dev-app

A scratch Angular app at dev-app/ used for ad-hoc framework experimentation. Distinct from adev (the documentation site) and from the integration tests under integration/.

Purpose

dev-app exists so framework engineers can:

• Try a runtime change against ordinary application code in a real browser without spinning up a separate workspace.
• Reproduce a bug report quickly by adding a small component or directive to the app.
• Test how a pnpm bazel build //packages/... change affects a real bootstrapApplication flow.

Directory layout

dev-app/
├── src/                  # The Angular app (components, routes, etc.)
├── public/               # Static assets
├── angular.json          # CLI workspace config (CLI is used for dev-app, not Bazel-only)
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.app.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── tsconfig.spec.json

Unlike the rest of the framework code (which builds via Bazel), dev-app consumes the local @angular/* packages through pnpm workspace links and runs through the standard Angular CLI dev server. That keeps the iteration loop fast at the cost of needing a built dist/ directory.

Running

pnpm dev          # Standard dev server (using the CLI's serve target)
pnpm dev:prod     # Production-mode build/serve
pnpm dev:build    # One-shot build

The dev server runs through pnpm --filter=dev-app …; pnpm resolves the script in dev-app/package.json.

Integration points

• @angular/* — depends on workspace versions of every public package. Edits to package source typically appear in dev-app after a rebuild of the affected package.
• The Angular CLI — dev-app uses the CLI's ng serve and ng build rather than Bazel. The CLI repo is a separate Git repository; the version is pinned in package.json.

Status

Use dev-app for experimentation only. Any change you'd want to keep should be promoted to:

• An integration test under integration/ if it's a regression scenario.
• A unit test under the relevant package's test/ if it's testable in isolation.
• A documentation example under adev/src/content/ if it's a usage pattern.

The contents of dev-app/src/ aren't owned by any subsystem — they exist purely as a sandbox.

Entry points for modification

• Add a component, route, or directive to dev-app/src/app/ to reproduce a scenario. Don't commit experimental code unless it's wrapped as a stable demo.
• The dev-server config lives in dev-app/angular.json; the framework team rarely tunes it.