Joe Lanman - Designer

Using the GOV.UK Prototype Kit with GitHub Codespaces

The normal way to run the GOV.UK Prototype Kit is to use the command line. However there is another approach which might be easier, especially if you cannot install Node (for example if your employer has blocked it).

There are online services which let you edit and run code without installing anything on your computer. We will use GitHub Codespaces for this tutorial.

1. Get a GitHub account if you don’t have one
2. Go to GitHub Codespaces
3. Click the New codespace button

You should now see the Create a new codespace page.

1. Click Select a repository
2. Type in ​​joelanman/govuk-prototype-kit-prototype
3. Make sure the Region is near you
4. Click Create codespace

You'll see a new page containing the Visual Studio Code editor. Wait for it to finish processing, then

1. In the Terminal at the bottom, type npm run dev
2. This should display a popup at the bottom, click Open in Browser

Your prototype should open in a new tab.

If this is your first time using the GOV.UK Prototype Kit, try the tutorial.