[BUG] Global install fails to add dependencies to `$PATH` for preinstall

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

This issue exists in the latest npm version

• I am using the latest npm

Current Behavior

In a minimalistic package.json file with the following preinstall step, global installation (npm i -g) fails with "mkdirp: command not found":

    "preinstall": "mkdirp ~/some-dir ~/some-other-dir",

mkdirp is in the dependencies section and so replacing mkdirp with npm exec mkdirp makes no difference. Locally installing the project works fine though.

Observe that this is an issue in NPM 8 as well! A pure global installation works neither with NPM 8 nor 9, but with NPM 8 it will work if you work around it by first installing it locally (npm i; npm i -g;).

Expected Behavior

I would expect to have a global install work in just the same way as a local install; installing the listed dependencies and putting them on the $PATH for the NPM scripts.

git clone https://github.com/fatso83/issue-reproductions 
cd issue-reproductions/npm-bug
npm i -g # should not fail with command not found

Of course, the dummy repro production has no content and makes no sense to install globally, but it shows the issue clearly.

Steps To Reproduce

I have a repro project you can check out with the same commands executed in 5 different ways (NPM 8/9 with/without local install before global install).

Given NPM 9, this should be sufficient to show it:

git clone https://github.com/fatso83/issue-reproductions 
cd issue-reproductions/npm-bug
npm i -g # should not fail with command not found

Otherwise, creating a new project and adding preinstall step should suffice as well:

1. Using NPM 9
2. mkdir npm-test && cd npm-test && npm init -y && npm i --save mkdirp
3. Add "preinstall": "mkdirp some-dir", to "scripts" section.
4. npm install -g

Environment

• npm: 9.2
• Node.js: 19.4
• OS Name: macOS 13.2
• System Model Name: MacBook Air (m1)
• npm config:

; "user" config from /Users/carlerik/.npmrc

//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken = (protected)

; "cli" config from command line options

location = "project"

; node bin location = /usr/local/bin/node
; node version = v19.4.0
; npm local prefix = /Users/carlerik/dev/issue-reproductions/npm-bug
; npm version = 9.2.0
; cwd = /Users/carlerik/dev/issue-reproductions/npm-bug
; HOME = /Users/carlerik
; Run `npm config ls -l` to show all defaults.

$ npx envinfo --system

  System:
    OS: macOS 13.2
    CPU: (8) arm64 Apple M1
    Memory: 134.14 MB / 8.00 GB
    Shell: 3.2.57 - /bin/bash

PATH

/opt/homebrew/Cellar/postgresql@12/12.9_1/bin:/Users/carlerik/.gem/ruby/2.7.0/bin:/Users/carlerik/.gem/ruby/2.7.0/bin:/usr/local/bin:/opt/google-cloud-sdk/bin:/opt/homebrew/opt/php@7.4/bin:/opt/homebrew/opt/ruby/bin:/opt/homebrew/lib/ruby/gems/3.0.0/bin:/opt/homebrew/bin:/opt/homebrew/sbin:/Users/carlerik/Library/Python/3.9/bin:/Users/carlerik/Library/Python/3.7/bin:/usr/local/opt/php@7.2/sbin:/usr/local/opt/postgresql@10/bin:/usr/local/opt/openjdk/bin:/Users/carlerik/.sdkman/candidates/maven/current/bin:/Users/carlerik/.sdkman/candidates/java/current/bin:/Users/carlerik/.symfony/bin:/Users/carlerik/.yarn/bin:/Users/carlerik/.config/yarn/global/node_modules/.bin:/Users/carlerik/go/bin:/Users/carlerik/.go/bin:/Users/carlerik/.cargo/bin:/Users/carlerik/.local/bin:/Users/carlerik/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.7.2/bin:/Users/carlerik/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.7.2@global/bin:/Users/carlerik/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.7.2/bin:/Users/carlerik/bin:/usr/local/bin:/System/Cryptexes/App/usr/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/Applications/VMware Fusion Tech Preview.app/Contents/Public:/Library/Apple/usr/bin:/Users/carlerik/.rvm/bin

Clone https://github.com/fatso83/issue-reproductions and enter npm-bug, then run the documented npm 9 global-install reproduction and compare it with the local-install cases on npm 8 and 9. Done means a global install runs the preinstall script with dependency commands such as mkdirp available on PATH without the command-not-found failure.