Payload plugin switch env

Demo

demo.webm

Install

``
pnpm i @elliott-w/payload-plugin-switch-env
`

Example Config

⚠️ Warning: The switchEnv plugin must come last in the plugins array. Your cloud storage plugin must be second last.

`ts
// payload.config.ts
import { type Args, mongooseAdapter } from '@payloadcms/db-mongodb'
import { buildConfig } from 'payload'
import { switchEnvPlugin, adminThumbnail } from '@elliott-w/payload-plugin-switch-env'
import { s3Storage } from '@payloadcms/storage-s3'

const dbArgs: Args = {
url: process.env.DATABASE_URI!,
}

export default buildConfig({
db: mongooseAdapter(dbArgs),
plugins: [
// Your cloud storage plugin must come second last in the plugins array
s3Storage({
bucket: process.env.S3_BUCKET!,
collections: {
media: true,
},
config: {
credentials: {
accessKeyId: process.env.S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID!,
secretAccessKey: process.env.S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY!,
},
region: process.env.S3_REGION,
},
}),
// The switchEnvPlugin must come last in the plugins array
switchEnvPlugin({
enable: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development',
db: {
function: mongooseAdapter,
productionArgs: dbArgs,
developmentArgs: {
...dbArgs,
url: process.env.DEVELOPMENT_DATABASE_URI || '',
},
},
}),
],
collections: [
{
slug: 'media',
fields: [
{
name: 'alt',
type: 'text',
},
],
upload: {
// Helper function if you want admin thumbnails to link directly to cloud storage
adminThumbnail: adminThumbnail({
basePath: https://${process.env.S3_BUCKET}.s3.${process.env.S3_REGION}.amazonaws.com,
imageSize: 'thumbnail',
}),
imageSizes: [
{
name: 'thumbnail',
width: 300,
height: 300,
},
],
},
},
],
})
``

Limitations

Does not support database migrations.

Only works with:

- payload 3.0.2 and higher
- mongodb
- any cloud storage adapter (does not support local file storage)

Why this plugin?

$3

You're working with a production database that is getting frequently updated and you want to push a feature that requires code + database changes.

#### Option #1

Quickly clone the database to your local machine, make the data changes and then overwrite the production database with your local database.

Pros

- It works (maybe)

Cons

- Depending on how frequently the database (i.e. website) is updated, you might lose some data changes (e.g. e-commerce orders, form submissions, content entry changes from the client or other developers, etc) made to the production database in the time it took you to do all that.

#### Option #2

Make the code (i.e. field structure) changes on your local machine then use this plugin to switch the database connection to your production database to make data/content updates.

Pros:

- Never lose any business-as-usual updates made to your production database
- You can have the data component of a feature requiring code + data primed and ready in the production database, so that when the code is eventually deployed, the code can assume that the data exists in the database
- You could change your db connection string environment variable, but pressing a button in the admin dashboard is quicker and less prone to error

Cons:

- You have to train all developers on a project using this plugin to be careful when in "production environment" mode.

$3

You want to replicate the production environment to your development environment as quickly and simply as possible.

#### Option #1

Do a manual database dump and restore on your local machine. Make a copy of all the upload collection files on your local machine or in the cloud somehow.

Pros

- It works

Cons

- Depending on your setup, can be confusing/time consuming for new developers

#### Option #2

Use this plugin to quickly copy your production database to local, with all the upload collection documents still referencing the files in your production cloud storage

Pros

- Copy production environment to development environment at the press of a button
- Your production cloud storage files are safe because this plugin prevents you from updating/deleting upload collection documents that were NOT created during development
- Images/files don't have to be synced/copied to your local machine

Cons

- The plugin does not currently work for production environments using local file storage (although it may be possible to add this as a feature in the future)