This is a great idea, but it should be a standalone utility.

Right now, if someone wants to incorporate grunt-devtools into their project, it's via Grunt plugin that goes in the package.json / Gruntfile. They then amend their Readme to tell other collaborators how to use their sexy new grunt-devtools workflow.

Except not everyone who contributes to a project will want to or be able to use grunt-devtools. Someone might be on an unsupported OS or not have access to Chrome or might just not want to use it because they prefer a text-based shell. For those users, this project-proscribed GUI around Grunt can actually hinder collaborative development.

I'd like to suggest that you make grunt-devtools a standalone utility, instead of a Grunt plugin, that is not installed locally into a project, because it exists orthogonal to projects and is more developer-centric.

Maybe it could be made to work in such a way that a potential contributor reading a Readme written by someone using either CLI-based Grunt or grunt-devtools can read one set of directions and understand how it works in whichever mode they are more familiar.

Basically, make it like a shell, but with buttons and progress bars. But please don't make it a Grunt plugin.

thanks for the awesome Extension, i really enjoy it! grunt-devtools works fine for me in the normal grunt project enviroment. Actually i have a project where i execute my gruntfiles in the following setup and the grunt-devtools cant execute the tasks

project/node_modules

project/customer/campaign/Gruntfile.js

Executing any Task works fine with:
grunt --base project/node_modules --gruntfile project/customer/campaign/Gruntfile.js default

and this also

grunt --base project/node_modules --gruntfile project/customer/campaign/Gruntfile.js devtools

running the listed tasks via the extension bring:
Warning: Task "taskname" not found.� Use --force to continue.
Aborted due to warnings.

is it possible to run the extension with this setup?

GreetinX

Hello, I've successfully installed globally grunt-devtools and its chrome extension, and it's running fine on one of my old grunt project.

Anyway in the one I'm currently working to, when I type grunt-devtools it returns an error, I'm not sure what the exact translation is but should be something like "Command line is too long".

The tasks are running fine from the command line so I'm not sure what's going wrong...

If I move a task to the background, then the task no longer automatically appends its output to the UI (even if that task is the current task).

You have to click on the task again in the left tree to cause it to update.

I would think you would want your watch task in the background and typically have it selected. But since the task doesn't report any further output, the functionality is significantly reduced.

Hi, i just made a firefox devtools extension based on your template, had to change some content in devtools.js. Now only a basic prototype is available, just want to hear your thoughts on it https://github.com/deepak1556/grunt-ffdevtools, Thanks!

The console should escape/HTML encode special characters. If I have some HTML output in the console, the Dev Tools will actually render this.

i consistently get an "InvalidStateError: DOM Exception 11" (during handleSocketOpen) error on windows 7. increasing the setTimeout timer to 2000ms instead of 1000ms on the connect function seems to fix it right away so my best guess is that the extension is retrying too fast.

on a 1000ms tick, the websocket object for localhost:61751 is created right before the onopen event (handled by handleSocketOpen) is emitted for localhost:61750 (61750 is the default port on the grunt-devtool task).

on a 2000ms tick, the websocket object for localhost:61751 is created after the onopen event for localhost:61750

I don't get the same behavior on OSX (the onopen event is emitted right after 61750 is created, not after 61751). grunt-devtools actually doesn't work on my windows 7 machine at home and windows 7 machine at work(both on chrome 26) but i am trying to establish what the other causes are at the moment before putting in issues for them.

I have a project where I use multiple gruntfile files to keep things organized. Similarly I pass in variables to be used within the grunt file. I love the idea of having everything in Chrome instead of going back to the command line, but need to be able to pass this additional info in.

In our project structure, we have the grunt-files in a seperate folder (tools/build/), and we set the base after loading all the tasks:
grunt.file.setBase('../../');

Because of this, the devtools task cannot find the Gruntfile.js

Could this path be added to a devtools-configuration-section (just like configuring other grunt tasks)?

First, fantastic work on this, @vladikoff :) Love it.

Some ideas for the docs:

• Clarify whether this is for existing projects using Grunt or can be used on brand new projects too. Based on what I see, it requires an existing gruntfile so maybe just expand on this.
• Screencast? Would love to see you walking through how you use this in your workflow. Is it primarily to avoid flipping back to the command-line?
• Could this be used with something like Yeoman (specifically the yo scaffold?) - maybe not something for docs, but good to know.

I like to run grunt inside a vagrant instance and I usually add a host file entry to the box, so I'd hit something like dev.awesomeproject.com. It would be awesome if the extension used the current tab's host rather than default to localhost.

First off, I absolutely love this extension! However, the devtools task doesn't recognize the Gruntfile if it's written in CoffeeScript:

Warning: ENOENT, no such file or directory 'Gruntfile.js' Use --force to continue.

