dev

./dev is the wrapper around Bazel that contributors use day-to-day. Source: pkg/cmd/dev/. The script at the repo root (./dev) builds and runs the version of the tool matching the checked-out commit.

Why a wrapper

Bazel is powerful but verbose. dev provides:

• Aliases for common targets (dev test pkg/sql instead of bazel test //pkg/sql:sql_test).
• Environment-aware defaults (dev test --short, dev test --race, dev test --stress).
• Automatic copying of binaries out of Bazel's output tree (e.g. ./cockroach is staged in the repo root after dev build).
• Friendly error messages and dev doctor for environment validation.
• Hooks for codegen (dev gen) and formatting (dev lint).

Sub-commands

Command	Purpose
build	Build a binary or package
test	Run tests
testlogic	Run SQL logic tests
gen	Code generation
lint	Lint
bench	Microbenchmarks
doctor	Environment validation
compose	Run a docker-compose-based test scenario
mergetest	Merge test runs
acceptance	Run acceptance tests

dev <command> --help is exhaustive.

Implementation

The CLI uses Cobra and dispatches to per-command files (pkg/cmd/dev/build.go, pkg/cmd/dev/test.go, …). It runs Bazel as a subprocess and parses its output. The gen subcommands additionally invoke standalone tools (crlfmt, protoc, optgen) that live elsewhere in the tree.

Related pages

• How to contribute / development workflow — usage patterns.
• How to contribute / tooling — tooling surrounding dev.