Build and publish cross-platform hybrid or native apps and mobile websites using a single pure HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript code base
Leverage the cloud capabilities of the Telerik Platform and Telerik AppBuilder from the command line
The Telerik AppBuilder CLI lets you build, test, deploy, and publish cross-platform hybrid and native mobile apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone, and mobile websites from your favorite IDE or code editor. You can develop your projects locally from the convenience of your preferred code editor and run the command-line to test, build, deploy in the simulator or on devices, and publish your applications to the App Store, Google Play or Windows Phone Store.
- Installation
- Quick Start
- Features
- How to Contribute
- More Telerik AppBuilder Tools and Resources
- License
Latest version: Telerik AppBuilder 2.9.1
Release date: 2015, May 11
Telerik AppBuilder 2.9.1 is a maintenance release. For a complete list of the updates available in Telerik AppBuilder 2.9.1, see Telerik AppBuilder 2.9.1 Release Notes.
For a complete list of the features available in the earlier major release Telerik AppBuilder 2.9, see Telerik AppBuilder 2.9 Release Notes.
Before installing the Telerik AppBuilder CLI, verify that your system meets the following requirements.
Minimum Software Requirements
- Windows 7 or later
- .NET 4.0 or later
- Node.js
- (Windows 7 systems): Node.js 0.10.26 or a later stable official release except 0.10.34
A known issue prevents the {{site.ab-cli}} from working properly with Node.js 0.10.34. - (Windows 8 and later systems): Node.js 0.12.0 or a later stable official release
A known issue in Inquirer.js prevents the interactive prompts from working properly incmdshells on Windows 8 or later systems with Node.js 0.10.x.
- (Windows 7 systems): Node.js 0.10.26 or a later stable official release except 0.10.34
- An Internet browser (latest official release)
- (Optional) git
git is required for development with Screen Builder.
To be able to work with connected iOS devices from the command line, download and install the 32-bit Node.js.
You can download and install the 32-bit Node.js from the Node.js web site.
Additional Software Requirements for iOS On-Device Deployment
- iTunes (latest official)
- Node.js
The bitness of Node.js and iTunes must match.
Additional Software Requirements for Android On-Device Deployment
- Device drivers required by your system to recognize the connected Android device
- For testing in the native emulators
- JDK 7 or later
- Android SDK 19 or later
- (Optional) Genymotion
Additional Software Requirements for Windows Phone On-Device Deployment
In this version of the Telerik AppBuilder CLI, you cannot deploy and LiveSync to connected Windows Phone devices from the command line.
Minimum Software Requirements
- OS X Mavericks
- Node.js 0.10.26 or a later stable official release except 0.10.34
A known issue prevents the AppBuilder CLI from working properly with Node.js 0.10.34. - An Internet browser (latest official release)
- Mono 3.12 or later
- (Optional) git
git is required for development with Screen Builder.
Additional Software Requirements for iOS On-Device Deployment
- iTunes (latest official)
- For testing in the native emulator
- Xcode 5 or later
Additional Software Requirements for Android On-Device Deployment
- Device drivers required by your system to recognize the connected Android device
- For testing in the native emulators
- JDK 7 or later
- Android SDK 19 or later
- (Optional) Genymotion
Additional Software Requirements for Windows Phone On-Device Deployment
In this version of the Telerik AppBuilder CLI, you cannot deploy and LiveSync to connected Windows Phone devices from the command line.
Minimum Software Requirements
-
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
The Telerik AppBuilder CLI is tested and verified to run on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. You might be able to run the Telerik AppBuilder CLI on other Linux distributions. -
Node.js 0.10.26 or a later stable official release except 0.10.34
A known issue prevents the AppBuilder CLI from working properly with Node.js 0.10.34.TIP: You can follow the instructions provided here to install Node.js on your system.
-
An Internet browser (latest official release)
-
(64-bit systems) The runtime libraries for the ia32/i386 architecture
-
In the terminal, run the following command.
sudo apt-get install lib32z1 lib32ncurses5 lib32bz2-1.0 libstdc++6:i386
-
-
(Optional) git
git is required for development with Screen Builder.
Additional Software Requirements for iOS On-Device Deployment
In this version of the Telerik AppBuilder CLI, you cannot deploy and LiveSync on connected iOS devices from the command line. You need to manually deploy the application package using iTunes.
