diff --git a/desktop/package.json b/desktop/package.json
index 0c0848f82..6af947761 100644
--- a/desktop/package.json
+++ b/desktop/package.json
@@ -205,11 +205,10 @@
     "build:babel-transformer": "cd babel-transformer && yarn build",
     "prebuild": "yarn build:babel-transformer && yarn rm-dist",
     "build": "cross-env NODE_ENV=production ./ts-node scripts/build-release.ts $@",
+    "build:dev": "cross-env NODE_ENV=development ./ts-node scripts/build-release.ts $@",
     "prebuild-headless": "yarn build:babel-transformer",
     "build-headless": "cross-env NODE_ENV=production ./ts-node scripts/build-headless.ts $@",
     "open-dist": "open ../dist/mac/Flipper.app --args --launcher=false",
-    "test-dist": "yarn build --mac && yarn open-dist --inspect=9229",
-    "test-dist:no-embedded-plugins": "yarn build --mac --no-embedded-plugins && yarn open-dist --inspect=9229",
     "fix": "eslint . --fix --ext .js,.ts,.tsx",
     "test": "yarn build:babel-transformer && jest --env=jest-environment-jsdom-sixteen --testPathPattern=\"node\\.(js|ts|tsx)$\" --no-cache",
     "test:debug": "yarn build:babel-transformer && node --inspect node_modules/.bin/jest --runInBand --env=jest-environment-jsdom-sixteen",
diff --git a/desktop/scripts/build-utils.ts b/desktop/scripts/build-utils.ts
index 7b9338710..b002731ad 100644
--- a/desktop/scripts/build-utils.ts
+++ b/desktop/scripts/build-utils.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import path from 'path';
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import {spawn} from 'promisify-child-process';
 import recursiveReaddir from 'recursive-readdir';
-import getWatchFolders from '../static/get-watch-folders';
+import getWatchFolders from '../static/getWatchFolders';
 import getAppWatchFolders from './get-app-watch-folders';
 import {
   appDir,
diff --git a/desktop/scripts/get-app-watch-folders.ts b/desktop/scripts/get-app-watch-folders.ts
index 829e2ee6b..996afbabd 100644
--- a/desktop/scripts/get-app-watch-folders.ts
+++ b/desktop/scripts/get-app-watch-folders.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import path from 'path';
-import getWatchFolders from '../static/get-watch-folders';
+import getWatchFolders from '../static/getWatchFolders';
 import {appDir, pluginsDir} from './paths';
 
 /**
diff --git a/desktop/static/compilePlugins.ts b/desktop/static/compilePlugins.ts
index 2c65aca38..1fb6a8f7c 100644
--- a/desktop/static/compilePlugins.ts
+++ b/desktop/static/compilePlugins.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
  * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
  *
  * @format
- * @flow strict-local
  */
 
 import path from 'path';
@@ -13,11 +12,15 @@ import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import Metro from 'metro';
 import util from 'util';
 import recursiveReaddir from 'recursive-readdir';
-import expandTilde from 'expand-tilde';
 import pMap from 'p-map';
 import {homedir} from 'os';
-import Watchman from './watchman';
-import getWatchFolders from './get-watch-folders';
+import getWatchFolders from './getWatchFolders';
+import {
+  default as getPluginEntryPoints,
+  PluginManifest,
+  PluginInfo,
+} from './getPluginEntryPoints';
+import watchPlugins from './watchPlugins';
 
