> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://sdk.docs.xano.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Run locally

> Run your Xano backend on the Xano Engine on your machine with no account, and put the same backend in Xano's cloud as an ephemeral when you need a URL to share or a release to cut.

Write with AI. Run locally. Deploy to Xano. This section is the middle step: your coding agent
writes the backend in TypeScript, and you run it on Xano itself before anything reaches your
workspace.

There are two places to run it, and they are the same backend:

| | The Xano Engine | An ephemeral |
| - | - | - |
| Runs on | Your machine | Xano's cloud |
| Xano account | Not needed | `xanosdk login` first |
| Deploy to it | `npm run xano:deploy` | `npm run xano:deploy:ephemeral` |
| Lifetime | Until you stop it | Expires after 1 to 24 hours |
| URL | Loopback only | Public, shareable |
| Use it for | The edit, deploy, try loop | Sharing a build, and cutting a release |

Deploy to the Engine while you build:

```bash theme={null}
npm run xano:deploy   # typecheck, then deploy to the Xano Engine on this machine
npm run dev           # the frontend, pointed at the Engine through .env.local
```

<Note>
  **On Windows or an Intel Mac?** There is no Xano Engine build for your machine yet. Wherever this
  page says `npm run xano:deploy`, run `npm run xano:deploy:ephemeral` instead: it deploys the same
  code to an ephemeral in Xano's cloud. That needs a Xano account, so sign in first
  ([Connect to Xano](/start/connect-to-xano)). See
  [where the Engine differs today](/run/xano-engine#where-the-engine-differs-today).
</Note>

The first deploy downloads the Engine and pins its version in `package.json`. Every later one
merges your changes into the running Engine and keeps the rows you entered. A few gaps between the
Engine and an ephemeral change what you run today; they are listed once, in
[Where the Engine differs today](/run/xano-engine#where-the-engine-differs-today).

## In this section

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="The Xano Engine" href="/run/xano-engine">
    Deploy to Xano on your machine, pin its version, keep rows, and manage engines.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Engine MCP server" href="/run/engine-mcp">
    Let Claude Code, Cursor or Codex read rows and run functions and tests on the Engine.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Ephemerals" href="/run/ephemerals">
    The same backend in Xano's cloud, with its own URL and an expiry.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Frontend hosting" href="/run/frontend-hosting">
    Serve your built frontend beside the backend, and render SvelteKit on the server.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Next

When a build is ready to ship, deploy it to an ephemeral and cut a release:
[Deploy to Xano](/ship/overview).


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