Getting Started

Get your first Spark application running in under a minute.

Prerequisites

Ensure you have the Dart SDK installed (version 3.0 or later).

Install the CLI

Install the Spark CLI globally:

dart pub global activate spark_cli

Create a Project

Create a new Spark project:

spark init my_app
cd my_app

Start Development

Run the development server with hot reload:

spark dev

Visit `http://localhost:8080` to see your app. The server automatically reloads when you save changes.

If file watching doesn't work (e.g., in WSL or Docker), use polling mode:

spark dev --poll

Project Structure

The CLI generates a project with this structure:

my_app/
├── bin/
│   └── server.dart      # Server entry point
├── lib/
│   ├── pages/           # Page files
│   ├── components/      # Web components
│   └── endpoints/       # API routes
└── pubspec.yaml

Build for Production

Build a standalone executable for deployment:

spark build

Options:

  • `--output, -o <path>` - Output directory (default: `build`)
  • `--verbose, -v` - Show detailed build output
  • `--no-clean` - Skip cleaning build directory

The build process:

  • Runs code generation (build_runner)
  • Compiles server to native executable
  • Compiles web assets to JavaScript
  • Copies static assets from `web/assets/`

Output structure:

build/
├── bin/
│   └── server      # Native executable
├── lib/            # Native libraries (if any)
└── web/
    ├── *.dart.js   # Compiled JS
    └── assets/     # Static files

Run `./build/bin/server` to start your production server without the Dart SDK.