json-server: command not found error [Solved]

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Borislav Hadzhiev

Last updated: Apr 4, 2024
6 min

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# Table of Contents

  1. json-server: command not found error
  2. 'json-server' is not recognized as an internal or external command

# json-server: command not found error

Use npx to solve the error "json-server: command not found", e.g. npx json-server --watch db.json or install the package globally by running npm install -g json-server to be able to use the command without the npx prefix.

command not found json server

The fastest way to solve the error is to use the npx command.

shell
npx json-server --watch db.json --port 3000

npx json-server --version

issue npx json server command

Alternatively, you can install json-server globally or as a development dependency.

shell
# 👇️ installs `json-server` globally (can run from any directory)
npm install -g json-server

# 👇️ (better) installs `json-server` locally to the project (must be run from root directory)
npm install --save-dev json-server

install json server globally

The benefit of installing json-server as a development dependency is that you can control the version of the package in your package.json file.

You can also create a script that starts your server in the scripts object of your package.json file.

package.json
{
  "scripts": {
    "start": "json-server --watch db.json --port 3000"
  },
}

Now you would run the command as npm start and not use json-server directly.

If you decide to install json-server globally and the installation fails, you might have to run the command prefixed with sudo.
shell
# 👇️ If you get a permissions error
sudo npm install -g json-server

json-server --version

You can link your project to the globally installed json-server package, by opening your terminal in your project's root directory (where your package.json file is) and running the npm link json-server command.

shell
npm link json-server

The npm link command creates a symbolic link from the globally installed package to the node_modules/ directory of the current folder.

If the error is not resolved, try restarting your terminal.

# Update your PATH environment variable on macOS or Linux

If that doesn't help, run the following command:

shell
npm config get prefix

The command will show you the path where npm puts your globally installed packages. The global packages will be in the bin directory at the specified path.

Look at the PATH environment variable on your operating system and add the path that the npm config get prefix command outputs if it's not already there.

If you add the output from the command to your PATH environment variable, you have to restart any open command prompts before it takes effect.

If that didn't work, try to add the path to the bin folder (from npm config get prefix) to your PATH environment variable and restart your terminal.

For example, on macOS, you can update your path with the following command:

shell
# make sure `path` matches with `npm config get prefix`
export PATH=/usr/local/share/npm/bin:$PATH

If you are on Linux, you can add the output from the npm config get prefix command to your .bashrc file.

~/.bashrc
# 👇️ make sure to update the path with the output
# from the command
export PATH="/usr/local/share/npm/bin:$PATH"
If you add the output from the command to your PATH environment variable, you have to restart any open command prompts before it takes effect.

If that doesn't help try to reinstall Node.js on your machine and then install json-server globally by running npm install -g json-server@latest.

During the installation, you might get a prompt for whether you want to automatically update the PATH environment variable on your system, make sure to tick the option.
shell
# 👇️ installs `json-server` globally (can run from any directory)
npm install -g json-server

# 👇️ (better) installs `json-server` locally to the project (must be run from root directory)
npm install --save-dev json-server
If the global installation of json-server fails, you might have to run the command prefixed with sudo.
shell
# 👇️ If you get a permissions error
sudo npm install -g json-server

json-server --version

Alternatively, you can see how you can fix the permissions error on this page in the official npm docs.

# 'json-server' is not recognized as an internal or external command

Use npx to solve the error "json-server is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file", e.g. npx json-server --watch db.json or install the package globally by running npm install -g json-server.

The fastest way to solve the error is to use the npx command.

shell
npx json-server --watch db.json --port 3000

npx json-server --version

Alternatively, you can install json-server globally or as a development dependency.

shell
# 👇️ installs `json-server` globally (can run from any directory)
npm install -g json-server

# 👇️ (better) installs `json-server` locally to the project (must be run from root directory)
npm install --save-dev json-server

The benefit of installing json-server as a development dependency is that you can control the version of the package in your package.json file.

You can also create a script that starts your server in the scripts object of your package.json file.

package.json
{
  "scripts": {
    "start": "json-server --watch db.json --port 3000"
  },
}

Now you would run the command as npm start and not use json-server directly.

If you decide to install json-server globally and the installation fails, open your terminal as an administrator and rerun the commands.
shell
npm install -g json-server

json-server --version

You can link your project to the globally installed json-server package, by opening your terminal in your project's root directory (where your package.json file is) and running the npm link json-server command.

shell
npm link json-server

The npm link command creates a symbolic link from the globally installed package to the node_modules/ directory of the current folder.

If the error is not resolved, try restarting your terminal.

# Update your PATH environment variable on Windows

If that doesn't help, run the following command:

shell
npm config get prefix

The command will show you the path where npm puts your globally installed packages. The global packages will be in the bin directory at the specified path.

Look at the PATH environment variable on your operating system and add the path that the npm config get prefix command outputs if it's not already there.

If you add the output from the command to your PATH environment variable, you have to restart any open command prompts before it takes effect.

On Windows, the output of the npm config get prefix command will look something like: C:\Users\Your_User_Name\AppData\Roaming\npm.

To update the PATH on a Windows machine, you have to:

  1. Open the start search and type in env and then click "Edit the system environment variables"
  2. Then click "Environment Variables"
  3. Edit the Path variable and add the output you got from the npm config get prefix command.

The path should look like C:\Users\Your_User_Name\AppData\Roaming\npm (make sure to replace the Your_User_name placeholder with your actual username).

If you add the output from the command to your PATH environment variable, you have to restart any open command prompts before it takes effect.

If you get the error "json-server cannot be loaded because running scripts is disabled on this system", open your PowerShell as an administrator and set its execution policy with the Set-ExecutionPolicy command.

shell
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser
Make sure to open your PowerShell as an administrator before you run the Set-ExecutionPolicy command.

This effectively removes the execution policy of Restricted, which doesn't allow us to load configuration files or run scripts. The Restricted execution policy is the default for Windows client computers.

If you add the output from the command to your PATH environment variable, you have to restart any open command prompts before it takes effect.

If that doesn't help try to reinstall Node.js on your machine and then install json-server globally by running npm install -g json-server.

During the installation, you might get a prompt for whether you want to automatically update the PATH environment variable on your system, make sure to tick the option.
shell
# 👇️ installs `json-server` globally (can run from any directory)
npm install -g json-server

# 👇️ (better) installs `json-server` locally to the project (must be run from root directory)
npm install --save-dev json-server
If the global installation of json-server fails, you might have to open your shell as an administrator and rerun the commands.

Alternatively, you can see how you can fix the permissions error on this page in the official npm docs.

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