Clear the npm Cache | Hostvento Knowledge Base

What is npm and its cache?

npm is a tool that downloads JavaScript packages for Node.js projects. A package is a bundle of ready-made code you can reuse. When npm downloads a package, it keeps a copy on your computer. That saved copy is the cache. Next time, npm can reuse it and skip the download. Sometimes a copy gets broken. Then installs fail or act oddly. Clearing the cache gives npm a clean start.

Steps

Open a terminal. A terminal is a window where you type commands. On a hosting server, log in with SSH first.
Find where the cache is stored.
```
npm config get cache
```
This prints a folder path. On Linux it is often ~/.npm.
Check that the cache is healthy.
```
npm cache verify
```
This looks for bad files and removes what is not needed. Often this is enough.
If problems stay, clear the whole cache.
```
npm cache clean --force
```
npm asks you to use --force as a safety step, because a good cache saves time.
Run your install again.
```
npm install
```

If it still fails

Delete the project's installed packages and its lock file, then install again. Take a copy of package-lock.json first.

Go to your project folder.
Remove the packages folder.
```
rm -rf node_modules
```
This deletes the node_modules folder. It is safe, because npm install builds it again.
Run npm install.

Check your versions

Old Node.js or npm versions cause many errors. Check them like this.

node -v
npm -v

These print the two version numbers. If yours are very old, ask Hostvento support whether you can upgrade on your plan.

Tip: The older command npm cache clean without --force no longer works in modern npm. Use the forced form.

Quick recap

The npm cache stores downloaded packages.
Run npm cache verify first.
Use npm cache clean --force to wipe it.
Then run npm install again.