Initializer

Source: backend/classes/Initializer.ts

Initializers are the lifecycle components that boot up your server. They run in priority order during initialize → start → stop, and each one attaches its namespace to the global api singleton.

Class Definition

abstract class Initializer {
  /** The name of the initializer — also used as the api namespace key */
  name: string;

  /** Order for initialize() phase. Lower = runs first. Default: 1000 */
  loadPriority: number;

  /** Order for start() phase. Lower = runs first. Default: 1000 */
  startPriority: number;

  /** Order for stop() phase. Lower = runs first. Default: 1000 */
  stopPriority: number;

  /** Which run modes this initializer activates in */
  runModes: RUN_MODE[];

  constructor(name: string);

  /** Set up namespace object and return it. Attaches to api[name]. */
  async initialize?(): Promise<any>;

  /** Connect to external services. All initializers are loaded by this point. */
  async start?(): Promise<any>;

  /** Clean up — close connections, flush buffers. */
  async stop?(): Promise<any>;
}

RUN_MODE

Initializers can be scoped to specific run modes. By default, they run in both:

enum RUN_MODE {
  CLI = "cli",
  SERVER = "server",
}

Module Augmentation Pattern

This is how each initializer makes api.myNamespace fully typed. You declare the type on the API interface, and TypeScript knows what's there:

const namespace = "db";

declare module "../classes/API" {
  export interface API {
    [namespace]: Awaited<ReturnType<DB["initialize"]>>;
  }
}

The return type of initialize() becomes api[namespace] — autocomplete, type checking, the works.

Priority Reference

Core initializers use priorities below 1000 to ensure they run before application code:

Priority	Initializers
100	actions, db
150	pubsub, swagger
250	resque
1000	redis, application, and your custom initializers