scratch-www

Standalone web client for Scratch

Where am I?

Physically? No idea.

Digitally? You’re at Scratch’s open source web client!

We’re working to update the Scratch website to use a new codebase, contained in this repository.

We’re currently building Scratch using React and SCSS. Here are some resources to help you get acquainted with how we’re working on the Scratch codebase:

• Style Guide
• Testing Guide
• Localization Guide
• Map of the repository

Before Getting Started

• make sure you have node and npm installed

To Build

npm install
npm run build

To Run

npm start

During development, npm start watches any update you make to files in either ./static or ./src and triggers a rebuild of the project. In development the build is stored in memory, and not served from the ./build directory.

When running npm start, here are some important log messages to keep an eye out for:

• webpack: bundle is now VALID. – the bundle has been loaded into memory and is now viewable in the browser. This will show up both once npm start has completed its setup, and also once updates you make to files have been re-compiled for viewing in the browser.
• webpack: bundle is now INVALID. – if you see this, then it means you have made updates to files that are still being compiled for browser viewing. Pages will still be viewable, but they will not see any updates you made yet.

Once running, open http://localhost:8333 in your browser. If you wish to have the server reload automatically, you can install either nodemon or forever.

To stop

Use ^C to stop the node process npm start starts.

Configuration

npm start can be configured with the following environment variables

Variable	Default	Description
API_HOST	https://api.scratch.mit.edu	Hostname for API requests
NODE_ENV	null	If not production, app acts like development
PORT	8333	Port for devserver (http://localhost:XXXX)
FALLBACK	''	Pass-through location for old site

NOTE: Because by default API_HOST=https://api.scratch.mit.edu, please be aware that, by default, you will be seeing and interacting with real data on the Scratch website.

To Test

npm test

Current issues with the development

We're currently in the process of transitioning into this web client from Scratch's existing structure. As we transition, there are going to be some issues along the way that relate to how this client needs to interact with the existing infrastructure to work properly in production.

On top of migrating to using this as our web client, Scratch is also transitioning into using a new API backend, Scratch REST API. As that is also currently in development and incomplete, we are set up to fall back to using existing Scratch endpoints if an API endpoint does not exist – which is where the FALLBACK comes in.

Most of the issues we have currently revolve around the use of FALLBACK. This variable is used to specify what url to fall back onto should a request fail within the context of this webclient, or when using the API_HOST. If not specified in the process, it will not be used, and any request that is not made through the web client or the API will be unreachable.

Setting FALLBACK=https://scratch.mit.edu allows the web client to retrieve data from the Scratch website in your development environment. However, because of security concerns, trying to send data to Scratch through your development environment won't work. This means the following things will be broken for the time being:

• Login on the splash page (In the process of being fixed)
• Some update attempts to production data made through a development version of the web client

Additionally, if you set FALLBACK=https://scratch.mit.edu, be aware that clicking on links to parts of the website not yet migrated over (currently such as Explore, Discuss, Profile, etc.) will take you to the Scratch website itself.