npm: how to run test & lint on each change?

Question

I am using a bare npm ( no grunt/gulp) approach to develop my new MEAN project.
My config is like the following:

File package.json:

...
"start": "nodemon ./bin/www",
"lint": "jshint **/*.js",
"test": "mocha --recursive",
"dependencies": {
  ...
},
"devDependencies": {
  ...
},

Before starting, I run an npm start and nodemon starts monitoring my project tree for changes, triggering a restart after each source file change.
So far so good.

But what if I'd like to include - say - the lint and/or the test stages on each restart?
I didn't find any clue nor in the nodemon page nor in the npm one...

Solution

So you should have a definition of the start in your package.json to first run lint, then test then the actual run server. You can find an example in following post: http://substack.net/task_automation_with_npm_run

you should run the 'npm run monitor' command to start the monitoring and the restart should call the npm run start script.

but basically you want to have (based on your package.json)

"scripts": {
    "start": "npm run lint & npm run test & node ./myfile.js",
    "lint": "jshint **/*.js",
    "test": "mocha --recursive",
    "monitor": "nodemon ./bin/www"
    .....

Comments

[MarcoS]

What is ./myfile.js ?

[sagie]

your app.js file that you start your application with.

[MarcoS]

I don't understand what you mean, sorry: if I call npm run monitor, how npm start will be called?

[sagie]

If thats how you startup your app than yes.

[sagie]

See github.com/remy/nodemon#running-non-node-scripts so you can have nodemon --exec "npm run start"

[MarcoS]

Hmmm... I suppose I'll drop "monitor" and will use "start": "npm run lint & npm run test & nodemon ./bin/www" ... :-)

[sagie]

that might end up as an endless loop as you will run nodemon from nodemon. so just make sure that doesn't happen.

[MarcoS]

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

[sagie]

@Sobiaholic meaning? error? what? for me it works great even 3 years after I answered it.