griddle

Express middleware for executing gulp builds and reporting errors in the browser.

Installation

Install via npm:

npm install griddle

Usage

Let's assume our client source files built via gulp exist in client/src and are built to to client/build and we have a gulpfile.js in client defining a default build task.

var express = require('express');
 
var app = express();
express.use(griddle('client', 'client/src'))
express.use(express.static('client/build'));
 
// Requests to 8080 will serve the built results
express.listen(8080);

A build will be performed every time the express server is started. If a valid watch path is specified changes to files in that directory will also trigger a build.

That's it! If you try to hit the server while it's building you'll have to wait until it's complete.

If one of your builds results in an error, you'll see it like so in the browser:

API

griddle(src, watch, template)

• src
  • string
  • Required
  • Path to the project that should be built.
• watch
  • [string=undefined]
  • Optional
  • Path to the directory that should be watched for changes. As changes occur a gulp build will be triggered.
• template
  • [string=undefined]
  • Optional
  • Optional view name which you'd like to handle build errors.