Deleted- Had to run the installer with sudo (as admin). Thanks for the plugin, its great!

Hey @vladikoff,

As you know, I work with the Chrome DevTools team and we're trying to put together a list of feedback and asks for the DevTools extensions API based on your experience with it.

If you have a few mins to spare could you fill out this really quick survey? :)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1e9uN0xxcR00LOLcZDkv9wRQSf7LA591kQRU7G2Co3eI/viewform

Thanks!

I'd be nice if you could make a Firefox add-on.

Here's an example of a devtools addon that works both on Firefox and Chrome :
https://github.com/emberjs/ember-inspector
It uses grunt tasks to generate the chrome addon and the Firefox addon.

Here's a plain Firefox DevTools add-on example : https://github.com/victorporof/Restartless-Template

I have currently a bunch of sub-tasks for a couple of tasks, and it looks a bit messy in DevTools panel. Wouldn't it be nice to bring some structure here? Just put sub-task into expandable sub-tree under the main task. I'm working on it right now.

Does this make sense?

I am getting the error "Failed to find your Gruntfile or 'grunt' node module. Are you running 'grunt-devtools' in a directory with a Gruntfile?" when installing grunt-devtools globally. The local installation works without any issues. I'm running version 0.2.1 on Windows 7.

Hello,

Does the alias tasks section works ?

It seems that all tasks (alias or not) are listed under task. Did I miss something ? Is there something special to do to help the plugin ?

Greetings,

My current web development setup is something like this:

Windows 7 ====> SSH (via putty) =====> Ubuntu Server

I run grunt-devtools on my putty. Then opens my chrome browser on windows. And nothing happen on the grunt tab.

So my question is...

Am I able to run grunt-devtools on this kind of setup? If yes, do i need to setup something?

It will be cool if some of the tasks can be run via keyboard shortcuts. For example: I can run my build with "cmd + shift + b" and not switching to the terminal.

Since grunt-devtools is fully compatible with stable version of Opera:

Could you please publish it to Opera Extensions catalog? You can load and pack extension right in the browser in developer mode:

Feel free to ask questions to me or @andreasbovens

When switching grunt projects, could the scrollbar stick to the bottom, so you don't have to scroll down everytime you switch?

If a(n) (build) error occures, could the project light up (red or something) as an indication something is wrong?

Sorry, this isn't an error something i am missing on my config.
Each time i run devtools i get the following warnings:

→ grunt devtools
Running "devtools" task
Warning: Native modules not compiled. XOR performance will be degraded.
Warning: Native modules not compiled. UTF-8 validation disabled.

Grunt Devtools v0.1.0-7 is ready! Proceed to the Chrome extension.

Is there something about this?

Thanks

Calling devtools task will block execution of any other tasks, if presented.

grunt.task.run([
      'clean:server',
      'bower-install',
      'concurrent:server',
      'autoprefixer',
      'express:dev',
      'devtools',
      'open',
      'watch'
]);

open and watch tasks will never run.

Running globally installed task in another tab in the console is kinda ok, but having the task automatically installed locally and being executed among others with grunt serve is a much more better approach.

My employer has Kaspersky anti-virus on our PC's. When installing the npm package for grunt-devtools, I received a report from Kaspersky:
12/16/2013 9:03:45 AM Process C:\PROGRAM FILES\NODEJS\NODE.EXE (PID: 16272): Process is trying to redirect data input/output. Probably it is attempt of remote access to your computer (RootShell)
and then:
12/16/2013 9:03:46 AM Process C:\PROGRAM FILES\NODEJS\NODE.EXE (PID: 16272): Source file deleted.

Yup, it actually deleted Node! I'm not sure if there's anything that can be done about this, I imagine this is a vital part of how the plug-in works. Thought I would mentioned it anyways though.

Is this project dead? Does not seem to have any activity

Hi, I like the idea of this, but am not sure of the application? I thought I would be able to run grunt watch with your extension, and still be able to use the Bash window for git commands, but the Bash window is still locked by the grunt devtools command. Am, I doing something wrong?

Thanks.

If you install grunt-devtools in the global namespace, it would be nice that the module installed the modules, from the gruntfile through npm-install instead of simply pushing out an error.
Even if I have grunt installed in a "global" space:

npm install -g grunt

It gives out this error

Fatal error: Unable to find local grunt.
Failed to find your Gruntfile or 'grunt' node module.
Are you running 'grunt-devtools' in a directory with a Gruntfile?

Best
Lucas

Any insight into the cause of this error?

Hi,

I think it would be great to be able to pass command line arguments received by the "grunt devtools" command to the one we launch manually in chrome.

For instance, if I run : "grunt devtools --someArg=someValue"
It would be great that when I launch another task from the chrome extension it sees that argument.

What do you think ?

Thanks.