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 runnode 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 withnode .

As ofnpm@2.0.0, you can use custom arguments when executing scripts. Refer tonpm 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

• Default: false
• 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 asnpm start,npm stop,npm restart,npm test, andnpm run will still run their intended script ifignore-scripts is set, but they willnot run any pre- or post-scripts.

script-shell

• Default: '/bin/sh' on POSIX systems, 'cmd.exe' on Windows
• Type: null or String

The shell to use for scripts run with thenpm exec,npm run andnpm init <package-spec> commands.

See Also

• npm run
• npm scripts
• npm test
• npm restart
• npm stop

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Last edited byjsoref onOctober 5, 2025