npm-start(1) npm-start(1)
NAME
npm-start - Start a package
Synopsis
npm start [-- <args>]
Description
This runs a predefined command specified in the "start" property of a
package's "scripts" object.
If the "scripts" object does not define a "start" property, npm will
run node server.js.
Note that this is different from the default node behavior of running
the file specified in a package's "main" attribute when evoking with
node .
As of npm@2.0.0
<https://blog.npmjs.org/post/98131109725/npm-2-0-0>, you can use custom
arguments when executing scripts. Refer to npm help run for more
details.
Example
{
"scripts": {
"start": "node foo.js"
}
}
npm start
> npm@x.x.x start
> node foo.js
(foo.js output would be here)
Configuration
ignore-scripts
o Default: false
o Type: Boolean
If true, npm does not run scripts specified in package.json files.
Note that commands explicitly intended to run a particular script, such
as npm start, npm stop, npm restart, npm test, and npm run will still
run their intended script if ignore-scripts is set, but they will not
run any pre- or post-scripts.
script-shell
o Default: '/bin/sh' on POSIX systems, 'cmd.exe' on Windows
o Type: null or String
The shell to use for scripts run with the npm exec, npm run and npm
init <package-spec> commands.
See Also
o npm help run
o npm help scripts
o npm help test
o npm help restart
o npm help stop
NPM@11.6.1 September 2025 npm-start(1)
npm 11.6.1 - Generated Mon Sep 29 18:45:19 CDT 2025