How to fix npm ERR! Error: spawn git ENOENT in npm

First, check if git is installed and accessible from your terminal:

git --version

If you see a version number (e.g., git version 2.43.0), git is installed and in your PATH. If you get "command not found" or "'git' is not recognized", git either isn't installed or isn't in your PATH.

On Windows, also try running this in PowerShell:

Get-Command git

This will show you exactly where git is installed if it's in your PATH.

If git isn't installed, install it for your operating system:

Windows:
1. Download from https://git-scm.com/download/win
2. Run the installer
3. Important: Select "Git from the command line and also from 3rd-party software" during installation
4. Complete the installation and restart your terminal

macOS:

# Using Homebrew (recommended)
brew install git

# Or trigger Xcode Command Line Tools installation
xcode-select --install

Ubuntu/Debian Linux:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install git

Fedora/RHEL/CentOS:

sudo dnf install git
# or for older versions:
sudo yum install git

Alpine Linux (Docker):

apk add --no-cache git

If git is installed but not in your PATH, add it manually:

1. Find where git is installed. Common locations:
- C:\Program Files\Git\cmd
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Git\cmd
- C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\Programs\Git\cmd

2. Open System Properties:
- Press Win + R, type sysdm.cpl, press Enter
- Go to Advanced tab
- Click Environment Variables

3. Under "System variables" (or "User variables"), find Path and click Edit

4. Click New and add the path to git's cmd folder (e.g., C:\Program Files\Git\cmd)

5. Click OK to close all dialogs

6. Important: Close and reopen your terminal, IDE, or restart your computer for changes to take effect

Quick verification:

# After restarting terminal
git --version

Environment variable changes only take effect in new terminal sessions. After installing git or modifying PATH:

Terminal:
- Close all terminal windows and open a new one
- On Windows, you may need to log out and back in, or restart

VS Code:
1. Close VS Code completely (check the system tray on Windows)
2. Reopen VS Code
3. Open a new integrated terminal (Ctrl+ or View > Terminal`)

Other IDEs:
- Close and reopen the IDE
- Some IDEs cache environment variables - check IDE settings if the issue persists

After restarting, verify git is accessible:

git --version
npm install

If git works in your system terminal but not in VS Code's integrated terminal, configure the git path explicitly:

1. Open VS Code Settings (Ctrl+, or Cmd+,)

2. Search for "git path"

3. Set Git: Path to the full path of your git executable:
- Windows: C:\Program Files\Git\bin\git.exe
- macOS/Linux: /usr/bin/git or /usr/local/bin/git

Or edit settings.json directly:

{
  "git.path": "C:\\Program Files\\Git\\bin\\git.exe"
}

4. Restart VS Code after changing this setting

If you're running npm in a Docker container, ensure git is installed in your Dockerfile:

Node.js (Debian-based images):

FROM node:20
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y git && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm install
COPY . .

Node.js Alpine:

FROM node:20-alpine
RUN apk add --no-cache git
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm install
COPY . .

Note: Install git before running npm install to ensure it's available for git-based dependencies.

If you only need git during the build phase, consider using multi-stage builds to keep your final image smaller.

If you're using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and experiencing path translation issues:

Option 1: Install git inside WSL:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install git

Option 2: Use Windows git from WSL (if needed):

# Add Windows git to WSL path (in ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc)
export PATH="$PATH:/mnt/c/Program Files/Git/cmd"

Option 3: Fix path conversion issues:

# Set this environment variable to prevent path conversion issues
export MSYS_NO_PATHCONV=1

For best results, use the native Linux git inside WSL rather than the Windows version.