Error message: An error was encountered when running `npm run dev`

Question

C:UserssamyJobssahl_project>npm run dev

sahl_project@1.0.0 dev vite

X [ERROR] Expected a string in JSON, but found "<<" instead.

../package.json:2:0:
  2 │ <<<<<<< HEAD
    ╵ ~~

Unable to load configuration file from C:UserssamyJobssahl_projectvite.config.js
Error starting development server:
Error: Build failed with 1 error:
../package.json:2:0: ERROR: Expected string in JSON, but found "<<"
    at failureErrorWithLog (C:UserssamyJobssahl_projectnode_modulesesbuildlibmain.js:1649:15)
    at C:UserssamyJobssahl_projectnode_modulesesbuildlibmain.js:1058:25
    at runOnEndCallbacks (C:UserssamyJobssahl_projectnode_modulesesbuildlibmain.js:1484:45)
    at buildResponseToResult (C:UserssamyJobssahl_projectnode_modulesesbuildlibmain.js:1056:7)
    at C:UserssamyJobssahl_projectnode_modulesesbuildlibmain.js:1085:16
    at responseCallbacks.<computed> (C:UserssamyJobssahl_projectnode_modulesesbuildlibmain.js:703:9)
    at handleIncomingPacket (C:UserssamyJobssahl_projectnode_modulesesbuildlibmain.js:762:9)
    at Socket.readFromStdout (C:UserssamyJobssahl_projectnode_modulesesbuildlibmain.js:679:7)
    at Socket.emit (node:events:513:28)
    at addChunk (node

:internal/streams/readable:324:12)

I tried deleting the package-lock.json and node_modules folders and executing npm install but it didn’t work .

Answer 1

It’s hard to pinpoint where exactly your problem is, but you can try a few things to fix it:

1. Try using git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U --relative to check for merge conflicts and list the files causing the problem.
2. Before running npm run dev, try running npm ci.
3. Try re-cloning the project in a different location and run npm i on the master branch, then run npm run dev to see if the problem persists.
4. Check that you are using the correct node version that is compatible with your projectnode -v.