Git in glitch

This is a proof of concept for using git in glitch

The project is hosted in Github at EmbeddedMike/git-glitch

I plan to make improvements to suit my workflow and would welcome others improving it. If you would like an invite to the glitch project, you can message me through git. Or you can fork my project on github, remix this to your own, make changes and send me a PR

How it works

Overview

Two files control the automated behavior of the project

1. package.json
2. watch.json

Two files control git operations

1. doit.sh
2. DO-IT

This file forces the project to restart

1. .trigger-rebuild

Your project will also restart (after trying to install) if you modify package.json or .env

package.json

The relevant parts of the file are below:

	"watch": {
		"doit": "DO-IT"
	},
	"scripts": {
		"start": "npm-watch & node server.js",
		"doit": "./doit.sh"
	},
  "dependencies": {
	...
		"npm-watch": "^0.1.7"
	},

The package npm-watch is launched by the start script

The watch section configures npm-watch. When DO-IT changes, the script doit runs. This invokes doit.sh

watch.json

This tells gomix how to respond to some other changes

{
  "install": {
    "include": [
      "^package\\.json$",
      "^\\.env$"
    ]
  },
  "restart": {
    "include": [
      "^.trigger-rebuild$"
    ]
  },
  "throttle": 1000
}

The throttle value debounces changes. So actions controlled by this file will take effect, in this csae, after 1000 msecs.

If you are making pervasive changes to files that trigger actions you can change change the throttle value to some big number like 10000 Then when you are ready for more response, change it to a lower number.

Note that the npm-watch behavior is independent and occurs as soon as there is any change.

The install member tells gomix to rerun the install process when package.json or .env changes (modulated by throttle)

The restart member tells gomix to run the start script in scripts in .tirggle-rebuild (moduldated by throttle)

Running a command

The file doit.sh contains a bash script.

The file DO-IT controls execution of doit.sh. A single character change in DO-ITwill cause execution of the current commands in doit.sh.

So the normal workflow is:

Uncomment the lines in doit.sh. that you want to execute, or add or modify the lines to meet your needs. For example, you might uncomment and modify the line:

#git checkout "README.md"

to checkout a different file. See the not on problems after checkouts.

You can put any commands that you want, not just git commands, into doit.sh

Problems and improvements

Updating editors

When you modify your working directory by a git operation (for example by a checkout or a fetch) the glitch editor does NOT update. To force an update you need to reload the current project in your browser. Annoying, but it works.

doit.sh reruns last command on reload

When the project reloads, the glitch invokes the start script, which in turn invokes node-watch which will run the doit script. So whatever is left in this file will be rerun.

For this reason it's a good idea to re-comment any lines after you do a commit.