0

How to solve the

Error: could not determine executable to run

error message when running:

npx tailwindcss init -p

My TailwindCSS version is the latest one, according to the log: [email protected].

0 verbose cli C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe C:\Users\dinoo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\npm\bin\npm-cli.js
1 info using [email protected]
2 info using [email protected]
3 silly config load:file:C:\Users\dinoo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\npm\npmrc
4 silly config load:file:F:\BINKEYIT\client\.npmrc
5 silly config load:file:C:\Users\dinoo\.npmrc
6 silly config load:file:C:\Users\dinoo\AppData\Roaming\npm\etc\npmrc
7 verbose title npm exec tailwindcss init -p
8 verbose argv "exec" "--" "tailwindcss" "init" "-p"
9 verbose logfile logs-max:10 dir:C:\Users\dinoo\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_logs\2025-03-25T08_35_16_978Z-
10 verbose logfile C:\Users\dinoo\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_logs\2025-03-25T08_35_16_978Z-debug-0.log
11 silly logfile start cleaning logs, removing 1 files
12 silly logfile done cleaning log files
13 silly packumentCache heap:4345298944 maxSize:1086324736 maxEntrySize:543162368
14 verbose stack Error: could not determine executable to run
14 verbose stack     at getBinFromManifest (C:\Users\dinoo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\npm\node_modules\libnpmexec\lib\get-bin-from-manifest.js:17:23)
14 verbose stack     at exec (C:\Users\dinoo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\npm\node_modules\libnpmexec\lib\index.js:205:15)
14 verbose stack     at async Npm.exec (C:\Users\dinoo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\npm\lib\npm.js:208:9)
14 verbose stack     at async module.exports (C:\Users\dinoo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\npm\lib\cli\entry.js:67:5)
15 verbose pkgid [email protected]
16 error could not determine executable to run
17 verbose cwd F:\BINKEYIT\client
18 verbose os Windows_NT 10.0.26100
19 verbose node v22.14.0
20 verbose npm  v11.2.0
21 verbose exit 1
22 verbose code 1
23 error A complete log of this run can be found in: C:\Users\dinoo\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_logs\2025-03-25T08_35_16_978Z-debug-0.log
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*** I'm Also Have This Problem

I was trying to set up Tailwind CSS in my Vite + React project and every time I ran:

npx tailwindcss init -p

I got this error:

npm error could not determine executable to run
npm error A complete log of this run can be found in:
C:\Users\...\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_logs\...

Even npx tailwindcss -v failed with the same error.
When I checked my node_modules/.bin, there was no tailwindcss binary.

After Some Search the caused error

The issue was that npm installed Tailwind CSS v4 (preview) instead of the stable v3 release.

  • In Tailwind v4, the CLI binary (tailwindcss) is no longer bundled in the same way.

  • Most current guides (including Vite + Tailwind setup) expect the stable Tailwind v3 CLI to be available.

  • That’s why npx tailwindcss couldn’t find an executable.

*** And This The steps Followed To resolved It

///* Solution *////

Fisrt => Uninstall the preview Tailwind v4:

npm uninstall tailwindcss

Secondly => Install the stable Tailwind v3 instead:

npm install -D tailwindcss@3 postcss autoprefixer

Third => Verify the installation:

npx tailwindcss -v
# tailwindcss v3.x.x

Fourth => Initialize the config files:

npx tailwindcss init -p

This correctly generates:

  • tailwind.config.js

  • postcss.config.js

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TailwindCSS v4

Although you didn't put much effort into writing the question, I spotted the key point in the middle. You want to install TailwindCSS v3 using npm install tailwindcss.

However, since January 2025, running npm install tailwindcss installs the new v4, which introduces many breaking changes. See more:

The init process has been removed, so there's no need to run it.

The use of tailwind.config.js has been deprecated (by the way can use legacy JavaScript-based configuration with @config directive), replaced by a CSS-first configuration approach.

Possible duplicate based on the details provided:

TailwindCSS v3

The installation of TailwindCSS v3 and v4 is different. You were expecting the v3 installation, but v4 is the new latest version. For v3 installation, use:

npm install -D tailwindcss@3

Once this is done, the other steps remain unchanged:

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