Run API Maker on Your Computer with Launchpad, in One Click

Intro

0:00 API Maker Launchpad is a desktop app that runs API Maker on your computer. Pick a folder : it installs API Maker version four, its MongoDB and Redis, and your databases. One click starts everything, and closing the app stops it.

A backend on a laptop, the usual way

0:18 A backend on a laptop usually means a MongoDB replica set and Redis set up by hand, Node.js, and an npm install that takes minutes, compose files, and ports that clash between projects, and containers still running after a crash. With Launchpad, one folder holds the whole project, API Maker v4 is one native program, downloaded and checked, each project gets free ports of its own, and what the app started, it stops.

0:48 In this video : the welcome screen, a new project, Native or Full Docker, the version, the start, step by step, the dashboard and the logs, one folder for everything, and closing safely.

The welcome screen

1:00 The welcome screen. Open a folder that already holds a project, or start a new one. On the right, the system check : Docker installed, Docker running, and Docker Compose. Below, the projects of this computer : the business APIs of Calm Home already run in the background. And at the top, Local and Cloud : Cloud mode installs API Maker on your own servers, in video fifty eight.

A new project

1:28 Nisha starts the API of the storefront. New project. The folder : calm home API, in her folder of projects. Create. The folder is made and its setup opens : four steps, and nothing runs before the last one.

Native or Full Docker

1:43 First : how should API Maker run? Both answers are drawn side by side. Full Docker runs everything in containers, API Maker on the host network of Docker. Native runs API Maker as a program of this computer, and MongoDB, Redis, your databases and the sandboxes of API Maker in Docker. In both, every file stays in the project folder. Native is the default : one native program, the fastest start and the least memory, on every Docker.

2:16 Full Docker needs nothing on this computer but Docker : the Linux build of API Maker runs in a small image of Debian, built on the first start. MongoDB, Redis, your databases and the sandboxes run in Docker with both, and the folder keeps every file : you can switch later, and the data does not move.

The version

2:37 Next : which version of API Maker v4? The project name : Calm Home API. API Maker v4 is one native program, written in Rust, and the only API Maker Launchpad installs. The versions come live from npm, the latest first. And it runs with its own MongoDB and Redis : the recommended versions are chosen for you. Why version four on your computer? No Node.js and no npm install : the build of this computer is downloaded and runs as it comes.

3:12 One port serves the APIs and the WebSockets. The admin panel is served by API Maker itself. And the code of your APIs still runs in eight languages, each in its sandbox. And switching to another version later is one choice in Project Settings, in video fifty seven.

Ports and resources

3:31 Ports and resources : free ports were picked for you. With version four, one port serves the APIs and the WebSockets, and API Maker uses every core of this computer. A port another program holds is flagged as you type, before anything starts. Back to a free one. The review : the project, Native, API Maker version four with its MongoDB and Redis, the license key of local runs, the ports and the folder.

3:59 The first start downloads a few hundred megabytes on a Mac : the build of API Maker and the Linux agents of its sandboxes, then the images of MongoDB and Redis. Nothing is compiled.

The start, step by step

4:12 Install and start. The task shows every step. What waits for nothing runs at the same time : the images of Docker download while API Maker downloads. The configuration is written, then MongoDB and Redis start, and the replica set API Maker needs is made for you. Seconds later, API Maker runs, and so does its admin panel. How is version four installed? On npm, API Maker v4 is a small main package that names one package for each platform.

4:46 Launchpad downloads only what this computer needs : on a Mac, its build, and the Linux build of the same processor, for the agents of the sandboxes. Each file is checked against the integrity npm publishes. It is unpacked under releases, in the folder of its version, and the program is asked for its version before it is used : a build that does not run here is refused before anything changes.

5:13 The last two releases stay, so going back needs no download.

The dashboard and the logs

5:19 A few days later, the dashboard of Calm Home API. Running, on version four, Native, as a native program. The addresses : the admin panel, the API, and the WebSocket, on the port of the API. The sign-in details of the admin panel : the default users of a new installation. Change their passwords in the panel. The services : API Maker, its APIs and WebSockets on one port, its admin panel served by API Maker, then MongoDB and Redis, each with its uptime, processor and memory.

5:54 Below, the databases of the project : PostgreSQL, MongoDB and SQL Server, each started with the project or on demand. Video fifty six adds them. A new project starts with the license key of local runs : every feature works, and API Maker answers this computer and private networks only. To serve anyone else, set your own key in Project Settings. Next to it, the activity of the project : created, installed, a database added, its instance created, started.

6:27 Logs : every source in one place, live. API Maker says how it started : its databases, its admin panel, and its WebSockets on the port of its APIs. Launchpad says what it did, the installation of version four, package by package, and each container, here the MongoDB of API Maker.

One folder for everything

6:48 Everything lives in the folder you picked. The state of the project. API Maker : its uploads, its license, and its releases. The configuration : the env file, the compose file, the key of the replica set. The logs. And the data of every database. Docker only runs the containers : no data lives inside them, and deleting a container never deletes data.

The same project in Full Docker

7:14 The same project in Full Docker : the dashboard says so, and API Maker runs as its Linux build. Its card says it runs in Docker, with its processor and memory, on a small image of Debian without Node.js, built on this computer. Switching is one setting in Project Settings, while the project is stopped.

Closing safely

7:35 Two projects run. Closing the window stops every one of them, at the same time : API Maker, its sandboxes, and every container of each folder. Then the app quits. And if the app crashes, or is killed? Next to API Maker v4, the app starts a small watchdog of its own. Once the app is gone, it stops API Maker, removes its sandboxes, and stops the containers of the folder.

8:02 In Full Docker, the app writes a heartbeat every five seconds : a minute without one, the container of API Maker stops the project itself. And the next time you open the folder, anything left over is stopped.

Recap

8:16 To sum up. One folder holds a whole project. API Maker v4 is one native program, downloaded and checked, without Node.js. Native or Full Docker, both drawn before you choose. A start that runs what it can at the same time. And nothing left running when you close. Next : databases on your computer. API Maker. Build faster. Spend smarter. Deliver better.