"npm ls -g" produces no output if global node_modules includes invalid symlink

[mcnameej]

Environment: node v4.0.0 on Windows 7 X64.

At some point in the past, I used "npm link" and it created a symlink under %appdata%\npm\node_modules. The directory it linked to has since been renamed, so the link target is now invalid.

With npm v2.14.3, "npm ls -g" shows an empty module name for the bad symlink, but otherwise works...

C:\Users\xxxx\AppData\Roaming\npm
├── babel@5.8.23
├── grunt-cli@0.1.13
├── gulp@3.9.0
├──
└── webpack@1.12.1

npm v3.3.3 displays absolutely nothing. No directory listing and no error message.

I removed the obsolete symlink, and npm v3 started working.

[75lb]

same for me on 3.3.3, Mac OSX.. no output from npm ls -g until i clear dead symlinks using brew prune

[dkebler]

Same issue for me on ubuntu 14.04 with npm 3.3.12 and node 5.

I seem to recall way back using npm link so maybe it's the same reason. Not quite sure where on linux install this link will reside that needs to me removed. Any help?

[dkebler]

Little rtfm and I tracked it down in /usr/local/lib/node_modules
https://docs.npmjs.com/files/folders

Yes there is a sym link there to my personal module. I moved it out of the directory and bingo the
npm ls -g works. just like @mcnameej says.

But HEY! I want to keep that link to my module so if I recreate it with V3.x (that was created in v2) will all be ok?

[raineorshine]

Any progress on this? This is causing some nasty consequences down the line in projects that depend on npm, like npm-check-updates.

Is there anything I can do to help?

[raineorshine]

Hello, checking in again. Impacts npm-check-updates. Let me know if I can assist in any way.

[zkat]

Hey! So, I removed the big-bug label cause we reserve that for crashers and incorrect installs. Since this is an issue with npm ls that doesn't affect installation, it's just a bug.

That said! We'd welcome a patch for this, @raineorshine. #12865 is a related-but-not-the-same PR open that involves links in npm ls, so you could at least refer to it to see what sort of stuff to look for, how to write tests for it, etc. Let me know if there's any other questions you have about how to pull this off.

And thank you for offering!