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This page is part of an AI coding agent skill and is written for agents, not humans. For the human-readable Base44 docs, see the developer documentation.

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base44 dev

Start local development for a linked Base44 project. This command always starts the Base44 backend locally. If base44/config.jsonc defines site.serveCommand, it also runs your frontend dev server from the project root and wires it to the local backend automatically.

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Syntax

npx base44 dev [options]

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Options

OptionDescriptionRequiredDefault
-p, --port <number>Port for the local Base44 backendNo4400

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Authentication

Required: Yes. If not authenticated, you’ll be prompted to login first.

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Requirements

  • Must be run from a linked local Base44 project
  • base44/.app.jsonc must exist
  • base44 dev cannot be used with --app-id or BASE44_APP_ID

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What It Does

  1. Reads your linked local project configuration
  2. Starts the local Base44 backend for entities, functions, and auth routes
  3. Watches local Base44 resources and reloads them when they change
  4. If site.serveCommand is configured, starts your frontend dev server from the project root
  5. Injects VITE_BASE44_APP_ID and VITE_BASE44_APP_BASE_URL into the frontend process
  6. Shuts everything down cleanly when you stop the command

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Frontend + Backend Behavior

base44 dev works for both backend and frontend:
  • Backend: always runs locally
  • Frontend: runs only when base44/config.jsonc includes site.serveCommand
Before using base44 dev for full-stack local development, verify your config: 
{
  "site": {
    "serveCommand": "npm run dev"
  }
}
If site.serveCommand is missing, base44 dev still works, but it only starts the Base44 backend.

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Examples

# Start local development on the default port
npx base44 dev

# Start the backend on a specific port
npx base44 dev --port 4500

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Notes

  • Use this from a linked local project, not with --app-id
  • When the frontend is running, the CLI streams backend and frontend output together
  • If the frontend process exits, the local dev environment shuts down too