While running npm scripts there are certain situations where you need to set an environment variable for just that particular instance of the command. It is mostly for temporary purposes.
Windows (cmd.exe)
set "BROWSER=none" && npm start
Windows (Powershell)
($env:BROWSER = "none") -and (npm start)
Linux, macOS (Bash)
BROWSER=none npm start
For permanent cases use .env
files
Reference
This post is inspired from Create React App's docs