bower init failing to bring the interactive prompt to create bower.json #802

jinmatt · 2013-08-20T06:26:39Z

After updating bower to 1.2.1, the bower init command seems to fail. When running the bower init the follow result is shown:

bower ENOINT Register requires interactive

Here is the Stack Trace when run in verbose mode:

bower ENOINT        Register requires interactive

Stack trace:
Error: Register requires interactive
    at createError (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/bower/lib/util/createError.js:4:15)
    at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/bower/lib/commands/init.js:24:34
    at process.startup.processNextTick.process._tickCallback (node.js:244:9)

Console trace:
Trace
    at StandardRenderer.error (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/bower/lib/renderers/StandardRenderer.js:74:17)
    at Logger.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/bower/bin/bower:108:18)
    at Logger.EventEmitter.emit (events.js:96:17)
    at Logger.emit (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/bower/node_modules/bower-logger/lib/Logger.js:29:39)
    at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/bower/lib/commands/init.js:24:20
    at process.startup.processNextTick.process._tickCallback (node.js:244:9)

System info:
Bower version: 1.2.1
Node version: 0.8.19
OS: Darwin 13.0.0 x64

The text was updated successfully, but these errors were encountered:

satazor · 2013-08-20T07:53:12Z

Hey @jinmatt!

What terminal are you using?
Are you using bower through a regular install (npm install bower -g) or are you actually have it cloned locally and npm link?

In case you have a linked copy of bower in 2. you have to do npm install inside the cloned bower directory.

The interactive flag is being set here: https://github.com/bower/bower/blob/master/lib/config.js#L11 you can debug that with a console.log(config) before the if statement and one afterwards, including process.title and isatty.

Note that you can enable it anyway with --config.interactive, but worth investigating why your terminal is not a reporting itself as a tty.

jinmatt · 2013-08-20T08:47:49Z

@satazor
I'm using oh-my-zsh. I have installed bower using npm(npm install -g bower), and updated bower lately using npm update -g bower

satazor · 2013-08-20T12:58:21Z

@jinmatt I've tried oh-my-zsh and it works. Can you try to uninstall bower and install it again?

jinmatt · 2013-08-20T13:18:09Z

Tried that, but getting the same result again.

jinmatt · 2013-08-20T13:33:52Z

Uninstalled bower 1.2.1 and installed 0.10.0, and now bower init is working.

satazor · 2013-08-20T21:04:02Z

@jinmatt the only difference I'm having is that I was running on MacOSx. Anyway, I will remove that check on the init command and release a new version today. I advise against downgrading to 0.10.0. Bower <1.0.0 has a lot of issues.

satazor · 2013-08-20T21:06:30Z

Oops didn't wanted to close.

@jinmatt anyway, even if I remove that check, you will be running bower with interactive set to false, meaning it won't prompt you questions whenever necessary.

Can you please do the following:

$ node
var tty = require('tty');
tty.isatty(1);

What does it output?

satazor · 2013-08-21T13:03:53Z

Bump.

jinmatt · 2013-08-21T13:30:31Z

@satazor
the output I get:

> var tty = require('tty');
undefined
> tty.isatty(1);
true

jinmatt · 2013-08-21T13:35:36Z

@satazor btw I'm too running on a Mac OS X. But on 10.9 Preview 5, do you think this might be a cause of this issue?

jinmatt · 2013-08-21T13:42:36Z

Updated to 1.2.2 now. Now when I run bower init I get this Additional error details

bower ENOINT        Register requires an interactive shell

Additional error details:
Note that you can manually force an interactive shell with --config.interactive

So I tried running bower init --config.interactive and the interactive prompt is working

satazor · 2013-08-21T17:57:44Z

Yes I've improved the error message. Still I would like to know why this is happening to you, since it can be affecting other users. Can you please do the following:

clone the bower repository to a folder in your system
do npm link inside the cloned folder (with sudo)
do a console.log(config) here https://github.com/bower/bower/blob/master/lib/config.js#L5
run bower -v
paste the result of the log here

jinmatt · 2013-08-21T18:50:54Z

Done:

➜  bower git:(master) bower -v
{ cwd: '/Users/jinmatt/Documents/Workdesk/sandbox/bowerBox/bower',
  directory: 'bower_components',
  registry: 
   { search: [ 'https://bower.herokuapp.com' ],
     register: 'https://bower.herokuapp.com',
     publish: 'https://bower.herokuapp.com' },
  shorthandResolver: 'git://github.com/{{owner}}/{{package}}.git',
  tmp: '/var/folders/tf/rvwhrxms15x20gdxgggsy3zr0000gp/T/jinmatt/bower',
  timeout: 30000,
  ca: { search: [] },
  strictSsl: true,
  userAgent: 'node/v0.8.19 darwin x64',
  color: true,
  storage: 
   { packages: '/Users/jinmatt/.cache/bower/packages',
     links: '/Users/jinmatt/.local/share/bower/links',
     completion: '/Users/jinmatt/.local/share/bower/completion',
     registry: '/Users/jinmatt/.cache/bower/registry',
     empty: '/Users/jinmatt/.local/share/bower/empty' } }
1.2.2

satazor · 2013-08-21T19:03:38Z

Looks good.

