Request for a how-to guide: keeping your app up to date

[oren]

How do I make sure my application has the recent changes of Preact CLI? I assume I can run the create command and create a new app and copy all the files in the components and routes folder and whatever else I added but that sounds error prone and slow.

[thangngoc89]

@oren If preact-cli follows the semver correctly, you just need to bump preact-cli version if there is a minor/patch release. If it's a major release (which introduces breaking changes), there should be a guide to tell user how to update.

[oren]

Do i need to make any changes in package.json?
What is the exact command I should run in the terminal? Npm update?
Also, what about files like app.js, package.json, or the manifest file. What if they should also change? Is that considered a major change?

Thanks!

[thangngoc89]

@oren npm update should do the trick.

preact-cli doesn't care about app.js package.json, or the manifest file. The only requirements is an index.js at cwd that exports a component. (see the empty example). Everything else is optional and have it fallback.

[oren]

Got it.

One more question:
npm update will only update the dependencies. When do I know it's time for updating the cli itself (sudo npm update -g preact-cli) and generating a new app?

[thangngoc89]

npm -g update or npm --global update

[lukeed]

The CLI really is just a config generator. The templates/boilerplates that are included are mostly a starting point. Across all libraries, it's generally assumed that the user will have progressed their app code far enough along that the dummy-templates won't matter anymore.

The important part is maintaining config & build functionality. That's what will be updated & synced in the future.

[oren]

@thangngoc89 I believe you answered the question 'how to upgrade the preact-cli'. I was asking 'when should I do it'.

@lukeed got it. The reason I am asking is let's say the cli will have in the future a new feature that require a new dependency in package.json. If I don't re-generate a preact app I'll never have it. In those situation I feel like it's important be notified that I should re-generate my app and maybe copy paste some files to the new generated folder. At least that's how I see things. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[lukeed]

I guess it depends what we're calling a "feature" ... or what that feature is.

As an example, let's assume a new feature is added which modifies or adds a new service worker behavior. All you have to do is update your global and/or local preact-cli version, and all your applications (tied to the CLI) will inherit the new feature automatically. This is because it's config/build code that's included with the CLI source.

Similarly, the same sort of game plan applies to #56 when it lands. Everyone who already uses preact-cli will not have to scrap their existing projects and build from a new empty template. Instead, we'll all just bump our dependency version --- just like any other library or module dependency. Does that make sense?

I feel comfortable saying that 99.9% of the time, there won't be a template update. If there is, it'd be minor things (like #82). No one is installing and using preact-cli for its templates. Instead, we're all here for the automatic build-stuff that makes life easier.

[oren]

got it. should this be part of an FAQ page? Should we close this issue? I am just worried that a lot of the discussions on github are being lost if it's not moved to a more visible/official place.

[developit]

Definitely part of a FAQ yup, I think a lot of people don't realize this is something we want to keep as sealed up as possible within the confines of the CLI - you really should never have to update your application code in order to move forward with the CLI, because it's a generic "preact app bundler".

We could use this issue to track the bit you mentioned about the global preact-cli install - for that I'd actually like to have the CLI check for new versions periodically and notify you of an update (a bunch of the other ones do this).

[khalillechelt]

@developit this is a great update notifier: https://www.npmjs.com/package/update-notifier

[reznord]

@Kahlil update-notifier will be available in the next version of preact-cli.

Keeping an app up-to-date in preact-cli will not be a problem since we are adding preact-cli as a dependency, it will always have the latest changes. So, just bumping up the preact-cli version will do the work.

[khalillechelt]

nice

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On 7. Oct 2017, at 18:57, Anup ***@***.***> wrote: @Kahlil update-notifier will be available in the next version of preact-cli. Keeping an app up-to-date in preact-cli will not be a problem since we are adding preact-cli as a dependency, it will always have the latest changes. So, just bumping up the preact-cli version will do the work. — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.