sails.jsgrunt-contrib-watchlivereloadbrowser-syncgrunt-contrib-connect

Get livereload to work with Sails.js


I am new to both Sails and grunt so I might be missing the obvious. I am trying to automatically refresh my sails app in the browser whenever files change.

I start the app with sails lift and it runs on the default port 1337.

I tried adding options: {livereload:true} to my grunt-contrib-watch configuration but as far as I understand I need to somehow inject the livereload JavaScript into my page?

I tried to use grunt-contrib-connect with the livereload option to inject the JavaScript but it seems to just start another server. When I navigate to the started server (localhost:8000) I just see the folder structure. The livereload JavaScript is injected however.

I want to avoid the livereload Chrome Plugin if possible.

What's the best way to inject the livereload JavaScript into my Sails app? Or should I just use another tool like Browsersync?

Thank you! :)


Solution

    1. Add livereload option to tasks/config/watch.js
        module.exports = function(grunt) {
    
         grunt.config.set('watch', {
            api: {
    
                // API files to watch:
                files: ['api/**/*', '!**/node_modules/**']
            },
            assets: {
    
                // Assets to watch:
                files: ['assets/**/*', 'tasks/pipeline.js', '!**/node_modules/**'],
    
                // When assets are changed:
                tasks: ['syncAssets' , 'linkAssets']
            },
            // ADD THIS 
            options: {
              livereload: true,
            },
        });
    
        grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-watch');
    };
    
    1. Add livereload script to your layout, somewhere at the end before </body> tag, by default to views/layout.ejs:
    <script src="http://localhost:35729/livereload.js"></script>
    

    Except of localhost you can use IP or DNS name of server

    This will refresh page if a file is changed in api or assets folder.

    By default Ggrunt-contrib-watch uses 35729 port. You can point other port like livereload: 8000

    EDIT: Well, I do not really know if this is totally correct, but looks like you can override layout settings in config/env/development.js. Add something like:

    module.exports = {
        views: {
            layout: 'dev'
        }
    }
    

    Then you can create separate layout file views/dev.ejs where you can add livereload script and other development params. Also you can add livereload key in the same way.