Error: Command 'start' not found when running npx n8n in PowerShell

Questions
1

error-command-start-not-found-when-trying-to-run-npx-n8n-on-v0-c17c0gt12tbh1

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to launch a local instance of n8n on Windows using PowerShell, but I keep hitting an error.

When I run:

bash

npx n8n

the process starts but then fails with this message:

Error: Command “start” not found

Context:

· OS: Windows (PowerShell)

· Method: Running via npx n8n (not globally installed)

Has anyone else encountered this? It seems like the command is trying to execute a start instruction that PowerShell or the environment doesn’t recognize properly. Any suggestions on how to fix this or find a workaround?

Thanks in advance!

2

Hey @Lamarog, while you wait for a response, here are some things that might help:

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semighoti, Daniel_Garcia1, jabbson - you’ve helped with similar issues before, can you take a look?

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5

This seem quite common after n8n update.
I prefer to run n8n from docker instead to avoid this issue
Have you tried running n8n directly from the install folder?

6

This is a known npx caching issue, not really a PowerShell problem, npx n8n sometimes runs a stale cached version of the package that doesn’t parse the start argument correctly.

Fix:

npx clear-npx-cache
npx n8n@latest start

Or better long-term: install it properly instead of npx each time

npm install -g n8n
n8n

That avoids this whole class of bug. Docker is also a solid fallback if npm installs keep giving you trouble on Windows.

7

Hi @Lamarog Welcome!
This is the CLI regression introduced in 2.28.x, and the tracking issue is still open:

Fixes shipped in 2.28.6, 2.29.4 and 2.30.0, and stable is now 2.31.6, so call that version explicitly rather than the bare command:

npx n8n@2.31.6

If it still errors there, 2.27.5 is the last release before the regression and Windows users confirmed it runs:

npx n8n@2.27.5