Contributing to the CLI

Where stuff lives

The CLI is divided into two parts:

1. Shared code: Some of the code is shared between 'current' and 'vnext'. This code is mostly responsible for installing RNW. It lives here:
   [Root]\current\local-cli\rnpm\windows
2. vnext code: The rest of the CLI specific to vnext lives here:
   [Root]\vnext\local-cli

How to test local changes to the CLI:

1. If you are making changes to the shared code, you can install from your local enlistment during the yarn add rnpm-plugin-windows step by supplying an @file suffix. For example, if your enlistment root was d:\rnw:
   yarn add rnpm-plugin-windows@file:d:\rnw\current\local-cli\rnpm\windows
2. If you are making changes to the vnext part of the CLI, you can install RNW from your local enlistment by supplying the --windowsVersion parameter to the react-native windows command. For example:
   react-native windows --windowsVersion file:d:\rnw\vnext

How to debug the CLI:

The easiest way to to debug is using VS Code. You just need to create a configuration within your template app directory that tells VS Code to launch the CLI in an instance of node and debug node on startup. Here's an example launch.json with a single configuration:
{   "version": "0.2.0",   "configurations": [

    {
      "type": "node",
      "request": "launch",
      "name": "react-native windows",
      "program": "${workspaceRoot}/node_modules/react-native/cli.js",
      "args": ["windows", "--template", "vnext", "--windowsVersion", "file:../rnw/vnext"],
      "stopOnEntry": true
    }
  ],
  "compounds": []
}