Why is this build failing when NODE_ENV is set to production?

I was having trouble getting npm install to work when NODE_ENV was set to production, and since I don’t have enough depth in Node to understand what was going wrong, I thought I’d ask why that might be the case.

For context:

• This project uses node 18.14.2

  MEDevel.com: Open-source for Healthcare and Education

  Collecting and validating open-source software for healthcare, education, enterprise, development, medical imaging, medical records, and digital pathology.

  Visit Medevel

• package.json includes a script called prepare that simply runs
  husky install, and that’s executed as part of npm install.

• When NODE_ENV is set to its default value development, npm install to complete successfully:

  file-upload git:(ACW-5868) ✗ export NODE_ENV=development
  file-upload git:(ACW-5868) ✗ npm install                
  
  > @icpsr/file-upload@0.1.29 prepare
  > husky install
  
  husky - Git hooks installed
  
  added 1397 packages, and audited 1845 packages in 5s
  
  236 packages are looking for funding
    run `npm fund` for details
  
  5 moderate severity vulnerabilities
  
  To address all issues (including breaking changes), run:
    npm audit fix --force
  
  Run `npm audit` for details.
  
  

• However, when it’s set to production, I get this:

  file-upload git:(ACW-5868) ✗ export NODE_ENV=production
  file-upload git:(346b304) npm install
  
  > @icpsr/file-upload@0.1.29 prepare
  > husky install
  
  sh: husky: command not found
  npm ERR! code 127
  npm ERR! path /Users/bhorvath/tmp/file-upload
  npm ERR! command failed
  npm ERR! command sh -c husky install```
  
  

What is going on here? Why is node unable to find an executable that’s within the root directory structure when the build is run in a production environment? (Not that you’d necessarily want to do so btw; I’m just curious.)

>Solution :

You probably ran npm install husky --save-dev to install that package (as the official documentation suggest: https://typicode.github.io/husky/getting-started.html#manual).

--save-dev installs packages used only for development, that’s why you cannot run it in a production environment.

You can check it by opening your package.json file and check if husky is under devDependencies.

To use husky in a production environment, you can refer to the official doc: https://typicode.github.io/husky/guide.html#disable-husky-in-ci-docker-prod