Set gulp tasks depending on NODE_ENV

Question

Set gulp tasks depending on NODE_ENV

Is there a way to specify a gulp task depending on the NODE_ENV that is set?

For example in my package.json file, I have something like:

"scripts": {
    "start": "gulp"
 }

And I have multiple gulp tasks

gulp.task('development', function(){
   // run dev related tasks like watch 
});

gulp.task('production', function(){
   // run prod related tasks
});

If I set NODE_ENV=production npm start, can I specify to only run gulp production? Or is there a better way to do this?

node.js
gulp

Answer 1

Using a single ternary in your default gulp task, you can have something like:

gulp.task('default',
  [process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' ? 'production' : 'development']
);

You will then be able to keep the single gulp command in your package.json and using this like you said:

NODE_ENV=production npm start

Any other value of your NODE_ENV variable will launch the development task.

Answer 2

Have your first gulp task run other gulp tasks based on the process.env.NODE_ENV value.

gulp.task('launcher', function(){
  switch (process.env.NODE_ENV){
    case 'development':
      // Run dev tasks from here
      break;
    case 'production':
      // Run prod tasks
      break;
  }
});

Answer 3

if (process.env.NODE_ENV === "production")
  // whatever