Local Development Setup

Local Development Setup

Setting up PulseBoard for local development is fully structured around Firebase Emulators to ensure zero external hosting costs and offline capability.

Quick Start (3 Steps)

1. Install Dependencies

Verify you are using Node.js 18+ or 20+, and run:

npm install

2. Configure Environment Variables

Create a .env.local file in the root directory. You can copy the values from .env.example:

cp .env.example .env.local

For purely local emulation, ensure this toggle is set to true:

NEXT_PUBLIC_USE_FIREBASE_EMULATORS=true

3. Spin Up Emulators and Dev Server

Start the Firebase Emulator Suite (Auth + Firestore) along with the Next.js development server:

npm run dev

The app will be accessible at http://localhost:3000. The Firebase Emulator UI dashboard will be available at http://localhost:4000.

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Seeding Mock Data

To test the application with pre-populated workspaces, monitors, response times, and historic incident logs, run:

# While the dev server is running
curl http://localhost:3000/api/demo/seed

This inserts high-fidelity mock data into your local emulator so you can immediately see graph rendering, status filters, and timeline listings.

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Running E2E Playwright Tests

PulseBoard includes a comprehensive test suite of 20 automated tests validating UI features, auth locks, and API responses.

# Run tests in headless mode
npm run test:e2e

# Run tests with the visual UI browser
npm run test:e2e:ui

Note: Make sure your dev server is active at http://localhost:3000 before running the test commands.