meteor run

Run a Meteor application in development mode

The meteor run command (or just meteor) runs your Meteor project in local development mode.

Usage

meteor run [target...] [options]
meteor [target...] [options]

Basic Usage

Run the app on localhost:3000:

meteor
# or
meteor run

Targets

If you have added mobile platforms to your app with meteor add-platform, you can specify run targets:

android · string

Run on the Android emulator

android-device · string

Run on a connected Android device

ios · string

Run on the iOS simulator

ios-device · string

Open Xcode with the iOS project for this app, where you can run your app on a connected iOS device

Examples

meteor run android
meteor run ios
meteor run android-device

Options

--port · string · default: "3000"

Port to listen on (also uses port N+1 and a port specified by —app-port). Specify as --port=host:port to bind to a specific interface.

--open · boolean · default: "false"

Opens a browser window when the app starts

--inspect · string

Enable server-side debugging via debugging clients like the Node.js command-line debugger, Chrome DevTools, or Visual Studio Code. Optionally specify a port (default: 9229).

--inspect-brk · string

Enable server-side debugging with the server paused at startup, waiting for clients to attach. Optionally specify a port (default: 9229).

--mobile-server · string

Location where mobile builds connect to the Meteor server. Defaults to your local IP and the port that the Meteor server binds to. Can include a URL scheme (e.g., --mobile-server=https://example.com:443).

--cordova-server-port · number

Local port where Cordova will serve content. Important when multiple Cordova apps are built from the same Meteor app source code. By default, the port is generated using the id inside .meteor/.id.

--production · boolean · default: "false"

Simulate production mode. Minify and bundle CSS and JS files.

--raw-logs · boolean · default: "true"

Run without parsing logs from stdout and stderr

--timestamps · boolean · default: "false"

Run with timestamps in logs (same as passing --raw-logs=false)

--settings · string

Set optional data for Meteor.settings on the server. Provide a path to a JSON file.

--release · string

Specify the release of Meteor to use

--verbose · boolean · default: "false"

Print all output from build logs

--no-lint · boolean · default: "false"

Don’t run linters used by the app on every rebuild

--no-release-check · boolean · default: "false"

Don’t run the release updater to check for new releases

--allow-incompatible-update · 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.

--extra-packages · string

Run with additional packages (comma-separated, e.g., --extra-packages "package-name1, package-name2@1.2.3")

--exclude-archs · string

Don’t create bundles for certain web architectures (comma-separated, e.g., --exclude-archs "web.browser.legacy, web.cordova")

Examples

Run on a custom port:

meteor run --port 4000

Run with a settings file:

meteor run --settings settings.json

Run in production mode:

meteor run --production

Warning: The --production flag should only be used to simulate production bundling for testing purposes. Use meteor build to create a bundle for production deployment.

Run with debugging enabled:

meteor run --inspect
meteor run --inspect-brk
meteor run --inspect-brk=9229

Run and open in browser:

meteor run --open

Run on Android emulator:

meteor run android

Run with specific mobile server URL:

meteor run android --mobile-server https://example.com:3000

Features

Auto-refresh

Whenever you change any of the application’s source files, the changes are automatically detected and applied to the running application.

Persistent Database

The application’s database persists between runs. It’s stored under the .meteor directory in the root of the project.

No Internet Required

No internet connection is required to run your app locally.

Debug Command

The meteor debug command is deprecated in favor of meteor --inspect-brk:

# Deprecated
meteor debug

# Use instead
meteor run --inspect-brk

Debugging

The --inspect and --inspect-brk flags enable server-side debugging:

• Use --inspect to enable debugging without pausing
• Use --inspect-brk to pause at startup, waiting for debugger to attach

Two notable differences from Node.js behavior:

1. The --inspect[-brk] flags affect the server process spawned by the build process, not the build process itself
2. The --inspect-brk flag causes the server to pause just after server code loads but before it executes, giving you a chance to set breakpoints

You can also use the debugger keyword to set breakpoints:

function myFunction() {
  debugger; // Execution will pause here when debugger is attached
  // Your code
}