I have cloned a React project made by a friend. It has a frontend (in NextJS) and a backend (Node server with Python). The frontend is running but the backend is giving the following error, saying nodemon.js module can’t be found.

 C:UsersabstCodingNextJSmood-of-the-moon-backend> npm start

> [email protected] start
> nodemon index.js

[nodemon] 3.1.0
[nodemon] to restart at any time, enter `rs`
[nodemon] watching path(s): *.*
[nodemon] watching extensions: js,mjs,cjs,json
[nodemon] starting `node index.js`
node:internal/modules/esm/resolve:854
  throw new ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND(packageName, fileURLToPath(base), null);
        ^

Error [ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND]: Cannot find package 'express' imported from C:UsersabstCodingNextJSmood-of-the-moon-backendindex.js
    at packageResolve (node:internal/modules/esm/resolve:854:9)
    at moduleResolve (node:internal/modules/esm/resolve:927:18)
    at defaultResolve (node:internal/modules/esm/resolve:1157:11)
    at ModuleLoader.defaultResolve (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:390:12)
    at ModuleLoader.resolve (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:359:25)
    at ModuleLoader.getModuleJob (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:234:38)
    at ModuleWrap.<anonymous> (node:internal/modules/esm/module_job:87:39)
    at link (node:internal/modules/esm/module_job:86:36) {
  code: 'ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND'
}

Node.js v20.12.2
[nodemon] app crashed - waiting for file changes before starting...
Terminate batch job (Y/N)? y

I tried to run npm install but it also gave an error

PS C:UsersabstCodingNextJSmood-of-the-moon-backend> npm install
npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: Deprecated in favor of https://github.com/deepsweet/start
npm ERR! code 1
npm ERR! path C:UsersabstCodingNextJSmood-of-the-moon-backendnode_modulessweph
npm ERR! command failed
npm ERR! command C:Windowssystem32cmd.exe /d /s /c node-gyp rebuild && npm run test
npm ERR! gyp info it worked if it ends with ok
npm ERR! gyp info using [email protected]
npm ERR! gyp info using [email protected] | win32 | x64
npm ERR! gyp info find Python using Python version 3.12.3 found at "C:UsersabstAppDataLocalProgramsPythonPython312python.exe"
npm ERR! gyp ERR! find VS 
npm ERR! gyp ERR! find VS msvs_version not set from command line or npm config
npm ERR! gyp ERR! find VS VCINSTALLDIR not set, not running in VS Command Prompt
npm ERR! gyp ERR! find VS could not use PowerShell to find Visual Studio 2017 or newer, try re-running with '--loglevel silly' for more details
npm ERR! gyp ERR! find VS not looking for VS2015 as it is only supported up to Node.js 18
npm ERR! gyp ERR! find VS not looking for VS2013 as it is only supported up to Node.js 8
npm ERR! gyp ERR! find VS 
npm ERR! gyp ERR! find VS **************************************************************
npm ERR! gyp ERR! find VS You need to install the latest version of Visual Studio
npm ERR! gyp ERR! find VS including the "Desktop development with C++" workload.
npm ERR! gyp ERR! find VS For more information consult the documentation at:
npm ERR! gyp ERR! find VS https://github.com/nodejs/node-gyp#on-windows
npm ERR! gyp ERR! find VS **************************************************************
npm ERR! gyp ERR! find VS
npm ERR! gyp ERR! configure error
npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack Error: Could not find any Visual Studio installation to use
npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack at VisualStudioFinder.fail (C:UsersabstAppDataRoamingnvmv20.12.2node_modulesnpmnode_modulesnode-gyplibfind-visualstudio.js:113:11)
npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack at VisualStudioFinder.findVisualStudio (C:UsersabstAppDataRoamingnvmv20.12.2node_modulesnpmnode_modulesnode-gyplibfind-visualstudio.js:69:17)
npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:95:5)
npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack at async createBuildDir (C:UsersabstAppDataRoamingnvmv20.12.2node_modulesnpmnode_modulesnode-gyplibconfigure.js:69:26)
npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack at async run (C:UsersabstAppDataRoamingnvmv20.12.2node_modulesnpmnode_modulesnode-gypbinnode-gyp.js:81:18)
npm ERR! gyp ERR! System Windows_NT 10.0.22631
npm ERR! gyp ERR! command "C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe" "C:\Users\abst\AppData\Roaming\nvm\v20.12.2\node_modules\npm\node_modules\node-gyp\bin\node-gyp.js" "rebuild"
npm ERR! gyp ERR! cwd C:UsersabstCodingNextJSmood-of-the-moon-backendnode_modulessweph
npm ERR! gyp ERR! node -v v20.12.2
npm ERR! gyp ERR! node-gyp -v v10.0.1
npm ERR! gyp ERR! not ok

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in: C:UsersabstAppDataLocalnpm-cache_logs2024-05-16T05_25_46_146Z-debug-0.log

I also tried downgrading my Python and Node versions to the ones my friend is using, 3.12.2 and 20.12.2, respectively, but it still doesn’t work.