tsc command not found TypeScript error [Solved]

# Table of Contents

Note: if you got the "tsc is not recognized as an internal or external command" error on Windows, click on the following subheading:

Tsc is not recognized as an internal or external command

# tsc command not found TypeScript error

To solve the error "tsc: command not found", install the typescript package globally by running npm install typescript@latest -g or use the npx command with the --package flag, e.g. npx --package typescript tsc --init.

tsc command not found

# Using `npx` to solve the error

The fastest way to solve the error is to use the npx command with the --package flag.

shell

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npx --package typescript tsc --init

npx --package typescript tsc --version

Notice that we used the --package flag to specify the correct typescript package in the commands above.

npx tsc command

# Installing typescript globally to solve the error

Alternatively, you can install typescript globally by running the following command.

shell

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# 👇️ install typescript globally
npm install typescript@latest -g

# 👇️ generate tsconfig.json file
tsc --init

# 👇️ get typescript version
tsc --version

installing typescript globally

Now you are able to use the correct tsc command without having to prefix it with npx and use the --package flag.

If the global installation of typescript fails, you might have to run the command prefixed with sudo.

shell

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# 👇️ If you got a permissions error, run with sudo
sudo npm install typescript@latest -g

tsc --init

tsc --version

use command without tsc prefix

If you are able to run the tsc --version command and get the version number of the typescript package, then the installation has succeeded.

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

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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

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# make sure the 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

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# 👇️ 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 typescript globally by running npm install typescript@latest -g.

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

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npm install typescript@latest -g

tsc --init

tsc --version

If the global installation of typescript fails, you might have to run the command prefixed with sudo.

shell

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# 👇️ If you got permissions error, run with sudo
sudo npm install typescript@latest -g

tsc --init

tsc --version

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

# Table of Contents

# Tsc is not recognized as an internal or external command

To solve the error "tsc is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file", install typescript globally by running npm install typescript@latest -g or prefix tsc with npx, e.g. npx --package typescript tsc --init.

One way to solve the error is to use the npx command with the --package flag.

shell

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# 👇️ generate tsconfig.json file
npx --package typescript tsc --init

# 👇️ show typescript version
npx --package typescript tsc --version

Notice that we used the --package flag to specify the correct typescript package in the commands above.

# Installing typescript globally

Alternatively, you can install typescript globally by running the following command.

shell

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# 👇️ install typescript globally
npm install typescript@latest -g

# 👇️ generate tsconfig.json file
tsc --init

# 👇️ get typescript version
tsc --version

Now you are able to use the correct tsc command without having to prefix it with npx and use the --package flag.

If the global installation of typescript fails, you have to open CMD as an administrator and rerun the commands.

If you are able to run the tsc --version command and get the version number of the typescript package, then the installation has succeeded.

# Update your PATH environment variable on Windows

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

shell

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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:

Open the start search and type in env and then click "Edit the system environment variables"
Then click "Environment Variables"
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 "tsc.ps1 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

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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 typescript globally by running npm install typescript@latest -g.

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

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npm install typescript@latest -g

tsc --init

tsc --version

If the global installation of typescript fails, you might have to run the command prefixed with sudo.

shell

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# 👇️ If you got permissions error, run with sudo
sudo npm install typescript@latest -g

tsc --init

tsc --version

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

# This is not the tsc command you are looking for

To solve the error "This is not the tsc command you are looking for", uninstall the tsc package by running npm uninstall tsc and run the tsc command with the --package flag, e.g. npx --package typescript tsc --init.

this is not tsc command you are looking for

Open your terminal in your project's root directory and run the following commands:

shell

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npm uninstall tsc

npm uninstall -g tsc

npx --package typescript tsc --init

npx --package typescript tsc --version

The first thing we did was uninstall the tsc package because it is a completely different package.

Notice that we used the --package flag to specify the correct typescript package in the commands above.

Alternatively, you can install typescript globally by running the following command.

shell

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# 👇️ install typescript globally
npm install typescript@latest -g

# 👇️ generate tsconfig.json file
tsc --init

# 👇️ get your typescript version
tsc --version

Now you are able to use the correct tsc command without having to prefix it with npx and use the --package flag.

If the global installation of typescript fails, you might have to run the command prefixed with sudo.

shell

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# 👇️ If you got a permissions error, run with sudo
sudo npm install typescript@latest -g

tsc --init

tsc --version

If you are able to run the tsc --version command and get the version number of the typescript package, then the installation has succeeded.

You can open your package.json file and make sure you don't have the tsc package installed in your dependencies or devDependencies objects because it is a deprecated package that you shouldn't be using.

Once you have typescript installed globally, the tsc command will refer to the TypeScript compiler.

Here are some common commands you could use.

shell

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# Run a compile based on a backward look through the fs for a tsconfig.json
tsc

# Initializes a TypeScript project and creates a tsconfig.json file
tsc --init

# Watch input files
tsc --watch

# Show the compiler's version
tsc --version

# Emit JS for just the index.ts with the compiler defaults
tsc index.ts

# Emit JS for any .ts files in the folder src, with the default settings
tsc src/*.ts

# Emit files referenced in with the compiler settings from tsconfig.production.json
tsc --project tsconfig.production.json

# Emit d.ts files for a js file showing compiler options which are booleans
tsc index.js --declaration --emitDeclarationOnly

# Emit a single .js file from two files via compiler options which take string arguments
tsc app.ts util.ts --target esnext --outfile index.js

A helpful command you can use for debugging is tsc --all, which shows all of the options.

Alternatively, you can look for the syntax of the command and the available options in the tsc cli reference.

# Additional Resources

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tsc command not found TypeScript error [Solved]

# Table of Contents