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I have an Electron app that I'm trying to install node modules for. When I run npm install, it creates the node_modules folder but all the modules go into a subfolder called .staging. Each module also has -xxxxx appended to it, where the x's are some random alphanumerics.

Other Electron apps I've created have never done this. All the node modules sit in the root of node_modules and don't have -xxxxx appended.

Any idea why this is happening?

4thSpace
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10 Answers10

64

I was also facing the same issue, I tried the steps below:

  1. Delete package-lock.json
  2. Delete Node Modules folder

  3. Try installing it using below command (should be in open network)

    npm install

Note: - ".staging" means, those dependencies are getting downloaded so for the temporary basis it keeps all those dependencies under ".staging" folder. Once all gets downloaded properly then it will showcase them under node_modules only.

I hope this will work.

Daniel Puiu
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atul parate
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    apparently in windows we cant have folder name starting with dot (.) ... I starting my project in ubuntu and then moved to windows so I was facing this '.stagging' folder issue, deleting package-lock.json solved it... – mshahbazm Oct 12 '18 at 06:15
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    Thank you so much! :) – writeToBhuwan Apr 13 '21 at 12:13
51

This only happens temporarily until the modules are downloaded and installed. Node seems to do this so it can place together common submodules from all the modules you are installing so it can better structure the node modules folder(mainly for windows users).

If this is happening after an npm install finishes it is likely that there is something wrong with your node installation or something in the install failed.

thomasmeadows
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  • Your answer doesn't seem to apply in my case. This happens for one Electron app. It doesn't happen on any of the others. The issue isn't the NPM installation. – 4thSpace Jun 15 '17 at 18:40
  • I have seen this happen many times watching the file tree during an npm install. Watch another projects install and see if you can see it happen. Also is it an electron app with a 2 package.json structure? https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/wiki/Two-package.json-Structure – thomasmeadows Jun 15 '17 at 18:45
  • If you are using NVM you could try another version of node – thomasmeadows Jun 15 '17 at 18:46
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    It's worth noting that `preinstall` scripts run in the `.staging` directory while `postinstall` scripts run in the actual target directory. – bmacnaughton Jan 30 '18 at 12:42
6

If you're automatically installing node_modules using CI/CD you should check out npm ci. Also check out this Stackoverflow question.

npm ci

The documentation points out the differences between npm install and npm ci.

  • The project must have an existing package-lock.json or npm-shrinkwrap.json
  • If dependencies in the package lock do not match those in package.json, npm ci will exit with an error, instead of updating the package lock.
  • npm ci can only install entire projects at a time: individual dependencies cannot be added with this command.
  • If a node_modules is already present, it will be automatically removed before npm ci begins its install. This is nice, because it prevents having to do something like rm -rf node_modules.
  • It will never write to package.json or any of the package-locks: installs are essentially frozen.
CloudBranch
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5

.staging is a temporary npm folder, where the modules are temporarily saved while they are being downloaded, if the package.json downloads are still not completed, the created folder remains, until the installation is complete.

The problem may be lack of space on your hard drive.

buddemat
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Daniel Cabrera
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1

I was having 2 versions of node installed on my system. nodejs v4.2 and node v8.6

I thought this could be conflicting, so I deleted nodejs v4.2 with following commands.

sudo apt-get remove nodejs

and linked the path with 

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/node /usr/bin/nodejs

Again I ran npm install and it got fixed

Rajan Verma - Aarvy
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1

  1. Delete package.lock.json

  2. Delete node_modules

  3. run npm update

franky stein
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1

This worked for me I moved the project from C drive to other drive and ran the following commands take a backup of older node modules if you are running this and existing project

npm cache clean --force
npm update
BigArmsWriteSmallCode
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0

I faced similar issue and tried the above answers but it did'nt worked for me; I followed below steps to resolve this issue-

1.npm audit

By running npm audit I got list of pending packages to install-

2.npm i packagename

After installing one or two package one by one from list, I used

3.npm install

At this time the installation went smooth without any lag or hangup. Hope this help who is facing similar issue :).

Vino
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  • Before the npm audit, package-lock.json should available. For that, you should do npm i --package-lock-only. After you do npm audit. – Manoj Jun 09 '20 at 04:18
0

Sometimes the cache is corrupt and also unremovable.

This fixed the issue I was experiencing.

  1. If you are using nvm
  2. Get the current node version node --version
  3. nvm uninstall (that version)
  4. nvm install (that version)
  5. nvm use
  6. npm install
Kirk Strobeck
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-2

If you have a windows machine where you do not posses Admin rights to it.

Try deleting node_modules and install using 'npm install' from command line as

'ADMINISTRATOR'

It works!

Anyways, it comes down to an open network thing ;)

Pankaj Shrivastava
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