npm ERR! code EJSONPARSE

What This Error Means

npm could not parse package.json (invalid JSON).

How to Fix It

1. Open package.json and validate JSON syntax (no comments, no trailing commas).
2. If this happened after a merge, re-run the merge and resolve JSON correctly.
3. Retry npm install.

Why It Happens

• package.json contains invalid JSON (trailing commas, comments, or a broken merge).
• The file encoding is corrupted (rare).

How to Verify

1. Run node -e "JSON.parse(require(\"fs\").readFileSync(\"package.json\",\"utf8\"))" and confirm it succeeds.
2. Re-run the original npm command.

Common CLI Output

npm ERR! code EJSONPARSE

npm ERR! Invalid package.json: JSONParseError

npm ERR! JSON.parse Failed to parse JSON data.

npm ERR! JSON.parse Unexpected token

How npm executes the command

1. npm reads package.json to determine dependencies, scripts, and configuration.
2. If the JSON cannot be parsed, npm cannot proceed.

Prevention Tips

• Use a JSON-aware formatter/validator in CI.
• Avoid manual edits that introduce comments or trailing commas.

Where This Can Be Triggered

    if (rootError) {
      throw Object.assign(
        new Error('Failed to parse root package.json'),
        { code: 'EJSONPARSE' }
      )
    }