fix: --api-devserver-url not working if --api-location not set (#523, #579) (#620)

* fix: --api-devserver-url not working if --api-location not set (#523, #579)

* docs: fix documentation regarding --api-devserver-url usage (#579)

Author: sinedied

docs/www/docs/cli/swa-start.md

@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ Here is a list of the default ports used by some popular dev servers:
 | [Next.js](https://nextjs.org/)                                                     | 3000 | `swa start http://localhost:3000` |
 | [React (Create React App)](https://reactjs.org/docs/create-a-new-react-app.html)   | 3000 | `swa start http://localhost:3000` |
 | [Svelte (sirv-cli)](https://github.com/lukeed/sirv/tree/master/packages/sirv-cli/) | 5000 | `swa start http://localhost:5000` |
-| [Vue](https://github.com/vuejs/create-vue)                                                      | 3000 | `swa start http://localhost:3000` |
+| [Vue](https://github.com/vuejs/create-vue)                                         | 3000 | `swa start http://localhost:3000` |
 
 Instead of starting a dev server separately, you can provide the startup command to the CLI.
 
@@ -94,10 +94,10 @@ When developing your backend locally, sometimes it's useful to run Azure Functio
 To use the CLI with your local API backend dev server, follow these two steps:
 
 1. Start your API using Azure Functions Core Tools: `func host start` or start debugging in VS Code.
-2. In a separate terminal, run the SWA CLI with the `--api-location` flag and the URI of the local API server, in the following format:
+2. In a separate terminal, run the SWA CLI with the `--api-devserver-url` flag and the URI of the local API server, in the following format:
 
 ```bash
-swa start ./my-dist --api-location http://localhost:7071
+swa start ./my-dist --api-devserver-url http://localhost:7071
 ```
 
 ## Options
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ Here are the options you can use with `swa start`:
 - `-i, --api-location <path>`: the folder containing the source code of the API application
 - `-O, --output-location <path>`: the folder containing the built source of the front-end application. The path is relative to `--app-location` (default: ".")
 - `-D, --app-devserver-url <url>`: connect to the app dev server at this URL instead of using output location
-- `-is, --api-devserver-url <url>`: connect to the api server at this URL instead of using output location
+- `-is, --api-devserver-url <url>`: connect to the api server at this URL instead of using api location
 - `-j, --api-port <apiPort>`: the API server port passed to `func start` (default: 7071)
 - `-q, --host <host>`: the host address to use for the CLI dev server (default: "localhost")
 - `-p, --port <port>`: the port value to use for the CLI dev server (default: 4280)
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ swa start http://localhost:3000 --run-build "npm start"
 Connect both front-end and the API to running development server
 
 ```bash
-swa start http://localhost:3000 --api-location http://localhost:7071
+swa start http://localhost:3000 --api-devserver-url http://localhost:7071
 ```
 
 ## See Also

docs/www/docs/use/3-api-server.md

@@ -29,10 +29,10 @@ To use the SWA emulator services alongside the API server:
 func host start
 ```
 
-2. Start SWA CLI in a separate terminal and use the `--api-location` option to pass it the relevant local API Server URI. _For example:_
+2. Start SWA CLI in a separate terminal and use the `--api-devserver-url` option to pass it the relevant local API Server URI. _For example:_
 
 ```bash
-swa start ./my-dist --api-location http://localhost:7071
+swa start ./my-dist --api-devserver-url http://localhost:7071
 ```
 
 ## 4.3 Start API Server Automatically

src/cli/commands/start.ts

@@ -35,8 +35,12 @@ export default function registerCommand(program: Command) {
     .option("-a, --app-location <path>", "the folder containing the source code of the front-end application", DEFAULT_CONFIG.appLocation)
     .option("-i, --api-location <path>", "the folder containing the source code of the API application", DEFAULT_CONFIG.apiLocation)
     .option("-O, --output-location <path>", "the folder containing the built source of the front-end application", DEFAULT_CONFIG.outputLocation)
-    .option("-D, --app-devserver-url <url>", "connect to the app dev server at this URL instead of using output location", DEFAULT_CONFIG.appDevserverUrl)
-    .option("-is, --api-devserver-url <url>", "connect to the api server at this URL instead of using output location", DEFAULT_CONFIG.apiDevserverUrl)
+    .option(
+      "-D, --app-devserver-url <url>",
+      "connect to the app dev server at this URL instead of using output location",
+      DEFAULT_CONFIG.appDevserverUrl
+    )
+    .option("-is, --api-devserver-url <url>", "connect to the api server at this URL instead of using api location", DEFAULT_CONFIG.apiDevserverUrl)
     .option<number>("-j, --api-port <apiPort>", "the API server port passed to `func start`", parsePort, DEFAULT_CONFIG.apiPort)
     .option("-q, --host <host>", "the host address to use for the CLI dev server", DEFAULT_CONFIG.host)
     .option<number>("-p, --port <port>", "the port value to use for the CLI dev server", parsePort, DEFAULT_CONFIG.port)
@@ -107,7 +111,7 @@ Use a custom command to run framework development server at startup
 swa start http://localhost:3000 --run-build "npm start"
 
 Connect both front-end and the API to running development server
-swa start http://localhost:3000 --api-location http://localhost:7071
+swa start http://localhost:3000 --api-devserver-url http://localhost:7071
   `
     );
 }
@@ -183,17 +187,16 @@ export async function start(options: SWACLIConfig) {
     logger.silly(`  ${outputLocation}`);
   }
 
-  if (apiLocation) {
+  if (apiDevserverUrl) {
+    // TODO: properly refactor this after GA to send apiDevserverUrl to the server
+    useApiDevServer = apiDevserverUrl;
+    apiLocation = apiDevserverUrl;
+  } else if (apiLocation) {
     // resolves to the absolute path of the apiLocation
     let resolvedApiLocation = path.resolve(apiLocation);
 
-    if (apiDevserverUrl) {
-      // TODO: properly refactor this after GA to send apiDevserverUrl to the server
-      useApiDevServer = apiDevserverUrl;
-      apiLocation = apiDevserverUrl;
-    }
     // make sure api folder exists
-    else if (fs.existsSync(resolvedApiLocation)) {
+    if (fs.existsSync(resolvedApiLocation)) {
       apiLocation = resolvedApiLocation;
     } else {
       logger.info(`Skipping API because folder "${resolvedApiLocation}" is missing`, "swa");