[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #64874: `postinstall` scripts are failing in some environments

[WordPress Trac]

#64874: `postinstall` scripts are failing in some environments
------------------------------+--------------------
 Reporter:  desrosj           |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect (bug)      |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal            |  Milestone:  7.0
Component:  Build/Test Tools  |    Version:
 Severity:  normal            |   Keywords:
  Focuses:                    |
------------------------------+--------------------
 A [https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C3D6T7F8Q/p1773395499967809 Host
 Test participant surfaced a bug] in the recent changes to the build
 process, mainly [61458] and [61492] which added and modified `postinstall`
 scripts.

 Here's the relevant log output:

 {{{
 cd '/home/wptestrunners2q3/tmp' && source
 /home/wptestrunners2q3/nodevenv/tmp/20/bin/activate && npm install && bash
 /home/wptestrunners2q3/patch_gruntfile.sh
 /home/wptestrunners2q3/tmp/Gruntfile.js && npm run build --force

 > WordPress at 7.0.0 postinstall
 > npm run gutenberg:verify

 > WordPress at 7.0.0 gutenberg:verify
 > node tools/gutenberg/utils.js



 node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1210
   throw err;
   ^

 Error: Cannot find module
 '/home/wptestrunners2q3/nodevenv/tmp/20/lib/tools/gutenberg/utils.js'
     at Module._resolveFilename (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1207:15)
     at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1038:27)
     at Function.executeUserEntryPoint [as runMain]
 (node:internal/modules/run_main:164:12)
     at node:internal/main/run_main_module:28:49 {
   code: 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND',
   requireStack: []
 }

 Node.js v20.20.0
 npm error code 1
 npm error path /home/wptestrunners2q3/nodevenv/tmp/20/lib
 npm error command failed
 npm error command sh -c npm run gutenberg:verify
 npm error A complete log of this run can be found in:
 /home/wptestrunners2q3/.npm/_logs/2026-03-17T14_10_59_295Z-debug-0.log
 Error: Failed to perform operation.
 Environment variables pass checks.
 cd '/home/wptestrunners2q3/tmp' && /usr/local/bin/php -q
 ./vendor/phpunit/phpunit/phpunit --dont-report-useless-tests
 Could not open input file: ./vendor/phpunit/phpunit/phpunit
 Error: Failed to perform operation.
 Environment variables pass checks.
 Getting SVN Revision
 Getting SVN message
 Copying junit.xml results
 rsync -r '/home/wptestrunners2q3/tmp'/tests/phpunit/build/logs/*
 '/home/wptestrunners2q3/tmp'
 rsync: change_dir "/home/wptestrunners2q3/tmp/tests/phpunit/build/logs"
 failed: No such file or directory (2)
 rsync error: some files/attrs were not transferred (see previous errors)
 (code 23) at main.c(1187) [sender=3.1.3]
 Error: Failed to perform operation.
 }}}

 After debugging a bit with Claude, it seems that when `nodevenv` is used
 as a wrapper for Node.js, it causes some issues with relative paths when
 running `postinstall` scripts.

 {{{
 When nodevenv is active, it sets NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX to the virtual
 environment directory (/home/wptestrunners2q3/nodevenv/tmp/20). This
 causes npm to treat the WordPress package as if it were being installed to
 $prefix/lib/, making npm run the postinstall lifecycle script with CWD set
 to that prefix lib path — not the actual project source directory.

 Chain of events:

 npm install runs with nodevenv's prefix active
 npm triggers postinstall → npm run gutenberg:verify → node
 tools/gutenberg/utils.js
 npm sets the script's CWD to what it considers the package root:
 /home/wptestrunners2q3/nodevenv/tmp/20/lib
 tools/gutenberg/utils.js doesn't exist there → error
 }}}

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/64874>
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