The compact linear accelerator for research and applications (CLARA) is an ultrabright electron beam test facility being developed at STFC Daresbury Laboratory. The ultimate aim of CLARA is to test advanced free electron laser (FEL) schemes that can later be implemented on existing and future short-wavelength FELs. In addition, CLARA is a unique facility to provide a high-quality electron beam to test novel concepts and ideas in a wide range of disciplines and to function as a technology demonstrator for a future United Kingdom x-ray FEL facility. CLARA is being built in three phases; the first phase, or front end (FE), comprises an S-band rf photoinjector, a linac, and an S-bend merging with the existing versatile electron linear accelerator beam line; the second phase will complete the acceleration to full beam energy of 250 MeV and also incorporate a separate beam line for use of electrons at 250 MeV; and the third phase will include the FEL section. The CLARA FE was commissioned during 2018, and the facility was later made available for user experiments. Significant advancements have been made in developing high-level software and a simulation framework for start-to-end simulations. The high-level software has been successfully used for unmanned rf conditioning and for characterization of the electron beam. This paper describes the design of the CLARA FE, performance of technical systems, high-level software developments, preliminary results of measured beam parameters, and plans for improvements and upgrades.