Generating a New Project
You now have a working Buffalo installation. In this section, you will learn how to create a brand new web application, using the buffalo command.
Create a new project
Buffalo aims to make building new web applications in Go as quick and simple as possible. What could be more simple than a new application generator?
Start by going to your $GOPATH and create your new application!
$ cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/$USER/
Make sure $GOPATH/bin is in your $PATH, then:
$ buffalo new coke
That will generate a whole new Buffalo application called coke, all ready to go:
- the Buffalo framework layout and default configuration (pop/soda with PostgreSQL support),
- all necessary Go dependencies needed to run the current application,
- frontend dependencies and working setup with webpack
- and an initial Git repository.
$ buffalo new coke
Buffalo version 0.17.5
create .buffalo.dev.yml
create assets/images/logo.svg
create assets/css/application.scss
create assets/images/favicon.ico
create assets/js/application.js
create .babelrc
create package.json
create public/assets/.keep
create webpack.config.js
run yarn install --no-progress --save
yarn install v0.27.5
info No lockfile found.
[1/4] Resolving packages...
[2/4] Fetching packages...
[3/4] Linking dependencies...
[4/4] Building fresh packages...
success Saved lockfile.
Done in 11.71s.
create models/models.go
create models/models_test.go
create grifts/db.go
run go get github.com/gobuffalo/pop/...
create ./database.yml
run goimports -w coke/grifts/db.go coke/models/models.go coke/models/models_test.go
create Dockerfile
create .dockerignore
run go get -u golang.org/x/tools/cmd/goimports
create README.md
create actions/actions_test.go
create actions/app.go
create actions/home.go
create actions/home_test.go
create actions/render.go
create .codeclimate.yml
create .env
create grifts/init.go
create inflections.json
create locales/all.en-us.yaml
create main.go
create public/robots.txt
create templates/_flash.html
create templates/application.html
create templates/index.html
run go get -t ./...
run goimports -w actions/actions_test.go actions/app.go actions/home.go actions/home_test.go actions/render.go grifts/db.go grifts/init.go main.go models/models.go models/models_test.go
create .gitignore
run git init
Initialized empty Git repository in /Users/markbates/Dropbox/development/gocode/src/github.com/markbates/coke/.git/
run git add .
run git commit -q -m Initial Commit
INFO[0055] Congratulations! Your application, coke, has been successfully built!
INFO[0055] You can find your new application at:
/Users/markbates/Dropbox/development/gocode/src/github.com/markbates/coke
INFO[0055]
Please read the README.md file in your new application for next steps on running your application.
Create a customized app
The default setup is great, but maybe it doesn't fit you. Buffalo provides several options as flags for the new command.
You can get the available flags list using the help command:
$ buffalo help new
Creates a new Buffalo application
Usage:
buffalo new [name] [flags]
Flags:
--api skip all front-end code and configure for an API server
--ci-provider string specify the type of ci file you would like buffalo to generate [none, travis, gitlab-ci, circleci] (default "none")
--config string config file (default is $HOME/.buffalo.yaml)
--db-type string specify the type of database you want to use [cockroach, mariadb, mysql, postgres] (default "postgres")
--docker string specify the type of Docker file to generate [none, multi, standard] (default "multi")
-d, --dry-run dry run
-f, --force delete and remake if the app already exists
-h, --help help for new
--module string specify the root module (package) name. [defaults to 'automatic']
--skip-config skips using the config file
--skip-pop skips adding pop/soda to your app
--skip-webpack skips adding Webpack to your app
--skip-yarn use npm instead of yarn for frontend dependencies management
--vcs string specify the Version control system you would like to use [none, git, bzr] (default "git")
-v, --verbose verbosely print out the go get commands
You can choose to generate an API application, skipping the frontend stuff. Maybe you want to setup a CI to build your app on your favorite system? Or even use your own package to handle the database? Just use the flags!
Override Default Config
By default buffalo new command will look for a configuration file at $HOME/.buffalo.yml and if it exists will try to load it. You can override the flags found in that file by passing the right ones in the command line or use the --config flag to specify a different YAML file. If the --skip-config flag is used buffalo new command will not load any config file and will use only the flags passed by the command line.
An example of a .buffalo.yml config file can be:
skip-yarn: true
db-type: postgres
bootstrap: 4
with-dep: true
Running Your Application in Development
One of the downsides to Go development is the lack of code “reloading”. This means as you change your code you need to manually stop your application, rebuild it, then restart it. Buffalo finds this annoying, and wants to make life better for you.
$ buffalo dev
The dev command will watch your .go and .html files and the asset folder by default. It will rebuild and restart your binary for you automatically, so you don't have to worry about such things.
Just run the buffalo dev command and go to localhost:3000/ to see all changes live!
Run the dev server on a custom port
Sometimes you will already have an app working on the 3000 port. You can configure the dev server port by providing the PORT environment variable:
$ PORT=3001 buffalo dev
You can also take a look at the Env Variables chapter for further information on Buffalo configuration.
Next Steps
- Directory Structure - Learn more about Buffalo structure.
- Configuration - Manage your app configuration.