using cached metadata that might be causing issues.

If the official npm registry is slow in your region, use a mirror. Popular alternatives include:

# Use npmmirror (good for Asia)
npm config set registry https://registry.npmmirror.com/

# Switch back to official registry
npm config set registry https://registry.npmjs.org/

Mirrors often have better latency in specific regions and can significantly reduce timeout issues.

If you're on a corporate network, proxy settings might be missing or incorrect:

npm config set proxy http://proxy.company.com:8080
npm config set https-proxy http://proxy.company.com:8080

If you don't need a proxy, remove these settings:

npm config delete proxy
npm config delete https-proxy

You can also check current settings with:

npm config list

Run the install with verbose logging to identify which package is timing out:

npm install --verbose

If a specific package is the culprit, try installing it alone:

npm install package-name@latest --verbose

Check your network connectivity:

ping registry.npmjs.org
curl -I https://registry.npmjs.org/

If pings are slow (>100ms) or curl hangs, your network connection is the issue.