Gitbook-cli install error TypeError: cb.apply is not a function inside graceful-fs

Question

When executing any gitbook command in the terminal, the following error is thrown:

/home/travis/.nvm/versions/node/v12.18.3/lib/node_modules/gitbook-cli/node_modules/npm/node_modules/graceful-fs/polyfills.js:287
      if (cb) cb.apply(this, arguments)
                 ^
TypeError: cb.apply is not a function
    at /home/travis/.nvm/versions/node/v12.18.3/lib/node_modules/gitbook-cli/node_modules/npm/node_modules/graceful-fs/polyfills.js:287:18
    at FSReqCallback.oncomplete (fs.js:169:5)

NOTE: This does not happen in node version v12.18.2 and is still happening in version v14.6.0

The gitbook-cli seems to not be working right now, failing because of their outdated graceful-fs dependency.

Any ideas how to fix this?

Smithery

I was able to set my node version to v12.18.2 and get the gitbook-cli to work. This is a "good enough" solution for me, until the following issue is addressed: github.com/GitbookIO/gitbook-cli/issues/110 – Centipoise

Answer 1

The issue was originally a problem inside graceful-fs but they solved it in this commit I believe.

The problem is that GitBook is still using outdated dependencies that pull in versions of graceful-fs without the fix.

The solution I found was to update graceful-fs inside gitbook like this:

If you've installed gitbook globally by doing npm install -g gitbook-cli then your path in macOS should be something like /usr/local/lib/node_modules/gitbook-cli/node_modules/npm/node_modules. Your path may differ depending on your OS or installation location.

Run this:

cd /usr/local/lib/node_modules/gitbook-cli/node_modules/npm/node_modules/
npm install graceful-fs@latest --save

Then try installing GitBook. It should have fixed the installing problem.

Smithery

that's really useful answer. – Unwelcome

this is very useful in my macbook – Cabinda

For those not using macOs find your global npm installation path using npm root -g . – Taiga

This solution worked like a charm for me. For those who have installed node using nvm, the path may be different. I was able to find the location of gitbook via which gitbook – Circumnavigate

This seems to not work anymore with the latest version of graceful-fs. Gitbook just exits silently after any command. Version [email protected] seems to work. – Finish

Sorry, but this ecosystem is so broken. I still see TypeError: cb.apply is not a function with [email protected] – Tulatulip

@KirillTaran solution worked for me! This also worked for me (install another version): npm install [email protected] --global – Amarillo

The latest module for graceful-fs didn't work for me. The below did: cd /opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/gitbook-cli/node_modules/npm/node_modules; npm install [email protected] --save – Decree

Answer 2

TL;DR

Why not switch to honkit(Fork of GitBook)?

---

The "why" for switching:

I knew this is not the answer to the question, but I would like to mention that the repository of gitbook has been deprecated 3 years ago, this makes it a bad choice for usage and especially security.

So I searched for the alternatives, and I found mdBook and honkit, turned out that honkit has good compatibility with gitbook, maybe switch to honkit is a better choice instead of fixing a 3 years old software with some hacking.

Pouched

makes total sense, that's actually what I've done, I've switched to docusaurus. Although this could have been a comment instead of a full answer. – Smithery

I've liked to read this struct as a viable alternative to the gitbook problem, trying honkit out – Wickerwork

if you love book making, another choice is dartbook, completely compatible with gitbook project but implemented in Dart, and run more fast than gitbook and honkit – Chalybeate

Answer 3

The last solution was great , but when I use npm install graceful-fs@latest --save in the right place and then rerun gitbook build , I got the following error:

_stream_readable.js:545
  switch (state.pipesCount) {
               ^
TypeError: Cannot read property 'pipesCount' of undefined
    at module.exports.Readable.pipe (_stream_readable.js:545:16)
    at module.exports.ZipArchiveOutputStream._smartStream (/node_modules/compress-commons/lib/archivers/zip/zip-archive-output-stream.js:184:11)
    at module.exports.ZipArchiveOutputStream._appendStream (/node_modules/compress-commons/lib/archivers/zip/zip-archive-output-stream.js:96:20)
    at module.exports.ArchiveOutputStream.entry (/node_modules/compress-commons/lib/archivers/archive-output-stream.js:88:10)
    at module.exports.ZipStream.entry (/node_modules/zip-stream/index.js:138:49)
    at Zip.append (/node_modules/archiver/lib/plugins/zip.js:53:15)
    at Archiver._moduleAppend (/node_modules/archiver/lib/core.js:172:16)
    at Archiver._onQueueTask (/node_modules/archiver/lib/core.js:370:8)
    at /node_modules/async/dist/async.js:3879:9

And ... guess what , when I change the version of graceful-fs to 4.2.0 , it all worked ...

Subcontract

I got a different error (TypeError: Cannot set property 'readableListening' of undefined for internal/streams/readable.js:864 state.readableListening = this.listenerCount('readable') > 0;) when installing the katex plugin but this solution helped me fix it nevertheless. – Sterner

@Sterner were you able to solve this error? – Wickner

@alireza Yes, despite starting from a different error, this answer helped to resolve it. All I did was downgrading graceful-fs to 4.2.0. – Sterner

Answer 4

Just replace the crashing file polyfills.js with this one: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/isaacs/node-graceful-fs/168bdb8f0bb3174e8499d4bc5878deead4172c39/polyfills.js

This works like a charm in Node.js v16.13.0.

Sooth

Answer 5

@Chalist 's Solution also was not working for me. So, I did this :

1. npm uninstall gitbook-cli -g
2. nvm install 10
3. nvm use 10
4. npm install gitbook-cli -g

Now all gitbook commands like gitbook serve will work fine.

Civilization

Answer 6

Full instructions for WSL2

Install nvm curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.38.0/install.sh | bash close WSL bash shell and re-open nvm install --lts

check versions and install node --version npm --version

install gitbook-cli npm install -g gitbook-cli

Any gitbook command gives error gitbook build TypeError: Cannot set property 'readableListening' of undefined for internal/streams/readable.js:864 state.readableListening = this.listenerCount('readable') > 0;

cd /home/<USER_NAME>/.nvm/versions/node/v14.17.1/lib/node_modules/gitbook-cli/node_modules/npm/node_modules/ npm install [email protected] --save

Then cd to your git document folder gitbook install gitbook serve

Broach

Answer 7

This worked for me:

npm install graceful-fs@latest --save

Then re-run:

npm install -g gitbook-cli

UPDATE ===== Another option would be to use NVM and install node v12.8.2.

Use this https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm.

Abject

Answer 8

for those who are very busy and have no time to debug:

1. install an older version of gitbook:

 npm install [email protected] --global

2. modify this file: vim ~/.gitbook/versions/3.2.3/lib/output/website/copyPluginAssets.js, Replace all confirm: true to

confirm: false

3. gitbook serve

then everything goes well.

My Env:

• ubuntu 20.04 LTS ( windows WSL)
• node 16

Alkanet

Answer 9

I changed the Node version to 12 with nvm and works fine.

Udder

Answer 10

My working solution on macOS Sonoma 14.2.1 (23C71)

• brew install nvm (follow the shell modification instructions)
• nvm install 12
• nvm use 12
• npm install [email protected] -g
• npm install [email protected] -g

Testing

• gitbook init
• gitbook serve

This constellation is working now nicely

Fishery