FNM

If you’ve been working with SharePoint Framework (SPFx) for any length of time, you know the drill: look up the Node.js version compatibility, install the right LTS version, manually install Yeoman, the SPFx generator, and the correct task runner (Gulp or Heft, depending on the version). For modern SPFx versions, this might take 5 minutes if you know what you’re doing. For older versions or platform-specific deployments like SharePoint 2019 or Subscription Edition? Much longer.

What if I told you there’s a way to do all of this in under a minute, completely automated, for any SPFx version—past, present, or future?

Updated for SPFx v1.21.1

With the release of SPFx v1.22.0, Microsoft has moved the default build toolchain from Gulp to Heft. This article provides a quick start guide to setting up a new SPFx development environment using Heft as the toolchain. If you are new to SPFx or just want to set up a new environment, this guide will walk you through the necessary steps.

It’s been a while since I posted, but with SPFx v1.22.0 due out in the next couple of weeks, I decided to make a final update to this article on how to get started with SPFx using the Gulp toolchain. In case you haven’t heard, v1.22.0 will no longer use Gulp as it is being replaced with Heft. The main reason for this change is that the Gulp toolchain has been very difficult to keep up-to-date, and the internal engineering teams at Microsoft switched to Heft a while back. Since they are actively maintaining Heft for their own use, we will now benefit from that work.

Expect a companion post soon on getting started with SPFx using the Heft toolchain.

DEPRECATED: This article has been updated. Please see the latest version at SharePoint Framework (SPFx) Quick Start (Gulp toolchain for SPFx v1.21.0 and earlier)

This article left in place for historical reference.

For the several years now, I have concentrated on helping developers to get started coding in the SharePoint Framework (SPFx). My primary message has always been that, “despite it being a complete departure from previous coding approaches in the SharePoint, it’s not as difficult as it seems and you should just give it a try.” I am updating that presentation to include recent changes to SPFx as I prepare for upcoming engagements at North American Collaboration Summit (NACS) and ShareCloud Summit and will post it on this site when available.