Build Command

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The buddy build command compiles your Stacks application and libraries for production use, optimizing assets for deployment to npm, CDNs, or cloud providers.

Basic Usage

# Interactive build - select what to build
buddy build

# Build specific target
buddy build components

Command Syntax

buddy build [type] [options]

Arguments

Argument	Description
`type`	Optional. Specify build target (components, web-components, functions, views, docs, buddy, cli, stacks, server)

Options

Option	Description
`-c, --components`	Build your component library
`-w, --web-components`	Build your framework-agnostic web component library
`-e, --elements`	Alias for --web-components
`-f, --functions`	Build your function library
`-p, --views`	Build your frontend views
`--pages`	Alias for --views
`-d, --docs`	Build your documentation site
`-b, --buddy`	Build the Buddy binary
`-s, --stacks`	Build Stacks framework
`--server`	Build the Stacks cloud server (Docker image)
`--project [project]`	Target a specific project
`--verbose`	Enable verbose output

Build Targets

Components Library

Build both STX and Web Component libraries:

buddy build:components
# or
buddy prod:components

This creates production-ready component libraries for distribution via npm or CDN.

Web Components

Build framework-agnostic Web Components (Custom Elements):

buddy build:web-components
# or
buddy build:wc
buddy prod:web-components
buddy prod:wc

Functions Library

Build your function library for npm distribution:

buddy build:functions

Frontend Views

Build your frontend for static site generation (SSG):

buddy build:views

Documentation

Build your documentation site:

buddy build:docs
# or
buddy build:documentation
buddy prod:docs
buddy prod:documentation

CLI

Build the Buddy CLI binary:

buddy build:cli
# or
buddy prod:cli

Desktop Application

Build the desktop application with the Craft runtime and compiled Stacks launcher:

buddy build:desktop
# or
buddy prod:desktop

Mobile Applications

Build both native projects, or target one platform while iterating:

buddy build:mobile
buddy build:ios
buddy build:android
# aliases
buddy prod:mobile
buddy prod:ios
buddy prod:android

Server Docker Image

Build the production server Docker image:

buddy build:server
# or
buddy prod:server
buddy build:docker

Stacks Framework

Build the entire Stacks framework (for core developers):

buddy build:stacks

Core Packages

Build core framework packages:

buddy build:core

Production Aliases

Several build:* commands ship a matching prod:* alias (there is no bare prod command):

buddy prod:components       # Same as buddy build:components
buddy prod:desktop          # Same as buddy build:desktop
buddy prod:mobile           # Same as buddy build:mobile
buddy prod:ios              # Same as buddy build:ios
buddy prod:android          # Same as buddy build:android
buddy prod:web-components   # Same as buddy build:web-components
buddy prod:frontend         # Same as buddy build:frontend (build:views)
buddy prod:cli              # Same as buddy build:cli
buddy prod:server           # Same as buddy build:server
buddy prod:docs             # Same as buddy build:docs
buddy prod:frontend-static  # Same as buddy build:frontend-static

Examples

Build Components with Verbose Output

buddy build:components --verbose

Build Multiple Targets

# Build specific targets sequentially
buddy build:components && buddy build:functions && buddy build:docs

Build for Specific Project

buddy build:views --project my-project

Output Locations

Build outputs are placed in the following locations:

Target	Output Directory
STX Components	`dist/stx/`
Web Components	`dist/web-components/`
Functions	`dist/functions/`
Views	`dist/views/`
Documentation	`dist/docs/`
Desktop	`dist/desktop/`

Build Optimization

Stacks automatically applies production optimizations:

Minification - JavaScript and CSS are minified
Tree Shaking - Unused code is removed
Code Splitting - Code is split into optimal chunks
Asset Optimization - Images and assets are optimized
Compression - Brotli and gzip compression support

Troubleshooting

Build Fails with Memory Error

For large projects, you may need to increase Node's memory limit:

NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=4096" buddy build

TypeScript Errors

If you encounter TypeScript errors during build:

# Run type checking first
buddy test:types

# Fix issues, then rebuild
buddy build

Missing Dependencies

If build fails due to missing dependencies:

buddy install
buddy build

buddy dev - Development server
buddy deploy - Deploy to cloud
buddy test - Run tests