Skip to main content

NodeJS Auto-reload server

Published on December 23, 2020

This document was migrated from DigiDocs

Problem: Manually reloading the NodeJS server by hitting Ctrl + C and entering npm start repeatedly in development is exhausting.

Solution: Automatically reload the server each time there is a change!

Nodemon

Cite

Nodemon is a utility that will monitor for any changes in your source and automatically restart your server.

How-to-use

npm i -g nodemon
  1. Install nodemon: npm i -g nodemon.
  2. Replace node with nodemon in your command. For example, change node index.js to nodemon index.js. That's it.

Add to npm scripts

You can also add it to npm scripts to make life even easier.

{
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node index.js",
    "dev": "nodemon index.js"
  }
}

After doing so, you can enter npm run dev subsequently, which will resolve to nodemon index.js.

Resources