> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.ask.edvard.dev/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.ask.edvard.dev/development-tools/running-in-development-mode.md).

# Running in development mode

You can activate development mode by running ask with the `-d` or `--dev` flag. This will give you some development and debugging related console messages. For example, development mode will show you full error messages without any special formating or parsing.

Running Ask in development mode will also activate development mode for the local Flask testing server.

You can also activate extra development mode. This mode is used when working on Ask itself. Run Ask with the `-xd` or `--extra-dev` flag to activate it. This turns off the appending of initial Flask boilerplate code to the output app.py file. This will cause errors in the console.


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# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.

## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.ask.edvard.dev/development-tools/running-in-development-mode.md?ask=<question>&goal=<endgoal>
```

`ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
`goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal.

The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.