Appnest Development Engine - Commands

Quick reference for appnest-development-engine CLI actions. All app commands are invoked as:

appnest-development-engine app <action>

Run these from your app project directory (where app-backend / app-frontend live) unless noted. The engine resolves paths from process.cwd() and passes ORIGINAL_CWD to the proxy and Vite builds.

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Command summary

Action	Purpose
init	Scaffold or refresh the standard Appnest app layout in the current folder (base code from GitHub). Use once or when you need a fresh template.
precheck	Verify Node.js ≥ 22 and that every engine + app path the CLI knows about exists on disk. Fails fast with guidance if something is missing.
install-packages	Run npm install inside each engine package: appnest-backend, appnest-frontend, appnest-install-frontend, appnest-proxy. Use after cloning the engine or changing engine dependencies.
start	Start the proxy only; the proxy then starts the backend wrapper, main Vite app, and (if present) the installation Vite app. This is the main local dev entry point (single port, unified routing).
bundle-frontend	Production build for both engine frontends (npm run build in appnest-frontend and appnest-install-frontend). Output is written into your app-frontend/dist and app-install-frontend/dist via ORIGINAL_CWD.
pack	Runs bundle-frontend, adjusts app-frontend/dist/index.html paths where needed, copies app-frontend, app-backend, app-install-frontend, manifest.json, and optionally extra folders/files from .env (PACK_FOLDER_PATHS, PACK_FILE_PATHS) into appnest-app-pack/, then zips to app-pack-zip/app-pack-<timestamp>.zip.
validate	Run linting (and related validation) on app-backend and app-frontend, and validate manifest.json.
ai-context	Download AI context from GitHub into appnest-ai-context/ at project root. Replaces existing folder if present.

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Other invocations

Invocation	Purpose
appnest-development-engine --version	Show engine version from root package.json.
appnest-development-engine help	Print the built-in short list of app actions.
appnest-development-engine app (no param)	Same as above - lists all app actions.
appnest-development-engine app help	Same as above.
appnest-development-engine app -h	Same as above (Commander built-in help).

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Notes

• install-packages does not run npm install in the user's app-backend / app-frontend; those are your app's own dependencies-install them in those folders as usual.
• app-install-frontend is optional; if the folder is missing, install UI is skipped and zip may warn for that path.
• Engine folder appnest-install-frontend serves the user folder app-install-frontend (names differ on purpose).
• pack reads .env for optional PACK_FOLDER_PATHS and PACK_FILE_PATHS (JSON arrays or comma-separated). If set, those folders and files are copied into the pack.

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Setup App

1. In the app project directory: appnest-development-engine app init (if needed).
2. appnest-development-engine app precheck (optional).
3. appnest-development-engine app install-packages (after cloning or updating the engine).
4. From the app project directory: appnest-development-engine app start → proxy on port 3456, e.g. http://localhost:3456/app-frontend/, API at http://localhost:3456/app-backend/.

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Start App

1. CLI starts appnest-proxy with ORIGINAL_CWD = current working directory.
2. Proxy reads .env, allocates ports, then:
   • Starts appnest-backend (user's app-backend/server.js).
   • Starts appnest-frontend (Vite for app-frontend).
   • If app-install-frontend exists, starts appnest-install-frontend.
3. Routes (defaults; ports from .env where applicable):
   • /app-backend → backend
   • /app-frontend → main frontend
   • /app-install-frontend → installation UI
4. Watching: app-backend changes restart the backend; vite.config.js / .env changes can restart frontends; ordinary source edits use Vite HMR.

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Pack App

• pack runs bundle-frontend, may rewrite paths in app-frontend/dist/index.html, copies app-frontend, app-backend, app-install-frontend, manifest.json, and optionally extra folders/files from .env (PACK_FOLDER_PATHS, PACK_FILE_PATHS) into appnest-app-pack/, then creates app-pack-zip/app-pack-<timestamp>.zip.

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