Heroku npm start starts from different location - node.js

Question

I have a fully functional NodeJs application with a submodule bundled inside it, so the submodule is the main application, and the other node project is built upon it.
I would like to run the submodule (the inner application) from the outer application. It might sound strange, but this is really what I would like to achieve.
It works fine when I run it in a local environment, but I can not make it work on Heroku.
Locally I run it with the command: heroku local web
My Procfile: web: npm run startwithouteslint
My outer package.json:
{
"name": "chatgine-pension",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "Chatgine-pension application",
"engines": {
"node": "10.x"
},
"main": "chatiety-engine/index.js",
"scripts": {
"startwithouteslint": "npm run startwithouteslint --prefix chatiety-engine",
"start": "eslint \"**/*.js\" && npm start --prefix chatiety-engine",
"test": "eslint \"**/*.js\" && mocha test --recursive --exit",
"coverage": "eslint \"**/*.js\" && nyc --reporter=text mocha test --recursive --exit"
},
"dependencies": {},
"devDependencies": {},
"repository": {},
"keywords": [],
"license": "custom"
}
My inner package.json (inside chatiety-engine folder):
{
"name": "chatiety-engine",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "Chatiety-engine application",
"engines": {
"node": "10.x"
},
"main": "index.js",
"scripts": {
"startwithouteslint": "node index.js",
"start": "eslint \"**/*.js\" && node index.js",
"test": "eslint \"**/*.js\" && mocha test --recursive --exit",
"coverage": "eslint \"**/*.js\" && nyc --reporter=text mocha test --recursive --exit"
},
"dependencies": {},
"devDependencies": {},
"repository": {},
"keywords": [],
"license": "custom"
}
Structure of the project:
The error message from Heroku:
2019-11-25T16:43:45.727225+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Starting process with command `npm run startwithouteslint`
2019-11-25T16:43:48.223968+00:00 app[web.1]:
2019-11-25T16:43:48.223991+00:00 app[web.1]: > chatgine-pension#1.0.0 startwithouteslint /app
2019-11-25T16:43:48.223993+00:00 app[web.1]: > npm run startwithouteslint --prefix chatiety-engine
2019-11-25T16:43:48.223995+00:00 app[web.1]:
2019-11-25T16:43:48.559728+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! code ENOENT
2019-11-25T16:43:48.560276+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! syscall open
2019-11-25T16:43:48.560632+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! path /app/chatiety-engine/package.json
2019-11-25T16:43:48.563785+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! errno -2
2019-11-25T16:43:48.563789+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! enoent ENOENT: no such file or directory, open '/app/chatiety-engine/package.json'
2019-11-25T16:43:48.563792+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! enoent This is related to npm not being able to find a file.
2019-11-25T16:43:48.563793+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! enoent
2019-11-25T16:43:48.570839+00:00 app[web.1]:
2019-11-25T16:43:48.571073+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
2019-11-25T16:43:48.571158+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! /app/.npm/_logs/2019-11-25T16_43_48_563Z-debug.log
2019-11-25T16:43:48.578800+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE
2019-11-25T16:43:48.579173+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! errno 254
2019-11-25T16:43:48.580465+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! chatgine-pension#1.0.0 startwithouteslint: `npm run startwithouteslint --prefix chatiety-engine`
2019-11-25T16:43:48.580626+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! Exit status 254
2019-11-25T16:43:48.580875+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR!
2019-11-25T16:43:48.581043+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! Failed at the chatgine-pension#1.0.0 startwithouteslint script.
2019-11-25T16:43:48.581209+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! This is probably not a problem with npm. There is likely additional logging output above.
2019-11-25T16:43:48.587148+00:00 app[web.1]:
2019-11-25T16:43:48.587357+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
2019-11-25T16:43:48.587493+00:00 app[web.1]: npm ERR! /app/.npm/_logs/2019-11-25T16_43_48_581Z-debug.log
2019-11-25T16:43:48.666923+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from starting to crashed
2019-11-25T16:43:48.642599+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Process exited with status 254
It seems like Heroku appends the /app at the beginning of the path but I have no idea why, and where could I turn it off.
EDIT: I was able to list all the environment variables used by Heroku, and two of those are very likely to cause the problem:
PWD=/app
HOME=/app
So far so good, but I can not override these env. variables. Do you have any idea how could I achieve this?
Thanks for any help in advance!

Answer 1

I was having the same problem. Just realize that my code was crashing. You have to fix the bug on your code, then this message "npm run startwithouteslint" will disappear. You can run "npm run start" in your terminal and some clues of your errors it will be on the screen.