zonai build

Compile a production-ready deployment bundle.

Create a complete, self-contained deployment bundle in the build/ directory. No Dart SDK is required on the target machine.

zonai build [flags]

Flags#

Flag	Description
`--flavor <name>`	Config flavor to compile with — also selects `.env.<name>`
`--release`	Compile without Dart asserts (recommended for production)
`--dart-define KEY=VALUE`	Override or add one compile-time define; repeat per key. Space-separated, not `--dart-define=KEY=VALUE`
`-c, --config <path>`	Path to a custom `zonai.yaml`

There is no --dart-define-from-file and none is needed: .env (or .env.<flavor>) is read from the project root automatically and compiled in. An unrecognized flag is silently ignored rather than rejected, so a wrong flag name builds cleanly with the defines missing. See Environment Variables.

What's in build/#

build deletes any existing build/ directory, compiles every worker (honoring --flavor and --release), copies migration SQL, email templates, favicon.ico / logo.png and your zonai.yaml, then puts a zonai server binary alongside them. That binary is project-linked (operations and rules in-process) when your project resolves package:zonai, and the published zonai binary otherwise — both serve identically. The full layout is under Building for Production.

Copy the entire build/ directory to your server and run:

./zonai serve --release

Typical Production Build#

zonai build --flavor prod --release

Cross-Compilation#

By default, build targets the current machine's OS and architecture. Set buildSettings.targetOs and buildSettings.targetArch in zonai.yaml to cross-compile the project binary and workers for a different target. See Cross-Compilation.

vs. zonai compile#

zonai compile — compiles workers to .zonai/executables/ only; no bundle. Use during development.
zonai build — workers + build/zonai + migrations, templates and settings under build/. Use for deployment.