npm run build vs npm install vs npm-start

npm-start

npm start [-- <args>]

This runs a predefined command specified in the "start" property of a package's "scripts" object.

If the "scripts" object does not define a "start" property, npm will run node server.js.

 

npm install

 installs dependencies into the node_modules/ directory, for the node project you're working on. You can call install on another node.js project (module), to install it as a dependency for your project.

 

npm run

build does nothing unless you specify what "build" does in your package.json file. It lets you perform any necessary building/prep tasks for your project, prior to it being used in another project.