Add console.log(config.interactive), console.log(process.title) and console.log(tty.isatty(1) to https://github.com/bower/bower/blob/master/lib/config.js#L11 and please report back.

jinmatt · 2013-08-21T19:19:29Z

Was going through the code, seems like I'm getting process.title = 'node' and not equal to 'bower' as expected to make config.interactive = true in config.js line 12. So if I change the string 'bower' to 'node', bower init works.

Here are the logs which you requested:

➜  bower git:(master) ✗ bower -v  
{ cwd: '/Users/jinmatt/Documents/Workdesk/sandbox/bowerBox/bower',
  directory: 'bower_components',
  registry: 
   { search: [ 'https://bower.herokuapp.com' ],
     register: 'https://bower.herokuapp.com',
     publish: 'https://bower.herokuapp.com' },
  shorthandResolver: 'git://github.com/{{owner}}/{{package}}.git',
  tmp: '/var/folders/tf/rvwhrxms15x20gdxgggsy3zr0000gp/T/jinmatt/bower',
  timeout: 30000,
  ca: { search: [] },
  strictSsl: true,
  userAgent: 'node/v0.8.19 darwin x64',
  color: true,
  storage: 
   { packages: '/Users/jinmatt/.cache/bower/packages',
     links: '/Users/jinmatt/.local/share/bower/links',
     completion: '/Users/jinmatt/.local/share/bower/completion',
     registry: '/Users/jinmatt/.cache/bower/registry',
     empty: '/Users/jinmatt/.local/share/bower/empty' } }
undefined
node
true
1.2.2

jinmatt · 2013-08-21T20:49:41Z

Seems like the version of node v0.8.19 I was running had this problem of setting process.title.
userAgent: 'node/v0.8.19 darwin x64'
Updated node to v0.10.16 stable, and problem solved! Now I get process.title = 'bower'.

jinmatt · 2013-08-22T18:23:50Z

@satazor : Just out of curiosity, why was the earlier version of bower working properly? The code wasn't checking for interactive auto, or wasn't checking the process title name?

satazor · 2013-08-22T18:25:55Z

@jinmatt the default was true, but it has changed to null (auto) later to be more accurate.

chasetec · 2015-05-13T21:23:46Z

This is still an issue when running under Cygwin.

derekgreer · 2015-06-10T19:47:34Z

Yep, running into this under Cygwin shell.

derekgreer · 2015-06-10T20:20:22Z

I've tracked this down to an issue with mintty.exe.

In the bower/lib/config.js file (line 34 for bower v 1.4.1), tty.isatty(1) returns false under mintty.exe, but true if you run cygwin.bat (which is bash --login -i using the Windows terminal).

Here's a convenient way to check your terminal:

node -e "var tty=require('tty'); console.log('tty.isatty(1):' + tty.isatty(1))"

Possibly related: https://code.google.com/p/mintty/issues/detail?id=56

For those stumbling across this issue looking for a solution, the obvious quick workaround for this issue is to simply avoid using mintty. This doesn't mean you have to return to using the Windows terminal for bash, as there are other alternatives. See http://blog.jaykanakiya.com/terminal-setup-in-windows-7/ and/or http://buildstarted.com/2012/05/11/replacing-default-git-bash-console-with-console2/ for instructions for configuring Console2 with bash. Turn off the menus, tool bars, and status bars, create a shortcut named "Cygwin" or "Bash", change the shortcut's icon to C:\cygwin64\Cygwin-Terminal.ico and you'll probably never know the difference.

P.S. If you've ever noted other issues with mintty.exe, like msysgit not prompting for a password properly or the node repl not working, this is probably the same issue.

fooontic · 2015-11-26T23:32:39Z

Does not work with cygwin. Tried bower init firstly, then bower init --config.interactive.

