[BUG] npm ls is still slow

[Rudxain]

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

npm/npm#6507

• On an Dell Inspiron 15R, with its HDD replaced by an SSD, running Debian 13 (Node LTS), it takes ~1.2s
• On a Samsung Galaxy A31, from Termux repos (Node latest), it takes ~3s

It's slow, both with and without -g flag. Even on directories that contain no package.json

Expected Behavior

It should be sub ~500ms

Steps To Reproduce

1. On Debian or Termux
2. Run time npm list (-g optional)
3. See timings

Environment

• npm: 10.9.0
• Node.js: v20.17.0
• OS Name: Debian 13 "Trixie"
• System Model Name: Inspiron 5521
• npm config:

; copy and paste output from `npm config ls` here
; TO-DO

[OS-Scratch]

I'm using npm 11.0.0 and it works fine for me (output: html-css@0.2.0 D:\Websites\HTML-CSS-OLD -- http-server@14.1.1). The results come in in about 3 secs.

[Rudxain]

TCL 505, Node 23.5.0, :

~ > time npm ls
/data/data/com.termux/files/home
└── (empty)


real    0m4.970s
user    0m4.736s
sys     0m0.975s
~ > time npm ls -g
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib
├── bash-language-server@5.4.2
├── corepack@0.30.0
├── npm@11.0.0
├── typescript-language-server@4.3.3
└── typescript@5.7.2


real    0m6.980s
user    0m7.297s
sys     0m1.265s
~ > time node --eval '' # for reference

real    0m0.730s
user    0m0.594s
sys     0m0.124s

[OS-Scratch]

You have the early-release version, as I can tell. Try the 22.x (LTS) one, it should work there.