Local dev server fails to start

[Tyler-Petrov]

The Problem

I'm having trouble running Convex locally. I run pnpx convex dev, and I get a timeout error. After running the command a few times in a row, I can usually get the local backend running, but not always. Unfortunately I don't have any good steps to reproduce, but if anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears.

My Setup

I'm on Windows 11 running Convex in the official Arch distro from MS.

The Output

[tpetrov@tylersawesomepc jairus]$ pnpx convex dev
waiting for local backend to start...
✖ Local backend did not start on port 3210 within 10 seconds.
✖ Hit an error while running local deployment.
Your error has been reported to our team, and we'll be working on it.
To opt out, run `npx convex disable-local-deployments`. Then re-run your original command.

[Tyler-Petrov]

Things I've tried so far

• Deleting the ~/.convex folder which then the server starts fine, but obviously I don't have any data in my db, so not a valid option.
• Updating the permissions of everything in the ~/convex folder to 777 doesn't solve the problem.

Cry for help

I wish there was an error output saying what's up. Then I could at least diagnose the issue without shooting in the dark.

[nipunn1313]

Yep - we hear ya. @thomasballinger had some ideas for automatically showing some of the logfile output in this case - but nothing implemented yet.

There's an undocumented env var

convex-backend/crates/cmd_util/src/env.rs

Line 50 in e3a8079

pub static CONVEX_TRACE_FILE: LazyLock<Option<File>> = LazyLock::new(|| {

- CONVEX_TRACE_FILE=1 - if you set that, it should write the backend logs to a logfile to help diagnose.

Sorry for the trouble.
You could also try disabling local deployments and use a cloud development server.

[nipunn1313]

you may also be able to get community support in the Convex discord. Lot of people there are helpful.

[Tyler-Petrov]

I haven't had much luck on Discord, but I'll give it a shot. I was getting limited with cloud dev, so that's why I'm sticking with local for now. I'll take a look at that env var. Thanks for your help!

[nipunn1313]

Yeah - the response time is likely to be quicker on discord - and more people will get eyes on it. Definitely hear ya that it's hard to make sense of what's going on.

[Tyler-Petrov]

I set the env var, and I got an output. I put the output in the discord thread, so if that's the preferred location to discuss bugs then I'll just put updates there. Thank you for your assistance!
Here's a link to the discord thread.