react-native-cli is not compatible with npm@5

Is this a bug report?

Yes

Have you read the Bugs section of the Contributing to React Native Guide?

Yes

Environment

1. react-native -v:

react-native-cli: 2.0.1
react-native: 0.45.1

1. node -v:

v8.1.1

1. npm -v:

5.0.4

1. yarn --version (if you use Yarn): 0.23.2

Then, specify:

1. Target Platform (e.g. iOS, Android): Whatever the result of yarn start is
2. Development Operating System (e.g. macOS Sierra, Windows 10): macOS Sierra
3. Build tools (Xcode or Android Studio version, iOS or Android SDK version, if relevant): Not relevant

Steps to Reproduce

Perform the first four steps outlined in the Getting Started (https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/getting-started.html) guide with a totally fresh React Native project.

1. npm install -g create-react-native-app
2. create-react-native-app AwesomeProject
3. cd AwesomeProject
4. npm start

Expected Behavior

I thought a dev server would run, or I would see the QR code mentioned in the Getting Started guide. I would expect react-native to be compatible with npm 5.0.4 or give instructions as to how to downgrade (not ideal). I wouldn’t expect it to just outright break.

Actual Behavior

➜  /Users/foo/TestApp npm start

> TestApp@0.1.0 start /Users/foo/TestApp
> react-native-scripts start

1:54:47 PM: Starting packager...
***ERROR STARTING PACKAGER***

Error: You are using npm version 5.0.4. Please use an npm version that is >= 3.0.0 and < 5.0.0.
1:54:47 PM: Error starting packager: Error: Couldn't start project. Please fix the errors and restart the project.
    at /xdl/src/Project.js:1038:11
    at Generator.next (<anonymous>)
    at step (/Users/foo/TestApp/node_modules/xdl/build/Project.js:1468:191)
    at /Users/foo/TestApp/node_modules/xdl/build/Project.js:1468:361
    at <anonymous>
npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE
npm ERR! errno 1
npm ERR! TestApp@0.1.0 start: `react-native-scripts start`
npm ERR! Exit status 1
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Failed at the TestApp@0.1.0 start script.
npm ERR! This is probably not a problem with npm. There is likely additional logging output above.

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
npm ERR!     /Users/foo/.npm/_logs/2017-06-28T20_54_47_593Z-debug.log

Reproducible Demo

Explained above.

[floriancargoet]

You can downgrade npm with: npm install -g npm@4

[ankitpopli1891]

Quoting @johndanek again,

I would expect react-native to be compatible with npm 5.0.4 or give instructions as to how to downgrade (not ideal)

We understand that react-native or react-native-cli might not be responsible for the bug, but as the naive users, we do expect it to work gracefully.

It’d be great if someone can explain the issue, rather than just telling us to downgrade. It would not only help us understand the issue, but we might be able to contribute as well. Even if can’t, we’ll be able to raise the issue in the right repository.