Error while running "npm start": 'next' is not recognized as an internal or external command,

Question

I am having this error while running "npm start" command on terminal as I am trying to build a cryptocurrency tracker using React.js

my package.json file

{
  "name": "nextjs-crypto-api",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "private": true,
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "next dev",
    "build": "next build",
    "start": "next start",
    "lint": "next lint"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "next": "11.1.0",
    "react": "17.0.2",
    "react-dom": "17.0.2",
    "webpack": "^5.51.1"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "eslint": "7.32.0",
    "eslint-config-next": "11.1.0"
  },
  "description": "This is a [Next.js](https://nextjs.org/) project bootstrapped with [`create-next-app`](https://github.com/vercel/next.js/tree/canary/packages/create-next-app).",
  "main": "next.config.js",
  "author": "",
  "license": "ISC"
}

Error:-

'next' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE npm ERR! errno 1 npm ERR! [email protected] start: next start npm ERR! Exit status 1 npm ERR! npm ERR! Failed at the [email protected] start script. npm ERR! This is probably not a problem with npm. There is likely additional logging output above.

npm WARN Local package.json exists, but node_modules missing, did you mean to install?

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in: npm ERR! C:\Users\LENOVO\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache_logs\2021-08-20T16_58_19_379Z-debug.log

Please help me with this error

Answer 1

Please read your WARNING first

npm WARN Local package.json exists, but node_modules missing, did you mean to install?

That means you are trying to run the project without installing the node_modules beforehand.

So, you should be doing - first

npm i

and then

npm start

Answer 2

Seems like the issue with modules. I am not sure but try deleting your package-lock.json file and node_modules folder and then try below commands:

npm cache clean --force

and then again run

npm i or npm install

Answer 3

Same issue here until I realized I had an outdated version of Node.js installed.

Make sure to install the latest version of Node.js, then delete both the node_modules folder and package-lock.json file in your project.

Reinstall the node_modules:

npm install

Then run it using:

npm run dev

The above command is different from npm start because you're using Next.js