Node Foreman is a Node.js implementation of the popular Foreman tool, designed to manage Procfile-based applications. It allows users to define and run multiple processes locally, typically for development environments, and to export them to other process management formats for production. A key differentiator from the original Ruby Foreman is an additional `FOREMAN_WORKER_NAME` environment variable for each worker. The package version is 3.0.1, however, it appears to be effectively abandoned, with the last publish on npm over 6 years ago (as of April 2026) and the last commit on GitHub from May 2017. This makes it unsuitable for new projects or environments requiring active maintenance and security updates. It is primarily a command-line utility for local development workflow management.
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This quickstart demonstrates how to install Node Foreman globally, set up a basic `Procfile` and optional `.env` file, and then use `nf start` to run your application. It also shows `nf run` for ad-hoc commands and `nf export` for production deployment.
Set the `PATH` variable directly in your shell before executing `nf`, e.g., `PATH=/opt/foo:$PATH nf start`.
For production deployments requiring background services and process supervision, use `nf export` to generate configuration for a suitable process manager (e.g., Upstart, Systemd) which handles daemonization and restarts.
Add `.env` to your `.gitignore` file. Use `.env.example` or similar for documentation purposes, prompting developers to create their own local `.env`.
Consider alternative active process managers for Node.js projects, especially for new development, that provide ongoing support and security updates.
Create a `Procfile` in the root of your project (e.g., `web: node app.js`) or define a `start` script in your `package.json` (e.g., `"start": "node app.js"`).
Inspect the logs of the failing process (output by `nf start` to the console) to identify the root cause of the crash. Ensure your applications are designed to run in the foreground and handle their own errors gracefully.
Verify the `.env` file syntax (key=value or flattened JSON). Remember that `PATH` is not loaded from `.env`. Ensure variable names in `.env` match those expected by your application (Node Foreman capitalizes flattened JSON keys).
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