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The first time you install a package globally with npm (npm install -g <package> on macOS or Linux), you may see an error like
Missing write access to /usr/local/lib/node_modules
often followed by other errors or warnings.
This is a permission error: your user does not have write access to that directory. Fix it by changing ownership. Run:
sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local/lib/node_modulesWhat this does:
-
sudoruns the command asroot(the system superuser), so the permission change can be applied. The system will prompt for your password. -
chownchanges the owner of a file or folder;-Rapplies the change recursively to all contents. -
$USERis an environment variable set to your username. -
The path is the directory from the error message.
After running this, you can run npm install -g <package> without permission errors.
Pay attention to the folder listed by the error message. If it’s different, update the chown command accordingly.
This tip applies to single user systems. On a multi-user system, you might want to create a dedicated directory for npm modules, see https://docs.npmjs.com/resolving-eacces-permissions-errors-when-installing-packages-globally.