The Service Module creates plugins which can be used to connect a Feathers service to the Vuex store. Once you create the plugin, you must register it in the plugins section of your store setup:

Here's a basic example of creating a service plugin:

// src/services/users.js
import feathersVuex from 'feathers-vuex'
import feathersClient from '../../feathers-client'

const { service } = feathersVuex(feathersClient, { idField: '_id' })

const servicePath = 'users'
const servicePlugin = service(servicePath)

export default servicePlugin

The above code block demonstrates setting up a service plugin, but the plugin doesn't run until you register it with Vuex, as shown in this next example:

// src/store.js
import Vue from 'vue'
import Vuex from 'vuex'
import feathersVuex from 'feathers-vuex'
import feathersClient from '../feathers-client'
import usersPlugin from './services/users'

const { auth, FeathersVuex } = feathersVuex(feathersClient, { idField: '_id' })

Vue.use(Vuex)
Vue.use(FeathersVuex)

export default new Vuex.Store({
  plugins: [
    users: usersPlugin,
    auth({ userService: 'users' })
  ]
})

The FeathersClient Service

Once the service plugin has been registered with Vuex, the FeathersClient Service will have a new service.FeathersVuexModel property. This provides access to the service's Model class.

Service State

Each service comes loaded with the following default state:

{
    ids: [],
    keyedById: {}, // A hash map, keyed by id of each item
    copiesById: {}, // objects cloned with Model.clone()
    currentId: undefined, // The id of the item marked as current
    copy: undefined, // A deep copy of the current item
    idField: 'id',
    servicePath: 'v1/todos' // The full service path
    autoRemove: false, // Indicates that this service will not automatically remove results missing from subsequent requests.
    enableEvents: true, // Listens to socket.io events when available
    addOnUpsert: false, // Add new records pushed by 'updated/patched' socketio events into store, instead of discarding them
    diffOnPatch: false, // Only send changed data on patch
    skipRequestIfExists: false, // For get action, if the record already exists in store, skip the remote request
    preferUpdate: false, // When true, calling model.save() will do an update instead of a patch.
    replaceItems: false, // When set to true, updates and patches will replace the record in the store instead of merging changes
    paginate: false, // Indicates if pagination is enabled on the Feathers service.

    setCurrentOnGet: true, // Automatically sets the `current` property to the record retrieved from get requests
    setCurrentOnCreate: true, // Automatically sets the `current` property to the record returned from a create

    paramsForServer: [], // Custom query operators that are ignored in the find getter, but will pass through to the server.
    whitelist: [], // Custom query operators that will be allowed in the find getter.

    isFindPending: false,
    isGetPending: false,
    isCreatePending: false,
    isUpdatePending: false,
    isPatchPending: false,
    isRemovePending: false,

    errorOnfind: undefined,
    errorOnGet: undefined,
    errorOnCreate: undefined,
    errorOnUpdate: undefined,
    errorOnPatch: undefined,
    errorOnRemove: undefined
  }

The following attributes are available in each service module's state:

  • ids {Array} - an array of plain ids representing the ids that belong to each object in the keyedById map.
  • keyedById {Object} - a hash map keyed by the id of each item.
  • copiesById {Object} - objects cloned with Model.clone()
  • currentId {Number|String} - the id of the item marked as current.
  • copy {Object} - a deep copy of the current item at the moment it was marked as current. You can make changes to the copy without modifying the current. You can then use the commitCopy mutation to save the changes as the current or rejectCopy to revert copy to once again match current. You may prefer to use the new clone API for managing multiple copies with model instances.
  • servicePath {String} - the full service path, even if you alias the namespace to something else.
  • modelName {String} - the key in the $FeathersVuex plugin where the model will be found.
  • autoRemove {Boolean} - indicates that this service will not automatically remove results missing from subsequent requests. Only use with feathers-rest. Default is false.
  • enableEvents {Boolean} - Listens to socket.io events when available
  • addOnUpsert {Boolean} - Add new records pushed by 'updated/patched' socketio events into store, instead of discarding them
  • diffOnPatch {Boolean} - Only send changed data on patch
  • skipRequestIfExists {Boolean} - For get action, if the record already exists in store, skip the remote request
  • preferUpdate {Boolean}, // When true, calling model.save() will do an update instead of a patch.
  • replaceItems {Boolean} - When set to true, updates and patches will replace the record in the store instead of merging changes. Default is false
  • idField {String} - the name of the field that holds each item's id. Default: 'id'
  • paginate {Boolean} - Indicates if the service has pagination turned on.
  • setCurrentOnGet {Boolean} - Automatically sets the current property to the record retrieved from get requests. Default is true
  • setCurrentOnCreate {Boolean} - Automatically sets the current property to the record returned from create. Default is true

