l13 dev

Start a development server with hot reload and automatic builds.

Usage

npx l13 dev [options]

Description

The dev command starts a Vite development server with JS13K-specific optimizations. It automatically rebuilds and creates zip files when source files change, making it perfect for iterative development while staying within the 13KB constraint.

Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
--base <path>	string	/	Public base path when served in production
--out <dir>	string	dist	Output directory
--debug	boolean	false	Enable debug mode
--roadroller	boolean	false	Enable Roadroller compression
--html-minify	boolean	true	Enable HTML minification
--no-html-minify	-	-	Disable HTML minification
--terser	boolean	true	Enable Terser minification
--no-terser	-	-	Disable Terser minification
--experimental	boolean	false	Enable experimental compression methods
--inline-css	boolean	true	Inline CSS assets into HTML
--no-inline-css	-	-	Disable inlining CSS assets
--inline-js	boolean	true	Inline JS assets into HTML
--no-inline-js	-	-	Disable inlining JS assets
--ect	boolean	true	Enable ECT compression
--no-ect	-	-	Disable ECT compression
--exclude <pattern>	string[]	[]	Exclude files matching pattern (can be used multiple times)
--dev-bundle	boolean	false	Build the zip bundle using Vite's dev mode

Examples

# Start development server with defaults
npx l13 dev

# Start with debug logging
npx l13 dev --debug

# Disable HTML minification for faster builds
npx l13 dev --no-html-minify

# Exclude certain files from processing
npx l13 dev --exclude "*.test.js" --exclude "docs/**"

# Use Roadroller compression
npx l13 dev --roadroller

# Build with Vite dev mode (faster, less optimized)
npx l13 dev --dev-bundle

How It Works

1. Starts Vite Dev Server: Provides hot module replacement for fast development
2. File Watching: Monitors source files for changes
3. Automatic Builds: Triggers full builds when files change
4. Zip Creation: Generates compressed zip files after each build
5. Live Reload: Browser automatically refreshes when builds complete

Development Workflow

1. Run npx l13 dev
2. Open browser to the provided URL
3. Edit your source files
4. Watch automatic rebuilds and zip creation
5. Check zip file sizes to ensure you stay under 13KB

Environment Variables

• DEBUG=true - Enable debug mode
• ROADROLLER=true - Enable Roadroller compression
• EXPERIMENTAL=true - Enable experimental features

Notes

• The server automatically excludes zip files and build artifacts from watching
• Builds are throttled to prevent excessive CPU usage
• The initial build runs immediately when the server starts
• Zip files are created in the .lab13 directory