1---
2title: npm-start
3section: 1
4description: Start a package
5---
6
7### Synopsis
8
9```bash
10npm start [-- <args>]
11```
12
13### Description
14
15This runs a predefined command specified in the `"start"` property of
16a package's `"scripts"` object.
17
18If the `"scripts"` object does not define a  `"start"` property, npm
19will run `node server.js`.
20
21Note that this is different from the default node behavior of running
22the file specified in a package's `"main"` attribute when evoking with
23`node .`
24
25As of [`npm@2.0.0`](https://blog.npmjs.org/post/98131109725/npm-2-0-0), you can
26use custom arguments when executing scripts. Refer to [`npm run-script`](/commands/npm-run-script) for more details.
27
28### Example
29
30```json
31{
32  "scripts": {
33    "start": "node foo.js"
34  }
35}
36```
37
38```bash
39npm start
40
41> npm@x.x.x start
42> node foo.js
43
44(foo.js output would be here)
45
46```
47
48### Configuration
49
50#### `ignore-scripts`
51
52* Default: false
53* Type: Boolean
54
55If true, npm does not run scripts specified in package.json files.
56
57Note that commands explicitly intended to run a particular script, such as
58`npm start`, `npm stop`, `npm restart`, `npm test`, and `npm run-script`
59will still run their intended script if `ignore-scripts` is set, but they
60will *not* run any pre- or post-scripts.
61
62
63
64#### `script-shell`
65
66* Default: '/bin/sh' on POSIX systems, 'cmd.exe' on Windows
67* Type: null or String
68
69The shell to use for scripts run with the `npm exec`, `npm run` and `npm
70init <package-spec>` commands.
71
72
73
74### See Also
75
76* [npm run-script](/commands/npm-run-script)
77* [npm scripts](/using-npm/scripts)
78* [npm test](/commands/npm-test)
79* [npm restart](/commands/npm-restart)
80* [npm stop](/commands/npm-stop)
81