The following state attributes allow you to bind to the pending state of requests:

  • isFindPending {Boolean} - true if there's a pending find request. false if not.
  • isGetPending {Boolean} - true if there's a pending get request. false if not.
  • isCreatePending {Boolean} - true if there's a pending create request. false if not.
  • isUpdatePending {Boolean} - true if there's a pending update request. false if not.
  • isPatchPending {Boolean} - true if there's a pending patch request. false if not.
  • isRemovePending {Boolean} - true if there's a pending remove request. false if not.

The following state attribute will be populated with any request error, serialized as a plain object:

  • errorOnFind {Error}
  • errorOnGet {Error}
  • errorOnCreate {Error}
  • errorOnUpdate {Error}
  • errorOnPatch {Error}
  • errorOnRemo {Error}

Service Getters

Service modules include the following getters:

  • list {Array} - an array of items. The array form of keyedById Read only.
  • find(params) {Function} - a helper function that allows you to use the Feathers Adapter Common API and Query API to pull data from the store. This allows you to treat the store just like a local Feathers database adapter (but without hooks).
    • params {Object} - an object with a query object and an optional paginate boolean property. The query is in the FeathersJS query format. You can set params.paginate to false to disable pagination for a single request.
  • get(id[, params]) {Function} - a function that allows you to query the store for a single item, by id. It works the same way as get requests in Feathers database adapters.
    • id {Number|String} - the id of the data to be retrieved by id from the store.
    • params {Object} - an object containing a Feathers query object.
  • current {Object} - the object representing the currentId. It's pulled from the keyedById state.
  • getCopy {Object} - An alias to the state.copy.

Service Mutations

The following mutations are included in each service module.

Note: you would typically not call these directly, but instead with store.commit('removeItem', 'itemId'). Using vuex's mapMutations on a Vue component can simplify that to this.removeItem('itemId')

addItem(state, item)

Adds a single item to the keyedById map.

  • item {Object} - The item to be added to the store.

addItems(state, items)

Adds an array of items to the keyedById map.

  • items {Array} - the items to be added to the store.

updateItem(state, item)

Updates an item in the store to match the passed in item.

  • item {Object} the item, including id, to replace the currently-stored item.

updateItems(state, items)

Updates multiple items in the store to match the passed in array of items.

  • items {Array} - An array of items.

removeItem(state, item)

Removes a single item. item can be

  • item {Number|String|Object} - The item or id of the item to be deleted.

removeItems(state, items)

Removes the passed in items or ids from the store.

  • items {Array} - An array of ids or of objects with ids that will be removed from the data store.

setCurrent(state, itemOrId)

  • item {Number|String|Object} - the object with id to be set as the current item, or the id of the object in the store that should become the current item. Setting the current item or id also create the deep-cloned copy.

createCopy(state, id)

Creates a copy of the record with the passed-in id, stores it in copiesById

commitCopy(state, id)

Saves changes from the copy to the current item.

rejectCopy(state, id)

Re-copies the data from current to copy, restoring the original copy.

clearCopy(state, id)

Removes the copy from copiesById

clearCurrent(state)

Clears the current item, which also clears the copy.

clearList(state)

Clears the list, excepting the current item.

clearAll(state)

Clears all data from ids, keyedById, and currentId

updatePaginationForQuery(state, { qid, response, query })

Stores pagination data on state.pagination based on the query identifier (qid) The qid must be manually assigned to params.qid

Mutations for Managing Pending State

The following mutations are called automatically by the service actions, and will rarely, if ever, need to be used manually.

