[davidsu]

Note

Description

base44 dev --remote previously failed outright when the linked app had never been published, because it resolved the frontend target via getSiteUrl() and let the 404 propagate. This PR makes --remote fall back to the app's preview URL (https://preview--<appId>.base44.app), matching the behavior base44 exec already has. The preview-URL fallback that lived inside core/exec/run-script.ts is extracted into a shared core/project/app-base-url.ts helper so both commands use one implementation.

Related Issue

None

Type of Change

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to not work as expected)
• Documentation update
• Refactoring (no functional changes)
• Other (please describe):

Changes Made

• Added packages/cli/src/core/project/app-base-url.ts exporting resolveAppBaseUrl(appId): returns getSiteUrl(), falling back to https://preview--<appId>.base44.app on a 404 ApiError, and rethrowing anything else.
• core/exec/run-script.ts now imports that helper instead of defining its own local resolveAppBaseUrl / appPreviewUrl (no behavior change for base44 exec).
• cli/commands/dev.ts remoteDevAction resolves appBaseUrl through resolveAppBaseUrl(app.id) instead of calling getSiteUrl() directly, so --remote serves an unpublished app rather than erroring.
• Tests: replaced the --remote fails when the app has no published URL case with one asserting the serve command receives URL=https://preview--<appId>.base44.app on a 404, and added a new case asserting non-404 site-URL failures (500) still fail the command.
• CHANGELOG entry for base44 dev --remote updated to describe the preview-URL fallback instead of the previous failure.

Testing

• I have tested these changes locally
• I have added/updated tests as needed
• All tests pass (npm test)

Checklist

• My code follows the project's style guidelines
• I have performed a self-review of my own code
• I have commented my code, particularly in hard-to-understand areas
• I have made corresponding changes to the documentation (if applicable)
• My changes generate no new warnings
• I have updated docs/ (AGENTS.md) if I made architectural changes

Additional Notes

This builds on fix/exec-unpublished-app (the equivalent fix for base44 exec) and should be merged after it. The error surface narrows only for the 404 case — all other getSiteUrl() failures still propagate, which the new 500 test covers. Test execution was not run in this environment (build step unavailable), so the "tested locally" and "all tests pass" boxes are left unchecked.

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_{🤖 Generated by Claude | 2026-11-04 18:56 UTC | 503ca43}

CI note: the lint, typecheck, knip, functions-compiler and test workflows trigger only on PRs targeting main, so they do not run while this is stacked on #693. All of them pass locally on b9be961 (bun run lint, typecheck, knip, build, and test tests/cli/dev.spec.ts tests/core/exec-run-script.spec.ts: 31 tests). Retargeting to main after #693 merges will run them.

[github-actions]

🚀 Package Preview Available!

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Install this PR's preview build with npm:

npm i @base44-preview/cli@0.3.1-pr.695.503ca43

Prefer not to change any import paths? Install using npm alias so your code still imports base44:

npm i "base44@npm:@base44-preview/cli@0.3.1-pr.695.503ca43"

Or add it to your package.json dependencies:

{
  "dependencies": {
    "base44": "npm:@base44-preview/cli@0.3.1-pr.695.503ca43"
  }
}

• 📦 Preview Package: @base44-preview/cli@0.3.1-pr.695.503ca43
• 🔗 View this commit on GitHub

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_{Preview published to npm registry — try new features instantly!}

[davidsu]

Won't do (David, 2026-11-05): dev --remote is meant for the production app, so it keeps failing on an unpublished one. #693 covers exec, #694 covers site open.