Additional Software Requirements for Android On-Device Deployment
- Device drivers required by your system to recognize the connected Android device
- G++ compiler
- In the terminal, run
sudo apt-get install g++
- In the terminal, run
- For testing in the native emulators
- JDK 7 or later
- Android SDK 19 or later
- (Optional) Genymotion
Additional Software Requirements for Windows Phone On-Device Deployment
In this version of the Telerik AppBuilder CLI, you cannot deploy and LiveSync to connected Windows Phone devices from the command line.
The Telerik AppBuilder CLI is available for installing as an npm package.
In the command prompt, run the following command.
| OS | Node.js installed from http://nodejs.org/ | Node.js installed via package manager |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | npm install appbuilder -g |
npm install appbuilder -g |
| OS X | sudo npm install appbuilder -g --unsafe-perm |
npm install appbuilder -g |
| Linux | sudo npm install appbuilder -g --unsafe-perm |
npm install appbuilder -g |
If you are working with the Telerik AppBuilder CLI behind a web proxy, you might need to configure your proxy settings.
- On your file system, locate the directory where the appbuilder npm package is installed.
- In a text editor, open
config→config.json. - Set
USE_PROXYtotrue. - Set
PROXY_PORT. - Set
PROXY_HOSTNAME.
Make sure to preserve the quotation marks and commas as in the initial
config.jsonfile.
- Log In
- Create Project
- Run in Simulator
- Run on Device
- Modify Your Code
- Get Code Changes in the Simulator and on Device
- Modify the Application Package with .abignore
- Get Help
1. Log in the Telerik Platform
To connect to your Telerik Platform account, run the following command.
$ appbuilder loginA new tab opens in your default browser. Provide your login credentials, confirm the sign in, verify that the following message is present in the command line: Login completed, and close the browser tab after the confirmation.
Create new project from template
To create a new project from the default template, navigate to an empty directory and run the following command.
$ appbuilder create <Type> MyAppYou can set hybrid, native or website for <Type>.
The Telerik AppBuilder CLI creates a new subdirectory MyApp in the current directory and places the project files inside it.
Create new project from existing project
To initialize an existing project for development from the command line, navigate to the local directory that contains the project files and run the following command.
$ appbuilder initThe Telerik AppBuilder CLI attempts to retain any existing project configuration and, if missing, creates any AppBuilder-specific files required for development. If the directory contains an existing AppBuilder project, after the operation completes, you might want to manually set new unique values for the WP8ProductID and WP8PublisherID properties to avoid issues when running your app on device.
For more information about how to configure your project properties, run appbuilder prop --help.
Create new project from sample
To create a new project from the AppBuilder sample apps from the command line, navigate to an empty directory and run the following command.
appbuilder sample clone <Sample>To list the available sample apps, run appbuilder sample.
The Telerik AppBuilder CLI creates a new subdirectory in the current directory, clones the sample inside it and preserves the existing project configuration of the sample app.
Create new project with Screen Builder
Screen Builder lets you quickly create a new project for hybrid mobile development customized with navigation, home view and user interface skin.
appbuilder create screenbuilder <My App>The Telerik AppBuilder CLI creates a new subdirectory MyApp in the current directory and places the project files inside it. After you navigate to your Screen Builder-based project, you can run the Screen Builder commands to further customize your project by adding application views, connecting to data sources, creating user registration and sign-in and adding forms, lists and fields. For more information, run $ appbuilder screenbuilder -h
This operation is applicable to hybrid and mobile website projects.
To load your newly created project in the simulator, navigate to the folder containing your project files and run the following command.
$ appbuilder simulateIn this version of the Telerik AppBuilder CLI, you cannot run the device simulator on Linux systems.
The Telerik AppBuilder CLI launches the device simulator. In the device simulator, you can change the target device form factor, mobile platform and version, and orientation. You can adjust the geolocation details, network connection configuration, file storage configuration, and the default contacts. You can debug your code using the built-in debug tools.
For more information about the Telerik AppBuilder device simulator, see Running Apps in the Device Simulator.
This operation is applicable to hybrid and native projects.
To run your app on an Android device, install a QR code reader on the device, install the Telerik AppBuilder companion app for hybrid apps or the Telerik NativeScript companion app for native projects, navigate to the folder containing your project files and run the following command in the command line.
