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Local Preview

Preview your documentation on your machine with the Jamdesk CLI before pushing to production. Changes appear as you edit.

Run jamdesk dev (or npx jamdesk dev) from a directory that contains a docs.json. It starts a local server with hot reload and search. Components render as they do in production.

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 20+ - Check with node --version
  • A docs project - With a docs.json configuration file

Starting the Dev Server

Install the CLI globally, then run from your docs directory:

npm install -g jamdesk
cd your-docs
jamdesk dev

Your docs will be available at http://localhost:3000

What You Get

Hot Reload

Edit MDX files and see changes instantly. Edits to docs.json and your style.css show on refresh.

Full Search

Test Cmd+K search with your content

All Components

Components render as in production

Theme Switching

Switch the color theme

Custom Port

The default port is 3000. Pass a different one with --port:

jamdesk dev --port 3001

Or set a permanent default in ~/.jamdeskrc:

{
  "defaultPort": 3001
}

Verbose Mode

Show build details with the --verbose flag:

jamdesk dev --verbose

This shows:

  • File change detection
  • Build timing
  • Navigation parsing
  • Any warnings or errors

First Run Performance

The first jamdesk dev run installs dependencies to ~/.jamdesk. This takes 30-60 seconds. Later runs start in under 5 seconds.

Clear the cache and force a fresh install:

jamdesk clean
jamdesk dev

Troubleshooting

Another process is using port 3000.

Option 1: Use a different port

jamdesk dev --port 3001

Option 2: Find and stop the process

lsof -i :3000
kill -9 <PID>

Run the command from the directory containing your docs.json file:

ls docs.json  # Should show the file
jamdesk dev
  1. Check the terminal for errors
  2. Hard refresh the browser (Cmd+Shift+R)
  3. Restart the dev server
  4. Run jamdesk clean and try again

Run diagnostics:

jamdesk doctor

It checks your environment and reports problems.

What's Next?

VS Code Extension

Start the dev server from the VS Code status bar

Deployment

Learn about the build and deploy process