Troubleshooting#

npm global install fails with EACCES: permission denied#

If npm install -g pakon-planar-raw-converter fails with Error: EACCES: permission denied, npm is trying to install global packages into a folder your user account cannot write to.

This often happens when Node was installed with the standard macOS installer. The global npm prefix can end up owned by root, so a normal install cannot write there.

The cleanest fix is to use a Node version manager such as Volta, nvm, or fnm. For a fresh setup, Volta is the simplest default:

curl https://get.volta.sh | bash
# Open a new terminal tab or window here.
volta install node
npm i -g pakon-planar-raw-converter

This matches npm’s own guidance: their recommended fix for global EACCES errors is to reinstall npm with a Node version manager, or manually change npm’s default global directory. See npm’s official EACCES permissions guide.

If you want to keep your existing Node install, point npm’s global install folder at a user-writable directory:

npm config set prefix ~/.npm-global

Then add ~/.npm-global/bin to your shell PATH.

Using sudo npm install -g can work, but it is discouraged. It installs packages with administrator privileges and can leave more files owned by root.