[BUG with Solution] :MarkdownPreview prints Node.js v22.6.0 and does nothing

[iamhrigved]

Describe the bug

I installed this plugin with the following setup

{
    "iamcco/markdown-preview.nvim",
    cmd = { "MarkdownPreviewToggle", "MarkdownPreview", "MarkdownPreviewStop" },
    ft = { "markdown" },
    build = function() vim.fn["mkdp#util#install"]() end,
}

When I tried to run :MarkdownPreview it just printed Node.js v22.6.0 and did nothing.

To Reproduce

Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Add the plugin with lazy
2. Open a markdown file
3. Do :MarkdownPreview

Expected behavior

A browser window should open with the preview of the markdown file.

Desktop

• OS: Arch Linux
• WM: Hyprland
• Browser: Brave Browser

Solution

I saw this issue and tried the following:

cd ~/.local/share/nvim/lazy/markdown-preview.nvim
npm install

I then tried to do MarkdownPreview and it worked !!!

[crolbar]

maybe a better solution would be to do something like this:

build = "npm install",

or

build = "cd app && yarn install",

[stevenwalton]

This initially provided a fix and then I started getting Pre build and node is not found.

I use Plug and I tried via the commands listed in the README as well as issuing manually. I tried deleting and reinstalling. This seems to sometimes work and sometimes fail (after initially working). Output always looked like this regardless of working or failing

$ rm -r ~/.vim/plugged/markdown-preview.nvim
$ vim -c "PlugInstall" -c "qa"
yarn install v1.22.22
[1/4] 🔍  Resolving packages...
[2/4] 🚚  Fetching packages...
[3/4] 🔗  Linking dependencies...
[4/4] 🔨  Building fresh packages...
✨  Done in 0.26s.
$ vim ~/.dotfiles/README.md -c "MarkdownPreview"

So if other users are experiencing this, I'm not sure what to say but maybe try a few times. There's clearly something else afoot but might need more reports to find the right cause.

This was done on a M2 Mac Air

[stevenwalton]

FWIW I upgraded to Sequoia and this broke again. Tried a full reinstall and nothing. yarn's output looks exactly like before.

[Opposite34]

I haven't tried this (my system needed the npx workaround at #690 so I couldn't try it), but the line after vim.fn["mkdp#util#install"]() try add this: vim.cmd("!cd " .. plugin.dir .. " && npm install") so it'd be:

build = function() 
    vim.fn["mkdp#util#install"]()
    vim.cmd("!cd " .. plugin.dir .. " && npm install")
    end,

Speaking of #690 , if you're using that workaround with npx, try this for the build command. This one I've tested to be working for my system:

    build = function(plugin)
        if vim.fn.executable "npx" then
            vim.cmd("!cd " .. plugin.dir .. " && cd app && npx --yes yarn install && npm install")
        else
            vim.cmd [[Lazy load markdown-preview.nvim]]
            vim.fn["mkdp#util#install"]()
        end
    end,

(essentially vim.cmd("!cd " .. plugin.dir .. " && cd app && npx --yes yarn install && npm install") also has npm install at the end now)