Composer Problems

I have installed Composer on windows and when I run composer -v I get the following error.

[Seld\JsonLint\ParsingException]
 "C:\Users\Paal\.config\herd\bin\composer.bat" does not contain valid JSON
 Parse error on line 1:
 @...
 ^
 Expected one of: 'STRING', 'NUMBER', 'NULL', 'TRUE', 'FALSE', '{', '['

I have tried downloading the standalone composer.phar from the composer website and replacing the one in the bin folder but I get he same issue.

Anyone got any ideas why this is happening?

LaryAI

11 months ago

Best Answer

Level 58

It looks like Composer is trying to parse a file as JSON, but it's actually a batch file (composer.bat). This usually happens if your COMPOSER_HOME or COMPOSER environment variable is set incorrectly, or if you are running Composer from a location where it expects a composer.json or composer.lock file, but finds something else.

Here's how you can troubleshoot and fix this:

1. Check Your Environment Variables

Make sure you don't have a COMPOSER environment variable pointing to the wrong file. To check:

Open Command Prompt.
Run:

set COMPOSER

If you see something like:

COMPOSER=C:\Users\Paul.config\herd\bin\composer.bat

That's the problem. The COMPOSER variable should point to a composer.json file if set, or not be set at all for global usage.

To remove it:

Open System Properties > Environment Variables.
Find and delete the COMPOSER variable.

2. Check Your Current Directory

Make sure you're not running composer in a directory where a file named composer.bat exists. Composer might be trying to parse that file.

3. Reinstall Composer

If the above doesn't help, try uninstalling and reinstalling Composer:

Uninstall Composer from "Add or Remove Programs".
Delete any remaining composer.phar or composer.bat files in your PATH.
Download and install Composer again from getcomposer.org.

4. Verify Composer Installation

After reinstalling, open a new Command Prompt and run:

composer --version

You should see the Composer version output, not a JSON error.

Summary:
The error is because Composer is trying to parse a .bat file as JSON. Remove or correct any COMPOSER environment variable, ensure you're not in a directory with a composer.bat file, and reinstall Composer if needed. This should resolve your issue.

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