Requirements and scope

Start by treating Web Device as the web route of a local blocklet. It reads .web/, pages/, and, when you add it later, content/, then renders those source files as a static site. You do not need DID Space or a deployment to prove the first page works.

This path deliberately proves only one thing: from an empty directory, you can create, check, directly run, and inspect a static page in a browser. It does not yet prove a content collection, a theme library, CMS integration, publishing, or a production domain.

Runtime used here

Every command on these first pages was run with arc 2.0.0-beta.25:

$ arc --version
2.0.0-beta.25

Check your version first:

arc --version

If it differs, do not assume the component-file shape or CLI output will match exactly. Read Version compatibility and repeat the checks against your target version.

Smallest useful boundary

Use an empty writable directory and make sure your shell can already find arc. If the command is unavailable, complete Install ARC CLI first. arc blocklet run chooses or reuses a local service and prints the actual URL, so this guide does not require you to choose a port in advance. The first site needs these files:

my-site/
├── blocklet.yaml
├── .route/web
├── .web/
│   ├── site.yaml
│   └── components/hello/
│       ├── manifest.json
│       ├── render.js
│       └── style.css
└── pages/
    └── index/
        └── layout.aup

blocklet.yaml gives the runtime a blocklet identity. It includes a local DID, but that does not require you to create, sign in to, or deploy a DID Space. .route/web gives the root URL to Web Device. .web/ contains site configuration and components, while pages/ contains renderable page definitions. The next page creates each one.

Keep local validation local

Use arc blocklet run <directory> and open the localhost URL it prints. That command runs the selected blocklet on your machine.

arc deploy and DID Space belong to a separate formal-publishing path. They do not replace the local validation in this guide, and you should not use them just to inspect a page.

Known boundary

The current CLI has no narrow recipe that creates only a Web Device content site: basic creates blocklet metadata, while minimal-app also creates an AUP app, an agent, and settings. This guide begins with basic and writes the smallest explicit Web file tree.

The first example uses the compatibility component shape that actually passed in 2.0.0-beta.25: manifest.json, render.js, and style.css. The source/generated relationship for component DSL belongs in a version-specific reference page. Do not infer from this first example that every version accepts only this shape.