$ bower init --config.interactive
bower error         Cannot read property 'substring' of undefined

Stack trace:
TypeError: Cannot read property 'substring' of undefined
    at Interface.rl._getCursorPos (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bower\no     de_modules\inquirer\node_modules\readline2\index.js:51:51)
    at ScreenManager.render (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bower\node_mod     ules\inquirer\lib\utils\screen-manager.js:19:27)
    at Prompt.render (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bower\node_modules\in     quirer\lib\prompts\input.js:75:15)
    at Prompt._run (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bower\node_modules\inqu     irer\lib\prompts\input.js:49:8)
    at Prompt.run (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bower\node_modules\inqui     rer\lib\prompts\base.js:57:8)
    at Object.<anonymous> (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bower\node_modul     es\inquirer\lib\ui\prompt.js:84:12)
    at module.exports (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bower\node_modules\i     nquirer\node_modules\run-async\index.js:15:21)
    at AnonymousObservable.__subscribe (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bow     er\node_modules\inquirer\lib\utils\utils.js:16:7)
    at AnonymousObservable.tryCatcher (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bowe     r\node_modules\inquirer\node_modules\rx-lite\rx.lite.js:63:31)
    at setDisposable (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bower\node_modules\in     quirer\node_modules\rx-lite\rx.lite.js:5741:44)

Console trace:
Error
    at StandardRenderer.error (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bower\lib\re     nderers\StandardRenderer.js:82:37)
    at Logger.<anonymous> (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bower\bin\bower:     110:22)
    at emitOne (events.js:77:13)
    at Logger.emit (events.js:169:7)
    at Logger.emit (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bower\node_modules\bowe     r-logger\lib\Logger.js:29:39)
    at C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bower\lib\commands\index.js:48:20
    at _rejected (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bower\node_modules\q\q.js     :844:24)
    at C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bower\node_modules\q\q.js:870:30
    at Promise.when (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bower\node_modules\q\q     .js:1122:31)
    at Promise.promise.promiseDispatch (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\bow     er\node_modules\q\q.js:788:41)
System info:
Bower version: 1.6.7
Node version: 4.1.2
OS: Windows_NT 10.0.10240 x64

iwozzy · 2015-11-27T21:54:02Z

Trying bower init in Cygwin and getting

bower ENOINT        Register requires an interactive shell

I've also tried bower init --config.interactive and getting

bower EINVAL        EINVAL, invalid argument

This is on Windows 10 while running Cygwin as Administrator.

ghost · 2015-12-12T12:45:19Z

+1 same here when using cygwin shell. In cmd all works fine.

danila.shutov@o109 ~/lab/faith/client
$ bower init
bower ENOINT        Register requires an interactive shell

Additional error details:
Note that you can manually force an interactive shell with --config.interactive

danila.shutov@o109 ~/lab/faith/client
$ bower init --config.interactive
bower error         Cannot read property 'substring' of undefined

Stack trace:
TypeError: Cannot read property 'substring' of undefined
    at Interface.rl._getCursorPos (C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\node_modules\inquirer\node_modules\readline2\index.js:51:51)
    at ScreenManager.render (C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\node_modules\inquirer\lib\utils\screen-manager.js:19:27)
    at Prompt.render (C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\node_modules\inquirer\lib\prompts\input.js:75:15)
    at Prompt._run (C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\node_modules\inquirer\lib\prompts\input.js:49:8)
    at Prompt.run (C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\node_modules\inquirer\lib\prompts\base.js:57:8)
    at Object.<anonymous> (C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\node_modules\inquirer\lib\ui\prompt.js:84:12)
    at module.exports (C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\node_modules\inquirer\node_modules\run-async\index.js:15:21)
    at AnonymousObservable.__subscribe (C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\node_modules\inquirer\lib\utils\utils.js:16:7)
    at AnonymousObservable.tryCatcher (C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\node_modules\inquirer\node_modules\rx-lite\rx.lite.js:63:31)
    at setDisposable (C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\node_modules\inquirer\node_modules\rx-lite\rx.lite.js:5741:44)

Console trace:
Error
    at StandardRenderer.error (C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\lib\renderers\StandardRenderer.js:83:37)
    at Logger.<anonymous> (C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\bin\bower:116:30)
    at emitOne (events.js:77:13)
    at Logger.emit (events.js:169:7)
    at Logger.emit (C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\node_modules\bower-logger\lib\Logger.js:29:39)
    at C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\lib\commands\index.js:48:20
    at _rejected (C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\node_modules\q\q.js:844:24)
    at C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\node_modules\q\q.js:870:30
    at Promise.when (C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\node_modules\q\q.js:1122:31)
    at Promise.promise.promiseDispatch (C:\Users\danila.shutov\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\bower\node_modules\q\q.js:788:41)
System info:
Bower version: 1.7.1
Node version: 4.2.1
OS: Windows_NT 10.0.10240 x64

rosegbn · 2015-12-15T11:53:02Z

I've tried to downgrade the version to bower 0.10.0 but it doesn't work well. The bower init configuration works fine for few seconds then it hangs up your terminal. The solution is found in on its documentation. It's not supporting MinTTY which causes this problem.
Here is the solution:

Uninstall existing GIT bash
Reinstall GIT bash
Set up during installation:
3a: Select> Use Git form the Windows Command Prompt
3b: Select> Checkout Windows-style, commit Unix-style line endings
3c: Select> Use Windows' default console window

AlexanderSuvorov · 2016-01-01T21:07:15Z

Thank you dreamypixy. It's so sad cuz i like MinTTY.

cataquil · 2016-01-10T19:19:42Z

do this from the run command
cmd.exe /C "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe" --login -i
then bower init will work and you can do everything in minw64, mintty, or git-bash whatever it is called.

