Railway•12mo ago

Dajngo/Tailwind deployment Error: No start command could be found

Project id - 5b1ca7b8-37a6-491d-a6e1-2ca3e0236431 Hi, can someone help me with this error I am getting on build. Its a Django project which is dependant on Tailwind (via Django-Tailwind), I understand it needs Node to function but my pre-deployment research led me to believe that Django-Tailwind would compile the package.json and Nix would automatically install Node and any dependencies on Build (oh so easy right 🙂 ). Obviously this isn't the case. What should I be looking to put into my package.json, which I assume needs a script/command ? I'm a Python/Django person so this is a mystery to me. Any help much appreciated.

85 Replies

Percy•12mo ago

Project ID: 5b1ca7b8-37a6-491d-a6e1-2ca3e0236431

Brody•12mo ago

please share your repo

TheJokerOP•12mo ago

https://github.com/rob8624/Blog

GitHub

GitHub - rob8624/Blog

Contribute to rob8624/Blog development by creating an account on GitHub.

Brody•12mo ago

what is the services root directory set to?

TheJokerOP•12mo ago

Doh, / ---- should be /mysite I take it? let me try

Brody•12mo ago

yes but you are also using a Dockerfile, thus nixpacks is not involved at all, it would be up to you to write the dockerfile that builds your app properly

TheJokerOP•12mo ago

I'm not using Docker, I assumed would be ignored

Brody•12mo ago

yes you are https://github.com/rob8624/Blog/blob/master/mysite/Dockerfile

TheJokerOP•12mo ago

Yea it's created automatically by Wagtail

Brody•12mo ago

and it would be used by railway

TheJokerOP•12mo ago

Ah right Ok, i'll remove it from repo

Brody•12mo ago

so to build this app of yours, you would need node and what node/npm commands do you need to run?

TheJokerOP•12mo ago

Django-Tailwind is reliant on Node in dev i do python manage.py taliwind start to build the css i do python manage.py tailwind build . From their docs ..."This will replace the development build with a bundle optimized for production. No further actions are necessary; you can deploy"

Brody•12mo ago

you would need to write a nixpacks.toml file to add node to your build, and to add extra phases that will run those commands you just spoke of. https://nixpacks.com/docs/guides/configuring-builds

TheJokerOP•12mo ago

Ok thanks for pointing me in the right direction, the file would live in the root directory of the app?

Brody•12mo ago

it would live in the same directory you have the service set to

TheJokerOP•12mo ago

yea ok Ok, looks like Django-Tailwind creates package.json when compiling for production So I pointed nixpacks.toml points towards it...

[start]
cmd = 'npm start --prefix "theme/static_src"'

App builds but crashes and i'm seeing the error in Deploy logs.

sh: 1: cross-env: not found

npm WARN config production Use

--omit=dev instead.

Brody•12mo ago

what does nixpacks detect your app as? a python app or a node app?

TheJokerOP•12mo ago

Sorry i'm unsure on where find that out setup │ nodejs_18, npm-9_x ║ install │ npm ci
start │ npm start --prefix "theme/static_src" ║

Brody•12mo ago

thats exactly how you find out. it says node there, but you have a python app (with node for tailwind). so you need to overwrite the providers to just python in your nixpacks.toml. then you want to add node back to the setup phase as a nix package. then add the phases with the commands you need to run.

TheJokerOP•12mo ago

Right ok, i'm going to sleep on this and look have a go with a fresh brain in the morning, sorry for the questions JS/Node deployment all new to me

Brody•12mo ago

sounds good, give it another try tomorrow and if you cant figure it out i will write the nixpacks.toml file for you

TheJokerOP•12mo ago

Cheers dude much appreciated

Brody•12mo ago

cheers!