$ appbuilder build android --companionAfter the operation completes, the Telerik AppBuilder CLI opens a new tab in your browser and shows a QR code for deployment in the companion app. On the device, use the built-in QR code scanner in the companion app to scan the QR code and load the project. To toggle the built-in QR code scanner, run the companion app and complete the tutorial. With two fingers, tap and swipe the left edge of the screen to the right and tap QR Scanner.
With the companion app, you can deploy and test your Android apps without the need to configure any device drivers on your system, to configure your device for deployment, and to build an application package. You can get the Telerik AppBuilder companion app from Google Play. You can get the Telerik NativeScript companion app from Google Play.
To run your app on an iOS device, install the Telerik AppBuilder companion app for hybrid apps or the Telerik NativeScript companion app for native projects, run it, and navigate to the folder containing your project files and run the following command in the command line.
$ appbuilder build ios --companionAfter the operation completes, the Telerik AppBuilder CLI opens a new tab in your browser and shows a QR code for deployment in the companion app. On the device, use the built-in QR code scanner in the companion app to scan the QR code and load the project. To toggle the built-in QR code scanner, run the companion app and complete the tutorial. With two fingers, tap and swipe the left edge of the screen to the right and tap QR Scanner.
With the Telerik AppBuilder companion app, you can deploy and test your iOS apps without the need to provision them first. You can get the Telerik AppBuilder companion app from the App Store. You can get the Telerik NativeScript companion app from App Store.
For Windows Phone, you can develop only hybrid apps.
To run your app on a Windows Phone device, install a QR code reader on the device, navigate to the folder containing your project files and run the following command in the command line.
$ appbuilder build wp8 --companionAfter the operation completes, the Telerik AppBuilder CLI opens a new tab in your browser and shows a QR code for deployment in the companion app. On the device, use the built-in QR code scanner in the companion app to scan the QR code and load the project. To toggle the built-in QR code scanner, run the companion app, with two fingers, tap and swipe the left edge of the screen to the right and tap QR Scanner.
With the Telerik AppBuilder companion app, you can deploy and test your iOS apps without the need to provision them first. You can get the Telerik AppBuilder companion app from the Windows Phone Store.
Edit your code in your preferred IDE or code editor. Save your changes.
In Sublime Text 2 and Sublime Text 3, you can install the Telerik AppBuilder package which provides integration with the Telerik AppBuilder CLI. For more information, click here.
6. Get code changes in the simulator and on device
This operation is applicable only to hybrid and native projects.
In the running device simulator, your app refreshes automatically on save.
To get changes inside your running app, navigate to the folder containing your project files and run the following command.
$ appbuilder livesync cloudOn the device, in the running app, tap and hold with three fingers until the download pop-up appears. After the download completes, the app refreshes automatically.
8. Modify the application package with .abignore
When you develop apps with the Telerik AppBuilder Command-Line Interface (AppBuilder CLI), you can choose which files to exclude from your application package. To set exclude and include rules, you can modify the .abignore file in the root of your project.
Starting with AppBuilder 2.6, all newly created projects or cloned sample apps contain a default .abignore. To manage the exclude and include rules for projects created with earlier versions of AppBuilder, you need to manually add .abignore to your project.
For more information about creating and maintaining your .abignore file, see this manual.
7. List the available commands
To list the available commands, run the following command.
$ appbuilder helpTo learn more about a command, run the command with the --help option. For example, to show more information about create, run the following command.
$ appbuilder create --helpLatest version: Telerik AppBuilder 2.9.1
Release date: 2015, May 11
Telerik AppBuilder 2.9.1 is a maintenance release. For a complete list of the updates available in Telerik AppBuilder 2.9.1, see Telerik AppBuilder 2.9.1 Release Notes.
For a complete list of the features available in the earlier major release Telerik AppBuilder 2.9, see Telerik AppBuilder 2.9 Release Notes.
