00. Meet the Dev Console

Before you start typing a long list of commands manually, take a moment to understand the built-in Dev Console that ships with ZShip.

Its purpose is simple:

• Help you memorize fewer commands
• Help you switch directories less often
• Help you miss fewer steps

If this is your first time using the project, open the Dev Console before going into the deployment steps below.

1. What the Dev Console is

The Dev Console is ZShip’s built-in local control panel.

After launch, you will see a local page in the browser that helps you manage:

• Getting started
• Local startup
• Cloudflare deployment
• Environment variables
• Database migrations
• Service status
• Brand configuration
• Documentation links

In practice, it is a local operations panel.

You do not need to memorize a large number of commands to understand what is or is not configured correctly.

2. How to start it

Run this from the repository root:

pnpm dev:console

After startup, the browser should open:

http://localhost:3900

If it does not open automatically, visit that URL manually.

3. What the Dev Console is good for

If you are new to the project, these are the parts you will use most often.

1. Getting Started

It walks you through:

• Prerequisite checks
• Dependency installation
• Environment variable checks
• Database migrations
• Service startup
• Environment verification

This is especially useful when bringing up local development for the first time.

2. Local Startup

In the UI you can see:

• Backend service list
• Frontend app list
• Whether each service is currently running
• The local port for each service
• The logs for each service

That is much easier than manually watching a dozen terminal windows.

3. Environment Variables

You can inspect and edit these directly in the browser:

• Backend wrangler.jsonc
• Frontend .env

This is extremely helpful for new users, because a common first blocker is simply not knowing which file they are supposed to edit.

4. Database Migrations

The console can help you run local database migrations.

That matters a lot during the first local setup.

5. Cloudflare Deployment

The console also includes deployment-related pages that help organize:

• Deployment configuration
• Secrets
• Deployment order

That said:

• This guide will still spell out the main Cloudflare deployment flow in command-line form.
• Command-line steps are easier to formalize into an SOP.
• The console is better thought of as a helper that reduces mistakes.

4. When to prefer the Dev Console

Use the Dev Console first when:

• You are starting the local environment for the first time
• You want to confirm whether services started correctly
• You want to see which service still needs database migration
• You want quick access to a service’s logs
• You are unsure which environment variables need to be changed

5. When to still rely on the command-line docs

For the scenarios below, you should still follow this guide’s command-line steps closely:

• The first time creating production Cloudflare resources
• The first time deploying production Workers
• The first time deploying production Pages
• Writing a formal team SOP

Why:

• Command-line steps are easier to standardize as documentation
• They are also easier for teams to repeat consistently

6. The right mental model

You can think of the Dev Console as:

• Your local development cockpit

And this written guide as:

• Your production deployment manual

They are not substitutes for one another.

The best workflow is:

1. Use the Dev Console to reduce onboarding friction
2. Use this guide to standardize production deployment steps

7. What you should do now

If you have never opened the console before, run this now:

pnpm dev:console

Then click through:

• Getting Started
• Local Startup
• Deploy Cloudflare

You do not need to exhaust every button immediately.

Just get a feel for what it can help you do, then come back and use it together with the written docs.