NODE.JS How to find the PORT and HOSTNAME in a repository? #176020

Andrianovi · 2025-10-07T05:56:06Z

Andrianovi
Oct 7, 2025

How to launch a repository from a file index.js? How to find the PORT and HOSTNAME in a repository?

girishlade111 · 2025-10-07T11:09:03Z

girishlade111
Oct 7, 2025

Hey there! Welcome to the GitHub community. Let me help you get that Node.js app running.

The PORT and HOSTNAME aren't actually stored in the repository itself - they're runtime configuration values. Here's how to work with them:

Finding Configuration:
First, check if the repository has any of these:

.env file (environment variables)
config.js or config/ folder
README.md (usually has setup instructions)
Look inside index.js for lines like process.env.PORT or app.listen()

Typical Setup Process:

# Clone the repo
git clone <repo-url>
cd <repo-folder>

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Create .env file if needed
echo "PORT=3000" > .env
echo "HOSTNAME=localhost" >> .env

# Run it
node index.js
# or
npm start

Default Values:
If nothing is specified, most Node apps use:

PORT: 3000 or 8080
HOSTNAME: localhost or 127.0.0.1

You can also set these when running:

PORT=3000 HOSTNAME=localhost node index.js

If you share the specific repo you're trying to run, I can give you more targeted advice. Good luck!

1 reply

Andrianovi Oct 8, 2025
Author

Thanks for the answer. My repository - https://github.com/Andrianovi/node.git or https://andrianovi.github.io/node/
I want the index.js file to launch by default, and the "main" text to appear on the "https://andrianovi.github.io/node/" page. If I add "contact" to the browser address, the "contact.html" page should appear.
I'm ashamed of myself for being so slow-witted, but your answer didn't help me solve this problem.

ellebrink · 2025-10-10T09:55:37Z

ellebrink
Oct 10, 2025

Hey!

I think I see what's happening here. You're trying to run a Node.js server on GitHub Pages, but unfortunately that's not gonna work. GitHub Pages only hosts static files (like HTML, CSS, JS that runs in the browser). It can't actually execute server code like your index.js file.

You basically have two options, either convert the page to static HTML (to use GitHub Pages) or deploy the Node.js app somewhere else.

To convert to static HTML:
Just create an index.html file in your repo root, e.g., something like this:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Main Page</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Main page</h1>
    <p><a href="contact.html">Contact</a></p>
</body>
</html>

and keep your contact.html file.

Then your URLs will work like:
https://andrianovi.github.io/node/ → shows the main page
https://andrianovi.github.io/node/contact.html → shows contact page

If you really want to use that index.js server code, you need to host it on a platform that runs Node.js, like Render/Railway/Vercel/Heroku etc. These platforms can actually execute your server code and handle the routing you wrote.

1 reply

ellebrink Oct 13, 2025

Hey @Andrianovi, I see you got some bot responses. Ignore them, they won't help you solve what you're trying to accomplish.

Curious, did try my suggestion?

Loser644 · 2025-10-13T03:09:09Z

Loser644
Oct 13, 2025

Fix: Importing Environment Variables in Node.js

It looks like your code is trying to read variables from a .env file, but there’s no library installed to load them. The quick fix is to use dotenv, which is simple and widely used.

✅ Steps to Fix:

1. Install dotenv

npm install dotenv

###2. Now cofig it
const dotenv = require('dotenv');
dotenv.config();

// Example usage
const port = process.env.PORT || 3000;

import 'dotenv/config';

// Example usage
const port = process.env.PORT || 3000;

Create a .env file in your project root:
PORT=3000

Now process.env.PORT will be available in your app. ✅
(Tip: add .env to your .gitignore so you don’t commit secrets.)

0 replies

ronakmaheshwari · 2025-10-13T03:22:22Z

ronakmaheshwari
Oct 13, 2025

Fix: Import Environment Variables in Node.js

Your code needs a way to load variables from a .env file. The easiest fix is to use dotenv.

Steps:

Install dotenv

npm install dotenv

Load the .env file

import 'dotenv/config';
// or
const dotenv = require('dotenv');
dotenv.config();

Use environment variables

const port = process.env.PORT || 3000;

Create a .env file

PORT=3000

Add .env to your .gitignore to keep it out of version control.

0 replies

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NODE.JS How to find the PORT and HOSTNAME in a repository? #176020

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Andrianovi Oct 7, 2025

Replies: 5 comments · 2 replies

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girishlade111 Oct 7, 2025

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Andrianovi Oct 8, 2025 Author

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ellebrink Oct 10, 2025

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ellebrink Oct 13, 2025

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Loser644 Oct 13, 2025

Fix: Importing Environment Variables in Node.js

✅ Steps to Fix:

1. Install dotenv

Uh oh!

ronakmaheshwari Oct 13, 2025

Fix: Import Environment Variables in Node.js

This comment was marked as off-topic.

Andrianovi
Oct 7, 2025

Replies: 5 comments 2 replies

girishlade111
Oct 7, 2025

Andrianovi Oct 8, 2025
Author

ellebrink
Oct 10, 2025

Loser644
Oct 13, 2025

ronakmaheshwari
Oct 13, 2025