Fix npm error could not determine executable to run

[jcandan]

During ddev start, I get the following:

 > [web stage-0 13/29] RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/var/cache/apt,sharing=locked   --mount=type=cache,target=/var/lib/apt,sharing=locked   --mount=type=cache,target=/dot-cache,sharing=locked   --mount=type=bind,source=./playwright,target=/playwright   sudo -u jcandan mkdir -p /var/www/html/test   && cp -a /playwright /var/www/html/test   && chown -R jcandan:jcandan /var/www/html/test/playwright   && chown -R jcandan:jcandan /dot-cache   && sudo -u jcandan ln -s /dot-cache /home/jcandan/.cache   && cd /var/www/html/test/playwright   && ([ -f yarn.lock ] && export JS_PKG_MANAGER=yarn || export JS_PKG_MANAGER=npx     && sudo -u jcandan $JS_PKG_MANAGER     && sudo -u jcandan $JS_PKG_MANAGER playwright install-deps     && sudo -u jcandan $JS_PKG_MANAGER playwright install     )   && rm -rf /var/www/html/test/playwright   && rm /home/jcandan/.cache   && sudo -u jcandan mkdir -p /home/jcandan/.cache   && sudo -u jcandan cp -a /dot-cache/* /home/jcandan/.cache/:
2.996 npm error could not determine executable to run
2.998 npm error A complete log of this run can be found in: /home/jcandan/.npm/_logs/2025-04-24T18_18_55_167Z-debug-0.log

This prevents the project DDEV containers from spinning up successfully.

Note: this is a recent phenomenon. I'd started using this add-on last week for the first time successfully, but am running into this error today.

[deviantintegral]

🤔 interesting, because I just did some work on GitHub actions to deal with the fallout of keepalive being unpublished. Tests passed fine. I'll trigger a rerun in case something changed upstream.

Is there anything interesting in the log file from npm?

[deviantintegral]

I thought perhaps last weeks' Playwright release was at play, but #27 passed.

Can you try installing from the main branch instead of the last tag? That tag was almost a year ago, and while nearly all of the changes were CI related perhaps something was fixed for you.

[jcandan]

The container won’t stay up for me to hop in and look at it.

[jcandan]

Not by my computer atm, but in case it’s pertinent: macOS (latest, I think), with OrbStack, via homebrew.

[deviantintegral]

The container won’t stay up for me to hop in and look at it.

Yeah, because the error above is from the build stage - the containers don't even get to the point of starting yet.

I'm using lima and not orbstack, but it shouldn't make a difference. I set up a new project from scratch and it worked. Could you try that? Then at least we can figure out if there's some interaction with your project code that's breaking things.

[jcandan]

This seems to have resolved itself. A computer restart and a branch change and boom. Sorry I can't provide more detail on reproducing this issue. May have been a fluke.

[deviantintegral]

No worries, glad you got it sorted!

[jcandan]

Figured it out. Reopening to allow for the proposed resolution below.

Explanation

It seems the ddev exec -d /var/www/html/test/playwright npm install is required before running ddev install-playwright.

It occurs when you run ddev install-playwright on a clean project clone or when the node_modules folder does not yet exist. It persists from that point forward, including if you run ddev restart.

Workaround In Progress

At some point, I was able to get ddev restart to work again. I do not know the steps yet.

I tried to checkout a branch or commit without the Playwright DDEV add-on, then kill and remove any DDEV Docker containers, then finally hope to be able to run ddev restart successfully.

At some point, I was able to come back to my Playwright branch and re-run ddev restart again to get the tooling. I could then run ddev exec -d /var/www/html/test/playwright npm install, and all was well. Then, I'd blown away the node_modules folder, ran ddev install-playwright, and ended up back here.

None of the steps have yet allowed me to get a working project again, even in a branch without the Playwright DDEV add-on.

I'll report back here if I have any success.

Question For Clarification

Is ddev install-playright something that is meant to be run by developers after project clone, or is this only necessary upon initiation of the Playwright DDEV add-on?

Proposed resolution

If not required by subsequent use, perhaps a condition could be implemented to say ddev install-playwright has already been run.

If it is required to be run by subsequent, perhaps that could be documented along with a better grasp of what it does.

And, lastly, ddev install-playwright should check for whether the Playwright package is available and handle the failure with a message to run ddev exec -d /var/www/html/test/playwright npm install.

• Document install-playwright requires @playwright/test package.
• Document when and why to run ddev install-playwright.
• Implement ddev install-playwright failure message to run ddev exec -d /var/www/html/test/playwright npm install.
• Ensure that if ddev install-playwright is run without the @playwright/test package dependency, that it doesn't prevent ddev restart

[jcandan]

Workaround

Got it.

When I checked out the commit without the Playwright DDEV add-on, I needed to ensure the add-on files weren't still sitting there untracked.

Okay. So, with the Playwright add-on files actually removed, then I could run ddev restart successfully. Then I could go back to my Playwright branch and run ddev restart again, allowing me to run ddev exec -d /var/www/html/test/playwright npm install, and all was well.

[deviantintegral]

It seems the ddev exec -d /var/www/html/test/playwright npm install is required before running ddev install-playwright.

There's something specific about npm here. I just checked a project with a fresh clone and it was able to run install-playwright right away. While it's using yarn, it's also not using PNP / zero-installs and has a traditional node_modules folder. However, I did convert it to use npm and it broke with your error.

Our tests are passing because it looks like we only run after npm ci has been run: https://github.com/Lullabot/ddev-playwright/blob/main/tests/test.bats#L89-L94

Here's the relevant code. The idea is it should only depend on package.json and package-lock.json or yarn.lock, as all it's doing is running the install command.

https://github.com/Lullabot/ddev-playwright/blob/main/web-build/disabled.Dockerfile.playwright#L28-L51

I think we need to add a conditional to to run npm ci before running playwright install-deps.

Is ddev install-playright something that is meant to be run by developers after project clone, or is this only necessary upon initiation of the Playwright DDEV add-on?

It's needed if you want to run Playwright tests. It's optional because installing browsers and their dependencies is pretty hefty. That way, developers not working on tests (say a technical PM running a local) or CI environments don't have to pay that setup cost.