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@alexgorbatchev/devhost

Build from source

Build devhost from a checkout of the repository to try unreleased changes or work on devhost itself.

Build a binary

Section titled “Build a binary”
Terminal window
just setup
just devhost compile
./apps/devhost/bin/devhost --version

just setup installs the workspace dependencies and Go modules and builds the embedded toolbar. just devhost compile rebuilds the toolbar and writes a binary for your platform to apps/devhost/bin/devhost, stamped with the version in apps/devhost/metadata.json.

To run devhost from source without installing it, use just cli <args>, or just run-ai <args> for agent output. Both run in the directory you call them from. just run starts the repository’s own development stack.

Iterate on the toolbar

Section titled “Iterate on the toolbar”

A development build serves the toolbar from its source checkout and rebuilds it when you reload a page, so UI changes show up without rebuilding devhost or restarting the stack.

  1. Use a development build. just run, just cli, just run-ai, and just dev-bootstrap (which replaces the devhost your dotfiles install) all record the checkout they were built from. For any other build, set DEVHOST_DEV_SOURCE_DIR to the checkout’s root; a relative path resolves from the manifest’s directory, and the variable wins over a recorded checkout.
  2. Edit files under packages/devhost-ui/src/devtools/ and reload the page.
  3. When those files are newer than the built bundle, devhost rebuilds it, one build at a time, and serves it uncached. Tabs that loaded an earlier build keep working.
  4. A failed build shows a DEVHOST COMPILATION ERROR banner on the page with the details; the next reload tries again.

Changes to Go code need a new binary: rerun just dev-bootstrap, or restart just run, which rebuilds on start.

If DEVHOST_DEV_SOURCE_DIR does not point at a devhost checkout, devhost start fails and names the path. If a development build’s recorded checkout has moved or been deleted, devhost warns at startup and serves the toolbar built into the binary.

A development build also lets chat work on devhost itself; see Chat about devhost itself.