To see a complete list of the available commands, click here or run $ appbuilder help in the command prompt.
| Platform | Operation | Windows | OS X | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-platform | Develop hybrid mobile apps locally |  |
|
|
| Develop hybrid mobile apps with third-party tools | |
|
|
|
| Develop hybrid mobile apps with Sublime Text | |
|
|
|
| Log in and out of the Telerik Platform | |
|
|
|
| View login information | |
|
|
|
| Switch Telerik AppBuilder accounts |  |
|
|
|
| Create projects from the project templates | |
|
|
|
| Create projects with Screen Builder | |
|
|
|
| Initialize existing projects for development | |
|
|
|
| Clone the sample apps | |
|
|
|
| Export existing projects from your Telerik Platform account and initialize them for development | |
|
|
|
| Develop with Apache Cordova 3.0.0 or later | |
|
|
|
| Migrate between supported Apache Cordova versions | |
|
|
|
| Enable and disable the core Apache Cordova plugins | |
|
|
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| Enable and disable the integrated Apache Cordova plugins | |
|
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| Enable and disable the Telerik verified plugins | |
|
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| Fetch custom Apache Cordova plugins from the Apache Cordova Plugin Registry | |
|
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| Customize the Debug and Release build configurations | |
|
|
|
| Configure plugin variables from the command-line | |
|
|
|
| Run apps in the device simulator | |
|
|
|
| Debug apps in the device simulator | |
|
|
|
| Manage code signing identities | |
|
|
|
| Configure project properties | |
|
|
|
| Edit configuration files | |
|
|
|
Edit .abignore to exclude files and folders from the build process(You might need to add .abignore to your projects manually.) |
|
|
|
|
| iOS | Connect devices | |
|
|
| List connected devices | |
|
|
|
| View the device log for connected devices | |
|
|
|
| Build and deploy via QR code | |
|
|
|
| Build and deploy manually | |
|
|
|
| Build and deploy via cable connection | |
|
|
|
| Run in the companion app | |
|
|
|
| LiveSync changes wirelessly with the three-finger gesture | |
|
|
|
| LiveSync changes via cable connection | |
|
|
|
| Debug apps while running on connected device | |
|
|
|
| Run apps in the native iOS Simulator | |
|
|
|
| Build for distribution in the App Store | |
|
|
|
| Upload application packages to iTunes Connect | |
|
|
|
| Build and upload your app to Telerik AppManager | |
|
|
|
| Update your published app with AppManager LiveSync | |
|
|
|
| Android | Connect devices | |
|
|
| List connected devices | |
|
|
|
| View the device log for connected devices | |
|
|
|
| Build and deploy via QR code | |
|
|
|
| Build and deploy manually | |
|
|
|
| Build and deploy via cable connection | |
|
|
|
| Run in the companion app | |
|
|
|
| LiveSync changes wirelessly with the three-finger gesture | |
|
|
|
| LiveSync changes via cable connection | |
|
|
|
| Debug apps while running on connected device | |
|
|
|
| Run apps in the native Android emulator | |
|
|
|
| Run apps in Genymotion | |
|
|
|
| Build for distribution in Google Play | |
|
|
|
| Build and upload your app to Telerik AppManager | |
|
|
|
| Update your published app with AppManager LiveSync | |
|
|
|
| Windows Phone | Connect devices | |
|
|
| List connected devices | |
|
|
|
| View the device log for connected devices | |
|
|
|
| Build and deploy via QR code | |
|
|
|
| Build and deploy manually | |
|
|
|
| Build and deploy via cable connection | |
|
|
|
| Run in the companion app | |
|
|
|
| LiveSync changes wirelessly with the three-finger gesture | |
|
|
|
| LiveSync changes via cable connection | |
|
|
|
| Debug apps while running on connected device | |
|
|
|
| Run apps in the native Windows Phone emulator | |
|
|
|
| Build for distribution in the Windows Phone Store | |
|
|
|
| Build and upload your app to Telerik AppManager | |
|
|
|
| Update your published app with AppManager LiveSync | |
|
|
| Platform | Operation | Windows | OS X | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-platform | Develop native mobile apps locally | |
|
|
| Develop native mobile apps with third-party tools | |
|
|
|
| Develop native mobile apps with Sublime Text | |
|
|
|
| Log in and out of the Telerik Platform | |
|
|
|
| View login information | |
|
|
|
| Switch Telerik AppBuilder accounts | |
|
|
|
| Create projects from the project templates | |
|
|
|
| Create projects with Screen Builder | |