AlexanderSuvorov · 2016-01-17T17:23:37Z

Thanks a lot cataquil. But it's still half desicion.

heavybeard · 2016-01-26T21:45:47Z

I have the same problem 😢 with Git Bash, but it works well with cmd

steve-todorov · 2016-02-01T16:53:31Z

I'm having this problem with bower in cygwin. This used to work some time ago, but for some reason it stopped after upgrading to the latest version.

IshanDemon · 2016-02-07T18:26:05Z

If you are using windows run bower init using CMD

OR

if you are using git bash follow these steps:

Uninstall existing GIT bash
Reinstall GIT bash
Set up during installation:
3a: Select> Use Git form the Windows Command Prompt
3b: Select> Checkout Windows-style, commit Unix-style line endings
3c: Select> Use Windows' default console window

yonycat · 2016-03-01T02:49:13Z

Hi, I encounter this bug too. When i use git bash，i encounter the seem issue。so i use windows cmd and fixed out this issue。 so if you os is windows，may be you can use cmd in place of git bash。

shahard · 2016-03-19T22:57:27Z

@IshanDemon
running 'bower init' works on windows cmd (but did not work with git bash command line for a mysterious reason).
thanks!

tomgets85 · 2016-10-24T03:38:29Z

i met it today。the way i slove it is using windows cmd instead of git bash.It worked!
enjoy it. buddy

oneezy · 2016-12-08T21:04:50Z

This is still an issue w/ bower 1.8.0 on git version 2.10.1.windows.1

Using cmd over git bash is not a fix,... it's a step backwards.

Will try some of the following solutions mentioned above and report back.

zeeshanjan82 · 2017-01-27T03:24:45Z

Getting the same issue: Register requires an interactive shell.

Kranthi1547 · 2017-06-24T23:48:02Z

I still get error "Register requires an interactive shell" with git version 2.10.2.windows.1
and bower version 1.8.0.

leotm · 2017-07-17T10:48:45Z

Same here as @Kranthi1547 . However, works in PowerShell.
(Win10Pro64, Git v2.11.1, Bower v1.8.0).

satazor closed this as completed Aug 20, 2013

satazor reopened this Aug 20, 2013

satazor closed this as completed in 187457d Aug 22, 2013

tpluscode mentioned this issue Dec 1, 2015

Babun breaks on winows apps with console input babun/babun#491

Open

benmann mentioned this issue Sep 1, 2016

bower ENOINT Register requires an interactive shell #2347

Closed

Daniel-Hug mentioned this issue Feb 5, 2017

bower init - TypeError: Cannot read property 'substring' of undefined #2000

Closed

GabLeRoux mentioned this issue Oct 17, 2017

.bowerrc support. sheerun/bower-away#11

Closed

bower init failing to bring the interactive prompt to create bower.json #802

bower init failing to bring the interactive prompt to create bower.json #802

Comments

jinmatt commented Aug 20, 2013

satazor commented Aug 20, 2013

jinmatt commented Aug 20, 2013

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jinmatt commented Aug 20, 2013

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jinmatt commented Aug 21, 2013

jinmatt commented Aug 21, 2013

jinmatt commented Aug 22, 2013

satazor commented Aug 22, 2013

chasetec commented May 13, 2015

derekgreer commented Jun 10, 2015

derekgreer commented Jun 10, 2015

fooontic commented Nov 26, 2015

iwozzy commented Nov 27, 2015

ghost commented Dec 12, 2015

rosegbn commented Dec 15, 2015

AlexanderSuvorov commented Jan 1, 2016

cataquil commented Jan 10, 2016

AlexanderSuvorov commented Jan 17, 2016

heavybeard commented Jan 26, 2016

steve-todorov commented Feb 1, 2016

IshanDemon commented Feb 7, 2016

yonycat commented Mar 1, 2016

shahard commented Mar 19, 2016

tomgets85 commented Oct 24, 2016

oneezy commented Dec 8, 2016

zeeshanjan82 commented Jan 27, 2017

Kranthi1547 commented Jun 24, 2017

leotm commented Jul 17, 2017 • edited

leotm commented Jul 17, 2017 •

edited