---
id: dev-setup
title: Development Setup
---
## IDE
When developing Flipper plugins we recommend the following IDEs:
1. TypeScript (for Flipper Desktop (plugins)): Visual Studio Code
1. Install the "ESLint" (dbaeumer.vscode-eslint) extension from marketplace to enable linting
1. Install the "Prettier" (esbenp.prettier-vscode) extension to enable automatic code-formatting
1. If for some reason it is not working, the builtin TypeScript extension might be disabled. To enable it, to go to extensions, search for “@builtin typescript” and enable it.
1. Android Studio (for Android plugins)
1. XCode (for iOS plugins)
### TypeScript
Flipper Desktop is written in TypeScript.
Using our internal "VSCode @ FB" as IDE is strongly recommended (`code-fb`).
Make sure to install the `[FB-Internal]` "ESLint" and "Pretter" extensions are enabled.
If for some reason it is not working, the builtin TypeScript extension might be disabled. To enable it, to go to extensions, search for “@builtin typescript” and enable it.
### Android (Java)
IntelliJ is the recommended platform. Focussing on a flipper-enabled app should include the flipper modules as expected.
If you don't have an fbsource checkout (e.g. Whatsapp Team), you can open Android Studio and import project: `fbsource/xplat/sonar`
If you're having gradle (or other) problems, make sure you're on the latest Android Studio version.
## Running Flipper from source (recommended)
When developing Flipper plugins we strongly recommend to run from Flipper itself from source as well, as this yields several benefits:
- Automatic transpilation and bundling of loaded plugins: ES6, TypeScript, JSX.
- Automatic refresh after code changes.
- React and Redux Dev Tools.
- [Debugging](debugging) using Chrome Dev Tools or Visual Studio Code.
- Additional debug information like React warnings and performance metrics.
Prerequisites for Flipper development build:
- node ≥ 14
- yarn ≥ 1.5
- git
- watchman
To run Flipper Desktop from source:
```
git clone https://github.com/facebook/flipper.git
cd flipper/desktop
yarn
yarn start
```
Tip: start with `yarn start --fast-refresh` for experimental fast refresh.
```
fbclone fbsource
cd ~/fbsource/xplat/sonar/desktop
yarn
yarn start
```
Tip: start with `yarn start --fast-refresh` for experimental fast refresh.
Tip: start wih `yarn start --public-build` to preview changes for public builds.
Run `code-fb .` in the same directory to open an IDE to hack on Flipper.
### Startup options
You can use several options to customise development build instance. They can be provided as command-line args or environment variables.
You can check all of them by executing `yarn start --help`:
```
yarn start [args]
Options:
--embedded-plugins Enables embedding of plugins into Flipper bundle. If it
disabled then only installed plugins are loaded. The
flag is enabled by default. Env var
FLIPPER_NO_EMBEDDED_PLUGINS is equivalent to the
command-line option "--no-embedded-plugins". [boolean]
--fast-refresh Enable Fast Refresh - quick reload of UI component
changes without restarting Flipper. The flag is disabled
by default. Env var FLIPPER_FAST_REFRESH is equivalent
to the command-line option "--fast-refresh". [boolean]
--plugin-auto-update [FB-internal only] Enable plugin auto-updates. The flag
is disabled by default in dev mode. Env var
FLIPPER_NO_PLUGIN_AUTO_UPDATE is equivalent to the
command-line option "--no-plugin-auto-update" [boolean]
--enabled-plugins Load only specified plugins and skip loading rest. This
is useful when you are developing only one or few
plugins. Plugins to load can be specified as a
comma-separated list with either plugin id or name used
as identifier, e.g. "--enabled-plugins
network,inspector". The flag is not provided by default
which means that all plugins loaded. [array]
--open-dev-tools Open Dev Tools window on startup. The flag is disabled
by default. Env var FLIPPER_OPEN_DEV_TOOLS is equivalent
to the command-line option "--open-dev-tools". If
"FLIPPER_UPDATE_DEV_TOOLS=true" is set additionally,
Flipper will try to update the dev tools from the play
store. [boolean]
--dev-server-port Dev server port. 3000 by default. Env var "PORT=3001" is
equivalent to the command-line option "--dev-server-port
3001". [number] [default: 3000]
--version Show version number [boolean]
--help Show help [boolean]
```
You can also create file `.env` in `desktop` subfolder and specify any environment variables to load them automatically on `yarn start` so you don't need to pass command-line args every time, e.g.:
```
FLIPPER_FAST_REFRESH=true
FLIPPER_OPEN_DEV_TOOLS=true
FLIPPER_ENABLED_PLUGINS=flipper-messages,network,inspector
```
## Guidelines for writing TypeScript
* **Important:** Use `.tsx` file extension for all TypeScript files (instead of `.ts`)
* Prefer `type` for React props and state over interfaces
* Don’t prefix interfaces with `I`
* Enums, Types and Interfaces use PascalCase (uppercase first letter)
* Install 3rd party type definitions as dev dependency (e.g. `yarn add @types/lodash --dev`)
## Submitting a diff / PR
Make sure your new functionality is covered with tests, and run `yarn test` or `yarn test --watch` in the `desktop/` directory to verify that they pass.
See the [testing](testing) page for more details on writing and running test.
To make sure you don't get any lint/formatting errors, run `yarn lint` before submitting your diff. Some errors (especially formatting errors can be auto-fixed by running `yarn fix`