 const HOME_DIR = homedir();
 
@@ -36,21 +39,6 @@ export type CompileOptions = {
   recompileOnChanges: boolean;
 };
 
-export type PluginManifest = {
-  version: string;
-  name: string;
-  main?: string;
-  bundleMain?: string;
-  [key: string]: any;
-};
-
-type PluginInfo = {
-  rootDir: string;
-  name: string;
-  entry: string;
-  manifest: PluginManifest;
-};
-
 export type CompiledPluginInfo = PluginManifest & {out: string};
 
 export default async function (
@@ -60,7 +48,7 @@ export default async function (
   options: CompileOptions = DEFAULT_COMPILE_OPTIONS,
 ) {
   options = Object.assign({}, DEFAULT_COMPILE_OPTIONS, options);
-  const plugins = pluginEntryPoints(pluginPaths);
+  const plugins = getPluginEntryPoints(pluginPaths);
   if (!(await fs.pathExists(pluginCache))) {
     await fs.mkdir(pluginCache);
   }
@@ -81,76 +69,24 @@ export default async function (
   console.log('✅  Compiled all plugins.');
   return dynamicPlugins;
 }
-
-async function startWatchingPluginsUsingWatchman(
-  plugins: PluginInfo[],
-  onPluginChanged: (plugin: PluginInfo) => void,
-) {
-  // Initializing a watchman for each folder containing plugins
-  const watchmanRootMap: {[key: string]: Watchman} = {};
-  await Promise.all(
-    plugins.map(async (plugin) => {
-      const watchmanRoot = path.resolve(plugin.rootDir, '..');
-      if (!watchmanRootMap[watchmanRoot]) {
-        watchmanRootMap[watchmanRoot] = new Watchman(watchmanRoot);
-        await watchmanRootMap[watchmanRoot].initialize();
-      }
-    }),
-  );
-  // Start watching plugins using the initialized watchmans
-  await Promise.all(
-    plugins.map(async (plugin) => {
-      const watchmanRoot = path.resolve(plugin.rootDir, '..');
-      const watchman = watchmanRootMap[watchmanRoot];
-      await watchman.startWatchFiles(
-        path.relative(watchmanRoot, plugin.rootDir),
-        () => onPluginChanged(plugin),
-        {
-          excludes: ['**/__tests__/**/*', '**/node_modules/**/*', '**/.*'],
-        },
-      );
-    }),
-  );
-}
-
 async function startWatchChanges(
   plugins: {[key: string]: PluginInfo},
   reloadCallback: (() => void) | null,
   pluginCache: string,
   options: CompileOptions = DEFAULT_COMPILE_OPTIONS,
 ) {
-  // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
-  console.log('🕵️‍  Watching for plugin changes');
-
-  const delayedCompilation: {[key: string]: NodeJS.Timeout | null} = {};
-  const kCompilationDelayMillis = 1000;
-  const onPluginChanged = (plugin: PluginInfo) => {
-    if (!delayedCompilation[plugin.name]) {
-      delayedCompilation[plugin.name] = setTimeout(() => {
-        delayedCompilation[plugin.name] = null;
-        // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
-        console.log(`🕵️‍  Detected changes in ${plugin.name}`);
-        const watchOptions = Object.assign(options, {force: true});
-        compilePlugin(plugin, pluginCache, watchOptions).then(
-          reloadCallback ?? (() => {}),
-        );
-      }, kCompilationDelayMillis);
-    }
-  };
   const filteredPlugins = Object.values(plugins)
     // no hot reloading for plugins in .flipper folder. This is to prevent
     // Flipper from reloading, while we are doing changes on thirdparty plugins.
