npm start command returns an error in the cmd-CodePudding

I want to start my React app, but when I run npm start, I get this error:

npm ERR! syscall open
npm ERR! path C:\Users\Muchendu\Documents\GitHub\Steve-React/package.json
npm ERR! errno -4058
npm ERR! enoent ENOENT: no such file or directory, open 'C:\Users\Muchendu\Documents\GitHub\Steve-React\package.json'
npm ERR! enoent This is related to npm not being able to find a file.
npm ERR! enoent

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
npm ERR!     C:\Users\Muchendu\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_logs\2022-05-11T09_26_37_201Z-debug-0.log

CodePudding user response：

This could be because right after running

npx create-react-app <your_app_name>

you are trying to run npm start

Instead try switching into your app directory like so:

cd <your_app_name>

because that is where your package.json will most likely exist and then try running

npm start

CodePudding user response：

run this command in the terminal inside your project npm init -y.
This will generate a package.json in your project.

Otherwise since you are making a react app use the npx create-react-app your-app-name this will create all the necessary files for running you application.

What is package.json?
The package.json file is the heart of any Node project. It records important metadata about a project which is required before publishing to NPM, and also defines functional attributes of a project that npm uses to install dependencies, run scripts, and identify the entry point to our package.