Install fails without global Yarn #788
Description
Operating System
Repro'ed on macOS (Tahoe) and Linux
Expected Behavior
npm i -g @electron/build-tools should succeed if I have the prerequisites in the docs.
Actual Behavior
Installation fails due to missing yarn:
mitch@Cobalt ~> npm i -g @electron/build-tools
npm error code 1
npm error path /opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/@electron/build-tools
npm error command failed
npm error command sh -c node preinstall.js
npm error Your branch is up to date with 'origin/main'.
npm error HEAD is now at 4da036f build(deps): bump debug from 4.1.1 to 4.4.3 (#773)
npm error Already on 'main'
npm error npm warn exec The following package was not found and will be installed: [email protected]
npm error npm error code ENOENT
npm error npm error syscall open
npm error npm error path /Users/mitch/.npm/_npx/c094c3349f8dd527/package.json
npm error npm error errno -2
npm error npm error enoent Could not read package.json: Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open '/Users/mitch/.npm/_npx/c094c3349f8dd527/package.json'
npm error npm error enoent This is related to npm not being able to find a file.
npm error npm error enoent
npm error npm error A complete log of this run can be found in: /Users/mitch/.npm/_logs/2026-01-03T22_28_42_130Z-debug-0.log
npm error Failed to install build-tools: Error: Command "yarn install" failed with exit code 254
npm error at throwForBadSpawn (/opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/@electron/build-tools/preinstall.js:13:11)
npm error at install (/opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/@electron/build-tools/preinstall.js:56:5)
npm error at Object.<anonymous> (/opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/@electron/build-tools/preinstall.js:77:1)
npm error at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1760:14)
npm error at Object..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1893:10)
npm error at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1480:32)
npm error at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1299:12)
npm error at TracingChannel.traceSync (node:diagnostics_channel:322:14)
npm error at wrapModuleLoad (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:244:24)
npm error at Module.executeUserEntryPoint [as runMain] (node:internal/modules/run_main:154:5)
npm notice
npm notice New minor version of npm available! 11.6.0 -> 11.7.0
npm notice Changelog: https://github.com/npm/cli/releases/tag/v11.7.0
npm notice To update run: npm install -g [email protected]
npm notice
npm error A complete log of this run can be found in: /Users/mitch/.npm/_logs/2026-01-03T22_28_40_207Z-debug-0.log
To Reproduce
Uninstall yarn globally if you have it: npm remove -g yarn.
Then try to install build tools. The error will appear until yarn is installed globally.