npm throws error without sudo

Question

I just installed node and npm through the package on nodejs.org and whenever I try to search or install something with npm it throws the following error, unless I sudo the c

Answer 1

I encountered this when installing Recess (https://github.com/twitter/recess) to compile my CSS for Bootstrap 3.

When installing recess:

-npm install recess -g

1. You need to unlock permissions in your home directory, like Noah says:

   sudo chown -R `whoami` ~/.npm
   

2. You also need write permissions to the node_modules directory, like Xilo says, so if it still isn't working, try:

   sudo chown -R `whoami` /usr/local/lib/node_modules
   

3. If you are still seeing errors, you may also need to correct /usr/local permissions:

   sudo chown -R `whoami` /usr/local
   

Please note that as indicated in this post /usr/local/ isn't actually a system dir if you are on a Mac, so, this answer is actually perfectly "safe" for Mac users. However, if you are on Linux, see Christopher Will's answer below for a multi-user friendly, system dir safe (but more complex) solution.