TheJokerOP•12mo ago

Yea slept on it, tried some things, still confused as anything! I have read that Django-Tailwind makes the need for Node on the server redundant, is there way for Railway to ignore any Node files on build? Edit....right i'll try pushing to my repo with just the Django and CSS created by Django-Tailwind and not any Node files etc etc

Brody•11mo ago

let's see what you currently have for your nixpacks.toml file

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

I've just left it at

providers = ["...", "python"]
[start]
cmd = 'npm start --prefix "theme/static_src/"'

providers = ["...", "python"]
[start]
cmd = 'npm start --prefix "theme/static_src/"'

package.json

{
  "name": "theme",
  "version": "3.5.0",
  "description": "",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "npm run dev",
    "build": "npm run build:clean && npm run build:tailwind",
    "build:clean": "rimraf ../static/css/dist",
    "build:tailwind": "cross-env-shell NODE_ENV=production tailwindcss --postcss -i ./src/styles.css -o ../static/css/dist/styles.css --minify",
    "dev": "cross-env-shell NODE_ENV=development tailwindcss --postcss -i ./src/styles.css -o ../static/css/dist/styles.css -w",
    "tailwindcss": "node ./node_modules/tailwindcss/lib/cli.js"
  },
  "keywords": [],
  "author": "",
  "license": "MIT",
  "devDependencies": {
    "@tailwindcss/aspect-ratio": "^0.4.2",
    "@tailwindcss/forms": "^0.5.3",
    "@tailwindcss/line-clamp": "^0.4.2",
    "@tailwindcss/typography": "^0.5.2",
    "cross-env": "^7.0.3",
    "postcss": "^8.4.14",
    "postcss-import": "^15.1.0",
    "postcss-nested": "^6.0.0",
    "postcss-simple-vars": "^7.0.1",
    "rimraf": "^4.1.2",
    "tailwindcss": "^3.2.7"
  }
}

{
  "name": "theme",
  "version": "3.5.0",
  "description": "",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "npm run dev",
    "build": "npm run build:clean && npm run build:tailwind",
    "build:clean": "rimraf ../static/css/dist",
    "build:tailwind": "cross-env-shell NODE_ENV=production tailwindcss --postcss -i ./src/styles.css -o ../static/css/dist/styles.css --minify",
    "dev": "cross-env-shell NODE_ENV=development tailwindcss --postcss -i ./src/styles.css -o ../static/css/dist/styles.css -w",
    "tailwindcss": "node ./node_modules/tailwindcss/lib/cli.js"
  },
  "keywords": [],
  "author": "",
  "license": "MIT",
  "devDependencies": {
    "@tailwindcss/aspect-ratio": "^0.4.2",
    "@tailwindcss/forms": "^0.5.3",
    "@tailwindcss/line-clamp": "^0.4.2",
    "@tailwindcss/typography": "^0.5.2",
    "cross-env": "^7.0.3",
    "postcss": "^8.4.14",
    "postcss-import": "^15.1.0",
    "postcss-nested": "^6.0.0",
    "postcss-simple-vars": "^7.0.1",
    "rimraf": "^4.1.2",
    "tailwindcss": "^3.2.7"
  }
}

Brody•11mo ago

the ... means you are allowing the auto detected node provider, and then only adding python you are also running dev commands that watch for changes, you definitely don't want to do that in a production environment

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Ok, yea i had no idea

Brody•11mo ago

and you are also missing the extra phases from your nixpacks.toml that run the tailwind commands you have talked about

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Yea, i've had real trouble understading where and how to add them, i have tried 🙂

Brody•11mo ago

just curious, how many times would you say you've read the nixpacks page I linked?

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Lots. From a a Django perpective I asked for advice and I'm not sure if this helps the situation but this is the advice i've received.

you only need Node to build the stylesheet. once you have built your CSS file via python manage.py tailwind build, it can be treated just like any other static file

deployment then follows as usual (i.e., Node isn't required anymore)

make sure that whichever server you're building on has Node with NPM, with the correct path configured for the executable

you only need Node to build the stylesheet. once you have built your CSS file via python manage.py tailwind build, it can be treated just like any other static file

deployment then follows as usual (i.e., Node isn't required anymore)

make sure that whichever server you're building on has Node with NPM, with the correct path configured for the executable

Brody•11mo ago

that's spot on, who gave you that advice

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Reddit. But if Node isn't required anymore, why does it need Node with NPM?

