What Is Wrong With the JSON
npm could not parse package.json because the JSON is invalid, such as trailing commas, mismatched quotes, or broken syntax.
npm is failing before it can do any useful work because one of the JSON files it depends on does not parse cleanly.
Fix the JSON syntax first
Open package.json and validate JSON syntax (no comments, no trailing commas).
If this happened after a merge, re-run the merge and resolve JSON correctly.
Retry npm install.
Why the JSON No Longer Parses
Usually this comes down to package.json contains invalid JSON (trailing commas, comments, or a broken merge), or the file encoding is corrupted (rare).
Verify the JSON Parses Cleanly Again
Run node -e "JSON.parse(require(\"fs\").readFileSync(\"package.json\",\"utf8\"))" and confirm it succeeds, and re-run the original npm command.
Check the file and parser location from the error output
Repeat the failure from the same environment with verbose or debug logging so you can confirm the first actionable error, not just the final summary line.
Validate the local configuration and the remote target separately. That usually narrows the problem much faster than retrying the full workflow.
Compare the failing environment with one that works, paying attention to credentials, runtime versions, proxy settings, and filesystem paths.
Examples
npm ERR! code EJSONPARSE
npm ERR! Invalid package.json: JSONParseError
npm ERR! JSON.parse Failed to parse JSON data.
npm ERR! JSON.parse Unexpected tokenHow npm validates the command before it runs
npm reads package.json to determine dependencies, scripts, and configuration. If the JSON cannot be parsed, npm cannot proceed.
Prevent It From Coming Back
To prevent this, use a JSON-aware formatter/validator in CI, and avoid manual edits that introduce comments or trailing commas.
Docs and source code
github.com/npm/cli/blob/417daa72b09c5129e7390cd12743ef31bf3ddb83/lib/commands/ls.js
Open-source npm CLI code reference tied to this error code. - GitHub
if (rootError) {
throw Object.assign(
new Error('Failed to parse root package.json'),
{ code: 'EJSONPARSE' }
)
}