Install React

To run React you need Node.js (npm or pnpm). Then you scaffold an app. Today that is usually Vite: npm create vite@latest shop -- --template react. cd shop, npm install, npm run dev. The terminal prints a localhost URL. Browser shows the starter page — install worked.

Older tutorials say create-react-app. Know the name. Don’t start a new 2026 project on CRA; it is effectively unmaintained. Vite (or Next.js if you need SSR) is the honest answer.

Trap: installing react in a random folder without a bundler and wondering why import fails in a plain HTML file. React JSX needs a build step (or a rare CDN+Babel demo). Real work uses Vite/Next.

Install React — output — three steps. Node first. Then a Vite React app. Browser opens the dev URL.