Brody•11mo ago

I'm not sure why you think node isn't required tailwind is an npm package, so you'd need node/npm to download it

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

I'm unsure because this is the first time i've handled anything to do with Node so everything is new

Brody•11mo ago

did you know your Procfile has the wrong casing, not that it would solve your issue also, please remove your node_modules folder from the repo and make sure its in your .gitignore file

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Ok, thanks for pointing that out will do

Brody•11mo ago

also also, prob shouldnt be commiting your database file to your repo

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Yea i know, this problem has kinda overtook other things that need changing.

Brody•11mo ago

id recommend using postgres

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

I am

Brody•11mo ago

gotcha, going to try my hand at this nixpacks.toml file now

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Ok, i'm just looking at other nixpacks files in other repos and relising how bad i am at this 🙂

Brody•11mo ago

heres an example of a nixpacks.toml file with different phases https://github.com/brody192/vite-react-template/blob/main/nixpacks.toml instead of a nixpacks.toml file, i went with a railway.json file with embeded nixpacks config, so that i could have autocomplete, add this railway.json file to your project.

{
    "$schema": "https://schema.up.railway.app/railway.schema.json",
    "build": {
        "builder": "NIXPACKS",
        "nixpacksPlan": {
            "providers": ["python"],
            "phases": {
                "setup": {
                    "nixPkgs": ["...", "nodejs"]
                },
                "npm:ci": {
                    "dependsOn": ["setup"],
                    "cmds": ["npm ci"]
                },
                "tailwind:build": {
                    "dependsOn": ["npm:ci"],
                    "cmds": ["python manage.py tailwind build"]
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "deploy": {
        "startCommand": "python manage.py migrate && python manage.py collectstatic --no-input && gunicorn locallibrary.wsgi"
    }
}

{
    "$schema": "https://schema.up.railway.app/railway.schema.json",
    "build": {
        "builder": "NIXPACKS",
        "nixpacksPlan": {
            "providers": ["python"],
            "phases": {
                "setup": {
                    "nixPkgs": ["...", "nodejs"]
                },
                "npm:ci": {
                    "dependsOn": ["setup"],
                    "cmds": ["npm ci"]
                },
                "tailwind:build": {
                    "dependsOn": ["npm:ci"],
                    "cmds": ["python manage.py tailwind build"]
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "deploy": {
        "startCommand": "python manage.py migrate && python manage.py collectstatic --no-input && gunicorn locallibrary.wsgi"
    }
}

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Error: No start command could be found -- shall I remove the nixpacks.toml file? I deleted it's contents assuming it needed to be empty

Brody•11mo ago

yes remove it make sure its in your .gitignore file

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

node_modules removed, nixpacks.toml removed, pushed railway.toml but still get Error: No start command could be found

Brody•11mo ago

whats your root directory set to

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

ok building, forgot i started a new project, corrected root directory its building argg faile don build

Dockerfile:28

-------------------

26 |     # tailwind:build phase

27 |     COPY . /app/.

28 | >>> RUN  python manage.py tailwind build

29 |

30 |

-------------------

ERROR: failed to solve: process "/bin/bash -ol pipefail -c python manage.py tailwind build" did not complete successfully: exit code: 1

 

Error: Docker build failed

Dockerfile:28

-------------------

26 |     # tailwind:build phase

27 |     COPY . /app/.

