Development Server

Development Server

plumego dev

plumego dev builds your service, starts it at :8080, watches **/*.go for changes, and rebuilds automatically on each save. A local dashboard at 127.0.0.1:9999 shows build status, application events, and route details.

What this guide covers

• Starting the dev server in a Plumego project
• Verifying the service is running
• Watching file changes and triggering a rebuild
• Configuring address, watch patterns, and build commands

Step 1 — Build the CLI from a source checkout

git clone https://github.com/spcent/plumego.git
cd plumego/cmd/plumego
go build -o ../../bin/plumego .
export PATH="$(pwd)/../../bin:$PATH"

The CLI currently lives in a nested Go module, so tagged go install is not advertised as a supported install path until a release checklist verifies that exact tag.

Verify the build:

plumego --help

Step 2 — Start the dev server

From your project root:

plumego dev

Expected output:

Starting Plumego Dev Server
   Project: /path/to/your/project
   App URL: http://localhost:8080
   Dashboard URL: http://localhost:9999

Watching for changes...
   Press Ctrl+C to stop

Step 3 — Verify the service

curl localhost:8080/healthz
# {"data":{"status":"ok"}}

Open the dashboard in a browser: http://localhost:9999

Step 4 — Edit a file and watch it reload

Change a handler or route, then save. The terminal shows:

File changed: internal/app/routes.go
Reload complete

The server restarts with the new build. No manual restart needed.

Flag reference

Flag	Default	Purpose
--addr	:8080	Address the application listens on
--dashboard-addr	127.0.0.1:9999	Address for the dev dashboard
--dashboard-token	(none)	Token required for dashboard action APIs
--watch	**/*.go	Comma-separated glob patterns to watch
--exclude	(none)	Comma-separated patterns to exclude from watching
--debounce	500ms	Wait duration before triggering a rebuild after a file change
--no-reload	false	Disable automatic rebuild; serve only
--build-cmd	(auto)	Custom build command, e.g. go build -tags dev ./...
--run-cmd	(auto)	Custom run command

Common configurations

Custom port:

plumego dev --addr :3000

Watch additional file types:

plumego dev --watch "**/*.go,**/*.yaml"

Disable hot reload (serve only):

plumego dev --no-reload

Secure the dashboard:

plumego dev --dashboard-token my-secret-token

Custom build and run commands:

plumego dev --build-cmd "go build -tags dev -o .dev-server/app ./cmd/server" \
            --run-cmd ".dev-server/app"

What the dashboard shows

The dashboard at 127.0.0.1:9999 provides:

• Build status — last build result, duration, and error output on failure
• Application events — startup, shutdown, restart with PID
• Log stream — forwarded stdout/stderr from the running application

The dashboard is local-only by default. Do not expose it on a public interface.

Next step

Once your handler shape is stable, continue to Testing Handlers to verify behavior without running the dev server.