Package/registry issues while getting an existing MEAN app running locally - node.js

Question

I'm currently trying to get an existing MEAN application up and running. However, I'm totally struggling with setting up the local environment on my mac.
I didn't create this web-app so that makes things all the more confusing.
SUMMARY
I want to get an existing web-app up and running. I installed node.js and made sure MongoDB was running. I navigated to the /server directory of my app and ran npm install. Then when I tried to run npm start I got an error that something was wrong with the package. I then ran npm bugs <package-name> and it says that <package-name> is not in the npm registry.
DETAILS
npm start gives me this npm-debug.log:
0 info it worked if it ends with ok
1 verbose cli [ '/usr/local/bin/node', '/usr/local/bin/npm', 'start' ]
2 info using npm#3.6.0
3 info using node#v5.7.0
4 verbose run-script [ 'prestart', 'start', 'poststart' ]
5 info lifecycle groep4#0.0.1~prestart: groep4#0.0.1
6 silly lifecycle groep4#0.0.1~prestart: no script for restart, continuing
7 info lifecycle groep4#0.0.1~start: groep4#0.0.1
8 verbose lifecycle groep4#0.0.1~start: unsafe-perm in lifecycle true
9 verbose lifecycle groep4#0.0.1~start: PATH: /usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/bin/node-gyp-bin:/Users/Sander/Documents/game-out/server/node_modules/.bin:/Users/Sander/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/bin:/Users/Sander/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392#global/bin:/Users/Sander/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p392/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/Users/Sander/.rvm/bin
10 verbose lifecycle groep4#0.0.1~start: CWD: /Users/Sander/Documents/game-out/server
11 silly lifecycle groep4#0.0.1~start: Args: [ '-c', 'node bin/www.js' ]
12 silly lifecycle groep4#0.0.1~start: Returned: code: 1 signal: null
13 info lifecycle groep4#0.0.1~start: Failed to exec start script
14 verbose stack Error: groep4#0.0.1 start: `node bin/www.js`
14 verbose stack Exit status 1
14 verbose stack at EventEmitter.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/utils/lifecycle.js:232:16)
14 verbose stack at emitTwo (events.js:100:13)
14 verbose stack at EventEmitter.emit (events.js:185:7)
14 verbose stack at ChildProcess.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/utils/spawn.js:24:14)
14 verbose stack at emitTwo (events.js:100:13)
14 verbose stack at ChildProcess.emit (events.js:185:7)
14 verbose stack at maybeClose (internal/child_process.js:827:16)
14 verbose stack at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (internal/child_process.js:211:5)
15 verbose pkgid groep4#0.0.1
16 verbose cwd /Users/Sander/Documents/game-out/server
17 error Darwin 15.3.0
18 error argv "/usr/local/bin/node" "/usr/local/bin/npm" "start"
19 error node v5.7.0
20 error npm v3.6.0
21 error code ELIFECYCLE
22 error groep4#0.0.1 start: `node bin/www.js`
22 error Exit status 1
23 error Failed at the groep4#0.0.1 start script 'node bin/www.js'.
23 error Make sure you have the latest version of node.js and npm installed.
23 error If you do, this is most likely a problem with the groep4 package,
23 error not with npm itself.
23 error Tell the author that this fails on your system:
23 error node bin/www.js
23 error You can get information on how to open an issue for this project with:
23 error npm bugs groep4
23 error Or if that isn't available, you can get their info via:
23 error npm owner ls groep4
23 error There is likely additional logging output above.
24 verbose exit [ 1, true ]
npm bugs groep4 gives me the following npm-debug.log:
0 info it worked if it ends with ok
1 verbose cli [ '/usr/local/bin/node', '/usr/local/bin/npm', 'bugs', 'groep4' ]
2 info using npm#3.6.0
3 info using node#v5.7.0
4 silly fetchPackageMetaData groep4
5 silly fetchNamedPackageData groep4
6 silly mapToRegistry name groep4
7 silly mapToRegistry using default registry
8 silly mapToRegistry registry https://registry.npmjs.org/
9 silly mapToRegistry uri https://registry.npmjs.org/groep4
10 verbose request uri https://registry.npmjs.org/groep4
11 verbose request no auth needed
12 info attempt registry request try #1 at 10:01:10 PM
13 verbose request using bearer token for auth
14 verbose request id 4a6ce97af77a8f09
15 http request GET https://registry.npmjs.org/groep4
16 http 404 https://registry.npmjs.org/groep4
17 verbose headers { 'content-type': 'application/json',
17 verbose headers 'cache-control': 'max-age=0',
17 verbose headers 'content-length': '2',
17 verbose headers 'accept-ranges': 'bytes',
17 verbose headers date: 'Thu, 25 Feb 2016 21:01:11 GMT',
17 verbose headers via: '1.1 varnish',
17 verbose headers connection: 'keep-alive',
17 verbose headers 'x-served-by': 'cache-ams4146-AMS',
17 verbose headers 'x-cache': 'MISS',
17 verbose headers 'x-cache-hits': '0',