     .filter(
       (plugin) => !plugin.rootDir.startsWith(path.join(HOME_DIR, '.flipper')),
     );
-  try {
-    await startWatchingPluginsUsingWatchman(filteredPlugins, onPluginChanged);
-  } catch (err) {
-    console.error(
-      'Failed to start watching plugin files using Watchman, continue without hot reloading',
-      err,
-    );
-  }
+  const watchOptions = Object.assign(options, {force: true});
+  await watchPlugins(filteredPlugins, (plugin) =>
+    compilePlugin(plugin, pluginCache, watchOptions).then(
+      reloadCallback ?? (() => {}),
+    ),
+  );
 }
 function hash(string: string) {
   let hash = 0;
@@ -177,69 +113,6 @@ const createModuleIdFactory = () => (filePath: string) => {
   }
   return id;
 };
-function pluginEntryPoints(additionalPaths: string[] = []) {
-  const defaultPluginPath = path.join(HOME_DIR, '.flipper', 'node_modules');
-  const entryPoints = entryPointForPluginFolder(defaultPluginPath);
-  if (typeof additionalPaths === 'string') {
-    additionalPaths = [additionalPaths];
-  }
-  additionalPaths.forEach((additionalPath) => {
-    const additionalPlugins = entryPointForPluginFolder(additionalPath);
-    Object.keys(additionalPlugins).forEach((key) => {
-      entryPoints[key] = additionalPlugins[key];
-    });
-  });
-  return entryPoints;
-}
-function entryPointForPluginFolder(pluginPath: string) {
-  pluginPath = expandTilde(pluginPath);
-  if (!fs.existsSync(pluginPath)) {
-    return {};
-  }
-  return fs
-    .readdirSync(pluginPath)
-    .filter((name) => fs.lstatSync(path.join(pluginPath, name)).isDirectory())
-    .filter(Boolean)
-    .map((name) => {
-      let packageJSON;
-      try {
-        packageJSON = fs
-          .readFileSync(path.join(pluginPath, name, 'package.json'))
-          .toString();
-      } catch (e) {}
-      if (packageJSON) {
-        try {
-          const json = JSON.parse(packageJSON);
-          if (!json.keywords || !json.keywords.includes('flipper-plugin')) {
-            console.log(
-              `Skipping package "${json.name}", because its "keywords" field does not contain tag "flipper-plugin"`,
-            );
-            return null;
-          }
-          const pkg = json as PluginManifest;
-          const plugin: PluginInfo = {
-            manifest: pkg,
-            name: pkg.name,
-            entry: path.join(pluginPath, name, pkg.main || 'index.js'),
-            rootDir: path.join(pluginPath, name),
-          };
-          return plugin;
-        } catch (e) {
-          console.error(
-            `Could not load plugin "${pluginPath}", because package.json is invalid.`,
-          );
-          console.error(e);
-          return null;
-        }
-      }
-      return null;
-    })
-    .filter(Boolean)
-    .reduce<{[key: string]: PluginInfo}>((acc, cv) => {
-      acc[cv!.name] = cv!;
-      return acc;
-    }, {});
-}
 async function mostRecentlyChanged(dir: string) {
   const files = await util.promisify<string, string[]>(recursiveReaddir)(dir);
   return files
diff --git a/desktop/static/getPluginEntryPoints.ts b/desktop/static/getPluginEntryPoints.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ac0a246a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/static/getPluginEntryPoints.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ *
+ * @format
+ */
+
+import path from 'path';
+import fs from 'fs-extra';
+import expandTilde from 'expand-tilde';
+import {homedir} from 'os';
+
+const HOME_DIR = homedir();
+
+export type PluginManifest = {
+  version: string;
+  name: string;
+  main?: string;
+  bundleMain?: string;
+  [key: string]: any;
+};
+
+export type PluginInfo = {
+  rootDir: string;
+  name: string;
+  entry: string;
+  manifest: PluginManifest;
+};
+
+export default function getPluginEntryPoints(additionalPaths: string[] = []) {
+  const defaultPluginPath = path.join(HOME_DIR, '.flipper', 'node_modules');
+  const entryPoints = entryPointForPluginFolder(defaultPluginPath);
+  if (typeof additionalPaths === 'string') {
+    additionalPaths = [additionalPaths];
+  }
+  additionalPaths.forEach((additionalPath) => {
+    const additionalPlugins = entryPointForPluginFolder(additionalPath);
+    Object.keys(additionalPlugins).forEach((key) => {
+      entryPoints[key] = additionalPlugins[key];
+    });
+  });
+  return entryPoints;
