How to fix npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE npm ERR! errno 137 in npm

What this error means

Exit code 137 is calculated as 128 + 9, where 9 is the signal number for SIGKILL. This signal is typically sent by the Linux OOM (Out of Memory) killer when a process consumes too much memory. Unlike other errors where the process chooses to exit, SIGKILL forcefully terminates the process. This commonly occurs during memory-intensive operations like webpack builds, Jest tests, or TypeScript compilation.

Typical symptoms

• npm script killed with exit code 137
• Process killed during build
• Build works locally but fails in CI/CD
• System becomes slow before error
• Container restarts unexpectedly
• dmesg shows OOM killer messages

Common causes

1. Process exceeded memory limits
2. OOM killer terminated process
3. Container memory limit too low
4. Large bundle size during build
5. Memory leak in build tool
6. Too many parallel processes
7. Insufficient system RAM

How to fix "npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE npm ERR! errno 137"

# Check system logs
sudo dmesg | grep -i "killed process"

# Or journalctl
journalctl -k | grep -i oom

export NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=4096"
npm run build

"build": "node --max-old-space-size=4096 node_modules/.bin/webpack"

# Docker Compose
services:
  build:
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          memory: 4G

# GitHub Actions
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    # Consider larger runner

# Jest
jest --maxWorkers=2

# Webpack
parallel: false

# npm
npm config set maxsockets 3

// webpack.config.js
module.exports = {
  optimization: {
    minimize: false // for debugging
  },
  // Use incremental builds
  cache: {
    type: "filesystem"
  }
};

{
  "scripts": {
    "build:js": "webpack --config webpack.js.js",
    "build:css": "webpack --config webpack.css.js",
    "build": "npm run build:js && npm run build:css"
  }
}

Advanced notes

Frequently asked questions

What does "npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE npm ERR! errno 137" mean?

Exit code 137 is calculated as 128 + 9, where 9 is the signal number for SIGKILL. This signal is typically sent by the Linux OOM (Out of Memory) killer when a process consumes too much memory. Unlike other errors where the process chooses to exit, SIGKILL forcefully terminates the process.

How do I fix "npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE npm ERR! errno 137"?

Exit code 137 indicates the process was killed by signal 9 (SIGKILL), usually by the OOM killer due to memory exhaustion. Increase available memory or optimize your build process.

What causes "npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE npm ERR! errno 137"?

Process exceeded memory limits OOM killer terminated process Container memory limit too low

Is the "npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE npm ERR! errno 137" error serious?

Yes. This is a high-severity error that usually blocks work until it is fixed, but the steps above resolve it.

Related errors

• npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE npm ERR! errno 139 npm ERR! Exit status 139

  How to fix "ELIFECYCLE errno 139 Exit status 139" in npm

  HIGH

• npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE npm ERR! errno 134 npm ERR! Exit status 134

  How to fix "ELIFECYCLE errno 134 Exit status 134" in npm

  MEDIUM

• npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE npm ERR! errno 143 npm ERR! Exit status 143

  How to fix "Exit status 143 (SIGTERM)" in npm

  MEDIUM

• npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE npm ERR! errno 130 npm ERR! Exit status 130

  How to fix "Exit status 130 (SIGINT)" in npm

  LOW

• npm ERR! code EAI_AGAIN

  How to fix "EAI_AGAIN" in npm

  MEDIUM

• npm ERR! code EPERM npm ERR! This operation requires administrator privileges

  How to fix "EPERM: This operation requires administrator privileges" in npm

  MEDIUM

Official resources & further reading

• 📚npm Official Documentation
• 🔗
  nodejs.org: cli
• 📖
  Docker Docs: resource_constraints(Official Docs)