facebook/relay

Custom `artifactDirectory` has to exist and is not automatically created (like `__generate__`)

Open

#3,782 opened on Jan 31, 2022

View on GitHub
 (10 comments) (6 reactions) (0 assignees)Rust (1,874 forks)batch import
help wantedrust

Repository metrics

Stars
 (18,930 stars)
PR merge metrics
 (No merged PRs in 30d)

Description

When specifying a custom artifactDirectory in the relay compiler config, ​the compiler requires this directory to exist. Otherwise you get:

[ERROR] Config `/home/.../frontend/relay.config.js` is invalid:
​- The `artifactDirectory` does not exist at `/home/.../frontend/src/query-types`.

This is particularly annoying when using git, as you cannot check empty folders into git. The typical ".gitkeep file in folder" trick does not work well, because the relay-compiler deletes all files from the artifact directory on each compile, always leading to a dirty working directory.

I think the best is to use the same behavior as for the default __generated__ folder: create it, if it doesn't exist.

This problem only occurred after upgrading to v13 (i.e. the compiler written in Rust).

Contributor guide

Research direction
Examine the relay compiler source code to understand where artifactDirectory is checked for existence, and implement logic to create it automatically if missing, similar to the generated directory handling.
Tech stack
rustjavascripttypescript
Domain
frontendbuild system
Issue type
Bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
Half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
GitRustRelay
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
50