debrisapron / eldritch

Watch js files and run them in a hidden Electron browser window when they change

👁 ELDRITCH 👁

Watch js files and run them in a hidden Electron browser window when they change. Useful for prototyping, debugging, live-coding, that sort of thing.

Installation

npm install -g electron
npm install -g eldritch

Example

In one console:

$ eldritch foo.js

In another:

$ echo "console.log('CTHULHU FHTAGN!')" > foo.js
$ echo "let c = new AudioContext; let o = c.createOscillator(); o.connect(c.destination); o.start()" > foo.js

The result should be an unearthly greeting accompanied by the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes. Pretty cool.

Usage

eldritch <pattern> [<pattern>...] [options]

Patterns and options are passed to chokidar.watch https://github.com/paulmillr/chokidar#api

Your watched files are running in a hidden Electron window so you can use all the usual browser APIs. Every time you make a change the watched files are re-required in the same context. In other words, global & window state are persisted between changes.

Also, every time a watched file is changed, all watched files are re-required. However, unwatched dependencies of those files will not be re-required.

Inside the browser, console is patched to output to the node console instead of writing to the browser's own console.

Disclaimer

Please do not use ELDRITCH to open doors man was not meant to open or meddle with forces you cannot possibly control.