Error Cannot find module 'turndown' coming while starting flowise

[kumarroopesh]

Hi All,
I am trying to run flowise on my machine (Windows 11 Home).
I executed npm install -g flowise command successfully.
But while running flowise start, it gives me error.
Here is the error deail
» ModuleLoadError: [MODULE_NOT_FOUND] require failed to load
» C:\Users\krroo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\flowise\dist\commands\start.js: Cannot find module 'turndown'
» Require stack:
» - C:\Users\krroo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\flowise\node_modules\flowise-components\dist\src\utils.js
» - C:\Users\krroo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\flowise\node_modules\flowise-components\dist\src\index.js
» - C:\Users\krroo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\flowise\dist\utils\index.js
» - C:\Users\krroo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\flowise\dist\index.js
» - C:\Users\krroo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\flowise\dist\commands\start.js
» - C:\Users\krroo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\flowise\node_modules@oclif\core\lib\module-loader.js
» - C:\Users\krroo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\flowise\node_modules@oclif\core\lib\config\plugin.js
» - C:\Users\krroo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\flowise\node_modules@oclif\core\lib\config\config.js
» - C:\Users\krroo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\flowise\node_modules@oclif\core\lib\config\index.js
» - C:\Users\krroo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\flowise\node_modules@oclif\core\lib\command.js
» - C:\Users\krroo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\flowise\node_modules@oclif\core\lib\index.js
» - C:\Users\krroo\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\flowise\bin\run
» Code: MODULE_NOT_FOUND

Please help. What am I missing, I tried installing turndown separately also, but still it is not working.

[ismaildasci]

the turndown module is missing from the global installation. this is a known issue with npm global installs on windows.

try these fixes:

1. install turndown globally:

npm install -g turndown

2. if that doesnt work, clear npm cache and reinstall:

npm cache clean --force
npm uninstall -g flowise
npm install -g flowise

3. alternative: use npx instead of global install:

npx flowise start

4. if still failing, the best way is to run flowise from source:

git clone https://github.com/FlowiseAI/Flowise.git
cd Flowise
npm install
npm run build
npm run start

5. or use docker which avoids all these dependency issues:

docker run -d -p 3000:3000 flowiseai/flowise

6. check your node version. flowise works best with node 18 or 20:

node --version

if using older node, upgrade with nvm-windows.

the root cause is that npm global installs sometimes dont install all nested dependencies correctly on windows. the docker or source install methods are more reliable.

[kumarroopesh]

Thanks @ismaildasci ,
I will check all ways and update.

[Ganesh-403]

@kumarroopesh
The error itself is:

Cannot find module 'turndown'

Looking at the Flowise source, flowise-components imports turndown directly in its shared utilities, so the dependency should be present in a normal installation. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}

This makes me think the issue is not that you're missing a configuration step, but that your Flowise installation is incomplete or the dependency wasn't installed correctly.

A few things I'd try, in order:

1. Check your Node.js version

Flowise recommends:

• Node.js 18.15+ or 20.x

You can verify with:

node --version
npm --version

If you're on an unsupported version (or an early Node 22 release), try switching to Node 20 LTS and reinstalling. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}

---

2. Reinstall Flowise cleanly

npm uninstall -g flowise
npm cache clean --force
npm install -g flowise

Then start it with:

npx flowise start

The current npm package also documents npx flowise start as the recommended way to launch Flowise. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}

---

3. Verify whether turndown actually exists

On Windows, check whether:

%APPDATA%\npm\node_modules\flowise\node_modules\turndown

exists.

If it doesn't, then the installation is incomplete rather than the module failing to load.

---

4. Try running from source

If the global installation continues to fail, I'd recommend cloning the repository and using the supported development setup:

git clone https://github.com/FlowiseAI/Flowise.git
cd Flowise
pnpm install
pnpm build
pnpm start

This uses the monorepo's dependency management and is generally more reliable than a broken global install. :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}

---

5. Docker is another good option

If you just want to get Flowise running locally, Docker avoids host-specific npm dependency issues:

docker run -d --name flowise -p 3000:3000 flowise

This is one of the officially documented deployment methods. :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}

---

One observation

From what I can tell, there have been a few reports of MODULE_NOT_FOUND errors during global or npx installations (for different dependencies such as OpenTelemetry exporters). That suggests there may be an issue with certain npm/global installation environments rather than turndown specifically. :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}

Could you also share:

• your Flowise version (flowise --version)
• Node.js version (node -v)
• npm version (npm -v)
• whether turndown exists under flowise/node_modules as mentioned above?

That will help determine whether this is a dependency installation issue, a Node compatibility issue, or a packaging regression.

If this solves your problem, feel free to mark it as the accepted answer so others can find it easily.