npm doctor: diagnose (and fix) problems with npm / node / build environment

[othiym23]

For discussion, see:

• one-step repair of node_modules folder in bad state #6349 (comment)
• when npm runs scripts.install, it can lose write privilege for the module it is installing #5637
• Should npm fail if git hasn't been installed on a device? #6229 (comment)
• inform users who publish with empty license of legal implications #6241 (comment)
• Brain dump / bikeshed of what a completed migration looks like support-cli#5

This is related to npm report, in that it would be nice to have npm doctor output appended to npm report-created issues, so see #5214 for details.

[smikes]

This should run as a standalone tool as well as a builtin command. As a standalone tool it would (ideally) be a single script e.g.,

curl -L https://npmjs.org/doctor.sh | sh

should not require the existence of a working npm or any dependencies.

1. run npm ping - determine if registry is reachable
2. npm ping result should include version of latest stable node and npm
3. doctor should check if node and npm are out of date
   • if node out of date.. what?
   • if npm out of date, offer to run npm upgrade (qv) or just npm i -g npm
4. doctor should check for the presence of npm-debug.log and offer to send it to npm report (qv)
5. Always/sometimes run npm cache clean ? prompt first?
6. check for auth problems -- if not auth'd, check if there are saved credentials and (?) nuke them?
7. provide links to change password/change email scripts
8. ... other stuff?

A further note -- First-class windows support implies the existence of

curl -L https://npmjs.org/doctor.cmd | cmd

for windows it's not doctor.sh, but doctor.cmd

what color should we paint this thing?

[othiym23]

Closing in favor of #6756. I just now noticed we made this at the same time. Funny!

[faiq]

Closing in favor of #6756. I just now noticed we made this at the same time. Funny!

oh how great minds think alike