zonai compile

Compile worker executables without creating a deployment bundle.

Compile all worker executables from source and write them to .zonai/executables/. Also regenerates .dart_tool/zonai/project_main.dart. Does not create a deployment bundle (use zonai build for that).

zonai compile [flags]

Flags#

Flag	Description
`--flavor <name>`	Config flavor to compile with
`--release`	Compile without Dart asserts
`-c, --config <path>`	Path to a custom `zonai.yaml`

Workers Compiled#

db_config — config worker
db_rules — rules worker (also linked in-process by the project binary)
db_operations — operations worker (also linked in-process by the project binary)
db_extensions — extensions worker
db_rate_limit — rate limit worker
db_crons — crons worker

When to Use Manually#

In dev mode (zonai serve), Zonai watches source files and recompiles workers automatically — manual compile is rarely needed during development. Use it for:

Setting up a fresh clone before starting the server
Verifying compilation succeeds in CI
Updating compiled binaries after discarding changes that left executables stale
Preparing workers before running zonai rules without starting the server

vs. zonai build#

zonai compile — workers only, to .zonai/executables/. Use during development.
zonai build — workers + project-linked build/zonai + migrations/settings. Use for deployment.