  • setFindPending(state) - sets isFindPending to true
  • unsetFindPending(state) - sets isFindPending to false
  • setGetPending(state) - sets isGetPending to true
  • unsetGetPending(state) - sets isGetPending to false
  • setCreatePending(state) - sets isCreatePending to true
  • unsetCreatePending(state) - sets isCreatePending to false
  • setUpdatePending(state) - sets isUpdatePending to true
  • unsetUpdatePending(state) - sets isUpdatePending to false
  • setPatchPending(state) - sets isPatchPending to true
  • unsetPatchPending(state) - sets isPatchPending to false
  • setRemovePending(state) - sets isRemovePending to true
  • unsetRemovePending(state) - sets isRemovePending to false

Mutations for Managing Errors

The following mutations are called automatically by the service actions, and will rarely need to be used manually.

  • setFindError(state, error)
  • clearFindError(state)
  • setGetError(state, error)
  • clearGetError(state)
  • setCreateError(state, error)
  • clearCreateError(state)
  • setUpdateError(state, error)
  • clearUpdateError(state)
  • setPatchError(state, error)
  • clearPatchError(state)
  • setRemoveError(state, error)
  • clearRemoveError(state)

Service Actions

An action is included for each of the Feathers service interface methods. These actions will affect changes in both the Feathers API server and the Vuex store.

All of the Feathers Service Methods are supported. Because Vuex only supports providing a single argument to actions, there is a slight change in syntax that works well. If you need to pass multiple arguments to a service method, pass an array to the action with the order of the array elements matching the order of the arguments. See each method for examples.

Note: If you use the Feathers service methods, directly, the store will not change. Only the actions will cause store changes.

find(params)

Query an array of records from the server & add to the Vuex store.

  • params {Object} - An object containing a query object and an optional paginate boolean. You can set params.paginate to false to disable pagination for a single request.
let params = {query: {completed: true}}
store.dispatch('todos/find', params)

See the section about pagination, below, for more information that is applicable to the find action. Make sure your returned records have a unique field that matches the idField option for the service plugin.

afterFind(response)

The afterFind action is called by the find action after a successful response is added to the store. It is called with the current response. By default, it is a no-op (it literally does nothing), and is just a placeholder for you to use when necessary. See the sections on customizing the default store and Handling custom server responses for example usage.

get(id) or get([id, params])

Query a single record from the server & add to Vuex store

  • id {Number|String} - the id of the record being requested from the API server.
  • params {Object} - An object containing a query object.
store.dispatch('todos/get', 1)

// Use an array to pass params
let params = {}
store.dispatch('todos/get', [1, params])

Make sure your returned records have a unique field that matches the idField option for the service plugin.

create(data|ParamArray)

Create one or multiple records. Note that the method is overloaded to accept two types of arguments. If you want a consistent interface for creating single or multiple records, use the array syntax, described below. Creating multiple records requires using the paramArray syntax.

  • data {Object|ParamArray} - if an object is provided, a single record will be created.
let newTodo = {description: 'write good tests'}
store.dispatch('todos/create', newTodo)
  • data {ParamArray} - if an array is provided, it is assumed to have this structure:

  • ParamArray {Array} - array containing the two parameters that Feathers' service.create method accepts.

    • data {Object|Array} - the data to create. Providing an object creates a single record. Providing an array of objects creates multiple records.
    • params {Object} - optional - an object containing a query object. Can be useful in rare situations.

Make sure your returned records have a unique field that matches the idField option for the service plugin.

update(paramArray)

Update (overwrite) a record.

  • paramArray {Array} - array containing the three parameters update takes.
    • id {Number|String} - the id of the existing record being requested from the API server.
    • data {Object} - the data that will overwrite the existing record
    • params {Object} - An object containing a query object.
let data = {id: 5, description: 'write your tests', completed: true}
let params = {}
// Overwrite item 1 with the above data (FYI: Most databases won't let you change the id.)
store.dispatch('todos/update', [1, data, params])

Alternatively in a Vue component

import { mapActions } from 'vuex'
export default {
  methods: {
    ...mapActions('todos', [ 'update' ]),
    addTodo () {
      let data = {id: 5, description: 'write your tests', completed: true}
      this.update([1, data, {}])
    }
  }
}

Make sure your returned records have a unique field that matches the idField option for the service plugin.

patch(paramArray)

Patch (merge in changes) one or more records

  • paramArray {Array} - array containing the three parameters patch takes.
    • id {Number|String} - the id of the existing record being requested from the API server.
    • data {Object} - the data that will be merged into the existing record
    • params {Object} - An object containing a query object.
let data = {description: 'write your tests', completed: true}
let params = {}
store.dispatch('todos/patch', [1, data, params])

Make sure your returned records have a unique field that matches the idField option for the service plugin.

remove(id)

Remove/delete the record with the given id.

