Import test-users into Meteor app with use of npm script? - mongodb

Question

We can easily create a user from meteor shell like this
Accounts.createUser({username: 'john', password: '12345'})
Similarly, I just want to add multiple users via npm script. Any ideas?
In other words, I want to use fixtures functionality via npm command and not on the initial run.
Thank you.

Answer 1

For normal collections (i.e. different than Meteor.users), you can directly tap into your MongoDB collection. Open a Meteor Mongo shell while your project is running in development mode, then directly type Mongo shell commands.
For Meteor.users collection, you want to leverage the accounts-base and accounts-password packages automatic management, so instead of directly fiddling the MongoDB, you want to insert documents / users through your Meteor app.
Unfortunately, your app source files (like your UsersFixtures.js file) are absolutely not suitable for CLI usage.
The usual solution is to embed a dedicated method within your app server:
// On your server.
// Make sure this Method is not available on production.
// When started with `meteor run`, NODE_ENV will be `development` unless set otherwise previously in your environment variables.
if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
Meteor.methods({
addTestUser(username, password) {
Accounts.createUser({
username,
password // If you do not want to transmit the clear password even in dev environment, you can call the method with 2nd arg: {algorithm: "sha-256", digest: sha256function(password)}
})
}
});
}
Then start your Meteor project in development mode (meteor run), access your app in your browser, open your browser console, and directly call the method from there:
Meteor.call('addTestUser', myUsername, myPassword)
You could also use Accounts.createUser directly in your browser console, but it will automatically log you in as the new user.