gulp-develop-server

run your node.js server and automatically restart with gulp.

gulp-develop-server is a development assistant for node.js server that runs the process and automatically restarts it when a file is modified.

installation

npm install gulp-develop-server --save-dev

usage

var gulp   = require( 'gulp' ),
    server = require( 'gulp-develop-server' );
 
// run server
gulp.task( 'server:start', function() {
    server.listen( { path: './app.js' } );
});
 
// restart server if app.js changed
gulp.task( 'server:restart', function() {
    gulp.watch( [ './app.js' ], server.restart );
});

api

server.listen( options[, callback] )

options {Object}

• path

  • type: {String}
  • example: './your_node_app.js'
  • Your node application path. This option is required.

• env

  • type: {Object}
  • default: { NODE_ENV: 'development' } (extends current process.env)
  • example: { PORT: 3000, NODE_ENV: 'production' }
  • Environment settings of your server.

• args

  • type: {Array}
  • your application's arguments

• execArgv

  • type: {Array}
  • example: [ '--harmony' ]
  • Run node process with this options.

• delay

  • type: {Number}
  • default: 600
  • If this plugin does not receive an error from the server after options.delay seconds, assumes the server listening success.
  • This option needs to adjust according to your application's initialize time.
  • If this option set 0, it will only check successMessage.

• successMessage

  • type: {RegExp}
  • default: /^[Ss]erver listening/
  • If your application send the specific message by process.send method, this plugin assumes the server listening success.

• errorMessage

  • type: {RegExp}
  • default: /[Ee]rror:/
  • If this plugin receives the specific error message that matched this RegExp at start-up, assumes the server has error.

• killSignal

  • type: {String}
  • default: SIGTERM

callback( error )

server.restart( [callback] ) / server.changed( [callback] )

callback( error )

server( [options] )

Create a Transform stream. Restart the server at once when this stream gets files.

server.kill( [signal, callback] )

Send kill signal to the server process.
signal {String}
callback( error )

server.reset( [signal, callback] )

Send kill signal to the server process and reset the options to default.
signal {String}
callback( error )

more examples

with gulp-livereload:

var gulp       = require( 'gulp' ),
    server     = require( 'gulp-develop-server' ),
    livereload = require( 'gulp-livereload' );
 
var options = {
    path: './apps/app.js'
};
 
var serverFiles = [
    './apps/app.js',
    './routes/*.js'
];
 
gulp.task( 'server:start', function() {
    server.listen( options, livereload.listen );
});
 
// If server scripts change, restart the server and then livereload.
gulp.task( 'default', [ 'server:start' ], function() {
    
    function restart( file ) {
        server.changed( function( error ) {
            if( ! error ) livereload.changed( file.path );
        });
    }
 
    gulp.watch( serverFiles ).on( 'change', restart );
});

with BrowserSync:

var gulp   = require( 'gulp' ),
    server = require( 'gulp-develop-server' ),
    bs     = require( 'browser-sync' );
 
var options = {
    server: {
        path: './apps/app.js',
        execArgv: [ '--harmony' ]
    },
    bs: {
        proxy: 'http://localhost:3000'
    }
};
 
var serverFiles = [
    './apps/app.js',
    './routes/*.js'
];
 
gulp.task( 'server:start', function() {
    server.listen( options.server, function( error ) {
        if( ! error ) bs( options.bs );
    });
});
 
// If server scripts change, restart the server and then browser-reload.
gulp.task( 'server:restart', function() {
    server.restart( function( error ) {
        if( ! error ) bs.reload();
    });
});
 
gulp.task( 'default', [ 'server:start' ], function() {
    gulp.watch( serverFiles, [ 'server:restart' ] )
});

use as a stream:

var gulp   = require( 'gulp' ),
    server = require( 'gulp-develop-server' ),
    bs     = require( 'browser-sync' ),
    coffee = require( 'gulp-coffee' );
 
var options = {
    server: {
        path: './apps/app.js',
        execArgv: [ '--harmony' ]
    },
    bs: {
        proxy: 'http://localhost:3000'
    }
};
 
var serverCoffee = [
    './src/*.coffee'
];
 
gulp.task( 'server:start', function() {
    server.listen( options.server, function( error ) {
        if( ! error ) bs( options.bs );
    });
});
 
// If server side's coffee files change, compile these files,
// restart the server and then browser-reload.
gulp.task( 'server:restart', function() {
    gulp.src( serverCoffee )
        .pipe( coffee() )
        .pipe( gulp.dest( './apps' ) )
        .pipe( server() )
        .pipe( bs.reload({ stream: true }) );
});
 
gulp.task( 'default', [ 'server:start' ], function() {
    gulp.watch( serverCoffee, [ 'server:restart' ] );
});

thanks

@pronebird
@vkareh
@chimerast
@silverbp
@tomxtobin