|
|
|
| Initialize existing projects for development | |
|
|
|
| Export existing projects from your Telerik Platform account and initialize them for development | |
|
|
|
| Develop with NativeScript 0.10.0 | |
|
|
|
| Migrate between supported NativeScript versions | |
|
|
|
| Customize the Debug and Release build configurations | |
|
|
|
| Run apps in the device simulator | |
|
|
|
| Debug apps in the device simulator | |
|
|
|
| Manage code signing identities | |
|
|
|
| Configure project properties | |
|
|
|
| Edit configuration files | |
|
|
|
Edit .abignore to exclude files and folders from the build process(You might need to add .abignore to your projects manually.) |
|
|
|
|
| iOS | Connect devices | |
|
|
| List connected devices | |
|
|
|
| View the device log for connected devices | |
|
|
|
| Build and deploy via QR code | |
|
|
|
| Build and deploy manually | |
|
|
|
| Build and deploy via cable connection | |
|
|
|
| Run in the companion app | |
|
|
|
| LiveSync changes to app package wirelessly with the three-finger gesture | |
|
|
|
| LiveSync changes to app package via cable connection | |
|
|
|
| LiveSync changes to the companion app wirelessly with the three-finger gesture | |
|
|
|
| LiveSync changes to the companion app via cable connection | |
|
|
|
| Debug apps while running on connected device | |
|
|
|
| Run apps in the native iOS Simulator | |
|
|
|
| Build for distribution in the App Store | |
|
|
|
| Upload application packages to iTunes Connect | |
|
|
|
| Build and upload your app to Telerik AppManager | |
|
|
|
| Update your published app with AppManager LiveSync | |
|
|
|
| Android | Connect devices | |
|
|
| List connected devices | |
|
|
|
| View the device log for connected devices | |
|
|
|
| Build and deploy via QR code | |
|
|
|
| Build and deploy manually | |
|
|
|
| Build and deploy via cable connection | |
|
|
|
| Run in the companion app | |
|
|
|
| LiveSync changes to app package wirelessly with the three-finger gesture | |
|
|
|
| LiveSync changes to app package via cable connection | |
|
|
|
| LiveSync changes to the companion app wirelessly with the three-finger gesture | |
|
|
|
| LiveSync changes to the companion app via cable connection | |
|
|
|
| Debug apps while running on connected device | |
|
|
|
| Run apps in the native Android emulator | |
|
|
|
| Run apps in Genymotion | |
|
|
|
| Build for distribution in Google Play | |
|
|
|
| Build and upload your app to Telerik AppManager | |
|
|
|
| Update your published app with AppManager LiveSync | |
|
|
| Platform | Operation | Windows | OS X | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-platform | Develop mobile websites locally | |
|
|
| Develop mobile websites with third-party tools | |
|
|
|
| Develop mobile websites with Sublime Text | |
|
|
|
| Log in and out of the Telerik Platform | |
|
|
|
| View login information | |
|
|
|
| Switch Telerik AppBuilder accounts | |
|
|
|
| Create projects from the project templates | |
|
|
|
| Create projects with Screen Builder | |
|
|
|
| Initialize existing projects for development | |
|
|
|
| Clone the sample apps | |
|
|
|
| Export existing projects from your Telerik Platform account and initialize them for development | |
|
|
|
| Run in the device simulator | |
|
|
|
| Debug in the device simulator | |
|
|
|
| Publish to FTP | |
|
|
The following Telerik AppBuilder features are not applicable to the Telerik AppBuilder CLI and will not become available in a future release.
- You cannot use the Data Navigator to review your Telerik Backend Services projects and their resources.
- You cannot use the Telerik AppBuilder version control and storage cloud services.
To learn how to log a bug that you just discovered, click here.
To learn how to suggest a new feature or improvement, click here.
To learn how to contribute to the code base, click here.
- Telerik AppBuilder Windows client: Lightweight Windows IDE.
- Telerik AppBuilder in-browser client: Browser-based IDE that is compatible with most modern web and mobile browsers.
- Telerik AppBuilder extension for Visual Studio: Extension for the popular Microsoft IDE.
- Telerik AppBuilder package for Sublime Text: A package for the popular text editor.
- Telerik AppBuilder companion app: iOS testing utility available for free on the App Store.
- Telerik AppBuilder documentation: Learn more about what you can do with Telerik AppBuilder.
- Telerik AppBuilder web page: Visit the Telerik AppBuilder web site.
This software is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license, quoted here.