I just installed Node.js on my computer and I’m completely lost about where to actually use npm commands. I followed some basic setup steps like getting a code editor ready and downloading the Node.js installer package. Everything seemed to install fine but now I’m stuck.
When I look at tutorials they say to run npm init in your project folder to get started. The problem is I don’t know which terminal or command prompt I should be using. After the Node.js installation I see several different console options available and I can’t figure out which one is the right one.
I tried typing commands in a few different places but nothing seems to work. Can someone walk me through exactly which program I should open and how to navigate to my project folder to run these npm commands? I feel like I’m missing something really basic here.
That confusion is totally normal when you’re starting out. Once you install Node.js, you can use any command line tool on your system. Windows has Command Prompt, PowerShell, or Git Bash if you’ve got it. Mac and Linux users just use Terminal. Just make sure you’re in your project directory first. npm commands work from any of these once Node.js is installed properly. I like PowerShell on Windows since it handles text better, but Command Prompt works fine for basic npm stuff. Want to check if everything’s working? Type node --version and npm --version in your terminal. If you get version numbers back, you’re set. Then cd into your project folder and run npm init.
just use your regular terminal. type npm -v to see if it works. the main thing is being in the right folder, so navigate there with cd first, then run your npm commands. took me ages to get that right lol
You’re missing that npm works in any terminal once you install Node.js. Don’t look for some special console - just use Command Prompt (Windows) or Terminal (Mac/Linux). Navigate to where you want your project with cd, like cd Desktop if you want it there. Make a folder with mkdir my-project, then cd my-project to get inside it. That’s when you run npm init. I wasted tons of time looking for a special Node.js terminal that doesn’t exist when I started.