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jamdesk dev starts a local preview server so you can see exactly what your documentation site looks like before deploying. It uses Turbopack by default for near-instant hot reload, runs jamdesk validate automatically on startup to catch errors early, and works with all themes, components, and search features that Jamdesk supports in production.

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Usage

jamdesk dev [options]
Run this command from the root of your project — the directory that contains your docs.json file. jamdesk preview is an alias and behaves identically.

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Flags

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--webpack
flag
Use Webpack instead of Turbopack as the compiler. Turbopack is the default and compiles approximately 5× faster. Switch to Webpack if you encounter a compatibility issue specific to Turbopack.
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--clean
flag
Clears the local compiler cache before starting the server. Useful when the cache has become corrupted (typically from a hard kill mid-build) and the dev server refuses to start or produces unexpected output.
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--port
number
Start the server on a specific port instead of the default 3000. For example, --port 3001. If the requested port is already in use and --port is not set, the server auto-increments to find the next available port.
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--verbose
flag
Print detailed output during startup, compilation, and hot-reload events. Helpful when diagnosing slow builds or unexpected behaviour.

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Examples

# Start with Turbopack (default)
jamdesk dev

# Start with Webpack instead of Turbopack
jamdesk dev --webpack

# Clear the cache, then start
jamdesk dev --clean

# Start on a custom port
jamdesk dev --port 3001

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Turbopack vs Webpack

Turbopack is the default compiler and is approximately 5× faster than Webpack for both cold starts and incremental hot-reload updates. It is the right choice for the vast majority of projects. Use --webpack only if you hit a specific Turbopack incompatibility. Webpack is slower but has a longer track record and broader plugin compatibility.
If the dev server fails to start after a hard kill, run jamdesk dev --clean to clear a potentially corrupted Turbopack cache. The CLI also attempts automatic cache recovery before surfacing an error.

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Behaviour on startup

The dev server takes care of several things automatically so you don’t have to:
  • Auto-validation — runs jamdesk validate before serving, printing any docs.json, MDX, or navigation errors to the terminal.
  • Auto-recovery — detects and clears corrupted Turbopack cache without requiring a manual --clean.
  • Auto-increment port — if the target port is already occupied, the server tries the next port up and prints the actual URL it bound to.
  • Full feature parity — full-text search, all three themes (Jam, Nebula, Pulsar), and all 50+ MDX components work exactly as they do in production.

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Port configuration

To avoid typing --port on every run, set a defaultPort in your global CLI config file at ~/.jamdeskrc: 
{ "defaultPort": 3001 }
The full set of supported ~/.jamdeskrc fields is: 
{
  "defaultPort": 3001,
  "verbose": false,
  "checkUpdates": true
}

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