sails/docs/reference/application/advanced-usage/sails.load.md

API-driven framework for building realtime apps, using MVC conventions (based on Express and Socket.io)

# sails.load()

Load a Sails app into memory, but without lifting an HTTP server.

_Useful for writing tests, command-line scripts, and scheduled jobs._

```usage
sailsApp.load(configOverrides, function (err) {

});
```

_Or:_
+ `sailsApp.load(function (err) {...});`




#### Usage

|   |     Argument        | Type                                         | Details                            |
|---|:--------------------|----------------------------------------------|:-----------------------------------|
| 1 |    _configOverrides_| ((dictionary?))                              | A dictionary of config that will override any conflicting options present in configuration files.  If provided, this will be merged on top of [`sails.config`](https://sailsjs.com/documentation/reference/configuration).

##### Callback

|   |     Argument        | Type                | Details |
|---|:--------------------|---------------------|:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1 |    _err_            | ((Error?))          | An error encountered while loading, or `undefined` if there were no errors.




### Example

```javascript
var Sails = require('sails').constructor;
var sailsApp = new Sails();

sailsApp.load({
  log: {
    level: 'error'
  }
}, function (err) {
  if (err) {
    console.log('Error occurred loading Sails app:', err);
    return;
  }

  // --•
  console.log('Sails app loaded successfully!');

});
```

### Notes
> - This takes care of loading configuration files, initializing hooks (including the ORM), and binding routes.  It **does not** run the bootstrap, and it **does not** start listening for HTTP requests and WebSocket connections.
> - More specifically, the difference between [`.lift()`](https://sailsjs.com/documentation/reference/application/sails-lift) and [`.load()`](https://sailsjs.com/documentation/reference/application/sails-load) is that `.lift()` takes the additional steps of (1) running the app's [bootstrap](https://sailsjs.com/documentation/reference/configuration/sails-config-bootstrap) (if any), and (2) emitting the `ready` event.  The core `http` hook will typically respond to the `ready` event by starting an HTTP server on the port configured via `sails.config.port` (1337 by default).
> - Even though a "loaded-but-not-lifted" Sails app does not listen for requests on an HTTP port, you can make "virtual" requests to it using [`sails.request`](https://sailsjs.com/documentation/reference/application/sails-request)
> - For an example of this in practice, see [machine-as-script](https://github.com/treelinehq/machine-as-script/blob/ec8972137489afd24562bdf0b6a10ada11e540cc/index.js#L778-L791).
> - With the exception of `NODE_ENV` and `PORT`, [configuration set via environment variables](https://sailsjs.com/documentation/concepts/configuration#?setting-sailsconfig-values-directly-using-environment-variables) will not automatically apply to apps started using `.load()`, nor will options set in [`.sailsrc` files](https://sailsjs.com/documentation/concepts/configuration/using-sailsrc-files).  If you wish to use those configuration values, you can retrieve them via `require('sails/accessible/rc')('sails')` and pass them in as the first argument to `.load()`.


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