28 | >>> RUN  python manage.py tailwind build

29 |

30 |

-------------------

ERROR: failed to solve: process "/bin/bash -ol pipefail -c python manage.py tailwind build" did not complete successfully: exit code: 1

 

Error: Docker build failed

Brody•11mo ago

full logs please https://bookmarklets.up.railway.app/log-downloader/

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Brody•11mo ago

quoting your build log here

Set the DB_USER environment variable

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Yea just looking, set env's in Railway I gather? Progress at least thanks so much dude

Brody•11mo ago

yeah a service variable, make absolute sure you are using reference variables https://docs.railway.app/guides/variables#referencing-another-services-variable

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Ok i need to eat and i'll update 🙂 legend Ok, env's set and all ok....i know get this error when installing Djngo-Taiwind, i assume it related to NPM_BIN_PATH which in development is set to the local path. Not sure how to set this in development?

> [stage-0 10/12] RUN  python manage.py tailwind build:

2.172 CommandError:

2.172 It looks like node.js and/or npm is not installed or cannot be found.

2.172

2.172 Visit https://nodejs.org to download and install node.js for your system.

2.172

2.172 If you have npm installed and still getting this error message, set NPM_BIN_PATH variable in settings.py to match path of NPM executable in your system.

2.172

2.172 Example:

2.172 NPM_BIN_PATH = "/usr/local/bin/npm"

> [stage-0 10/12] RUN  python manage.py tailwind build:

2.172 CommandError:

2.172 It looks like node.js and/or npm is not installed or cannot be found.

2.172

2.172 Visit https://nodejs.org to download and install node.js for your system.

2.172

2.172 If you have npm installed and still getting this error message, set NPM_BIN_PATH variable in settings.py to match path of NPM executable in your system.

2.172

2.172 Example:

2.172 NPM_BIN_PATH = "/usr/local/bin/npm"

Brody•11mo ago

full build logs please

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Brody•11mo ago

npm is installed just fine, as you can see the npm ci command finished just fine, this is an issue with django tailwind but lets try giving it the path env it wants

{
    "$schema": "https://schema.up.railway.app/railway.schema.json",
    "build": {
        "builder": "NIXPACKS",
        "nixpacksPlan": {
            "providers": ["python"],
            "phases": {
                "setup": {
                    "nixPkgs": ["...", "nodejs"],
                    "cmds": ["export NPM_BIN_PATH=$(which npm)", "echo $NPM_BIN_PATH"]
                },
                "npm:ci": {
                    "dependsOn": ["setup"],
                    "cmds": ["npm ci"]
                },
                "tailwind:build": {
                    "dependsOn": ["npm:ci"],
                    "cmds": ["python manage.py tailwind build"]
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "deploy": {
        "startCommand": "python manage.py migrate && python manage.py collectstatic --no-input && gunicorn locallibrary.wsgi"
    }
}

{
    "$schema": "https://schema.up.railway.app/railway.schema.json",
    "build": {
        "builder": "NIXPACKS",
        "nixpacksPlan": {
            "providers": ["python"],
            "phases": {
                "setup": {
                    "nixPkgs": ["...", "nodejs"],
                    "cmds": ["export NPM_BIN_PATH=$(which npm)", "echo $NPM_BIN_PATH"]
                },
                "npm:ci": {
                    "dependsOn": ["setup"],
                    "cmds": ["npm ci"]
                },
                "tailwind:build": {
                    "dependsOn": ["npm:ci"],
                    "cmds": ["python manage.py tailwind build"]
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "deploy": {
        "startCommand": "python manage.py migrate && python manage.py collectstatic --no-input && gunicorn locallibrary.wsgi"
    }
}

that echo is just a debug and can be removed later

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

I’m afk for an hour I’ll give it a try then. Hopefully it work many thanks for sticking with me here dude

Brody•11mo ago

no problem!

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Failed again 😦

> [stage-0 13/15] RUN  python manage.py tailwind build:

2.208 CommandError:

2.208 It looks like node.js and/or npm is not installed or cannot be found.

2.208

2.208 Visit https://nodejs.org to download and install node.js for your system.

2.208

 

2.208 If you have npm installed and still getting this error message, set NPM_BIN_PATH variable in settings.py to match path of NPM executable in your system.

