Is there a way to automatically compile LESS files whenever I save a document?

After installing Less using npm with the command

$ npm install -g less

I currently compile my source files to .css by running

$ lessc styles.less styles.css

Is there a method through the command line to automatically compile the document when saving it?

Answer №1

After extensive research, I have come across a highly effective solution that is recommended on the official SASS website: https://github.com/jgonera/autosass. This tool is incredibly user-friendly and automatically compiles changes made to imported files.

Answer №2

Check out this interesting read:

This article discusses various GUI solutions like SimpLESS, WinLESS, LESS.app, and ChrunchApp, as well as a node solution called deadsimple-less-watch-compiler.

Answer №3

Do you use Less with Node.JS or on its own? If you're using it with Node, there are simple solutions to fix this issue. Here are two options you can try in your app.js:

  • One option is to use a middleware, as discussed in this Stack Overflow thread

    var lessMiddleware = require('less-middleware');
    ...
    app.configure(function(){
        //other configuration here...
        app.use(lessMiddleware({
            src      : __dirname + "/public",
            compress : true
        }));
        app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
    });
    
  • Another approach involves calling a system function when starting your NodeJS instance (method name may vary depending on the NodeJS version)

    // before all processing is done
    execSync("lessc /public/stylesheets/styles.less /public/stylesheets/styles.css");
    var app = express();
    app.use(...);
    

In both scenarios, Node will automatically convert Less files to CSS. The second method requires Node to be restarted for conversion, while the first continuously checks for updates in a specific directory.

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