code EINVALIDTAGNAME npm ERR! Invalid tag name ">=^16.0.0": Tags may not have any characters that encodeURIComponent encodes

Question

I downloaded a project folder of a tutorial and tried to run npm install. However, I am always running into this error - I checked existing open questions regarding this, but none did really match my problem and/or solutions didn't work. I am pretty new to coding, so would also be happy if someone can explain me the cause of the error or point me towards the right resources. Any help is appreciated!

Here is the error file output:

2086 http fetch GET 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/classnames 95ms (from cache)
2087 http fetch GET 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/lowlight 104ms (from cache)
2088 http fetch GET 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/youtube-player 111ms (from cache)
2089 http fetch GET 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/ajv 217ms (from cache)
2090 http fetch GET 200 https://registry.npmjs.org/highlight.js 841ms
2091 http fetch GET 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/katex 846ms (from cache)
2092 http fetch GET 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/httpplease 850ms (from cache)
2093 http fetch GET 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/victory-chart 864ms (from cache)
2094 http fetch GET 200 https://registry.npmjs.org/react-is 878ms
2095 http fetch GET 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/victory-pie 880ms (from cache)
2096 http fetch GET 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/victory-core 883ms (from cache)
2097 timing idealTree:node_modules/idyll-components Completed in 902ms
2098 timing idealTree:node_modules/idyll-component-children Completed in 0ms
2099 timing idealTree:node_modules/idyll-d3-component Completed in 0ms
2100 timing idealTree Completed in 110820ms
2101 timing command:install Completed in 110829ms
2102 verbose stack Error: Invalid tag name ">=^16.0.0": Tags may not have any characters that encodeURIComponent encodes.
2102 verbose stack     at invalidTagName (/home/johanna/.nvm/versions/node/v15.11.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/npm-package-arg/npa.js:94:15)
2102 verbose stack     at fromRegistry (/home/johanna/.nvm/versions/node/v15.11.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/npm-package-arg/npa.js:299:13)
2102 verbose stack     at Function.resolve (/home/johanna/.nvm/versions/node/v15.11.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/npm-package-arg/npa.js:84:12)
2102 verbose stack     at Arborist.[nodeFromEdge] (/home/johanna/.nvm/versions/node/v15.11.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/arborist/lib/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js:901:37)
2102 verbose stack     at async Arborist.[loadPeerSet] (/home/johanna/.nvm/versions/node/v15.11.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/arborist/lib/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js:1121:23)
2102 verbose stack     at async Arborist.[buildDepStep] (/home/johanna/.nvm/versions/node/v15.11.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/arborist/lib/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js:838:11)
2102 verbose stack     at async Arborist.buildIdealTree (/home/johanna/.nvm/versions/node/v15.11.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/arborist/lib/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js:209:7)
2102 verbose stack     at async Promise.all (index 1)
2102 verbose stack     at async Arborist.reify (/home/johanna/.nvm/versions/node/v15.11.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/arborist/lib/arborist/reify.js:131:5)
2102 verbose stack     at async Install.install (/home/johanna/.nvm/versions/node/v15.11.0/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/install.js:120:5)
2103 verbose cwd /home/johanna/Documents/SideProjects/Visualisation/spotify/dimensionality-reduction-master
2104 verbose Linux 5.4.0-54-generic
2105 verbose argv "/home/johanna/.nvm/versions/node/v15.11.0/bin/node" "/home/johanna/.nvm/versions/node/v15.11.0/bin/npm" "install"
2106 verbose node v15.11.0
2107 verbose npm  v7.6.3
2108 error code EINVALIDTAGNAME
2109 error Invalid tag name ">=^16.0.0": Tags may not have any characters that encodeURIComponent encodes.
2110 verbose exit 1

Answer 1

Install legacy peer dependencies should get you running

npm install --legacy-peer-deps

Answer 2

try node v14 to install, which works for me.