How to Quickly Launch Your Development Environment with a Single Command

Introduction

Setting up your development environment every time you start working can be tedious. Instead of manually opening browser windows for different sites, you can automate the process with a simple Bash script. In this guide, I’ll show you how to launch your local development server and other essential sites in one command.

Prerequisites

WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) if you are using Windows
Brave Browser (or Chrome) installed
Bash scripting knowledge (optional, but useful)

The Script

Here's a simple Bash script to launch your local development site and other essential resources:

#!/bin/bash
"/mnt/c/Users/USERNAMEHERE/AppData/Local/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Application/brave.exe" --new-window "http://localhost:3000"
"/mnt/c/Users/USERNAMEHERE/AppData/Local/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Application/brave.exe" "https://vercel.com/"
"/mnt/c/Users/USERNAMEHERE/AppData/Local/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Application/brave.exe" "https://react-icons.github.io/react-icons/"

Explanation

The script uses the brave.exe binary to open URLs.
The first command opens the local development environment in a new window.
The subsequent commands open commonly used resources in separate tabs.
This works on Linux and macOS too—you just need to replace the file path to Brave or Chrome accordingly.

Running the Script

Save the script as launch_dev.sh.
Give it execute permissions:
```
chmod +x launch_dev.sh
```
Run it with:
```
./launch_dev.sh
```

Creating an Alias for Quick Access

To make this even faster, you can create an alias:

Open your ~/.bashrc (or ~/.zshrc if using Zsh):
```
nano ~/.bashrc
```

Add the following line at the end:

alias devstart='/path/to/launch_dev.sh'

Save and exit (CTRL + X, then Y, then ENTER).
Apply changes:
```
source ~/.bashrc
```
Now, you can start everything with:
```
devstart
```

Adding the Alias to `package.json`

If you're using yarn dev or npm run dev to start your development server, you can modify your package.json to include the alias so everything launches with a single command.

Open your package.json file.

Find the scripts section and modify the dev command like this:

"scripts": {
  "dev": "./launch_dev.sh & next dev"
}

Now, when you run:
```
yarn dev
```
or
```
npm run dev
```
it will open your local development site and other resources automatically.

Conclusion

Using a simple Bash script and an alias, you can launch your entire development environment with a single command. This saves time and ensures consistency every time you start working. Adapt the script for your own workflow by adding more URLs or tweaking browser options.