Introducing the stagewise CLI

Today, we're thrilled to announce the launch of the stagewise CLI, a major step forward in our mission to simplify frontend development.

This new command-line interface is the culmination of feedback from our amazing community and our learnings from the initial version of stagewise. It’s designed to provide a more seamless, powerful, and integrated experience for all web app developers.

Why a CLI?

While our initial launch was a huge success, we listened to your feedback and recognized some recurring pain points. Many of you faced challenges with installation, dependency conflicts, and limited IDE support.

The new stagewise CLI addresses these issues head-on by fundamentally changing how stagewise integrates with your projects.

Here’s what’s new:

• No More Dependencies: Forget about build issues, increased bundle sizes, or licensing worries. The stagewise CLI runs independently, meaning you no longer need to install any packages in your web app.
• First-Class Agent Integration: Get started faster with a seamless integration of the stagewise agent, making your frontend changes a first-class citizen.
• A More Robust Toolbar: The toolbar now hosts your app, ensuring you can keep working even if your dev app crashes. It's completely framework-independent.
• Instant, Worry-Free Updates: The CLI always runs the latest version, so you get the newest features and bug fixes without lifting a finger.
• Automatic Plugin Loading: The CLI intelligently detects your project's frameworks and dependencies to load the most suitable, officially supported plugins for you.
• Clear opt-in: Use your app under development with or without having stagewise active.

How to Get Started

Making the switch is incredibly simple. You can start using the new CLI in just a few steps:

1. Clean Up: Remove all old stagewise toolbar and plugin dependencies from your package.json.
2. Uninstall (Optional): Remove the stagewise extension from your code editor unless you plan to continue using other agents.
3. Run the CLI: Open a terminal in your project's root directory and run npx stagewise@latest (or pnpm dlx stagewise@latest if you use pnpm).
4. Configure: Tell the CLI which port your dev app is running on.

You're Done! A browser window will pop up with the new and improved stagewise experience.

Committed to an Open Model

We are doubling down on our commitment to an open and extensible ecosystem. While we will be gradually phasing out the old code editor extension, we are ensuring that you can continue to use your favorite agents.

If you want to use the agent from your code editor (like Cursor, Windsurf, or VSCode), simply start the CLI in Bridge Mode by running npx stagewise@latest -b.

What's Next?

This is just the beginning. We'll be working hard to make the stagewise CLI even more powerful and compatible with a wider range of setups.

Your feedback is crucial. If you run into any issues, please create a GitHub issue and join us on our Discord community to help us improve.