Node - how to run app.js?

Assuming I have node and npm properly installed on the machine, I would

• Download the code
• Navigate to inside the project folder on terminal, where I would hopefully see a package.json file
• Do an npm install for installing all the project dependencies
• Do an npm install -g nodemon for installing all the project dependencies
• Then npm start OR node app.js OR nodemon app.js to get the app running on local host

use nodemon app.js ( nodemon is a utility that will monitor for any changes in your source and automatically restart your server)

The code downloaded may require you to install dependencies first. Try commands(in app.js directory): npm install then node app.js. This should install dependencies and then start the app.

Just adding this. In your package.json, if your "main": "index.js" is correctly set. Just use node .

{
  "name": "app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "",
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
     ...
  },
  "keywords": [],
  "author": "",
  "license": "ISC",
  "dependencies": {
     ...
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    ...
  }
}

To run app.js file check "main": "app.js" in your package.json file.

Then run command $ node app.js That should run your app and check.

Node is complaining because there is no function called define, which your code tries to call on its very first line.

define comes from AMD, which is not used in standard node development.

It is possible that the developer you got your project from used some kind of trickery to use AMD in node. You should ask this person what special steps are necessary to run the code.