Start from a reference app
The IBM i reference app is example RPG/CL/DDS source — screens, programs, and demo data — that you can import into CoderFlow and stand up in your own repository, without wiring an environment from scratch. It's the fastest way to get a working IBM i stack you can build, run, and then make your own.
This is the alternative to setting up an IBM i environment by hand: instead of creating the environment, adding a connection, and configuring the build yourself, you import a ready-made environment and fill in just the few things that are specific to your system.
Import the reference app
Go to Environments → Import Environment → Git repository and click Load environments, then pick the ibmi app and click Import — the reference repo URL is filled in for you. CoderFlow creates the environment and opens a short setup wizard for the one-time steps below.
Finish the setup
The wizard lists four steps. You can complete it end to end, or work through these guides at your own pace.
| Step | What you do | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Your repo | Add your own (fresh, initialized) repository — the one this environment will build from. | Set up your project repository |
| 2. Connection | Fill in the pre-supplied dev connection, point its build repository at your repo, and build the environment. On cloud-hosted CoderFlow, provision the CoderFlow Bridge here. | Fill in the IBM i connection |
| 3. Example source | Run a task to copy the example source into your repo, then detach the reference-apps repo. | Copy in the example source |
| 4. Base library | Install the CFDEMO base library of compiled programs and demo data — with the built-in installer, or by hand. | Install the CFDEMO base library |
Do them in order — your repo comes first because the connection's build points at it and the environment is built against it. On a cloud-hosted CoderFlow the connection (step 2) is also where the CoderFlow Bridge is provisioned, and the bridge has to be live before the installer (step 4) can reach your IBM i.
What you'll need
- A reachable IBM i system, and authority to create a user profile and (for the base library) create a library and restore objects on it — or an administrator who will.
- Permission to create/edit environments and run tasks in CoderFlow. See Environments.
- A Git repository of your own with CoderFlow granted write access, for the "make it your own" steps.
Where to go next
Start with Set up your project repository. For the broader IBM i feature set behind all of this — connections, codermake builds, sync, and testing — see the IBM i overview.