> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/meteor/meteor/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# meteor build

> Build your Meteor application for deployment

The `meteor build` command packages your Meteor project for deployment, creating builds for all configured platforms.

## Usage

```bash theme={null}
meteor build <output-path> [options]
```

## Basic Usage

Build your app for deployment:

```bash theme={null}
meteor build ../output
```

This creates a directory with builds for all platforms in your project.

## Output

The command outputs:

* A tarball containing everything necessary to run the application server (see README in the tarball for details)
* If you've added mobile platforms with `meteor add-platform`:
  * `android/` subdirectory with the AAB/APK bundle and Android project source
  * `ios/` subdirectory with the Xcode project source (macOS only)

## Options

<ParamField path="--debug" type="boolean" default="false">
  Build in debug mode (don't minify, etc)
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--directory" type="boolean" default="false">
  Output a directory (rather than a tarball) for the application server bundle. If the output location exists, it will be recursively deleted first.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--server-only" type="boolean" default="false">
  Skip building mobile apps even if mobile platforms have been added. Still builds the 'web.cordova' client target so the server can support hot code push for Cordova apps.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--mobile-settings" type="string">
  Set optional data for the initial value of Meteor.settings in your mobile application. A new value for Meteor.settings can be set later by the server as part of hot code push. Provide a path to a JSON file.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--server" type="string">
  Location where mobile builds connect to the Meteor server. Defaults to localhost:3000. Can include a URL scheme (e.g., `--server=https://example.com:443`).
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--architecture" type="string">
  Build the server for a different architecture than your developer machine's architecture. Valid architectures include:

  * `os.osx.x86_64`
  * `os.linux.x86_64`
  * `os.linux.x86_32`
  * `os.windows.x86_32`
  * `os.windows.x86_64`

  Note: This option selects the architecture of binary-dependent Atmosphere packages you would like bundled. If your project doesn't use any Atmosphere packages with binary dependencies, `--architecture` has no effect.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--allow-incompatible-update" type="boolean" default="false">
  Allow packages in your project to be upgraded or downgraded to versions that are potentially incompatible with the current versions, if required to satisfy all package version constraints.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--platforms" type="string">
  Build only the specified platforms (when available). Comma-separated list.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--packageType" type="string" default="bundle">
  Choose between `apk` or `bundle` for Android builds
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--verbose" type="boolean" default="false">
  Print detailed build output
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--headless" type="boolean" default="false">
  Run in headless mode (no progress indicators), useful for CI environments
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--cordova-server-port" type="string">
  Specify the Cordova server port
</ParamField>

## Examples

Build for production deployment:

```bash theme={null}
meteor build ../output
```

Build in debug mode:

```bash theme={null}
meteor build ../output --debug
```

Build as a directory instead of tarball:

```bash theme={null}
meteor build ../output --directory
```

Build server only (skip mobile apps):

```bash theme={null}
meteor build ../output --server-only
```

Build with mobile settings:

```bash theme={null}
meteor build ../output --mobile-settings settings.json --server https://example.com
```

Build for a specific architecture:

```bash theme={null}
meteor build ../output --architecture os.linux.x86_64
```

Build only Android:

```bash theme={null}
meteor build ../output --platforms android
```

Build Android APK instead of bundle:

```bash theme={null}
meteor build ../output --packageType apk
```

Build in headless mode for CI:

```bash theme={null}
meteor build ../output --headless
```

## Mobile Builds

For mobile builds, you must specify the server URL using the `--server` option:

```bash theme={null}
meteor build ../output --server https://myapp.com
```

This tells the mobile app where to connect to your Meteor server.

## Deployment

After building, the output directory will contain:

* `<app-name>.tar.gz` - Server bundle (or a `bundle/` directory if using `--directory`)
* `android/` - Android build artifacts (if Android platform added)
* `ios/` - iOS project (if iOS platform added, macOS only)

To deploy the server bundle:

1. Extract the tarball on your server
2. Read the README file in the bundle for deployment instructions
3. Set up environment variables (MONGO\_URL, ROOT\_URL, etc.)
4. Run `node main.js`

See the [Deployment Guide](https://guide.meteor.com/deployment.html) for more details.

## Deprecated: bundle Command

The `meteor bundle` command is deprecated in favor of `meteor build`:

```bash theme={null}
# Deprecated
meteor bundle output.tar.gz

# Use instead
meteor build ../output
```