Thanks for your note. Hard to know why npm install failed without seeing the output, but it needs to succeed to install all the modules that Commander needs.
The error when you try to start Commander with "node index.js" is the complaint one usually sees when there is no file by the name "index.js" in the current directory. You need to be in the same directory as index.js for "npm install" to succeed, too.
The whole issue may be "standing in the wrong directory". Did you do the "cd bitlash-commander", I wonder? Worth double checking what directory you're in. You'll see the LICENSE and README.md file as well as a few others in that directory, too.
Be standing in the bitlash-commander directory where index.js is and try npm install and node index.js again; it might all work.
Let me know how it goes, and thanks for giving Commander a try.
Best,
-br