Using localhost for Back End Development and APIs / Basic Node and Express

Is it absolutely the case that I cannot run code locally for these exercises? I ask because in the previous section, I was able to do so. I got the directions here:

Not only that, but the instructions in the first exercise for this section that I’m having trouble with, which my first post links to, explicitly state the following:

Working on these challenges will involve you writing your code using one of the following methods:

  • Clone this GitHub repo and complete these challenges locally.
  • Use our Replit starter project to complete these challenges.
  • Use a site builder of your choice to complete the project. Be sure to incorporate all the files from our GitHub repo.

So I just want to be absolutely sure that, in spite of what these instructions say as well as the fact that I was able to do it locally in the last section, this section actually does not work with locally-run code.