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Getting Started with React

Create React App is an officially supported way to create single-page React applications. It provides a modern build setup with zero configuration required.

Quick Start​

To quickly get started with Create React App, follow these steps:

npx create-react-app my-app
cd my-app
npm start

If you have previously installed create-react-app globally using npm install -g create-react-app, we recommend uninstalling it using npm uninstall -g create-react-app or yarn global remove create-react-app to ensure that the latest version is always used.

Once the above commands have executed successfully, open http://localhost:3000/ in your browser to see your app.

When you are ready to deploy your app to production, create a minified bundle using npm run build.

npm start

Get Started Immediately​

With Create React App, you don't need to install or configure tools like webpack or Babel. They are already preconfigured and hidden, allowing you to focus solely on writing code.

Just create a project, and you're good to go!

Creating a New App​

To create a new React app, you can choose one of the following methods based on your preferred package manager:

Using npx​

npx create-react-app@latest my-app

Using npm​

npm init react-app my-app

Make sure you have npm 6+ installed on your machine.

Using Yarn​

yarn create react-app my-app

Make sure you have Yarn 0.25+ installed.

Selecting a Template​

You can optionally start a new app from a template by appending --template [template-name] to the creation command. If no template is selected, your project will be created with the base template.

Templates are named in the format cra-template-[template-name]. You only need to provide the [template-name] to the creation command.

For example:

npx create-react-app my-app --template [template-name]

You can find a list of available templates by searching for "cra-template-*" on npm.

To build your own template, refer to our Custom Templates documentation.

Creating a TypeScript App​

To start a new TypeScript app, append --template typescript to the creation command:

npx create-react-app my-app --template typescript

If you already have a project and want to add TypeScript, check out our Adding TypeScript documentation.

Selecting a Package Manager​

When creating a new app, the CLI will use either npm or Yarn to install dependencies, depending on the tool you use to run create-react-app.

npx create-react-app my-app

Project Structure​

Running the above commands will create a directory named my-app in the current folder. Inside this directory, the initial project structure and necessary dependencies will be generated:

my-app
├── README.md
├── node_modules
├── package.json
├── .gitignore
├── public
│   ├── favicon.ico
│   ├── index.html
│   ├── logo192.png
│   ├── logo512.png
│   ├── manifest.json
│   └── robots.txt
└── src
    ├── App.css
    ├── App.js
    ├── App.test.js
    ├── index.css
    ├── index.js
    ├── logo.svg
    ├── serviceWorker.js
    └── setupTests.js

No configuration or complex folder structures are required. You will find only the files necessary to build your app. Once the installation is complete, navigate to your project folder:

cd my-app

Available Scripts​

Inside the project folder, you can run the following built-in commands:

Start the Development Server​

npm start

Runs the app in development mode. Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser to view it.

http://localhost:3000

Edit src/App.js and save to reload.

Learn React

The page will automatically reload if you make changes to the code. Any build errors or lint warnings will be displayed in the console.

Test the App​

npm test

Runs the test watcher in interactive mode. By default, it runs tests related to files changed since the last commit. Refer to our `Running Tests`` documentation for more details.

Build the App for Production​

npm run build

Builds the app for production in the build folder. It bundles React in production mode and optimizes the build for better performance.

The build output is minified, and the filenames include hashes for caching.

Your app is now ready to be deployed! Check out our Deployment documentation to learn how to deploy your app to popular hosting providers.

Vite for React Development

For an alternative and more modern approach to setting up your React projects, consider using Vite, a blazing-fast build tool. Learn more about getting started with React and Vite in our dedicated guide: Getting Started with React and Vite.

Conclusion​

In this guide, we learned how to get started with React by creating a new app using Create React App. We followed the steps to set up our development environment and build our first React application. We also explored the project structure and available scripts for managing our React app.