`npm build` doesn't run the script named "build" in package.json

For a new module I'm trying to use npm build without gulp / Grunt / other specialised build tools.

"scripts": {
  "build": "node build.js"
},

My build.js is simply

console.log('Hello')

However, running

npm build

Simply exits without printing anything, with a status of 0.

Running:

npm install

Also does all the normal things, but does not run build.js either.

How can I make npm run my build script?

Edit: even simple bash commands don't seem to work, eg

"scripts": {
    "build": "touch TESTFILE"
},

Doesn't make a file with that name.

Unfortunately npm build is already an internal command, as described in the docs:

> This is the plumbing command called by npm link and npm install. > It should generally not be called directly.

Because that command already exists, it always shadows over your "build": "node build.js".

The fully-qualified way to run your own script is with run-script or its alias run:

$ npm run build

npm start and others are the short-hand way, but is only an option when an existing npm command doesn't shadow it, like npm build does.

---

For posterity (as others have mentioned) npm build is used by npm to build native C/C++ Node addons using node-gyp.

The script named as "build" in package.json is not special in any way. The only way to get it to run is to call:

npm run-script build

There are some names which are called automatically by npm, but "build" is not one of them. The full list is:

• prepublish, publish, postpublish

• preinstall, install, postinstall

• preuninstall, uninstall, postuninstall

• preversion, version, postversion

• pretest, test, posttest

• prestop, stop, poststop

• prestart, start, poststart

• prerestart, restart, postrestart

• preCUSTOM and postCUSTOM for custom script names.

OK, to run a build on it's own, use:

npm run-script build

Npm build expects

> A folder containing a package.json file in its root

Try using npm scripts in your package.json, like the classic npm start

I had a problem with npm run build not printing anything. ended up using npm run build --verbose to get the output I needed.