# Set Up a Salesforce DX Project and Development Org

Prepare the project and org context that the Salesforce Development plugin uses to build, test, and deploy. [Install the plugin](/docs/platform/salesforce-skills-plugins/guide/install-salesforce-development.md) before you begin.

## Open or Create a Salesforce DX Project

Use a Salesforce DX project so the plugin can identify your project configuration and source files. If you already have a project, navigate to its directory in a terminal. Otherwise, create one and navigate to it:

```bash
sf project generate --name my-project
cd my-project
```

## Authorize a Default Salesforce Org

Use a Developer Edition org or sandbox for development. Create a scratch org only if you have a Dev Hub and want an isolated development environment.

From your project directory, authorize a default Salesforce org so the plugin knows where to run commands and deploy changes:

```bash
sf org login web --alias my-org --set-default
```

For a sandbox, include `--instance-url` with your sandbox's My Domain URL. If you've already authorized the org, set it as this project's default with `sf config set target-org=my-org`, replacing `my-org` with its alias.

Verify the active org from the same project directory:

```bash
sf org display --json
```

Next, [build, test, and deploy with the Salesforce Development plugin](/docs/platform/salesforce-skills-plugins/guide/use-salesforce-development.md).