"npm" is not recognised as an internal or external command

A Schoolboy Error

tldr - The problem is exactly what you think it is, check your working

I kept getting this error message when running jest tests through the VSCode plugin in Windows. It’s pretty self explanatory and familiar - npm isn’t on the PATH env var that’s in scope when the command gets run. The question was then why given that the npm command works fine in Git Bash which is set as the default editor.

I found a Stack Overflow post which gives a few indications as to ways to fix it. But I couldn’t edit the default settings (not that I tried very hard) and editing the workspace settings didn’t seem to work. I didn’t like that idea anyway because outputting my local machine’s PATH to the workspace settings is a definite anti-pattern.

A solution that did work was to run VSCode using the code command from Git Bash. A bit clunky but makes sense that it would work as it’s inheriting the PATH in a context where I know it’s correct.

I’m just writing this now and thinking that literally the first thing I tried that I didn’t even bother putting down because it’s more or less the first thing you learn in coding school should have worked - i.e. update the User Path in Windows System Properties. I’ve just gone back and checked my work and found the problem.

The path I should have had was /c/Users/jheva/.nvm/versions/node/v20.2.0/bin the path I did have ended in /bin/npm. I had it pointing to the executable not the directory 🙄

Planet of the apes syndrome strikes again 😑