# Instant Prototyping

You can rapidly prototype with just a single *.vue file with the vue serve and vue build commands, but they require an additional global addon to be installed first:

npm install -g @svel/cli-service-global
# or
yarn global add @svel/cli-service-global

The drawback of vue serve is that it relies on globally installed dependencies which may be inconsistent on different machines. Therefore this is only recommended for rapid prototyping.

# vue serve

Usage: serve [options] [entry]

serve a .js or .vue file in development mode with zero config


Options:

  -o, --open  Open browser
  -c, --copy  Copy local url to clipboard
  -h, --help  output usage information

All you need is an App.vue file:

<template>
  <h1>Hello!</h1>
</template>

Then in the directory with the App.vue file, run:

vue serve

vue serve uses the same default setup (webpack, babel, postcss & eslint) as projects created by vue create. It automatically infers the entry file in the current directory - the entry can be one of main.js, index.js, App.vue or app.vue. You can also explicitly specify the entry file:

vue serve MyComponent.vue

If needed, you can also provide an index.html, package.json, install and use local dependencies, or even configure babel, postcss & eslint with corresponding config files.

# vue build

Usage: build [options] [entry]

build a .js or .vue file in production mode with zero config


Options:

  -t, --target <target>  Build target (app | lib | wc | wc-async, default: app)
  -n, --name <name>      name for lib or web-component (default: entry filename)
  -d, --dest <dir>       output directory (default: dist)
  -h, --help             output usage information

You can also build the target file into a production bundle for deployment with vue build:

vue build MyComponent.vue

vue build also provides the ability to build the component as a library or a web component. See Build Targets for more details.