env-reloader/index.js

Auto-restart Node.js server on .env changes | dotenv reload watcher for development

#!/usr/bin/env node

const chokidar = require("chokidar");
const path = require("path");
const nodemon = require("nodemon");

const args = process.argv.slice(2);
if (!args.length) {
  console.log("Usage: env-reloader <your-start-file>");
  process.exit(1);
}

const envPath = path.resolve(process.cwd(), ".env");
console.log(`👀 Watching for changes in: ${envPath}`);

// Start nodemon programmatically
nodemon({
  script: args[0],
  exec: args[0].endsWith(".ts") ? "ts-node" : "node",
  ext: "ts js json",
  watch: ["src"], // you can customize if needed
});

nodemon
  .on("start", () => {
    console.log("🚀 Server started with nodemon...");
  })
  .on("quit", () => {
    console.log("👋 Server stopped");
    process.exit();
  })
  .on("restart", (files) => {
    console.log("♻️ Nodemon restarted due to:", files);
  });

// Watch only .env and trigger nodemon.restart()
chokidar.watch(envPath, { ignoreInitial: true }).on("change", () => {
  console.log("\n📦 .env changed → restarting server...\n");
  nodemon.restart(); // ✅ Safe API call instead of signals
});