Task Runner Explorer can't load tasks

Question

I'm using VS2015 and Gulp. I open the Task Runner Explorer and hit refresh, and this shows up in the log:

Failed to run "C:\Projects\Test\Gulpfile.js"...
cmd.exe /c gulp --tasks-simple
Error: `libsass` bindings not found in C:\Projects\Test\node_modules\gulp-sass\node_modules\node-sass\vendor\win32-ia32-11\binding.node. Try reinstalling `node-sass`?
    at Object.sass.getBinaryPath (C:\Projects\Test\node_modules\gulp-sass\node_modules\node-sass\lib\extensions.js:148:11)
    at Object.<anonymous> (C:\Projects\Test\node_modules\gulp-sass\node_modules\node-sass\lib\index.js:16:36)
    at Module._compile (module.js:456:26)
    at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:474:10)
    at Module.load (module.js:356:32)
    at Function.Module._load (module.js:312:12)
    at Module.require (module.js:364:17)
    at require (module.js:380:17)
    at Object.<anonymous> (C:\Projects\Test\node_modules\gulp-sass\index.js:163:21)
    at Module._compile (module.js:456:26)

So I try to run cmd.exe /c gulp --tasks-simple in PowerShell, in the same directory, and it works fine - it returns a list of tasks.

I'm also able to run my SASS-related tasks just fine, so I'm not sure why this is complaining about SASS when it's being run via VS but not directly on the command line.

score 315 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 22 '20 at 17:00

315

I had the same problem migrating from VS2013 recently.

As Josh noted in his comment here Visual Studio 2015 ships with an older version of Node. In case you don't want to get stuck with whatever version of Node is built into Visual Studio, you can tell it to use the version you have already installed.

Go to: Tools > Options > Projects and Solutions > External Web Tools
Reorder so that $(PATH) is above $(DevEnvDir)\Extensions\Microsoft\Web Tools\External

This also applies to other tools like Grunt, Bower and Gulp.

Found this solution by Mads Kristensen here.

For Visual Studio 2017, we can find the setting at
Tools > Options > Projects and Solutions > Web Package Management > External Web Tools

edited Feb 22 '20 at 17:00

Callum Watkins

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answered Jul 16 '15 at 02:07

M1Les

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Yep I ended up doing the same thing but forgot to come back here and add a one-million-and-one-th comment. Thanks! – Josh M. Jul 16 '15 at 02:14
Agreed, I had a similar but different issue and decided to try this solution, and it worked! I didn't even KNOW VS was using its own NodeJS instead of the system default. Wow! – Martin Bliss Jan 28 '16 at 17:07
Also, make sure you're not using a beta version of `gulp-sass` – Serj Sagan Mar 25 '16 at 01:30
You saved my life too!.... For a minute there I thought node was running 32 bit mode or something and I was really annoyed. Node-Sass works in Task Runner Explorer now and I couldn't be happier. – Ryan Mann Jul 29 '16 at 02:42
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Someone get this solution into the error message! #grins# – Iain M Norman Aug 22 '16 at 06:52
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In VS2017 it's Tools > Options > Projects and Solutions > Web Package Management > External Web Tools – James Ellis-Jones Sep 10 '17 at 19:56
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In VS2017, you also need to put $(PATH) above $(VSINSTALLERDIR)\Web\External – John Pankowicz Nov 12 '17 at 00:38
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In VS2017, I also had to move $(PATH) above .\node_modules\.bin (Basically, I had to move it to the top.) – Doug Nov 14 '17 at 21:26
grunt-sass was not woking for me em vs2017, after move $(PATH) it worked! – Diego LUcena Jul 11 '18 at 14:01

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 08 '15 at 21:23

7

It seems gulp-sass searchs node-sass in a different location. Here is a temporary solution.

create a new directory named win32-ia32-11 inside c:\Projects\Test\node_modules\gulp-sass\node_modules\node-sass\vendor\
Goto https://github.com/sass/node-sass-binaries and download win32-ia32-11_binding.node.
Copy win32-ia32-11_binding.node file to c:\Projects\Test\node_modules\gulp-sass\node_modules\node-sass\vendor\win32-ia32-11\ and rename it to binding.node

Visual Studio Gulp - Task Runner

answered Jul 08 '15 at 21:23

tansu

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Ah, I see. It appears I've installed the 64-bit version of all of my node modules, but it must be running in a 32-bit context since I'm in VS which is 32-bit. I guess. And I can't seem to find a good way to force installation of 32-bit packages. Kind of surprised I couldn't find more info on this topic, seems lots of people would likely have this issue. – Josh M. Jul 10 '15 at 01:19
And I also couldn't find a good way to force NPM to install the ia32 version of all packages. I tried creating a `.npmrc` file with the appropriate config option, but no luck. Even running `npm install` within a 32-bit PS console, the 64bit versions are still being installed. – Josh M. Jul 10 '15 at 13:47
This is crazy. I installed the 32bit version of node instead, and then reinstalled all my packages and this time the 32bit version of node-sass is installed, but the binding is `win32-ia32-14` instead of `win32-ia32-11` -- which for some reason is what `libsass` is looking for... – Josh M. Jul 10 '15 at 14:03
BTW your solution works but I see it as a bandaid - I don't want this to be a step other developers have to take when they're firing this up for the first time! – Josh M. Jul 10 '15 at 14:04
Last comment, I promise (probably). Fixed this by installing the same version of node which VS2015 uses internally (currently that is 0.10.13). Everything is linked correctly now. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! – Josh M. Jul 10 '15 at 14:37
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Argh, that's 0.10.31 32bit: https://nodejs.org/dist/v0.10.31/node-v0.10.31-x86.msi – Josh M. Jul 10 '15 at 15:16

Alex Nguyen · Answer 3 · 2017-03-21T05:16:30.937

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I have tried all above solutions but it doesn't work and I found another solution here.

You have to force Visual Studio run with your Node.js version:

Go to Tools > Options in Visual Studio 2015
Go to Projects and Solutions > External Web Tools
Add the following path: C:\Program Files\nodejs

edited Mar 21 '17 at 05:16

answered Sep 16 '16 at 03:16

Alex Nguyen

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 27 '16 at 08:46

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The only solution that solved my problem was re-installing NPM Task Runner. You can download it from following link at marketplace.
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=MadsKristensen.NPMTaskRunner

answered Dec 27 '16 at 08:46

Mohsen Sarkar

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score 0 · Answer 5 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:03

node-sass runs an install script to download the required binary. If there are no environment variables, .npmrc variables or process arguments set then the binary is determined by using the current process platform, architecture and Node ABI version. Therefore, if you run node install in one application and then try to run node-sass in an application with a different platform/architecture/ABI, the binary won't have been downloaded. The solution is to manually download the binary or to fix the binary version using an environment variable (SASS_BINARY_NAME) or a .npmrc variable (sass_binary_name)

You can see the logic for this in the getBinaryPath function in node-sass\lib\extensions.js

See also: Node Sass could not find a binding for your current environment

Task Runner Explorer can't load tasks

5 Answers5

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