BREAKING CHANGE(bin): command should not return non-existent paths

[ghost]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

This issue exists in the latest npm version

• I am using the latest npm

Current Behavior

Run npm bin in a directory that doesn't have a package.json and isn't a child of a directory that does. Currently npm bin returns a string with ${pwd}/node_modules/.bin even if it doesn't exist.

Expected Behavior

I'm not sure what I expected, but I didn't expect npm bin to present a path to a non-existent directory.

Barring a backwards breaking change to the tool, an option like --strict would be a reasonable way to add the behavior. It's fairly trivial to test the path that gets returned, but it generates a bit more work than throwing a flag behind npm bin

Steps To Reproduce

1. mac or linux ( didn't test on windows )
2. no config necessary

$ cd /tmp
$ ls node_modules
ls: node_modules: No such file or directory
$ npm bin
/private/tmp/node_modules/.bin
$ 

Environment

• npm: 8.3.1
• Node.js: 17.3.1
• OS Name: macOS 12.1
• System Model Name: m1 air
• npm config:

$ npm config ls
; "user" config from /Users/lineus/.npmrc

//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken = (protected) 

; node bin location = /Users/lineus/.nvm/versions/node/v17.3.1/bin/node
; cwd = /private/tmp
; HOME = /Users/lineus
; Run `npm config ls -l` to show all defaults.
$ 

[wraithgar]

This is working as intended, feature changes need to go through the rfc process. Added Agenda label so it can be discussed when rfc calls resume next month.

[ljharb]

Note that it would definitely be a breaking change for any shell prompts that are unconditionally adding npm bin output to their PATH (of course, doing so is a very bad practice)

[darcyclarke]

Based on several Open RFC discussions, we believe that not supporting npm bin in the future is likely the best/safest option for our team. If there are usecases for npm bin which can't be supported by more modern features, please let us know.

Actions

• Added removal of npm bin for v9
• Add new feature for npm exec to respect the --location config
• Closing issue