npm error could not determine executable to run

[apuatcfbd]

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>npx action-validator ./api/.github/workflows/api-deploy-stg.yml
npm error could not determine executable to run
npm error A complete log of this run can be found in: /home/[user]/.npm/_logs/2025-06-02T08_44_43_039Z-debug-0.log

[mpalmer]

I've got no idea what the problem here is. Any thoughts, @bcheidemann ?

[bcheidemann]

@apuatcfbd you've got a couple options:

1. Run npx @action-validator/cli <path>, or
2. Install @action-validator/cli to your project and then run npx action-validator <path> in your project directory, or
3. Run npm i -g @action-validator/cli to install the CLI globally and then run action-validator <path>

Unfortunately, running npx action-validator <path> without first installing @action-validator/cli is not currently supported, because the NPM package name "action-validator" is owned by another (seemingly abandoned) project.

@mpalmer do you think we should contact the owner of "action-validator" on NPM and ask them politely if they'll consider transferring the package to us? I can see it has no new versions in 8 years and only 5 weekly downloads. Transferring the package name to us would enable people to run npx action-validator without explicitly installing the CLI first.

[apuatcfbd]

@bcheidemann Thank you for the options. I'll try again with (#)1 and let you know here if I face any issue

[mpalmer]

I don't have a strong preference for or against asking to take over the NPM action-validator package. Not knowing the ecosystem, I can't say whether that sort of thing is widely accepted or frowned upon. I have a slight concern about breaking existing users of the current package, if we swapped out something completely different and unexpected, but given the download rate, that seems likely to just be security scanners and bots, so there's probably no real users to worry about. Another option might be to pick another name, say github-action-validator, for the NPM package, which would be slightly unwieldy, but would avoid the above concerns.

I'll leave the call up to you, @bcheidemann, as to what the most appropriate way to proceed is. If you think it's appropriate to try and get a transfer of the action-validator NPM package, feel free to go for it.

[bcheidemann]

I'll leave the call up to you, @bcheidemann, as to what the most appropriate way to proceed is. If you think it's appropriate to try and get a transfer of the action-validator NPM package, feel free to go for it.

I reached out to the owner of the existing package to see if they'd consider transferring ownership of the package. At least for now, it seems they would prefer to hold onto the package.

Another option might be to pick another name, say github-action-validator, for the NPM package, which would be slightly unwieldy, but would avoid the above concerns.

Actually, they also suggested this as a middle ground...

My concern is that it causes further confusion (and possibly without solving the problem), since the README refers exclusively to action-validator (cargo install action-validator, asdf plugin add action-validator, action-validator .github/workflows/build.yml), and the GitHub repo itself is called action-validator.

I'm also not sure if this is necessarily a big problem, since it's taken 2 years for anyone to raise an issue about it. Maybe for now, I could raise a PR to clarify this in the docs. If over time, a significant number of people find their way to this issue and leave comments indicating they also had this problem, we could re-evaluate then.

What do you think?

[mpalmer]

You make a persuasive point. I agree documentation improvements are sufficient for now.