How to fix npm ERR! code ENOLOCK npm ERR! This command requires an existing lockfile in npm

Ensure you are in the directory containing your package.json file:

pwd
ls -la | grep package.json

If package.json is not present, navigate to the correct project directory.

Create a fresh lockfile by running npm install:

npm install

If you want to regenerate the lockfile without downloading all dependencies:

npm install --package-lock-only

This is faster and only updates the lockfile based on package.json versions.

The package-lock.json file must be committed to git so it's available in CI/CD:

git add package-lock.json
git commit -m "Add package-lock.json"
git push

Verify it's tracked:

git ls-files | grep package-lock.json

If it's not showing, check that package-lock.json is not in your .gitignore file.

Verify that package-lock creation is not disabled in your npm config:

npm config get package-lock
npm config get shrinkwrap

Both should return true. If either returns false, enable them:

npm config set package-lock true
npm config set shrinkwrap true

Also check your .npmrc file for package-lock=false lines.

In your CI configuration, use npm ci instead of npm install. Example GitHub Actions workflow:

- name: Install dependencies
  run: npm ci

If you get ENOLOCK in CI, verify the lockfile was committed:

git log --all --full-history -- package-lock.json

Ensure Node.js and npm versions match between local and CI:

node --version
npm --version

Specify Node version in CI configs:

steps:
  - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
    with:
      node-version: '18'

If package-lock.json was created with a different npm major version, regenerate it locally and recommit.