npm Codex ENOTEMPTY Repair

Use this Skill when the user reports an error like:

• npm ERR! code ENOTEMPTY
• rename .../@openai/codex -> .../@openai/.codex-*

Goal

Recover from stale temporary directories left by failed npm reify moves, then reinstall Codex CLI cleanly.

Procedure

Step 1: Resolve global prefix and inspect paths

npm prefix -g
npm root -g

Expected affected paths:

• <PREFIX>/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex
• <PREFIX>/lib/node_modules/@openai/.codex-*
• <PREFIX>/bin/codex
• <PREFIX>/bin/.codex-*

Step 2: Remove stale temp directories first

PREFIX="$(npm prefix -g)"
find "$PREFIX/lib/node_modules/@openai" -maxdepth 1 -type d -name '.codex-*' -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null || true
find "$PREFIX/bin" -maxdepth 1 -type f -name '.codex-*' -delete 2>/dev/null || true

Step 3: If uninstall fails, continue with hard cleanup

npm uninstall -g @openai/codex || true

PREFIX="$(npm prefix -g)"
rm -rf "$PREFIX/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex"
rm -f "$PREFIX/bin/codex"
find "$PREFIX/lib/node_modules/@openai" -maxdepth 1 -type d -name '.codex-*' -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null || true
find "$PREFIX/bin" -maxdepth 1 -type f -name '.codex-*' -delete 2>/dev/null || true

Step 4: Reinstall and verify

npm install -g @openai/codex@latest
command -v codex
codex --version

Reporting Checklist

After running the repair, report:

• whether stale .codex-* directories were found and removed;
• whether uninstall failed or succeeded;
• whether reinstall succeeded;
• final codex --version output.

Notes

• This issue is usually local filesystem state, not a package version issue.
• If reinstall still fails, capture and include the latest npm debug log path from output.