zero-native

Dev Server

Use zero-native dev when zero-native should own the frontend server lifecycle. It starts the configured frontend process, waits for the port to accept connections, launches the native shell with ZERO_NATIVE_FRONTEND_URL, sets ZERO_NATIVE_HMR=1, and terminates the frontend when the shell exits. Framework HMR stays owned by the dev server (Vite, Next.js, etc.) because the WebView loads the dev URL directly.

Usage

zero-native dev --binary zig-out/bin/MyApp
zero-native dev --binary zig-out/bin/MyApp --url http://127.0.0.1:3000/ --command "npm run dev"
zero-native dev --binary zig-out/bin/MyApp --timeout-ms 60000

Flags

FlagDescription
--manifestPath to app.zon (default: app.zon)
--binaryPath to the built native binary
--urlOverride dev server URL from app.zon
--commandOverride dev server command from app.zon
--timeout-msOverride readiness timeout (default from app.zon)

Configuration in app.zon

.frontend = .{
    .dist = "dist",
    .entry = "index.html",
    .spa_fallback = true,
    .dev = .{
        .url = "http://127.0.0.1:5173/",
        .command = .{ "npm", "run", "dev", "--", "--host", "127.0.0.1" },
        .ready_path = "/",
        .timeout_ms = 30000,
    },
}

Framework recipes

Vite: .url = "http://127.0.0.1:5173/", command npm run dev -- --host 127.0.0.1.

Next.js: .url = "http://127.0.0.1:3000/", command npm run dev -- --hostname 127.0.0.1.

Static preview: point .dist at the build output and use any local server command.