Getting Started

Get up and running with Nodev in minutes.

System Requirements

• macOS 12 (Monterey) or later

• No Node.js installation required — Nodev ships with Node.js v20.18.0 bundled

• At least one Node.js project to manage

Nodev is distributed as a macOS app. Download the latest version from the website and drag it to your Applications folder.

Nodev requires system permissions to manage your development servers. You'll be prompted to grant these permissions on first launch.

When you first launch Nodev, you'll be guided through the setup process:

Grant Permissions: Nodev will request accessibility and full disk access permissions to manage your servers.
Add Project Folder: Choose a parent folder containing your Node.js projects (e.g., ~/Projects or ~/dev).
Auto-Discovery: Nodev will scan for Node.js projects and detect their frameworks.

Nodev automatically discovers projects in your chosen folder. To add more projects:

Nodev looks for package.json files to identify Node.js projects. Projects without a package.json won't be detected.

Once your projects are added, here's how to use Nodev:

Click the "Start" button next to any project. The server will start on its detected or configured port.

Use the "Start All" button to start all your projects at once. Perfect for beginning a work session.

Click on a running project to view its server logs and output in the terminal panel.

Projects with custom domains will be accessible at their .nodev domain. Others use localhost with their configured port.

Click "Stop" to halt a running server. Use "Stop All" to shut down everything.