Disabling opening of the browser in server start

While "cool":

I already see what to open in terminal, I don't need script to open it for me
I restart the server often, and end up with multiple tabs in browser opened
Every time I start server I loose my terminal context.. and my flow becomes:
- npm start
- tab away from the browser
- open file to edit in terminal
- switch to browser again

Could we disable auto-opening of browser window? Or at least in non-interactive mode?

For reason it's an option in custom-react-sctipts: https://github.com/kitze/create-react-app/tree/master/packages/react-scripts#others

It seemed like at an earlier version of create-react-app, running npm start would reconnect to the existing tab/process that it had been interacting with. With the current version, opening a new tab every time, having to close the new and refresh the old is a bit of an anti-pattern.

@tbillington

@tbillington A commit before #831 introduced this bug with the tabs, so this is fixed with the next release.

I'd really like to see this configurable — in my case it opens Safari (the default on the system) but not Chrome (which I use for dev).

How about we make it configurable via BROWSER env var (similar to EDITOR, right)? BROWSER=none will make it not open any browser but BROWSER=<path>|<name> will make it open correct browser.

@andreypopp

@andreypopp 👍

Any known workaround? I'm developing inside VBox Ubuntu on one monitor and have the app opened in Windows Chrome on another monitor. After a few hours of Ctrl+C, UP, Enter iterations the whole browser on VBox is flooded with new tabs :-)

@andreypopp

No, there is currently no workaround except submitting a PR that @andreypopp suggested above.

I've submitted a fix that disables opening browser in non-interactive terminal #1032

@gaearon

@gaearon There's a fork by @kitze that does very similar things like suggested from @andreypopp. Would you accept a PR for that?

@glennreyes

@glennreyes yup, but in my fork you can just set OPEN_BROWSER=false in .env, you cannot specify the browser.

+1 for choosing which browser to open. My default is firefox, but development is smoother on chrome.

@sheerun

Is this fixed by #1032?
How can people opt into this mode? @sheerun

Will #1032 always prevent the browser from opening? In which cases will the browser still auto open? I am failing at understanding exactly interactive and non-interactive real world examples.

This should be displayed when you 'npm start' so people don't have to search for the option. imho opening the browser was a gimmick feature and should be disabled by default.

Configure which browser to open in npm start (react#873) (react#1148)

This doesn't quite cut it for me since I need to run Chromium with options. Seems like opn requires parameters to be defined in an array. Maybe use process.env.BROWSER.split(' ') instead?

EDIT: Or, if that causes problems for Chrome on Mac (why is there a space in the name in the first place??), another env var such as BROWSER_PARAMS could be introduced.

@jclc

@jclc if you want to run Chromium with options you can pass a JS script with BROWSER. For example:

// openChromium.js

const opn = require('opn');

opn('http://localhost:3000', {app: ['chromium', '--option1', '--option2']});

Then you start the dev server like this:

BROWSER=openChromium.js npm start

I see, thank you

For those who want to build the "www" folder without auto-opening a browser, the simple answer is just
npm run build:www
I wonder why all the convoluted routes... (scripts et-all) 😩

Thank you for the fix. It will be better to disable this option by default, because it's frustrating.

Instruction for those who will read this thread from the end:

create file .env in the same directory where your package.json lives
insert this line BROWSER=none to the file and save it
run nom start and web browser will not be opening anymore

Remove default browser opening on server start

Would really prefer for this feature to be disabled by default... but beggars can't be choosers.
In 99% of the situations, I already have the website running in an incognito window and opening a browser steals focus which is a bit obnoxious.

I'm on a Windows 10 machine and using the following command:

set BROWSER=NONE && npm start

The scripts work fine and everything compiles without a browser opening, but I get a windows error message saying "Windows cannot find 'NONE '. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again."

This also happens when settings the environment variable through a .env file, and happens with both yarn and npm. Is this happening to anyone else?

EDIT: Apparently only when using the Command Prompt in a standalone window.

set BROWSER=none&&npm start should work fine.

Note, the lack of whitespace around && is intentional.

You can make use of cross-env as an option

cross-env BROWSER=none npm start

I'm just waiting for someone to publish a browser named none :-D

@Timer

@Timer I'm curious about why the whitespace matters in this case? I'm also wondering if your solution will work cross-platform or if it's Windows-specific. Basically, I'm not sure if that's a good fix or if cross-env is the better choice.

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Disabling opening of the browser in server start #873

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Disabling opening of the browser in server start #873

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sheerun commented on Oct 8, 2016

tbillington commented on Oct 8, 2016

glennreyes commented on Oct 11, 2016

andreypopp commented on Oct 18, 2016

gaearon commented on Oct 18, 2016

kachkaev commented on Nov 2, 2016

gaearon commented on Nov 2, 2016

sheerun commented on Nov 10, 2016

glennreyes commented on Nov 10, 2016

kitze commented on Nov 11, 2016

GAumala commented on Nov 12, 2016

gaearon commented on Nov 24, 2016

vvo commented on Nov 24, 2016

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Tectract commented on Apr 28, 2017

jclc commented on Oct 5, 2017

GAumala commented on Oct 5, 2017

jclc commented on Oct 5, 2017

chiemekailo commented on Oct 14, 2017

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ChuckkNorris commented on Mar 27, 2018

Aias commented on Jun 12, 2018

Timer commented on Jun 13, 2018

reed665 commented on Jun 16, 2018

mzedeler commented on Nov 8, 2018

borrascador commented on Dec 13, 2018

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