Running your app

Navigate to your project directory and start the development server with:

au run

This command builds your application and starts a minimal web server that serves your app. The development server automatically refreshes your browser when source code changes are detected.

Common Options

Specifying an Environment

Run with a specific environment configuration:

au run --env prod

See Environments for details on configuring environment-specific settings.

Changing the Port

Override the default port (configured in aurelia.json):

au run --port 8080

Opening the Browser

Automatically open your default browser when the server starts:

au run --open

Hot Module Reload (HMR)

If your project uses Webpack, you can enable Hot Module Reload for faster development:

au run --hmr

HMR updates modules in the browser without a full page reload, preserving application state during development.

ASP.NET Core Projects

If you chose to use ASP.NET Core and Webpack during project setup, start your application using:

dotnet run

This starts both the ASP.NET Core server and the Webpack development middleware.

What Happens on au run

1. The CLI builds your application using the current environment settings

2. A local web server starts (BrowserSync by default)

3. The CLI watches your source files for changes

4. When changes are detected, affected bundles are rebuilt

5. The browser automatically refreshes to show your changes

The au run command combines building and serving. If you only need to build without a server, use au build instead. If you need the server without file watching, you can serve the output directory with any static file server.