npm install error from the terminal
Running just "npm install" will look for dependencies listed in your package.json. The error you're getting says that you don't have a package.json file set up (or you're in the wrong directory).
If you're trying to install a specific package, you should use 'npm install {package name}'. See here for more info about the command.
Otherwise, you'll need to create a package.json file for your dependencies or go to the right directory and then run 'npm install'.
I had this problem when trying to run 'npm install' in a Terminal window which had been opened before installing Node.js.
Opening a new Terminal window (i.e. bash session) worked. (Presumably this provided the correct environment variables for npm to run correctly.)
In my case it was due to a bad URL (http:// instead of git://, no .git at the end) for one of the dependencies.