Set up the development environment

Learn how to set up your local environment to develop Ionic apps like a professional and also learn how to install Ionic Full Starter App.

Installing Ionic

Ionic apps are created and developed primarily through the Ionic command-line utility. The Ionic CLI is the preferred method of installation, as it offers a wide range of dev tools and help options along the way.

Install the Ionic CLI

Before proceeding, make sure the latest version of Node.js and npm are installed. See Environment Setup for details. Install the Ionic CLI globally with npm:

$ npm install -g ionic

Node & npm

Almost all tooling for modern JavaScript projects is based in Node.js. The download page has prebuilt installation packages for all platforms. We recommend selecting the LTS version to ensure best compatibility.

Node is bundled with npm, the package manager for JavaScript.

To verify the installation, open a new terminal window and run:

$ node --version
$ npm --version

Git

Although it's not required, the version control system Git is highly recommended. First, install the command-line utility from the download page. For a GUI client, we recommend Github Desktop.

To verify the installation, open a new terminal window and run:

$ git --version

Install the app dependencies

After you have Ionic installed, you have to install all the dependencies required by the app. To do this just run the following command using a terminal inside your ionic app folder path.

$ cd myApp
$ npm install

Text editor

The coding of the app will happen inside of a code editor. Personally we use Atom, however, many people like VS Code. You are free to choose any code editor you like.

Run the App

Now we have everything installed, we can test our Ionic App.

Go to Running the App section to see how to do it.