17 verbose headers 'x-timer': 'S1456434071.123107,VS0,VE697' }
18 silly get cb [ 404,
18 silly get { 'content-type': 'application/json',
18 silly get 'cache-control': 'max-age=0',
18 silly get 'content-length': '2',
18 silly get 'accept-ranges': 'bytes',
18 silly get date: 'Thu, 25 Feb 2016 21:01:11 GMT',
18 silly get via: '1.1 varnish',
18 silly get connection: 'keep-alive',
18 silly get 'x-served-by': 'cache-ams4146-AMS',
18 silly get 'x-cache': 'MISS',
18 silly get 'x-cache-hits': '0',
18 silly get 'x-timer': 'S1456434071.123107,VS0,VE697' } ]
19 silly fetchPackageMetaData Error: Registry returned 404 for GET on https://registry.npmjs.org/groep4
19 silly fetchPackageMetaData at makeError (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/npm-registry-client/lib/request.js:264:12)
19 silly fetchPackageMetaData at CachingRegistryClient.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/npm-registry-client/lib/request.js:242:14)
19 silly fetchPackageMetaData at Request._callback (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/npm-registry-client/lib/request.js:172:14)
19 silly fetchPackageMetaData at Request.self.callback (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/request/request.js:198:22)
19 silly fetchPackageMetaData at emitTwo (events.js:100:13)
19 silly fetchPackageMetaData at Request.emit (events.js:185:7)
19 silly fetchPackageMetaData at Request.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/request/request.js:1035:10)
19 silly fetchPackageMetaData at emitOne (events.js:95:20)
19 silly fetchPackageMetaData at Request.emit (events.js:182:7)
19 silly fetchPackageMetaData at IncomingMessage.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/request/request.js:962:12)
19 silly fetchPackageMetaData error for groep4 { [Error: Registry returned 404 for GET on https://registry.npmjs.org/groep4] pkgid: 'groep4', statusCode: 404, code: 'E404' }
20 verbose stack Error: Registry returned 404 for GET on https://registry.npmjs.org/groep4
20 verbose stack at makeError (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/npm-registry-client/lib/request.js:264:12)
20 verbose stack at CachingRegistryClient.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/npm-registry-client/lib/request.js:242:14)
20 verbose stack at Request._callback (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/npm-registry-client/lib/request.js:172:14)
20 verbose stack at Request.self.callback (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/request/request.js:198:22)
20 verbose stack at emitTwo (events.js:100:13)
20 verbose stack at Request.emit (events.js:185:7)
20 verbose stack at Request.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/request/request.js:1035:10)
20 verbose stack at emitOne (events.js:95:20)
20 verbose stack at Request.emit (events.js:182:7)
20 verbose stack at IncomingMessage.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/request/request.js:962:12)
21 verbose statusCode 404
22 verbose pkgid groep4
23 verbose cwd /Users/Sander/Documents/game-out/server
24 error Darwin 15.3.0
25 error argv "/usr/local/bin/node" "/usr/local/bin/npm" "bugs" "groep4"
26 error node v5.7.0
27 error npm v3.6.0
28 error code E404
29 error 404 Registry returned 404 for GET on https://registry.npmjs.org/groep4
30 error 404
31 error 404 'groep4' is not in the npm registry.
32 error 404 You should bug the author to publish it (or use the name yourself!)
33 error 404 Note that you can also install from a
34 error 404 tarball, folder, http url, or git url.
35 verbose exit [ 1, true ]
As a result of this I've been reading tons of stuff about npm and packages. I tried creating a tarball from the package,json and installing that. But nothing came of it. I still got that same error when running npm start.
I've also double checked with someone who worked on this app that https://registry.npmjs.org/groep4 has never existed. So the issue isn't simply that the registry was emptied, which was my initial thought.
I managed to get a fresh MEAN stack application up and running using sudo npm install -g mean-cli and mean init yourNewApp. Then I just followed the on-screen instructions to get everything set up. It worked fine. So I'm assuming that the issue isn't with node.js or MongoDB.
I made the entire thing available via GitHub, perhaps that will give a bit of context.
I supplied every detail I could think of but please don't hesitate to ask for anything you need.

Answer 1

So after a lot of troubleshooting I found the answer. I'll post it here for future reference.
The error was a bit misleading since the package had nothing to do with anything. The problem was actually with the config file. The first step was to set that up correctly.
Additionally, the server should be started with node server.js and NOT npm start.
That fixed it for me. I now have the app up and running in my local environment.