utopia_hotreload 3.0.0

Advanced hot reload and hot restart functionality for Dart applications with true VM-based hot reload capabilities, similar to Flutter's development experience.

3.0.0

Breaking Changes

• Minimum SDK version bumped to Dart 3.0.0 (was 2.17.0)
• Removed unused meta dependency

New Features

• CLI executable: Run dart run utopia_hotreload bin/server.dart for zero-config hot reload of any Dart script
• Lifecycle hooks: onBeforeReload, onAfterReload, onBeforeRestart, onAfterRestart, onFileChanged, onError callbacks via LifecycleHooks class
• Configuration file support: Load settings from hotreload.yaml via ReloadConfigFile
• Advanced file pattern matching: Glob patterns, regex, and predefined presets (dart-project, web-project, flutter-project)
• WSL2 auto-detection: Automatically detects WSL2 mounted Windows drives (/mnt/) and uses polling-based file watching since inotify doesn't work on those paths
• Polling configuration: usePolling / pollingDelay options for manual control of file watching strategy

Bug Fixes

• Fixed multi-service manager: Services now actually run user code with per-service VM hot reload (was using placeholder scripts)
• Fixed keyboard commands: r (hot reload) and R (hot restart) now work correctly — previously both triggered hot restart
• Fixed operator precedence bug in YAML config parser for vm_service_port
• Fixed unawaited futures in multi-service manager
• Fixed path prefix matching that could produce false positives on overlapping directory names

Improvements

• File watcher now uses DirectoryWatcher from the watcher package for better cross-platform reliability
• Memory usage detection uses ProcessInfo.currentRss instead of shelling out to tasklist/ps
• Per-service hot reload via VM service reloadSources() with restart fallback
• Concurrency guard prevents overlapping service restarts

2.0.0

• Improved reliability and performance of hot reload and hot restart
• Enhanced file watching with better ignore pattern support
• Improved logging and error handling mechanisms
• Dashboard feature to monitor reload status and logs

1.0.1

• Documentation updates
• Cleanup and remove unused libraries

1.0.0

Added

• Initial release of utopia_hotreload package
• True hot reload functionality using Dart VM service
• Hot restart capability for when hot reload isn't possible
• Auto mode that intelligently chooses between hot reload and hot restart
• File watching system with configurable paths and extensions
• Debouncing support to prevent excessive reload triggers
• Ignore patterns for excluding files/directories from watching
• Comprehensive developer tools API with DeveloperTools.start()
• Multiple reload modes: hotReload, hotRestart, and auto
• VM service integration with automatic connection management
• Graceful fallback mechanisms when hot reload fails
• Support for custom script execution and server management
• Built-in error handling and logging for debugging
• State preservation during hot reload (similar to Flutter)
• Process isolation for hot restart functionality

Features

• True Hot Reload: Uses Dart VM service to reload code without losing application state
• Hot Restart: Process-based restart for cases where hot reload isn't suitable
• Auto Mode: Tries hot reload first, automatically falls back to hot restart
• File Watching: Monitors specified directories and file extensions for changes
• Configurable Debouncing: Prevents rapid successive reloads from file save bursts
• Ignore Patterns: Exclude build directories, generated files, and other unwanted paths
• Developer-Friendly API: Simple DeveloperTools.start() method for easy integration

Technical Details

• Requires Dart SDK 2.17.0 or higher
• Uses vm_service package for hot reload functionality
• Uses watcher package for file system monitoring
• Supports both isolate-based and process-based execution models
• Automatic VM service enablement and connection management
• Graceful error handling with detailed logging for troubleshooting