vite-plugin-devtools

Description

vite-plugin-devtools is a framework-agnostic devtools builder designed for any tool or library based on Vite. It serves as a shared foundation for other devtools plugins such as vite-plugin-vue-devtools and nuxt-devtools.

Key Features:

• Extensive API
• Multiple devtools options
• Simple and lightweight
• Full control over the client and server

Usage

The following code demonstrates how to use vite-plugin-devtools:

// server (vite.config.js or plugin entry)
import createDevtools from "vite-plugin-devtools";

const { addServerFunction, plugin, serverRPC } = createDevtools("devtools-test", {
  icon: `/* svg string */`,
  clientDir: "./test/dist/",
});

// client (in `clientDir`)
import { addClientFunction } from 'vite-plugin-devtools/client'

addClientFunction('ping', () => {
  return 'response from client'
})

API

createDevtools

The createDevtools function is used to initialize the devtools.

type Options = {
    icon: string;
    clientDir: string;
};

declare function createDevtools<T extends keyof ServerFunctions = keyof ServerFunctions>(name: string, options: Options): {
    serverRPC: birpc.BirpcGroupReturn<ClientFunctions>;
    addServerFunction: AddServerFunction<T>;
    plugin: PluginOption;
};

addServerFunction

The addServerFunction function allows adding server functions.

addServerFunction("here", function() {
  return "here";
});

plugin

The plugin option can be passed to Vite to integrate the devtools.

serverRPC

The serverRPC object is used to call client functions and is bound to the server functions.

addServerFunction("here", function() {
  console.log(serverRPC === this);
  return "here";
});

Client

declare const clientRPC: ClientRPC;
declare function addClientFunction<T extends keyof ClientFunctions>(name: T, func: ToClientFunction<ClientFunctions[T]>): void;
declare function addClientFunction(func: ClientFunction): void;
declare function changePosition(position: 'bottom' | 'top' | 'left' | 'right'): void;

addClientFunction

The addClientFunction function is used to add a client function that can be called by the server using RPC.

import { addClientFunction } from 'vite-plugin-devtools/client'

addClientFunction('ping', () => {
  return 'response from client'
})

Server example:

setInterval(async () => {
  console.log('pinging the client, response:', await serverRPC.ping());
}, 3000);

clientRPC

The clientRPC object allows calling functions defined by the server using addServerFunction.

changePosition

The changePosition function is used to modify the position of the devtools bar and associated iframes. It affects the positions of other devtools as well.

TypeScript

To enhance autocompletion and type safety for your functions, serverRPC, clientRPC,

and the this keyword, you can use type guarding by extending the ServerFunctions and ClientFunctions interfaces.

declare module "vite-plugin-devtools" {
  export interface ServerFunctions {
    here(): string;
  }
  export interface ClientFunctions {
    ping(): string;
  }
}

This allows for better development experience with autocompletion and type checking.

Utilities

Common utilities that may be used by devtools plugins.

interface DefaultServerFunctions {
  staticAssets(): Promise<AssetInfo[]>
  getImageMeta(filepath: string): Promise<ImageMeta | undefined>
  getTextAssetContent(filepath: string, limit?: number): Promise<string | undefined>
  getPackages(): Promise<{ packages: Record<string, string> }>
}

These are all available by default in clientRPC.