Ionic 2: Cordova is not available. Make sure to include cordova.js or run in a device/simulator (running in emulator)

This is quite late but anyone going through the same problem might benefit from this answer.First try to add browser by running below command ionic platform add browser and then run command ionic run browser.

which is the difference between ionic serve and ionic run browser?

Ionic serve - runs your app as a website (meaning it doesn't have any Cordova capabilities). Ionic run browser - runs your app in the Cordova browser platform, which will inject cordova.js and any plugins that have browser capabilities

You can refer this link to know more difference between ionic serve and ionic run browser command

Update

From Ionic 3 this command has been changed. Use the command below instead;

ionic cordova platform add browser

ionic cordova run browser

You can find out which version of ionic you are using by running: ionic --version

The livereload plugin fails to serve cordova.js file and serves // mock cordova file during development.

FIX: You need go to node_modules/@ionic/app-scripts/dist/dev-server/serve-config.js

and replace

exports.ANDROID_PLATFORM_PATH = path.join('platforms', 'android', 'assets', 'www');

to

exports.ANDROID_PLATFORM_PATH = path.join('platforms', 'android', 'app', 'src', 'main', 'assets', 'www');