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

First, check if Node.js is installed and available in your PATH:

node --version

If this returns a version number (e.g., v20.10.0), Node.js is accessible. If you get "command not found" or similar, Node.js is either not installed or not in your PATH.

Also verify npm itself:

npm --version
which node   # On macOS/Linux
where node   # On Windows

The which or where command shows the full path to the Node.js executable.

If Node.js is not installed, install it from the official website or using a package manager:

Using the official installer:
Download from https://nodejs.org/ and run the installer.

On macOS with Homebrew:

brew install node

On Ubuntu/Debian:

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

On Windows with Chocolatey:

choco install nodejs

After installation, close and reopen your terminal, then verify with node --version.

If you use nvm (Node Version Manager), the most common cause is that nvm's shell initialization hasn't run:

# Load nvm in current session
export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"

# Then set the Node version
nvm use node        # Use latest installed
nvm use 20          # Use specific version
nvm use --lts       # Use latest LTS

To fix permanently, ensure these lines are in your shell config file (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.profile):

export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion"

For fnm users:

eval "$(fnm env)"

For volta users:

export VOLTA_HOME="$HOME/.volta"
export PATH="$VOLTA_HOME/bin:$PATH"

Corrupted npm cache can sometimes cause ENOENT errors:

npm cache clean --force

Then delete your node_modules and reinstall:

rm -rf node_modules
rm package-lock.json
npm install

This ensures a clean slate for all dependencies and their binary references.

Verify that the directory containing the node executable is in your PATH:

On macOS/Linux:

echo $PATH

Look for a directory containing Node.js (e.g., /usr/local/bin, /usr/bin, or ~/.nvm/versions/node/v20.x.x/bin).

On Windows:

$env:PATH -split ';'

If Node.js directory is missing, add it:

macOS/Linux (temporary):

export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"

Windows (temporary in PowerShell):

$env:PATH = "C:\Program Files\nodejs;$env:PATH"

For permanent changes, edit your shell profile or use System Properties on Windows.

As a temporary workaround, you can use the full path to the Node.js executable in your scripts. First, find where Node is installed:

which node   # macOS/Linux
where node   # Windows

In your package.json scripts, you can use process.execPath programmatically, or reference the full path:

{
  "scripts": {
    "start": "/usr/local/bin/node server.js"
  }
}

Or in Node.js code, use process.execPath to get the current Node executable path:

const { spawn } = require('child_process');
spawn(process.execPath, ['script.js']);

In CI/CD environments, ensure Node.js is properly set up before running npm commands:

GitHub Actions:

steps:
  - uses: actions/checkout@v4
  - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
    with:
      node-version: '20'
  - run: npm install
  - run: npm test

GitLab CI:

image: node:20

install:
  script:
    - npm install
    - npm test

Docker:

FROM node:20-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm install
COPY . .
CMD ["npm", "start"]

Ensure the Node.js version in your CI matches your development environment.