Building

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Building invokes the build system used by the project and locates its raw artifacts. Build results can be used directly for testing and analysis, or passed to a packager to produce a distributable format.

Building vs. Packaging

Operation	Primary responsibility	Common outputs
Build	Compile the project and locate raw artifacts	APK, AAB, IPA, .app, desktop bundle, web directory
Package	Invoke a builder, then prepare a distribution format	DMG, PKG, ZIP, or prepared APK, AAB, and IPA artifacts

If you only need the final distributable file, use fastforge package directly. The packaging process invokes the appropriate builder automatically, so you do not need to run fastforge build first.

Current Command Boundaries

Fastforge includes Gradle, Xcode, Flutter, and Custom builders, but they are exposed through the CLI in different ways:

Builder	Current entry point	Status
Gradle Android	fastforge package, fastforge/package action	APK and AAB are connected
Xcode iOS / macOS	fastforge/package action	IPA and macOS .app are connected
Flutter Builder	fastforge build; package for macOS only	Multiple platforms connected
Gradle Multiplatform	No top-level command	Build module only
Custom Builder	No top-level command	Build module only

Run a Build Separately

The current top-level build command is:

fastforge build --platform <platform> [--target <target>]

For example:

fastforge build --platform android --target apk
fastforge build --platform web

--platform is required when the command runs, and some platforms also require --target. See Flutter Builder for supported platforms, targets, build arguments, artifact locations, and host restrictions.

Build Results

After a successful build, fastforge build writes JSON to standard output containing:

• config: build mode and effective arguments
• platform: target platform
• outputDirectory: build output directory
• outputFiles: detected artifact paths
• duration: build duration in milliseconds

If the build command succeeds but no artifact is found in the expected directory, Fastforge still reports a failure. This prevents later packaging or publishing steps from using an empty directory.

Build During Packaging

Gradle and Xcode Builder are currently used mainly through package:

fastforge package --platform android --target apk

Xcode builds require arguments such as project and scheme. Pass them through a workflow action's build-args; see Xcode Builder for a complete example.

Next Steps

• Review builders and their integration status: Builder Overview
• Produce a distributable artifact: Packaging
• Analyze a build artifact: App Package Analysis
• Combine building, packaging, and publishing: Local Workflows