npm Installation Error Fixes

npm Installation Error Fixes | Generated by AI

Home 2025.10

Understanding the Error

This is an npm installation failure during a global update (or install) of the @anthropic-ai/claude-code package. The key issue is in the “reify” phase, where npm tries to “retire” (back up) the existing package directory before installing the new version. Specifically:

npm is attempting to rename /usr/lib/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code to a temporary backup like /usr/lib/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/.claude-code-ZjqcDZyQ.
This fails with ENOTEMPTY: directory not empty (errno -39), which typically occurs when:
- The source directory contains files/subdirectories that are locked, in use, or have permission issues.
- There are broken symlinks, open file handles (e.g., from a running claude process), or filesystem quirks on Linux.
- Rarely, npm’s internal move-file logic hits a race condition.

Your setup:

Node: v22.18.0
npm: v11.6.1
OS: Linux 6.14.0-29-generic (likely Ubuntu/Debian)
Running as root (based on log path /root/.npm/_logs/), so permissions aren’t the root cause.
Working directory: /home/lzwjava/projects/blog-source (but this is a global install, so irrelevant).

The package seems to be Anthropic’s Claude Code tool (CLI for AI coding assistance), and line 73 shows a dependency mismatch warning for @img/sharp-libvips-linux-x64, but that’s unrelated to the crash.

Quick Fixes (Try in Order)

Stop Any Running Processes:
- Kill any claude CLI or related processes: pkill claude (or ps aux | grep claude to find PIDs, then kill <PID>).
- Close terminals/IDEs using the package.

Manually Clean the Directory:

Remove the existing package and binary:

sudo rm -rf /usr/lib/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code
sudo rm -f /usr/bin/claude

This bypasses npm’s backup step. Then retry the install:
```
sudo npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
```

Clear npm Cache and Retry:
- Run:
```
sudo npm cache clean --force
sudo npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
```
- If it persists, add --no-optional to skip optional deps like the Sharp image lib.
Alternative: Use npx or Avoid Global:
- If you don’t need it global, install locally in your project: npm install @anthropic-ai/claude-code (then run via npx claude).
- Or use Yarn: sudo yarn global add @anthropic-ai/claude-code (Yarn handles moves differently sometimes).
If Still Stuck:
- Check for filesystem issues: ls -la /usr/lib/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/ (look for weird symlinks or locks).
- Downgrade npm temporarily: sudo npm install -g npm@10 (v11 has occasional reify bugs; revert after).
- Full log: Check /root/.npm/_logs/2025-10-27T16_10_10_534Z-debug-0.log for more clues.

This should resolve it—npm globals on Linux can be finicky with renames. If you share the exact command you ran or more log context, I can refine this.

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