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README.md

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+# create-react-app with a Node API on Heroku
+
+Example app combining a React UI (from [create-react-app](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app)) with a custom Node/Express server.
+
+If you simply want to deploy a React app, try [create-react-app-buildpack](https://github.com/mars/create-react-app-buildpack).
+
+
+## Design Points
+
+* Node server
+  * [`package.json`](package.json), at the root
+    * `postinstall` script performs React app's `npm install` on deploy to Heroku
+    * `cacheDirectories` includes `react-ui/node_modules/` to speed up subsequent deploys to Heroku
+  * serves `../react-ui/build/` as static files
+  * `npm` works normally
+* React app
+  * [`react-ui/package.json`](react-ui/package.json), in a subdirectory
+    * as generated by create-react-app
+    * plus the `proxy` config enables dual-process (hot-reloading React UI + Node API) for local development
+  * `npm` must be run against the subdirectory
+    * use the prefix option, `npm start --prefix react-ui`, or
+    * change directories `cd react-ui/` to use `npm`
+* Heroku
+  * **heroku/node** buildpack will auto-detect via `package.json`
+  * `npm install` for server & `postinstall` for React UI will automatically run
+  * `npm start` will automatically launch
+
+
+## Punchline
+
+Demo deployment: [https://cra-node.herokuapp.com/](https://cra-node.herokuapp.com/)
+
+Example API call is [fetched from relative URL](react-ui/src/App.js#L16).
+
+
+## Deploy to Heroku
+
+```bash
+git clone https://github.com/mars/heroku-cra-node.git
+cd heroku-cra-node/
+heroku create
+git push heroku master
+```
+
+
+## Local Development
+
+### Run the API Server
+
+In a terminal:
+
+```bash
+# Initial setup
+npm install
+
+# Start the server
+npm start
+```
+
+
+### Run the React UI
+
+The React app is configured to proxy backend requests to the local Node server. (See [`"proxy"` config](react-ui/package.json))
+
+In a separate terminal from the API server, start the UI:
+
+```bash
+# Initial setup
+npm install --prefix react-ui
+
+# Start the server
+npm start --prefix react-ui
+```