* [User Guide](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/blob/master/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md) – How to develop apps bootstrapped with Create React App.
**You’ll need to have Node >= 4 on your machine**.
**We strongly recommend to use Node >= 6 and npm >= 3 for faster installation speed and better disk usage.** You can use [nvm](https://github.com/creationix/nvm#usage) to easily switch Node versions between different projects.
**This tool doesn’t assume a Node backend**. The Node installation is only required for the build tools that rely on it locally, such as Webpack and Babel.
The [User Guide](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/blob/master/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md) includes information on different topics, such as:
- [Updating to New Releases](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/blob/master/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md#updating-to-new-releases)
- [Displaying Lint Output in the Editor](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/blob/master/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md#displaying-lint-output-in-the-editor)
- [Installing a Dependency](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/blob/master/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md#installing-a-dependency)
- [Importing a Component](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/blob/master/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md#importing-a-component)
- [Adding a Stylesheet](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/blob/master/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md#adding-a-stylesheet)
- [Adding Images and Fonts](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/blob/master/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md#adding-images-and-fonts)
- [Using the `public` Folder](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/blob/master/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md#using-the-public-folder)
- [Can I Use Decorators?](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/blob/master/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md#can-i-use-decorators)
- [Integrating with a Node Backend](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/blob/master/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md#integrating-with-a-node-backend)
- [Proxying API Requests in Development](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/blob/master/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md#proxying-api-requests-in-development)
- [Using HTTPS in Development](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/blob/master/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md#using-https-in-development)
- [Generating Dynamic `<meta>` Tags on the Server](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/blob/master/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md#generating-dynamic-meta-tags-on-the-server)
* **One Dependency:** There is just one build dependency. It uses Webpack, Babel, ESLint, and other amazing projects, but provides a cohesive curated experience on top of them.
* **Zero Configuration:** There are no configuration files or command line options. Configuring both development and production builds is handled for you so you can focus on writing code.
* **No Lock-In:** You can “eject” to a custom setup at any time. Run a single command, and all the configuration and build dependencies will be moved directly into your project, so you can pick up right where you left off.
## Why Use This?
**If you’re getting started** with React, use `create-react-app` to automate the build of your app. There is no configuration file, and `react-scripts` is the only extra build dependency in your `package.json`. Your environment will have everything you need to build a modern React app:
* React, JSX, and ES6 support.
* Language extras beyond ES6 like the object spread operator.
* A dev server that lints for common errors.
* Import CSS and image files directly from JavaScript.
* Autoprefixed CSS, so you don’t need `-webkit` or other prefixes.
* A `build` script to bundle JS, CSS, and images for production, with sourcemaps.
**The feature set is intentionally limited**. It doesn’t support advanced features such as server rendering or CSS modules. The tool is also **non-configurable** because it is hard to provide a cohesive experience and easy updates across a set of tools when the user can tweak anything.
**You don’t have to use this.** Historically it has been easy to [gradually adopt](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF58ZJ1ZQxY) React. However many people create new single-page React apps from scratch every day. We’ve heard [loud](https://medium.com/@ericclemmons/javascript-fatigue-48d4011b6fc4) and [clear](https://twitter.com/thomasfuchs/status/708675139253174273) that this process can be error-prone and tedious, especially if this is your first JavaScript build stack. This project is an attempt to figure out a good way to start developing React apps.
Running `npm run eject` copies all the configuration files and the transitive dependencies (Webpack, Babel, ESLint, etc) right into your project so you have full control over them. Commands like `npm start` and `npm run build` will still work, but they will point to the copied scripts so you can tweak them. At this point, you’re on your own.
You don’t have to ever use `eject`. The curated feature set is suitable for small and middle deployments, and you shouldn’t feel obligated to use this feature. However we understand that this tool wouldn’t be useful if you couldn’t customize it when you are ready for it.
Some of them might get added in the future if they are stable, are useful to majority of React apps, don’t conflict with existing tools, and don’t introduce additional configuration.
The tools used by Create React App are subject to change.
Currently it is a thin layer on top of many amazing community projects, such as:
* [webpack](https://webpack.github.io/) with [webpack-dev-server](https://github.com/webpack/webpack-dev-server), [html-webpack-plugin](https://github.com/ampedandwired/html-webpack-plugin) and [style-loader](https://github.com/webpack/style-loader)
* [Babel](http://babeljs.io/) with ES6 and extensions used by Facebook (JSX, [object spread](https://github.com/sebmarkbage/ecmascript-rest-spread/commits/master), [class properties](https://github.com/jeffmo/es-class-public-fields))
We'd love to have your helping hand on `create-react-app`! See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for more information on what we're looking for and how to get started.
