Launch in browser using `run_dev()`

[howardbaik]

Currently, when I run apps in development using run_dev(), the app launches within the RStudio Viewer. I'd prefer it to open in a browser instead.

As a workaround, I've modified the run_app() function to include launch.browser = TRUE in the options argument:

run_app <- function(
  onStart = NULL,
  options = list(shiny.autoreload = TRUE,
                 launch.browser = TRUE), # <-- Launch in browser
  enableBookmarking = NULL,
  uiPattern = "/",
  ...
) {
  with_golem_options(
    app = shinyApp(
      ui = app_ui,
      server = app_server,
      onStart = onStart,
      options = options,
      enableBookmarking = enableBookmarking,
      uiPattern = uiPattern
    ),
    golem_opts = list(...)
  )
}

While this works, it feels a bit hacky since it requires modifying and committing changes to the codebase.

Is there a more "golem-native" way to launch the development app in the browser?

[ArthurData]

Hi 👋

To open the app in your browser (instead of the RStudio Viewer), you can try one of the following approaches:

Option 1: Modify dev/run_dev.R

If you're using run_dev() to start your app, you can update the dev/run_dev.R file like this:

# Set options here
options(golem.app.prod = FALSE, shiny.launch.browser = TRUE) 

This way, the app will open in your default browser during development.

Note: this modifies the project code.

Option 2: Use your .Rprofile

If you prefer not to change the project code, you can set the option globally by adding this line to your .Rprofile:

options(shiny.launch.browser = TRUE)

This will automatically open all Shiny apps (including with run_dev()) in your browser, unless overridden.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you need more info.

[howardbaik]

I went with Option 2 and that helped. Thank you!