The Dev Server
Starting the server
From your project root:
wasm-drydock dev
On startup the dev server:
- Compiles
frontend/styles/screen.scssto CSS - Spawns the backend process and polls
/api/health_checkuntil it responds - Runs an initial
wasm-pack buildon the frontend - Starts the HTTP server on
http://localhost:8080
Opening the browser automatically
wasm-drydock dev --open
What the server handles
| Path | Behaviour |
|---|---|
/api/* | Proxied to the backend |
/pkg/* | Serves wasm-pack build output |
/styles/screen.css | Serves compiled SCSS |
/ws/reload | WebSocket live reload endpoint |
/* | SPA fallback — serves index.html |
File watchers
The dev server runs five core watchers simultaneously:
| Watcher | Path | Filters | On change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frontend | frontend/src/ | .rs | wasm-pack build, then browser reload |
| Backend | backend/src/ | .rs | Kill backend, respawn, health check, then browser reload |
| Styles | frontend/styles/ | .scss | Recompile SCSS in memory, browser reload |
| Public assets | frontend/public/ | any file | Browser reload |
| HTML | frontend/ | .html | Browser reload |
See File Watchers for custom watch path configuration.
Error overlay
When a build fails, the error is pushed to the browser via WebSocket and displayed as a full-screen overlay. The overlay is dismissed automatically when the next successful build completes.