Is npm down?

What npm availability means

npm has several access paths that can fail independently. The npm website uses npmjs.com, while package installation, dependency resolution, and publishing commonly involve registry.npmjs.org. The website may load while registry requests fail, or a registry incident may affect package commands without making the website appear completely offline.

For the broadest service-level view, check npm’s official status page. Match any incident to the operation that is failing—such as package retrieval, authentication, publishing, registry/API access, or website access—instead of assuming that every npm function is affected.

A status page can confirm a reported platform issue, but it cannot diagnose a project-specific failure. The exact npm error, configured registry, affected package, and whether the same request works from another network are often more useful for separating an npm incident from a local, account, or connectivity problem.

Troubleshooting npm problems

1. Check for a matching npm incident

Open the official npm status page and look for an active or recently resolved incident affecting the registry, package downloads, authentication, publishing, or the website. If the reported issue matches your failing operation, avoid disruptive project changes and retry after the incident is resolved. If no matching incident appears, a regional, network, account, or project-specific problem is still possible.

2. Establish the scope of the failure

If installs or package resolution fail across multiple projects, prioritize registry access, DNS, proxy, firewall, and npm configuration checks. If only one project or package fails, inspect its dependency declaration, lockfile, package name, version, and configured registry before treating the problem as an npm outage.

Publishing and login failures require separate analysis from public package downloads. Review the complete error, the account or token being used, the target registry, and whether the failure affects one package, organization, or account operation.

3. Separate network and DNS symptoms

• Connection timed out: the request may be blocked, routed incorrectly, or unable to receive a response. Compare the same operation from another network and check applicable corporate firewall or proxy rules.
• Connection refused: the configured endpoint, proxy, or local network path may be rejecting the connection. Confirm that npm is targeting the expected registry rather than an outdated internal or third-party endpoint.
• DNS errors such as NXDOMAIN: the resolver cannot find the requested host. Compare DNS behavior on another network and check VPN, filtering, and local resolver settings.
• TLS or certificate errors: inspect HTTPS interception, proxy certificates, system time, and security software before considering any certificate-validation change.

4. Review npm configuration and authentication

Check the configured registry and proxy settings, especially after switching networks, enabling a VPN, or using a private registry. For login, publishing, or private-package access, verify that the intended account has the required permission and that credentials or tokens have not expired. Never expose tokens in terminal output, issue reports, or support requests.

5. Check browser-only failures

If the npm website fails in a browser while package commands still work, try a private window or another browser and temporarily disable extensions that block scripts or cookies. If both the browser and npm commands fail, prioritize the status page and network checks rather than browser-only fixes.

6. Interpret registry and API responses

When registry.npmjs.org is unreachable while the website works, assess the registry path separately and record the exact HTTP status or npm error. A 5xx response can indicate a server-side or upstream problem; a 4xx response more often points to an invalid request, missing permission, authentication issue, rate limit, or unavailable package. Preserve the package name, command, time, and complete error when escalating, but remove credentials and tokens.