Lifecycle functions

✋ Caution

The content of this page has not been updated to Strapi v5 yet.

The ./src/index.js file (or ./src/index.ts file in a TypeScript-based project) includes global register, bootstrap and destroy functions that can be used to add dynamic and logic-based configurations.

The functions can be synchronous, asynchronous, or return a promise.

Synchronous function

JavaScript

module.exports = {
  register() {
    // some sync code
  },
  bootstrap() {
    // some sync code
  },
  destroy() {
    // some sync code
  }
};

TypeScript

export default {
  register() {
    // some sync code
  },
  bootstrap() {
    // some sync code
  },
  destroy() {
    // some sync code
  }
};

Asynchronous function

JavaScript

module.exports = {
  async register() {
    // some async code
  },
  async bootstrap() {
    // some async code
  },
  async destroy() {
    // some async code
  }
};

TypeScript

export default {
  async register() {
    // some async code
  },
  async bootstrap() {
    // some async code
  },
  async destroy() {
    // some async code
  }
};

Function returning a promise

JavaScript

module.exports = {
  register() {
    return new Promise(/* some code */);
  },
  bootstrap() {
    return new Promise(/* some code */);
  },
  destroy() {
    return new Promise(/* some code */);
  }
};

TypeScript

export default {
  register() {
    return new Promise(/* some code */);
  },
  bootstrap() {
    return new Promise(/* some code */);
  },
  destroy() {
    return new Promise(/* some code */);
  }
};

Register

The register lifecycle function, found in ./src/index.js (or in ./src/index.ts), is an asynchronous function that runs before the application is initialized. It can be used to:

• extend plugins
• extend content-types programmatically
• load some environment variables
• register a custom field that would be used only by the current Strapi application.

Bootstrap

The bootstrap lifecycle function, found in ./src/index.js (or in ./src/index.ts), is called at every server start.

It can be used to:

• create an admin user if there isn't one
• fill the database with some necessary data
• declare custom conditions for the Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) feature

Destroy

The destroy function, found in ./src/index.js (or in ./src/index.ts), is an asynchronous function that runs before the application gets shut down.

It can be used to gracefully:

• stop services that are running
• clean up plugin actions (e.g. close connections, remove listeners, etc.)