feat: allow running dev server from run commands with `--dev-server` flag #301

thymikee · 2025-05-05T14:15:48Z

Summary

While running run:android or run:ios we should be able to start a dev server and keep it open after the build is done

Test plan

vercel · 2025-05-05T14:15:54Z

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adhorodyski · 2025-09-05T10:09:07Z

packages/platform-android/src/lib/commands/runAndroid/runAndroid.ts

+  logger.info('Starting dev server...');
+  startDevServer({
+    root: projectRoot,
+    reactNativePath: './node_modules/react-native',


I'm afraid this won't work in more complex setups, needs params (but it's temporary, right?)

adhorodyski · 2025-10-10T15:23:44Z

oops looke like the nx cache got in there

OlimpiaZurek · 2025-10-10T15:30:04Z

oops looke like the nx cache got in there

Yeah, not sure how to remove it. I don't see those changes in my commits

adhorodyski · 2025-10-10T15:31:55Z

.nx is somehow missing in the gitignore as well. Now I see they come from Mike'a initial WIP commit 😅 You can recreate that commit and force push it.

adhorodyski · 2025-10-10T15:57:30Z

@OlimpiaZurek can you link some video recordings from this feature in action? Could you please describe your UX concerns from our sync? Thanks!

OlimpiaZurek · 2025-10-13T08:00:44Z

@OlimpiaZurek can you link some video recordings from this feature in action? Could you please describe your UX concerns from our sync? Thanks!

Here’s the recording:

recording.mov

When we run the android app and have metro open there, and at the same time we also run the iOS app — if I want to reload or open the dev tools for iOS, I switch over to the iOS tab. It can be a bit confusing since metro is running in the android tab. I don’t think it’s a big issue though. It depends on how each dev works. Most people probably reload or open the dev tools straight from the simulator anyway.

thymikee · 2025-10-13T08:49:49Z

packages/platform-android/src/lib/commands/runAndroid/runAndroid.ts

+    root: projectRoot,
+    reactNativePath,
+    reactNativeVersion,
+    platforms: { ios: {}, android: {} },


we can get these from api.getPlatforms()

thymikee · 2025-10-13T08:50:24Z

packages/platform-android/src/lib/commands/runAndroid/runAndroid.ts

+    platforms: { ios: {}, android: {} },
+    args: {
+      interactive: isInteractive(),
+      clientLogs: true,


should be something like args.clientLogs || true

thymikee · 2025-10-13T08:50:53Z

.gitignore

+
+# Nx
+.nx


instead of adding nx to gitignore, use git rm --cached .nx locally

thymikee · 2025-10-13T08:58:36Z

packages/platform-apple-helpers/src/lib/commands/run/createRun.ts

+  if (startDevServer) {
+    logger.info('Starting dev server...');
+    startDevServer({


On Android the dev server starts after binary is retrieved, and here it's before that. Running it here will cause the logs from both the bundler and the CLI to overwrite each other (you can see that on iOS example).

That's the tricky thing about this UX. We either need to:

wait for all build/cache retrieval to happen and then run the dev server to avoid clashing logs

start the dev server silently in the background and re-surface after the build is done / cache is retrieved – and we need to take into account that the bundler can be either Metro or Re.Pack (which is missing in this PR and should also expose the start field)

Thanks for pointing this out. I’ve changed it so the dev server starts after the build:

Screen.Recording.2025-10-13.at.13.06.45.mov

I’m focusing on the Metro part here. Should I also address Re.Pack in this PR, or do we want to handle that separately?

adding it to Re.Pack would be lovely! especially that's it's pretty simple now (that's the reason I abstracted it this way)

we still have the logs interleaving each other:

Not the best DX. As a first iteration, I think it would be best to call metro server after the "success" log. Later on we could use grouping from @clack/prompts maybe together with Task Log feature, and move starting the server earlier. This would require further refactor of logging to be higher level, plus upgrading to latest v1-alpha, so it's better to tackle it separately

I’ve moved running the dev server to after the app launch, and it works as shown in the attached video:

recording_.mov

However, I occasionally encounter an issue (it happens randomly when the app is in the background and I runnpm run ios), where it shows “No script URL provided...” and I have to press Reload to make it work.

I noticed the same behavior with Repack.
Not sure if this is related to my environment or iOS itself and the way it tries to connect to the bundler.

Yeah, this is known behavior. The app fails to connect to not existing server, and when the server is up, the app doesn't know about it

thymikee · 2025-10-20T12:38:34Z

Thank you @OlimpiaZurek for pushing this through!

thymikee force-pushed the run-server branch from 5ec5ea5 to 83e802f Compare May 21, 2025 11:41

thymikee force-pushed the main branch from 17f7cad to fef7e61 Compare August 20, 2025 11:26

dannyhw mentioned this pull request Aug 23, 2025

startup metro after 'run:android' #514

Open

adhorodyski reviewed Sep 5, 2025

View reviewed changes

OlimpiaZurek force-pushed the run-server branch from 83e802f to 5da0615 Compare October 10, 2025 14:55

thymikee and others added 4 commits October 10, 2025 17:26

wip

977a8e5

make it run

1b2f7f5

add ios part and fix ts

54b0ce8

fix tests

e6a0b55

OlimpiaZurek force-pushed the run-server branch from 92bc2df to e6a0b55 Compare October 10, 2025 15:27

OlimpiaZurek force-pushed the run-server branch from fe01603 to 07e04e4 Compare October 10, 2025 15:49

add nx cache to gitignore

2da44ea

OlimpiaZurek force-pushed the run-server branch from 07e04e4 to 2da44ea Compare October 10, 2025 15:50

thymikee commented Oct 13, 2025

View reviewed changes

OlimpiaZurek added 3 commits October 13, 2025 13:10

fix: cr comments

2b5f2d9

move dev server startup and add repack support

cd9e008

add dev server flag

64f2e67

thymikee changed the title ~~WIP feat: allow running dev server from run commands~~ feat: allow running dev server from run commands with --dev-server flag Oct 20, 2025

OlimpiaZurek and others added 3 commits October 20, 2025 13:02

add changeset

fc397d8

prettier and small cleanup

44b616c

Merge branch 'main' into run-server

ccce8ae

vercel bot deployed to Preview October 20, 2025 11:24 View deployment

OlimpiaZurek and others added 3 commits October 20, 2025 13:47

fix tests

2d06f60

reuse startDevServer

c8840cf

docs

4193a57

vercel bot deployed to Preview October 20, 2025 12:32 View deployment

update changeset

7c1955e

fix: keypress events not available with --dev-server

b8a03e9

thymikee merged commit 644f897 into main Oct 20, 2025
5 checks passed

thymikee deleted the run-server branch October 20, 2025 14:20


		# Nx
		.nx

feat: allow running dev server from run commands with --dev-server flag #301

feat: allow running dev server from run commands with --dev-server flag #301

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thymikee commented May 5, 2025

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adhorodyski commented Oct 10, 2025

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thymikee commented Oct 20, 2025

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feat: allow running dev server from run commands with `--dev-server` flag #301

feat: allow running dev server from run commands with `--dev-server` flag #301

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