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Custom Init Method 🛫

Dart Frog supports creating a custom entrypoint as shown in the Custom Entrypoint docs but that will run every time the server hot reloads. In cases where you want to initialize something only on server start, like setting up a database connection, you can use the init method.

Creating a Custom Init Method ✨​

To create a custom init method, simply create a main.dart file at the root of your Dart Frog project.

warning

Keep in mind that the main.dart file must expose a top-level run as mentioned in the Custom Entrypoint docs.

Add the following top-level init method to the main.dart file:

import 'dart:io';

import 'package:dart_frog/dart_frog.dart';

Future<void> init(InternetAddress ip, int port) async {
  // Any code initialized within this method will only run on server start, any hot reloads
  // afterwards will not trigger this method until a hot restart.
}

Future<HttpServer> run(Handler handler, InternetAddress ip, int port) {
    ...
}

The Dart Frog CLI will detect the init method and execute it on server start.