Lefthook doesn't work on Windows with npm -g

[IagonaDevTeam]

Description

On MacOS after doing the install of lefthook globally and having done lefthook install -f in project everything works as intended. On Windows, the other dev keeps getting: "Can't find lefthook in PATH" (Even after adding the global npm directory to Windows PATH (User And System)).

lefthook.yml

pre-commit:
commands:
pint:
run: vendor/bin/pint {staged_files}
glob: "*.php"
stage_fixed: true

Commands to reproduce

1. Install lefthook globally (npm -g PACKAGE)
2. Do the lefthook install (Or with -f)
3. Try to commit something on Windows using PHPStorm or PowerShell

Lefthook version

1.13.6

Possible solution

After some digging, this pre-commit file modification seems to fix the issue. It was because the pre-commit didn't seems to use the global NPM packages. Here is the fully modified pre-commit file:

#!/bin/sh
 
if [ "$LEFTHOOK_VERBOSE" = "1" -o "$LEFTHOOK_VERBOSE" = "true" ]; then
  set -x
fi
 
if [ "$LEFTHOOK" = "0" ]; then
  exit 0
fi
 
call_lefthook()
{
  if test -n "$LEFTHOOK_BIN"
  then
    "$LEFTHOOK_BIN" "$@"
  elif lefthook -h >/dev/null 2>&1
  then
    lefthook "$@"
  else
    # FIX HERE add npm global bin to PATH (works on macOS/Linux/Windows Git Bash)
    if command -v npm >/dev/null 2>&1; then
      NPM_PREFIX=$(npm config get prefix 2>/dev/null || echo "")
      if [ -n "$NPM_PREFIX" ]; then
        case "$(uname | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')" in
          mingw*|msys*) NPM_BIN="${NPM_PREFIX}/";;
          *)            NPM_BIN="${NPM_PREFIX}/bin";;
        esac
        export PATH="$PATH:$NPM_BIN"
      fi
    fi
   #END FIX HERE
 
    dir="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
    osArch=$(uname | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
    cpuArch=$(uname -m | sed 's/aarch64/arm64/;s/x86_64/x64/')
    if test -f "$dir/node_modules/lefthook-${osArch}-${cpuArch}/bin/lefthook"
    then
      "$dir/node_modules/lefthook-${osArch}-${cpuArch}/bin/lefthook" "$@"
    elif test -f "$dir/node_modules/@evilmartians/lefthook/bin/lefthook-${osArch}-${cpuArch}/lefthook"
    then
      "$dir/node_modules/@evilmartians/lefthook/bin/lefthook-${osArch}-${cpuArch}/lefthook" "$@"
    elif test -f "$dir/node_modules/@evilmartians/lefthook-installer/bin/lefthook"
    then
      "$dir/node_modules/@evilmartians/lefthook-installer/bin/lefthook" "$@"
    elif test -f "$dir/node_modules/lefthook/bin/index.js"
    then
      "$dir/node_modules/lefthook/bin/index.js" "$@"
    elif command -v npx >/dev/null 2>&1
    then
      npx lefthook "$@"
    elif go tool lefthook -h >/dev/null 2>&1
    then
      go tool lefthook "$@"
    elif bundle exec lefthook -h >/dev/null 2>&1
    then
      bundle exec lefthook "$@"
    elif yarn lefthook -h >/dev/null 2>&1
    then
      yarn lefthook "$@"
    elif pnpm lefthook -h >/dev/null 2>&1
    then
      pnpm lefthook "$@"
    elif swift package lefthook >/dev/null 2>&1
    then
      swift package --build-path .build/lefthook --disable-sandbox lefthook "$@"
    elif command -v mint >/dev/null 2>&1
    then
      mint run csjones/lefthook-plugin "$@"
    elif uv run lefthook -h >/dev/null 2>&1
    then
      uv run lefthook "$@"
    elif mise exec -- lefthook -h >/dev/null 2>&1
    then
      mise exec -- lefthook "$@"
    elif devbox run lefthook -h >/dev/null 2>&1
    then
      devbox run lefthook "$@"
    else
      echo "Can't find lefthook in PATH"
    fi
  fi
}
 
call_lefthook run pre-commit

[mrexox]

Hey! Thank you for sharing the problem. Does the issue only reproduce when you commit from a GUI app? Have you tried the rc option?

[IagonaDevTeam]

Hey! Nope, as stated it happen when doing it manually using the PHPStorm terminal (Git bash) and Powershell alone (So outside of PHPStorm) On 6 Oct 2025, at 16:55, Valentin Kiselev ***@***.***> wrote: [https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/20262425?s=20&v=4]mrexox left a comment (evilmartians/lefthook#1165)<#1165 (comment)> Hey! Thank you for sharing the problem. Does the issue only reproduce when you commit from a GUI app? Have you tried the rc<https://lefthook.dev/configuration/rc.html> option? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#1165 (comment)>, or unsubscribe<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/A2NOEAINAI6J4DTHSSWXCE33WJ7GTAVCNFSM6AAAAACINB6GXWVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTGNZSGEZTAOBYHA>. You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[IagonaDevTeam]

Oops, your message was cropped in my mail app. Didn’t tried to use the RC option. I will try it as soon as possible