+}
+function entryPointForPluginFolder(pluginPath: string) {
+  pluginPath = expandTilde(pluginPath);
+  if (!fs.existsSync(pluginPath)) {
+    return {};
+  }
+  return fs
+    .readdirSync(pluginPath)
+    .filter((name) => fs.lstatSync(path.join(pluginPath, name)).isDirectory())
+    .filter(Boolean)
+    .map((name) => {
+      let packageJSON;
+      try {
+        packageJSON = fs
+          .readFileSync(path.join(pluginPath, name, 'package.json'))
+          .toString();
+      } catch (e) {}
+      if (packageJSON) {
+        try {
+          const json = JSON.parse(packageJSON);
+          if (!json.keywords || !json.keywords.includes('flipper-plugin')) {
+            console.log(
+              `Skipping package "${json.name}" as its "keywords" field does not contain tag "flipper-plugin"`,
+            );
+            return null;
+          }
+          const pkg = json as PluginManifest;
+          const plugin: PluginInfo = {
+            manifest: pkg,
+            name: pkg.name,
+            entry: path.join(pluginPath, name, pkg.main || 'index.js'),
+            rootDir: path.join(pluginPath, name),
+          };
+          return plugin;
+        } catch (e) {
+          console.error(
+            `Could not load plugin "${pluginPath}", because package.json is invalid.`,
+          );
+          console.error(e);
+          return null;
+        }
+      }
+      return null;
+    })
+    .filter(Boolean)
+    .reduce<{[key: string]: PluginInfo}>((acc, cv) => {
+      acc[cv!.name] = cv!;
+      return acc;
+    }, {});
+}
diff --git a/desktop/static/get-watch-folders.ts b/desktop/static/getWatchFolders.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from desktop/static/get-watch-folders.ts
rename to desktop/static/getWatchFolders.ts
diff --git a/desktop/static/watchPlugins.ts b/desktop/static/watchPlugins.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6d63abf7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/static/watchPlugins.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ *
+ * @format
+ */
+
+import path from 'path';
+import Watchman from './watchman';
+import {PluginInfo} from './getPluginEntryPoints';
+
+export default async function watchPlugins(
+  plugins: PluginInfo[],
+  compilePlugin: (plugin: PluginInfo) => void | Promise<void>,
+) {
+  // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+  console.log('🕵️‍  Watching for plugin changes');
+
+  const delayedCompilation: {[key: string]: NodeJS.Timeout | null} = {};
+  const kCompilationDelayMillis = 1000;
+  const onPluginChanged = (plugin: PluginInfo) => {
+    if (!delayedCompilation[plugin.name]) {
+      delayedCompilation[plugin.name] = setTimeout(() => {
+        delayedCompilation[plugin.name] = null;
+        // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+        console.log(`🕵️‍  Detected changes in ${plugin.name}`);
+        compilePlugin(plugin);
+      }, kCompilationDelayMillis);
+    }
+  };
+  try {
+    await startWatchingPluginsUsingWatchman(plugins, onPluginChanged);
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error(
+      'Failed to start watching plugin files using Watchman, continue without hot reloading',
+      err,
+    );
+  }
+}
+
+async function startWatchingPluginsUsingWatchman(
+  plugins: PluginInfo[],
+  onPluginChanged: (plugin: PluginInfo) => void,
+) {
+  // Initializing a watchman for each folder containing plugins
+  const watchmanRootMap: {[key: string]: Watchman} = {};
+  await Promise.all(
+    plugins.map(async (plugin) => {
+      const watchmanRoot = path.resolve(plugin.rootDir, '..');
+      if (!watchmanRootMap[watchmanRoot]) {
+        watchmanRootMap[watchmanRoot] = new Watchman(watchmanRoot);
+        await watchmanRootMap[watchmanRoot].initialize();
+      }
+    }),
+  );
+  // Start watching plugins using the initialized watchmans
+  await Promise.all(
+    plugins.map(async (plugin) => {
+      const watchmanRoot = path.resolve(plugin.rootDir, '..');
+      const watchman = watchmanRootMap[watchmanRoot];
+      await watchman.startWatchFiles(
+        path.relative(watchmanRoot, plugin.rootDir),
+        () => onPluginChanged(plugin),
+        {
+          excludes: ['**/__tests__/**/*', '**/node_modules/**/*', '**/.*'],
+        },
+      );
+    }),
+  );
+}