🎭 Mode

Modes are a way to define "profiles" for your Robo session. Each with its own config(s), envionment variables, and code.

Everything is granular. You can even run multiple modes at the same time!

Running a Mode

To run a custom mode, use the --mode flag with the name of the mode you want to run.

Terminal

npx robo dev --mode <mode>

This will make Robo.js prioritize files like .env.<mode> and robo.<mode>.js over the default ones.

tip

A mode can be any string you want! For example, beta, catgirl, strict, etc. Make sure there's no spaces, commas, and is lowercase.

Use Cases

Let's say you have a beta mode for testing new features, or different personalities for your AI chatbot. You can use modes to switch between them easily, or even run multiple at the same time!

A/B Testing

Got an economy bot and want to see how users react to different settings? Use custom economy modes!

Terminal

npx robo dev --mode expensive

In this use case, you can have a .env.expensive file with ECONOMY_MULTIPLIER="2" or ECONOMY_TAX="0.1" for example.

AI Personalities

Got multiple chatbots with different personalities? Run them all at once!

Terminal

npx robo dev --mode catgirl tsundere weirdo

In this use case, different .env.<mode> files can have different bot tokens and custom ai.<mode>.mjs config files for each personality.

Beta Testing

Want to test a new feature with a small group of users? Run a beta mode!

Terminal

npx robo dev --mode beta

In this use case, you can have a .env.beta file with different tokens or configurations for your beta feature, or entirely different bot tokens for example.

Experimental Features

Got an idea for a new feature? Run it in a separate mode to test it out!

Terminal

npx robo dev --mode gpt4

In this use case, you can have a .env.gpt4 file with different tokens or configurations for your GPT-4 feature. There can even be a smart.gpt4 module folder with commands specific to this mode.

Secure Tokens

Need additional security features enabled only in production? Use mode modules!

Terminal

npx robo start

In this use case, you can have a security.production module folder with additional security features enabled only in production mode, such as middleware or rate limiting.

Staging Environments

Have a staging environment for testing before deploying to production? Use a staging mode!

Terminal

npx robo start --mode staging

In this use case, you can have a .env.staging file pointing to different databases or services for testing before deploying to production.

File Conventions

The following Robo.js features support modes:

• Environment variable files (.env.<mode>)
• Robo config files (robo.<mode>.js)
• Plugin config files (pluginname.<mode>.js)
• Module folders (module.<mode>)

When running a mode, Robo.js will prioritize files in the following order:

Mode-based	Default
.env.<mode>	.env
robo.<mode>.js	robo.js
ai.<mode>.mjs	ai.mjs
security.<mode>	security

This means that if you have a .env.beta file, it will be used over the default .env file. If it doesn't exist, the default .env file will be used just like before.

Modules

You can also create mode-specific modules by adding a .<mode> suffix to the module folder name. This lets you write code that is only loaded when a specific mode is active.

File Structure

/src/modules
└── security.production
    └── /middleware
        └── /rate-limiting.js

Here rate limits will only be loaded when the production mode is active, allowing you to have additional security features enabled only in production.

When running robo dev, the rate-limiting.js middleware will not be loaded, keeping your dev environment fast and clean.

This can also be used to create slash commands only available in certain modes, or even entire features as a whole!

Default Modes

Did you know that you are always running a mode? When you run dev or start commands, Robo.js uses development or production modes respectively. If you have a NODE_ENV environment variable set, that will be used instead.

Here's how it works:

Mode: "development"

npx robo dev

Mode: "production"

npx robo start

Mode: "beta"

npx NODE_ENV=beta robo dev

Because a mode is always set, that means you can use files like .env.development to set different tokens or configurations for your development environment by default, or vice versa!

Multiple Modes

You can run multiple Robo instances with different modes at the same time! This can be useful for testing or running multiple chatbots with different personalities.

Terminal

npx robo dev --mode <mode1> <mode2> <mode3>

This will run Robo with each mode in a separate process as if you ran them individually in separate terminals. Logs will be prefixed with the mode name for easy debugging.

You can run as many modes as you want, but keep in mind that each mode will run in a separate process and use additional resources.

tip

You can run multiple bots in a single RoboPlay Pod by running multiple modes!

JavaScript API

Need even more granular control? You can import Mode from robo.js and use it in your code.

src/commands/what-mode.js

import { logger, Mode } from 'robo.js'

export default () => {
	if (Mode.is('development')) {
		logger.info('This mode is being', Mode.color('tested'))
	}

	return `Running in ${Mode.get()} mode!`
}

The Mode object has the following methods:

Method	Description
color(text)	Returns a string colored with the current mode's color.
get()	Returns the current mode.
is(mode)	Returns true if the current mode is the specified mode.

This can be useful for conditionally loading features, or even for debugging purposes!

info

You cannot change modes during runtime. Use the --mode flag from the command line instead.