npm-stop

View documentation for the original command

$ tldr npm run

npm stop (This is not a standard npm command)

The `npm-stop` command, while seeming intuitive, is not a standard npm command. npm itself doesn't provide a built-in `stop` command for directly halting processes started by `npm start` or similar scripts. Instead, the commonly used methods for stopping npm processes involve identifying and terminating the underlying Node.js process using standard operating system tools.

Usually, npm scripts execute Node.js applications. To stop these applications, you'd typically need to identify the process ID (PID) of the Node.js process and then use commands like `kill` or `killall` (on Linux/macOS) or the Task Manager (on Windows) to terminate it. The `ps` command can be used to find the PID associated with the Node.js process that was started by npm.

There might be third-party packages or custom scripts that provide a `stop` command functionality within a specific project. However, these are not part of the core npm functionality. If you encounter an `npm stop` command, verify that it's part of the packages installed in the given project, and check the `package.json` file for the command's definition and implementation in the `scripts` section.

Always ensure you understand the consequences of stopping a process before doing so, as it may lead to data loss or service interruption. A graceful shutdown is preferred whenever possible.

The `npm stop` command is not part of the standard npm toolkit. Attempting to use it directly will likely result in an error. Stopping a process improperly can lead to data corruption or application instability.

To effectively stop an npm-managed process, first identify the Node.js process ID using `ps aux | grep node` or a similar command. Then, use `kill ` to terminate the process. For a graceful shutdown, consider using `kill -SIGTERM `, which allows the process to perform cleanup tasks before exiting.

If a project defines a custom `stop` script in its `package.json`, it's typically executed using `npm run stop`. The script can contain commands specific to the project's needs for shutting down the application, such as closing database connections or releasing resources. Always consult the project's documentation or `package.json` file for details about the implemented `stop` script.

Due to `npm stop` not being a standard command, it doesn't have a direct history within the core npm development. The need for stopping processes spawned by npm scripts has always been addressed through OS-level process management tools. The absence of a native `stop` command reflects npm's design philosophy of focusing on package management rather than process management directly. While npm handles the execution environment through scripts, the control of running processes defaults to the underlying operating system capabilities.

ps(1), kill(1), killall(1), npm(1)