npm start error on windows

[llwowowowoll]

when I run npm start on windows.

Error: Unknown --listen endpoint scheme (protocol): undefined

[khush3718]

did you find a solution to this ? i'm getting the same error on my local machine

[hesreallyhim]

just to confirm - did you run npm run build first? the start script is running off the build, which is a little unexpected for a create-react-app (CRA) setup. It seems like the start script is more for production deployment and/or testing - have you tried running npm run dev? This should work even without the build.

I don't quite grok the entire deployment configuration (I think it's deployed by Railway via caddy/nixpaths(?)), but ChatGPT pointed out some potential issues, and Claude confirmed that it might be a configuration problem. gpt-4o:

1.	Port Environment Variable ({$PORT}) Handling
	•	Caddy does not natively support environment variable substitution in the site block (:{$PORT}). If Railway correctly replaces $PORT before starting Caddy, it will work. However, if it does not, you may need to explicitly set the port in an entrypoint script before running Caddy.
	2.	Incorrect try_files Rule
	•	The rule try_files {path} /index.html should be adjusted because {path} includes the full requested URL path, meaning assets like CSS and JavaScript files might be incorrectly rewritten to /index.html, causing errors. The correct approach is to apply try_files only when the request is not for a file:

Again, I can't say I totally get it, and for me npm run start works fine after npm i and npm run build, but it does seem like Railway is playing an essential part in setting up the build/deployment, and maybe for coincidental reasons works OK on macOS but not on Windows.

I would recommend using npm run dev for local development, and maybe try some of ChatGPT's suggestions ("explicitly set the port in an entrypoint script before running Caddy") if you want to test your build. Otherwise, I think @gkamradt will have to comment on the setup with Railway, or amend the documentation/README