react-server-cli

A simple command line app that will compile a routes file for the client and start up express. To use:

1. npm install --save react-server-cli react-server
2. Add ./node_modules/react-server-cli/bin/react-server-cli as the value for scripts.start in package.json.
3. npm start from the directory that has your routes.js file.

Routes Format

Note that the routes file needs to be in a bit different format than what we have used in the past in react-server. Rather than routes.route.page being a function, it needs to be a path to a file that exports a page class. Middleware also needs to be an array of file paths. For example:

module.exports = {
	// these will be applied to every page in the site.
	middleware: ["./FooMiddleware", "./BarMiddleware"],

	// this maps URLs to modules that export a Page class.
	routes: {
		BazRoute: {
			path: ["/"],
			method: "get",
			page: "./BazPage"
		},
		BakRoute: {
			path: ["/bak"],
			method: "get",
			page: "./BakPage"
		}
	}
};

##What It Does

The CLI builds and runs a react-server project, using Express. It compiles JS(X) and CSS into efficiently loadable bundles with code splitting using webpack, and it supports hot reloading of React components on the client-side during development.

##Built-in Features

###Babel Compilation It's rare to see a project these days in the JavaScript world that isn't at least experimenting with ES2015 and ES7. To make this easier, all code in your project will be run through Babel, and source maps will be generated back to the original file.

To take advantage of the Babel compilation, you need to install the Babel plugins and presets you want and reference them in a .babelrc file in your code directory. For more on the .babelrc format, see its documentation here.

##Options Smart defaults are the goal, and react-server-cli has two base modes: development and production. react-server-cli will determine which base mode it's in by looking at (in order):

1. If the --production flag was sent in, it's production.
2. If process.env.NODE_ENV is 'production', it's production.
3. Otherwise, the base mode is development.

###Development mode: making a great DX

Development mode is the default, and its goals are rapid startup and code-test loops. Hot mode is enabled for all code, although at this time, editing the routes file or modules that export a Page class still requires a browser reload to see changes. Modules that export a React component should reload without a browser refresh.

In development mode, code is not minified in order to speed up startup time, so please do not think that the sizes of bundles in development mode is indicative of how big they will be in production. In fact, it's really best not to do any kind of perf testing in development mode; it will just lead you astray.

We are also considering completely getting rid of server-side rendering in development mode by default to speed startup.

###Production mode: optimizing delivery

Production mode's priority is optimization at the expense of startup time. A separate code bundle is generated for every entry point into your app so that there is at most just one JS and one CSS file loaded by the framework. All code is minified, and hot reloading is turned off.

###Setting Options Manually

While development and production mode are good starting points, you can of course choose to override any of the setup by passing in options at the command line:

--routes

The routes file to load.

Defaults to "./routes.js".

--port, -p

The port to start up the main server, which will serve the pre-rendered HTML files.

Defaults to 3000.

--jsPort

The port to use when react-server-cli is serving up the client JavaScript.

Defaults to 3001.

--hot, -h

Use hot reloading of client JavaScript. Modules that export React components will reload without refreshing the browser.

Defaults to true in development mode and false in production mode.

--minify, -m

Minify client JavaScript and CSS.

Defaults to false in development mode and true in production.

--compileonly

Compile the client JavaScript only, and don't start any servers. This is what you want to do if you are building the client JavaScript to be hosted on a CDN or separate server. Unless you have a very specific reason, it's almost always a good idea to only do this in production mode.

For maximum compatibility between servers and compiled JavaScript, this option implies --bundleperroute.

Defaults to false.

--jsurl

A URL base for the pre-compiled client JavaScript; usually this is a base URL on a CDN or separate server. Setting a value for jsurl means that react-server-cli will not compile the client JavaScript at all, and it will not serve up any of the client JavaScript. Obviously, this means that --jsurl overrides all of the options related to JavaScript compilation: --hot, --minify, and --bundleperroute.

Defaults to null.

--loglevel

Sets the severity level for the logs being reported. Values are, in ascending order of severity: 'debug', 'info', 'notice', 'warning', 'error', 'critical', 'alert', 'emergency'.

Default is 'debug' in development mode and 'notice' in production.

--help, -?

Shows command line options.

##Future Directions

Here are a few of the things on the unordered wishlist to add to react-server-cli:

• Default to https, with http as a special case. If no cert & key specified, make a self-signed cert/key combo.
• Ability to output a completely static site, if the user wants to forgo server-side rendering.
• Ability to forgo server rendering in development mode.
• A programmatic API.
• Automatic compilation of SASS and LESS.
• Ability to opt out of Babel compilation.
• Help with proxying API endpoints.