Set up a local development environment for Temporal and TypeScript

Last updated on Mar 27, 2023

Tags:

• TypeScript
• SDK
• development environment

To follow the TypeScript SDK tutorials and build your own Temporal applications, you'll need the TypeScript SDK and a Temporal server.

Install Node.js

The TypeScript SDK requires Node.js 14 or later.

Install Node.js via your package manager by following the official Node.js instructions.

Set up the Temporal TypeScript SDK

You can create a new project with the Temporal SDK:.

npx @temporalio/create@latest ./my-app

You can also add the Temporal TypeScript SDK to an existing project with the following command:

npm install @temporalio/client @temporalio/worker @temporalio/workflow @temporalio/activity

Next, you'll configure a local Temporal cluster for development.

Set up a local Temporal development cluster

The fastest way to get a development cluster running on your local machine is to use Temporal CLI.

Temporal CLI is a tool for interacting with a Temporal Cluster from the command-line interface, but it includes a self-contained distribution of the Temporal Server and Web UI as well.

Install Temporal CLI on your local machine using the following instructions for your platform.

macOS

You can install the latest stable version with Homebrew using the following command:

brew install temporal

You can also install Temporal CLI using the installation script. Review the script and then download and install Temporal CLI with the following command:

curl -sSf https://temporal.download/cli.sh | sh

To manually install Temporal CLI, download the version for your architecture:

• Download Temporal CLI for Intel Macs
• Download Temporal CLI for Apple Silicon Macs

Once you've downloaded the file, extract the downloaded archive and add the temporal binary to your PATH by copying it to a directory like /usr/local/bin.

Windows

To install Temporal CLI on Windows, download the version for your architecture:

• Download Temporal CLI for Windows amd64
• Download Temporal CLI for Windows arm64

Once you've downloaded the file, extract the downloaded archive and add the temporal.exe binary to your PATH.

Linux

Install Temporal CLI using the installation script. Review the script and then download and install Temporal CLI with the following command:

curl -sSf https://temporal.download/cli.sh | sh

To manually install Temporal CLI, download the version for your architecture

• Download Temporal CLI for Linux amd64
• Download Temporal CLI for Linux arm64

Once you've downloaded the file, extract the downloaded archive and add the temporal binary to your PATH by copying it to a directory like /usr/local/bin.

Once you've installed Temporal CLI and added it to your PATH, open a new Terminal window and run the following command:

temporal server start-dev

This command automatically starts the Web UI, creates the default Namespace, and uses an in-memory database.

• The Temporal Server will be available on localhost:7233.
• The Temporal Web UI will be available at http://localhost:8233.

Change the Web UI port

The Temporal Web UI may be on a different port in some examples or tutorials. To change the port for the Web UI, use the --ui-port option when starting the server::

temporal server start-dev --ui-port 8080

The Temporal Web UI will now be available at http://localhost:8080.

Leave the cluster running as you work through tutorials and other projects. You can stop the cluster at any time by pressing CTRL+C.

Once you have everything installed, you're ready to build apps with Temporal on your local machine.