  • id {Number|String} - the id of the existing record being requested from the API server.
store.dispatch('todos/remove', 1)

Make sure your returned records have a unique field that matches the idField option for the service plugin.

Querying with Find & Pagination

Both the find action and the find getter support pagination. There are differences in how they work.

The find action

The find action queries data from the remote server. It returns a promise that resolves to the response from the server. The presence of pagination data will be determined by the server.

feathers-vuex@1.0.0 can store pagination data on a per-query basis. The pagination store attribute maps queries to their most-recent pagination data. It's an empty object by default, but after performing a single query (with pagination in the response), it will have a default property. This property stores pagination information for the query. Here's what it will look like:

params = { query: {} }

{
  pagination: {
    default: {
      query: {}, // Same as params.query
      queriedAt: 1538594642481, // The timestamp when the query returned
      ids: [0, 1, 2], // the ids in the store for the records that were returned from the server
      limit: 0, // the response.limit
      skip: 0, // the response.skip
      total: 3 // the response.total
    }
  }
}

It's possible that you'll want to store pagination information for more than one query. This might be for different components making queries against the same service, for example. You can use the params.qid (query identifier) property to assign a name to the query. If you set a qid of mainListView, for example, the pagination for this query will show up under pagination.mainListView. The pagination.default property will be used any time a params.qid is not provided. Here's an example of what this might look like:

params = { query: { $limit: 1 }, qid: 'mainListView' }

// Data in the store
{
  pagination: {
    mainListView: {
      query: { $limit: 1 }, // Same as params.query
      queriedAt: 1538594642481, // The timestamp when the query returned
      ids: [0], // the ids in the store for the records that were returned from the server
      limit: 1, // the response.limit
      skip: 0, // the response.skip
      total: 3 // the response.total
    }
  }
}

Note: The find action no longer returns reactive lists. The list data will still be reactive, but new matches that arrive from the server do NOT get automatically added to lists. There are two solutions to this:

  • Use the find action to pull in data from the server. Use the find getter to pull a reactive list from the store.
  • Configure the feathers-reactive plugin with RxJS on your Feathers Client instance. Read the docs for implementation details.

The find getter

The find getter queries data from the local store using the same Feathers query syntax as on the server. It is synchronous and returns the results of the query with pagination. Pagination cannot be disabled. It accepts a params object with a query attribute. It does not use any other special attributes. The returned object looks just like a paginated result that you would receive from the server:

params = { query: {} }

// The returned results object
{
  data: [{ _id: 1, ...etc }, ...etc],
  limit: 0,
  skip: 0,
  total: 3
}

Customizing a Service's Default Store

As shown in the first example, the service module allows you to customize its store:

const store = new Vuex.Store({
  plugins: [
    // Add custom state, getters, mutations, or actions, if needed
    service('things', {
      state: {
        test: true
      },
      getters: {
        getSomeData () {
          return 'some data'
        }
      },
      mutations: {
        setTestToFalse (state) {
          state.test = false
        },
        setTestToTrue (state) {
          state.test = true
        }
      },
      actions: {
        // Overwriting the built-in `afterFind` action.
        afterFind ({ commit, dispatch, getters, state }, response) {
          // Do something with the response.
          // Keep in mind that the data is already in the store.
        },
        asyncStuff ({ commit, dispatch }, args) {
          commit('setTestToTrue')

          return doSomethingAsync(id, params)
            .then(result => {
              commit('setTestToFalse')
              return dispatch('otherAsyncStuff', result)
            })
        },
        otherAsyncStuff ({commit}, args) {
          return new Promise.resolve(result)
        }
      }
    })
  ]
})

assert(store.getters['todos/oneTwoThree'] === 123, 'the custom getter was available')
store.dispatch('todos/trigger')
assert(store.state.todos.isTrue === true, 'the custom action was run')