[BUG] npx/exec unable to run bin scripts with . in name on Windows

[molisani]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues¹

This issue exists in the latest npm version

• I am using the latest npm

Current Behavior

For a package with a bin script that contains the character . in the name² it cannot be executed with npx/npm exec from a Windows machine. Rather than executing the script, Windows attempts to open the file and search for a application based on the extension.

This is not an issue on other operating systems.

Expected Behavior

The npx/npm exec behavior for bin scripts should be the same for all operating systems. You should be able to call any of the bin scripts in a package.

Steps To Reproduce

Reproduction contained in this repo: https://github.com/molisani/npm-windows-bin-issue

1. Update package with a bin script with . in the name
2. Attempt to run npm exec --package=<package> <bin-name> from Windows
3. See that it attempts to open <bin-name> as a file

Environment

• npm: 11.5.2
• Node.js: 22.14.0
• OS Name: Windows 10 Enterprise
• System Model Name: Thinkpad X1 Extreme Gen 4
• npm config:

; "builtin" config from C:\Users\mmolisani\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\npm\npmrc

; prefix = "C:\\Users\\mmolisani\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm" ; overridden by user

; "user" config from C:\Users\mmolisani\.npmrc

audit = false
engine-strict = true
prefix = "C:\\Users\\mmolisani\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm"
; registry = [[REDACTED]] ; overridden by env
strict-ssl = false

; "env" config from environment

registry = [[REDACTED]]

; node bin location = C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe
; node version = v22.14.0
; npm local prefix = C:\code\github\npm-windows-bin-issue
; npm version = 11.5.2
; cwd = C:\code\github\npm-windows-bin-issue
; HOME = C:\Users\mmolisani
; Run `npm config ls -l` to show all defaults.

Footnotes

1. There was a previous issue opened for the same problem (https://github.com/npm/cli/issues/4445) but that was closed in favor of an issue on the npm/exec repo (https://github.com/npm/exec/issues/17). However, that issue was automatically closed when that repo was archived, so I am creating this new issue to make sure that this is still tracked as an open bug. ↩

2. Please note that this also extends to packages that contain . in their name, if they have a single bin script. For example, a package @org/namespace.foo with "bin": "script.js" would be impossible to run with npx @org/namespace.foo. ↩

[alexsch01]

and this happens on cmd/powershell/sh versions of npx script on Windows

WORKS

npx npm-windows-bin-issue testing123

DOESN'T WORK

npx npm.windows-bin-issue testing123