Adding new pre-processors

Adding processors to JS Bin requires changes to the server side of JS Bin and the client side. This article explains how to implement a processor.

If you’re contributing a new processor to JS Bin, you will need to include the processor for local, production and the client side. The process is relative simple, and documented below.

The processor will need a unique name which is the id for the processor, such as coffeescript.

Local installs

Processors are forked directly off the main Node process. There are a number of specific changes required.

Support and mime types

In lib/processors/index.js add the name of processor in the supports property.

Also add the mime type for the processor type and any applicable aliases, such as Markdown having md, mdown and markdown.

Finally, the lookup property is which panel the processor is found in. i.e. Sass is in css, and Markdown is in html.

The processor

Next, create a new file in lib/processors with the name of the processor, such as coffeescript.js. The processor must export a function that accepts the source and returns a new promise. i.e.:

'use strict';
var RSVP = require('rsvp');
var coffee = require('coffee-script');

module.exports = function (source) {
  return new RSVP.Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
    try {
      resolve(coffee.compile(source, {
        bare: true
      }));
    } catch (e) {
      reject(e);
    }
  });
};

Production

JS Bin runs it’s processors on a separate machine using a service we call Pennyworth.

Client side changes

TODO…