# Live-Reload with donejs **URL:** \ **Category:** StealJS\ **Created:** [January 26, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://forums.bitovi.com/t/live-reload-with-donejs/135 "2016-01-26T00:16:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pYr0x](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/forums.bitovi.com/pyr0x/32/95_2.png) [@pYr0x](https://forums.bitovi.com/u/pYr0x)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://forums.bitovi.com/t/live-reload-with-donejs/135/1 "2016-01-26T00:16:08Z")
if i using the donejs development environment with [https://github.com/donejs/donejs-vagrant](https://github.com/donejs/donejs-vagrant) i can easily start a donejs app. i start the server by `donejs develop`. a http-server comming up and also a live-reload server. if i change the index.stache file the live-reaload server said: Reloading we@0.0.0#index.stache!done-autorender@0.6.0#autorender Ok, but the browser (chrome) does not refresh the page. i make a port forwarding for 8012 to my host system (windows). with live-reload ([https://www.npmjs.com/package/gulp-livereload](https://www.npmjs.com/package/gulp-livereload)) i can install a chrome extension that listen to the server, but i how the steal-tools-live-reload works? ---
**Author:** ![matthewp](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/forums.bitovi.com/matthewp/32/77_2.png) [@matthewp](https://forums.bitovi.com/u/matthewp)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://forums.bitovi.com/t/live-reload-with-donejs/135/2 "2016-01-26T15:20:05Z")
Don’t you want the opposite? You are looking at the app through your host system (browser is running on the host system) but the live-reload server is running in your Vagrant. So you want to forward 8012 to the vagrant IP, no? ---
**Author:** ![matthewp](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/forums.bitovi.com/matthewp/32/77_2.png) [@matthewp](https://forums.bitovi.com/u/matthewp)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://forums.bitovi.com/t/live-reload-with-donejs/135/3 "2016-01-26T15:22:31Z")
When you start you server you should see this message: ```auto Received client connection ``` This is the ssr server connecting to the live-reload server. Then when you start your browser you should see the message again. This is the browser connecting to the live-reload server. If you don’t see the second message, your browser isn’t connected. ---
**Author:** ![pYr0x](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/forums.bitovi.com/pyr0x/32/95_2.png) [@pYr0x](https://forums.bitovi.com/u/pYr0x)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://forums.bitovi.com/t/live-reload-with-donejs/135/4 "2016-01-26T18:54:20Z")
i do not have to use thrid party plugins in my browser like [http://livereload.com/](http://livereload.com/) ? came from [gulp-livereload - npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/gulp-livereload) where i have to install this chrome plugin that’s connected to live-reload server and refresh the browser. can i use every port for live reload or is there a limit ? how those the livereload work, in short words? is it using websocket io to push a new content to the browser? and why is a port needed? is port forwarding needed too? as you described: - start can-serve with `donejs develop` - first `Received client connection` is displayed - connected with a brower to [http://localhost:8080](http://localhost:8080), second `Received client connection` displayed - change files will automaticly update the browser and the content. **Works like a charm!** @matthewp you are right, we want a port forwarding from 8012 from host to 8012 to guest. the output matthewp described will looke like this: > vagrant@vagrant-ubuntu-trusty-64:~/we$ donejs develop > we@0.0.0 develop /home/vagrant/we > can-serve --develop --port 8080 > can-serve starting on [http://localhost:8080](http://localhost:8080) > Received client connection > Live-reload server listening on port 8012 > Received client connection > Reloading we@0.0.0#styles.less!$less > Reloading we@0.0.0#index.stache!done-autorender@0.6.0#autorender > Received client connection > Reloading we@0.0.0#index.stache!done-autorender@0.6.0#autorender **Tip** i you want using steal-live-reload without can-ssr (which needed a AppMap) you can install [http-server](https://www.npmjs.com/package/http-server) and steal-tools. start `steal-tools live-reload`, start `http-server` and open the browser. live-reload will automatic updated the content if you change a file working great, thanks @matthewp ---
**Author:** ![matthewp](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/forums.bitovi.com/matthewp/32/77_2.png) [@matthewp](https://forums.bitovi.com/u/matthewp)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://forums.bitovi.com/t/live-reload-with-donejs/135/5 "2016-01-26T19:18:08Z")
I take that to mean you got it working? > can i use every port for live reload or is there a limit ? > how those the livereload work, in short words? is it using websocket io to push a new content to the browser? You don’t need any of those plugins. DoneJS’s live-reload doesn’t work like that, it doesn’t refresh the browser. What it does is, when you run ```shell donejs develop ``` It starts a web socket server on port 8012 (you can specify the port with `--live-reload-port` in can-serve and `live-reload-port="8012"` in the steal script tag) and does a trace of your app (like steal-tools build does). When the browser loads your app it connects to the server on port 8012. When any file changes the live-reload server sends a message to the browser telling it what module changed. The browser code then removes that module, and all of its parents, from the registry and re-imports them. This means only the modules that actually changed are needed to be re-executed. ---
**Author:** ![matthewp](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/forums.bitovi.com/matthewp/32/77_2.png) [@matthewp](https://forums.bitovi.com/u/matthewp)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://forums.bitovi.com/t/live-reload-with-donejs/135/6 "2016-01-26T19:18:40Z")
I also wrote an article about this a while back: [https://matthewphillips.info/posts/how-hot-swapping-works.html](https://matthewphillips.info/posts/how-hot-swapping-works.html) ---
**Author:** ![pYr0x](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/forums.bitovi.com/pyr0x/32/95_2.png) [@pYr0x](https://forums.bitovi.com/u/pYr0x)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://forums.bitovi.com/t/live-reload-with-donejs/135/7 "2016-01-26T19:20:38Z")
yes got it working. please correct me if i am wrong. steal-live-reload is also working **without** can-ssr and the AppMap? ---
**Author:** ![matthewp](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/forums.bitovi.com/matthewp/32/77_2.png) [@matthewp](https://forums.bitovi.com/u/matthewp)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://forums.bitovi.com/t/live-reload-with-donejs/135/8 "2016-01-26T22:05:56Z")
Yes, you can run `steal-tools live-reload` without ssr. ---
**Author:** ![whitecolor](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/forums.bitovi.com/whitecolor/32/37_2.png) [@whitecolor](https://forums.bitovi.com/u/whitecolor)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 1:16pm UTC](https://forums.bitovi.com/t/live-reload-with-donejs/135/9 "2016-01-31T13:16:50Z")
For frictionless hot reloading of canjs/stealjs you may try this [https://github.com/whitecolor/can-hot](https://github.com/whitecolor/can-hot)