The Ionic Framework command line utility makes it easy to start, build, run, and emulate Ionic apps. In the future, it will also have support for our mobile development services and tools that make Ionic even more powerful.

Use the ionic --help command for more detailed task information.

tarting an Ionic App

Starter templates can either come from a named template, a Github repo, a Codepen, or a local directory. A starter template is what becomes the www directory within the Cordova project.

Named template starters:

• tabs (Default)


• sidemenu


• maps


• salesforce


• tests


• complex-list


• blank

Github Repo starters:

• Any Github repo url, ex: https://github.com/driftyco/ionic-starter-tabs


• Named templates are simply aliases to Ionic starter repos

Codepen URL starters:

• Any Codepen url, ex: http://codepen.io/ionic/pen/odqCz


• Ionic Codepen Demos

Plunker URL starters:

• Any Plunker url, ex: http://embed.plnkr.co/dFvL8n/preview

Local directory starters:

• Relative or absolute path to a local directory

Command-line flags/options:

[--appname|-a]  .......  Human readable name for the app
                         (Use quotes around the name)
[--id|-i]  ............  Package name set in the <widget id> config
                         ex: com.mycompany.myapp
[--no-cordova|-w]  ....  Do not create an app targeted for Cordova
[--sass|-s] ...........  Setup the project to use Sass CSS precompiling
[--list|-l]  ..........  List starter templates available

[--io-app-id] .........  The Ionic.io app ID to use

Adding a platform target

Testing in a Browser

Use ionic serve to start a local development server for app dev and testing. This is useful for both desktop browser testing, and to test within a device browser which is connected to the same network. Additionally, this command starts LiveReload which is used to monitor changes in the file system. As soon as you save a file the browser is refreshed automatically. View Using Sass if you would also like to have ionic serve watch the project's Sass files.

Building your app

Live Reload App During Development (beta)

The run or emulate command will deploy the app to the specified platform devices/emulators. You can also run live reload on the specified platform device by adding the --livereload option. The live reload functionality is similar to ionic serve, but instead of developing and debugging an app using a standard browser, the compiled hybrid app itself is watching for any changes to its files and reloading the app when needed. This reduces the requirement to constantly rebuild the app for small changes. However, any changes to plugins will still require a full rebuild. For live reload to work, the dev machine and device must be on the same local network, and the device must support web sockets.

With live reload enabled, an app's console logs can also be printed to the terminal/command prompt by including the --consolelogs or -c option. Additionally, the development server's request logs can be printed out using --serverlogs or -s options.

Command-line flags/options for run and emulate:

[--livereload|-l] .......  Live Reload app dev files from the device (beta)
[--consolelogs|-c] ......  Print app console logs to Ionic CLI (live reload req.)
[--serverlogs|-s] .......  Print dev server logs to Ionic CLI (live reload req.)
[--port|-p] .............  Dev server HTTP port (8100 default, live reload req.)
[--livereload-port|-i] ..  Live Reload port (35729 default, live reload req.)
[--all|-a] ..............  Specify to run on all addresses, 0.0.0.0, so you can view externally
[--browser|-w] ..........  Specifies the browser to use (safari, firefox, chrome)
[--browseroption|-o] ....  Specifies a path to open to (/#/tab/dash)
[--debug|--release]

While the server is running for live reload, you can use the following commands within the CLI:

restart or r to restart the client app from the root
goto or g and a url to have the app navigate to the given url
consolelogs or c to enable/disable console log output
serverlogs or s to enable/disable server log output
quit or q to shutdown the server and exit

Emulating your app

Deploys the Ionic app on specified platform emulator. This is simply an alias for run --emulator.

Running your app

Deploys the Ionic app on specified platform devices. If a device is not found it'll then deploy to an emulator/simulator.

Icon and Splash Screen Image Generation

Automatically generate icons and splash screens from source images to create each size needed for each platform, in addition to copying each resized and cropped image into each platform's resources directory. Source images can either be a png, psd Photoshop or ai Illustrator file. Images are generated using Ionic's image resizing and cropping server, instead of requiring special libraries and plugins to be installed locally.

Since each platform has different image requirements, it's best to make a source image for the largest size needed, and let the CLI do all the resizing, cropping and copying for you. Newly generated images will be placed in the resources directory at the root of the Cordova project. Additionally, the CLI will update and add the correct <platform> configs to the project's config.xml file.

During the build process, Cordova (v3.6 or later) will look through the project's config.xml file and copy the newly created resource images to the platform's specific resource folder. For example, Android's resource folder can be found in platforms/android/res, and iOS uses platforms/ios/APP_NAME/Resources.

Icon Source Image

Save an icon.png, icon.psd or icon.ai file within the resources directory at the root of the Cordova project. The icon image's minimum dimensions should be 192x192 px, and should have no rounded corners. Note that each platform will apply it's own mask and effects to the icons. For example, iOS will automatically apply it's custom rounded corners, so the source file should not already come with rounded corners. This Photoshop icon template provides the recommended size and guidelines of the artwork's safe zone.

• Photoshop Icon Template

Splash Screen Source Image

Save a splash.png, splash.psd or splash.ai file within the resources directory at the root of the Cordova project. Splash screen dimensions vary for each platform, device and orientation, so a square source image is required the generate each of various sizes. The source image's minimum dimensions should be 2208x2208 px, and its artwork should be centered within the square, knowning that each generated image will be center cropped into landscape and portait images. The splash screen's artwork should roughly fit within a center square (1200x1200 px). This Photoshop splash screen template provides the recommended size and guidelines of the artwork's safe zone. Additionally, when the Orientation preference config is set to either landscape or portrait mode, then only the necessary images will be generated.

• Photoshop Splash Screen Template

Generating Icons and Splash Screens

To generate both icons and splash screens, follow the instructions above and run:

Platform Specific Resource Images

One source image can be used to generate images for each platform by placing the file within the resources directory, such as resources/icon.png. To use different source images for individual platforms, place the source image in the respective platform's directory. For example, to use a different icon for Android, it should follow this path: resources/android/icon.png, and a different image for iOS would use this path: resources/ios/icon.png.

Generating Exact Platform Resources

By default the ionic resources command will automatically figure out which platforms it should generate according to what platforms have been added to your project. However, you can also explicitly state which resources should be built by providing a platform name in the command. The example below would generate only ios resources (even if the platform hasn't been added to the project).

Default Ionic Resources

Ionic provides you some default icons and splash screens to give you a better idea of how to size your icons and splashscreen, as well as how to modify your config.xml file for your own icons.

If you already have a resources directory, the command above will not over write your files. If you wish to force an over write, use ionic resources --default --force.

When starting a new app and adding a platform ionic platform add ios - the default icons and splashscreens will be downloaded and your config.xml will be modified to set up the default resources. This should help you identify your Ionic apps easier as well as help you get the file structure and configuration correct.

Crosswalk for Android

In v1.3.0 and later, you can now specify which browser to use in your Cordova Android projects. Currently we only support Crosswalk and have plans to support more browsers later.

Execute ionic browser add crosswalk to add the Crosswalk browser to your Android project. By default, this will install the 12.41.296.5 version of Crosswalk.

If you'd like to specify a different version of Crosswalk, run ionic browser list to see which browsers are available and what versions. Then run ionic browser add crosswalk@10.39.235.15.

All that is left is to run the project as normal - ionic run android.

If you'd like to build without Crosswalk for Android SDK 21 or later, do the following:

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Downloads Package

How to Download & Install