2.208

2.208 Example:

2.208 NPM_BIN_PATH = "/usr/local/bin/npm"

-----

Dockerfile:30

-------------------

28 |     # tailwind:build phase

29 |     COPY . /app/.

30 | >>> RUN  python manage.py tailwind build

31 |

32 |

-------------------

ERROR: failed to solve: process "/bin/bash -ol pipefail -c python manage.py tailwind build" did not complete successfully: exit code: 1

 

Error: Docker build failed

> [stage-0 13/15] RUN  python manage.py tailwind build:

2.208 CommandError:

2.208 It looks like node.js and/or npm is not installed or cannot be found.

2.208

2.208 Visit https://nodejs.org to download and install node.js for your system.

2.208

 

2.208 If you have npm installed and still getting this error message, set NPM_BIN_PATH variable in settings.py to match path of NPM executable in your system.

2.208

2.208 Example:

2.208 NPM_BIN_PATH = "/usr/local/bin/npm"

-----

Dockerfile:30

-------------------

28 |     # tailwind:build phase

29 |     COPY . /app/.

30 | >>> RUN  python manage.py tailwind build

31 |

32 |

-------------------

ERROR: failed to solve: process "/bin/bash -ol pipefail -c python manage.py tailwind build" did not complete successfully: exit code: 1

 

Error: Docker build failed

Brody•11mo ago

full logs

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Brody•11mo ago

I've updated this

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

SAme. here is the log

Brody•11mo ago

under the hood, what command does python manage.py tailwind build run?

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

from the docs ........This will replace the development build with a bundle optimized for production. No further actions are necessary; you can deploy!

Brody•11mo ago

doesnt quite answer the question also, why not just run that command locally and then deploy?

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

It's been run locally. In dev you run python manage.py tailwind build this watches for any styles changes and builds the css occordingly and is contained in it's own Django App.....python manage.py tailwind build compiles the CSS into the needed styles.

Brody•11mo ago

also doesnt answer the question 🫤 you gotta help me help you

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

I know i'm trying..

Brody•11mo ago

i know railway, you have to know your app

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Totally. Can you expand on this - "why not just run that command locally and then deploy", this was my initial thinking, I have my css file built via the build command ran locally, I wouldn't need Node isntall withing my Railway server at all

Brody•11mo ago

why not run this command locally, then push the changes that this command produces

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Yes I have thought of that. Railway is seeing a package.json file and attempts to install Node......I assume it's a case of just removing from the repo

Brody•11mo ago

mope, overwrite the providers

{
    "$schema": "https://schema.up.railway.app/railway.schema.json",
    "build": {
        "builder": "NIXPACKS",
        "nixpacksPlan": {
            "providers": ["python"]
        }
    },
    "deploy": {
        "startCommand": "python manage.py migrate && python manage.py collectstatic --no-input && gunicorn locallibrary.wsgi"
    }
}

{
    "$schema": "https://schema.up.railway.app/railway.schema.json",
    "build": {
        "builder": "NIXPACKS",
        "nixpacksPlan": {
            "providers": ["python"]
        }
    },
    "deploy": {
        "startCommand": "python manage.py migrate && python manage.py collectstatic --no-input && gunicorn locallibrary.wsgi"
    }
}

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

yea ok, let me try and i'll sleep on it. Sorry for all this, one way to learn!

Brody•11mo ago

unless you are about to hope in bed, just update your file and deploy it

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

It published the image and deployed, it then crashed i'm get unrelated dB errors due to not setting localhost

Brody•11mo ago

that's progress

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

Yea i've yet to setup- postgres (within railway) so i'll sort that in morning and go from there

Brody•11mo ago

Sounds good

TheJokerOP•11mo ago

So yea sorry @Brody for taking up so much of your time due to my incompetence with this 🤦‍♂️ Indeed, building the tailwind css into static before committing is the way to do it. No need for node to run anything on Railways end. I got stuck down a rabbit hole.

Gaming

Programming

Dajngo/Tailwind deployment Error: No start command could be found