HMR Support

Girouette supports Hot Module Replacement (HMR) during development, it means that any changes in your code unrelated to Girouette (like controller logic or services) will automatically invalidate your files without restarting the server.

Usage

node ace serve --hmr

import { Get } from '@adonisjs-community/girouette'

export default class UsersController {
  @Get('/users')
  async index() {
    return { message: 'Hello from Users!' } 
    return { message: 'HMR is working!' } 
  }
}

invalidated app/controllers/users_controller.ts

Customizing Controller Options

You can customize the controller scanning behavior:

import { indexControllers } from '@adonisjs-community/girouette'

export default defineConfig({
  hooks: {
    init: [
      indexControllers({
        source: './app/controllers', // Source directory
        glob: ['**/*_controller.ts'], // File patterns to match
        importAlias: '#controllers', // Import alias to use
      }),
    ],
  },
})

How It Works

When HMR is enabled:

1. Initial Scan: The indexControllers() hook scans your controllers directory during initialization
2. Code Generation: A start/routes.girouette.ts file forwards your controllers and hmr path to Girouette
3. File Watcher: When you modify a controller, AdonisJS detects the change and triggers HMR
4. Auto Reload: If your edits affect routing, a full-reload is triggered; otherwise, only the changed module is invalidated
5. Instant Update: Changes are reflected immediately in your application

Troubleshooting

Routes Not Updating

If your routes aren't updating automatically:

1. Check the hook is registered:

   hooks: {
     init: [
       indexControllers(), 
     ],
   }

2. Verify the preload is added:

   preloads: [
     () => import('#start/routes'),
     () => import('#start/kernel'),
     () => import('#start/routes.girouette'), 
   ]

3. Check the hot-hook boundaries in your package.json

   "hotHook": {
       "boundaries": [
         "./app/**/*_controller.ts", // for nested controllers
         "./app/middleware/*.ts"
       ]
     },
   }

4. Verify HMR is enabled:

   node ace serve --hmr

5. Check file naming: Controllers must end with _controller.ts by default (configurable via the glob option in indexControllers())

Changes Require Full Restart

Some changes still triggers a full-reload:

• Changes to adonisrc.ts (hooks, preloads, providers) or config-related files
• Changes to files booted on startup, like start/kernel.ts or even models/user.ts (imported by app_provider.ts)
• Changes to middleware definitions in start/kernel.ts
• Changes to the indexControllers() hook options

Next Steps

• Basic Routing - Learn how to define routes
• Route Groups - Organize your routes