The dev loop

vttforge dev

Builds, symlinks dist/ into Foundry's data directory, opens a small server, and watches. Save a file and the change applies in the open window.

What reloads

You change	What happens
a stylesheet	the <link> swaps, nothing re-renders
a template	only the windows using it redraw
a language file	every open window redraws; translations are read on render
anything else	nothing; reload the page

Vite rewrites its whole output on every build, so a naive watcher fires for every file each time and redraws all 21 open windows for a one-line template edit. The watcher hashes content and ignores files that came out identical.

In a container

A container cannot follow a symlink on your host. vttforge dev detects the case and prints the compose mount to use instead.

If you rebuild while the container runs, a bind mount to dist/ breaks when the build recreates that directory, and the container keeps serving the old inode. Mount a directory the build only ever writes into, or recreate the container after a build.

The companion module

Hot reload needs a small module inside Foundry to receive the messages: @vttforge/dev-module, which vttforge dev links for you. Enable VTTForge Dev in the world once.

If the port is busy or the module is missing, vttforge dev says so and carries on without hot reload.