server plugin docs

packages/cli/src/lib/server-interface.js

@@ -3,13 +3,16 @@ class ServerInterface {
     this.compilation = compilation;
     this.options = options;
   }
+
   async start() {
-    return Promise.resolve(false);
+    return Promise.resolve(true);
   }
+
   async stop() {
-    return Promise.resolve(false);
+    return Promise.resolve(true);
   }
 }
+
 module.exports = {
   ServerInterface
 };

packages/cli/src/plugins/server/plugin-livereload.js

@@ -6,21 +6,20 @@ const { ServerInterface } = require('../../lib/server-interface');
 class LiveReloadServer extends ServerInterface {
   constructor(compilation, options = {}) {
     super(compilation, options);
-  }
 
-  async start() {
     this.liveReloadServer = livereload.createServer({
       exts: ['html', 'css', 'js', 'md'],
       applyCSSLive: false // https://github.com/napcs/node-livereload/issues/33#issuecomment-693707006
     });
-    this.liveReloadServer.watch(this.compilation.context.userWorkspace, () => {
-      console.info(`Now watching directory "${this.compilation.context.userWorkspace}" for changes.`);
-    });
-    return Promise.resolve(true);
   }
 
-  async stop() {
-    return Promise.resolve(false);
+  async start() {
+    const { userWorkspace } = this.compilation.context;
+
+    this.liveReloadServer.watch(userWorkspace, () => {
+      console.info(`Now watching directory "${userWorkspace}" for changes.`);
+      return Promise.resolve(true);
+    });
   }
 }
 

www/pages/plugins/index.md

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ Greenwood aims to cater to these use cases through two approaches:
 ### API
 Each plugin must return a function that has the following three properties:.
 - `name`: A string to give your plugin a name and used for error handling and troubleshooting.
-- `type`: A string to specify to Greenwood the type of plugin.  Right now the current supported plugin type `'resource'`
+- `type`: A string to specify to Greenwood the type of plugin.  Right now the current supported plugin type [`'resource'`](/plugins/resource/) and [`'plugin'`](/plugins/server/).
 - `provider`: A function that will be invoked by Greenwood that Can accept  a `compilation` param that provides read-only access to parts of Greenwood's state and configuration that can be used by a plugin.
 
 Here is an example of creating a plugin in a _greenwood.config.js_.
@@ -106,4 +106,7 @@ module.exports = {
 While each API has its own documentation section on the left sidebar of this page, here is a quick overview of the current set of Plugin APIs Greenwood supports.
 
 #### Resource Plugins
-Resource plugins allow users to interact with the request and response lifecycles of files at a variety of different ways.  These lifecycles provide the ability to do things like introduce new file types, to adding hosted 3rd party scripts to your site.
+[Resource plugins](/plugins/resource/) allow users to interact with the request and response lifecycles of files at a variety of different ways.  These lifecycles provide the ability to do things like introduce new file types, to adding hosted 3rd party scripts to your site.
+
+#### Server Plugins
+[Server plugins](/plugins/server/) allow developers to start and stop custom servers as part of the **serve** lifecycle of Greenwood.  These lifecycles provide the ability to do things like start a GraphQL server, or reverse proy requests to a custom server.

www/pages/plugins/resource.md

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Resource plugins allow developers to interact with the request and response life
 - Introduce additional file types, like TypeScript
 
 ### API (Resource Interface)
-Although JavaScript is loosely typed, a [resource "interface"](https://github.com/ProjectEvergreen/greenwood/tree/master/packages/cli/src/lib/resource-interface.js) has been provided by Greenwood that you can use to start building our own resource plugins.  Effectively you have to define two things:
+Although JavaScript is loosely typed, a [resource "interface"](https://github.com/ProjectEvergreen/greenwood/tree/master/packages/cli/src/lib/resource-interface.js) has been provided by Greenwood that you can use to start building your own resource plugins.  Effectively you have to define two things:
 - `extensions`: The file types your plugin will operate on
 - `contentType`: A browser compatible contentType to ensure browsers correctly interpret you transformations
 

www/pages/plugins/server.md

@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+---
+label: 'Server'
+menu: side
+title: 'Server'
+index: 3
+---
+
+## Server
+
+Server plugins allow developers to start and stop custom servers as part of the serve lifecycle of Greenwood.  These lifecycles provide the ability to do things like:
+- Start a live reload server (like Greenwood does by default)
+- Starting a GraphQL server
+- Reverse proxy to help route external requests
+
+### API (Server Interface)
+Although JavaScript is loosely typed, a [server "interface"](https://github.com/ProjectEvergreen/greenwood/tree/master/packages/cli/src/lib/server-interface.js) has been provided by Greenwood that you can use to start building your own server plugins.  Effectively you just have to provide two methods
+- `start` - function to run to start your server
+- `stop`  - function to run to stop / teaddown your server
+
+
+They can be used in a _greenwood.config.js_ just like any other plugin type.
+```javascript
+const pluginMyServerFoo = require('./plugin-my-server');
+
+module.exports = {
+
+  ...
+
+  plugins: [
+    pluginMyServer()
+  ]
+
+}
+```
+
+## Example
+The below is an excerpt of [Greenwood's internal LiveReload server](https://github.com/ProjectEvergreen/greenwood/tree/master/packages/cli/src/plugins/server/plugin-livereload.js) plugin.
+
+```javascript
+class LiveReloadServer extends ServerInterface {
+  constructor(compilation, options = {}) {
+    super(compilation, options);
+
+    this.liveReloadServer = livereload.createServer({ /* options */});
+  }
+
+  async start() {
+    const { userWorkspace } = this.compilation.context;
+
+    return this.liveReloadServer.watch(userWorkspace, () => {
+      console.info(`Now watching directory "${userWorkspace}" for changes.`);
+      return Promise.resolve(true);
+    });
+  }
+}
+
+module.exports = (options = {}) => {
+  return {
+    type: 'server',
+    name: 'plugin-livereload',
+    provider: (compilation) => new LiveReloadServer(compilation, options)
+  }
+};
+```