[Bug]: Displayed module not found (cli.js)

[ruby-rae-olaya22]

Version

1.63.0

Steps to reproduce

tried to install via VS Code Terminal
`npm init playwright@latest
npm notice run playwright-api-testing@1.0.0 npx
npm notice run create-playwright
Getting started with writing end-to-end tests with Playwright:
Initializing project in '.'
√ Do you want to use TypeScript or JavaScript? · TypeScript
√ Where to put your end-to-end tests? · src/tests
√ Add a GitHub Actions workflow? (Y/n) · true
√ Install Playwright browsers (can be done manually via 'npx playwright install')? (Y/n) · true
Installing Playwright Test (npm install --save-dev @playwright/test)…

added 3 packages, and audited 4 packages in 4s

found 0 vulnerabilities
Installing Types (npm install --save-dev @types/node)…

added 2 packages, and audited 6 packages in 3s

found 0 vulnerabilities
Writing playwright.config.ts.
Writing .github\workflows\playwright.yml.
Writing src\tests\example.spec.ts.
Writing package.json.
Downloading browsers (npx playwright install)…
npm notice run playwright-api-testing@1.0.0 npx
npm notice run playwright install`

Expected behavior

Should see the success message

Actual behavior

displayed in the terminal `npm notice run playwright install
'API\playwright-api-testing\node_modules.bin' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1479
throw err;
^

Error: Cannot find module 'C:\Users\ruby_thinkbitsolutio\Documents\Playwright Learn@playwright\test\cli.js'
at Module._resolveFilename (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1476:15)
at wrapResolveFilename (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1049:27)
at defaultResolveImplForCJSLoading (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1073:10)
at resolveForCJSWithHooks (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1094:12)
at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1262:25)
at wrapModuleLoad (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:255:19)
at Module.executeUserEntryPoint [as runMain] (node:internal/modules/run_main:154:5)
at node:internal/main/run_main_module:33:47 {
code: 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND',
requireStack: []
}

Node.js v24.15.0
Error: Command failed: npx playwright install
at genericNodeError (node:internal/errors:985:15)
at wrappedFn (node:internal/errors:539:14)
at checkExecSyncError (node:child_process:925:11)
at execSync (node:child_process:997:15)
at executeCommands (C:\Users\ruby_thinkbitsolutio\AppData\Local\npm-cache_npx\d352e76cc6b4974c\node_modules\create-playwright\lib\index.js:8272:39)
at Generator.run (C:\Users\ruby_thinkbitsolutio\AppData\Local\npm-cache_npx\d352e76cc6b4974c\node_modules\create-playwright\lib\index.js:8356:5)
at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:104:5)
at async _Command. (C:\Users\ruby_thinkbitsolutio\AppData\Local\npm-cache_npx\d352e76cc6b4974c\node_modules\create-playwright\lib\index.js:8661:3)
at async _Command.parseAsync (C:\Users\ruby_thinkbitsolutio\AppData\Local\npm-cache_npx\d352e76cc6b4974c\node_modules\create-playwright\lib\index.js:2148:9) {
status: 1,
signal: null,
output: [ null, null, null ],
pid: 8712,
stdout: null,
stderr: null
}
npm error code 1
npm error path C:\Users\ruby_thinkbitsolutio\Documents\Playwright Learn\Playwright & API\playwright-api-testing
npm error command failed
npm error command C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /d /s /c create-playwright
npm error A complete log of this run can be found in: C:\Users\ruby_thinkbitsolutio\AppData\Local\npm-cache_logs\2026-09-12T15_10_18_530Z-debug-0.log`

Additional context

No response

Environment

System:
    OS: Windows 11 10.0.26200
    CPU: (8) x64 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz
    Memory: 1.92 GB / 11.78 GB
  Binaries:
    Node: 24.15.0 - C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.EXE
    npm: 12.0.2 - C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.CMD
  IDEs:
    VSCode: 1.137.0 - C:\Users\ruby_thinkbitsolutio\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin\code.CMD
    Cursor: 3.9.16 - C:\Users\ruby_thinkbitsolutio\AppData\Local\Programs\cursor\resources\app\bin\cursor.CMD
    opencode: 1.17.11 - C:\Users\ruby_thinkbitsolutio\AppData\Roaming\npm\opencode.CMD
  npmPackages:
    @playwright/test: ^1.63.0 => 1.63.0

[ruby-rae-olaya22]

my workaround was to install
npm install -D @playwright/test@1.62.1 npx playwright install --with-deps

[ashrafiucse]

Hi! This is caused by the & in your folder name — Playwright & API.

When npm installs a package with a binary, it generates little .cmd shims in node_modules\.bin (like playwright.cmd). Those shims have a line SET dp0=%~dp0 that isn't quoted, and since %~dp0 expands to your project path, cmd.exe treats the & as a command separator. That's why you see 'API\playwright-api-testing\node_modules\.bin\' is not recognized... — it's literally trying to execute the part of your path after the &. And the "Cannot find module ...\Playwright Learn@playwright\test\cli.js" error follows from the same truncation.

This is a known npm bug that affects every package with a bin entry, not just Playwright: npm/cmd-shim#45

The fix is to rename the folder and drop the & (spaces alone are fine, e.g. Playwright and API). Reinstalling in there and npx playwright install will work. Nothing version-specific btw — 1.62.1 only appeared to help, the special character in the path is the trigger.

Closing this as an upstream npm issue.