scottrippey/grunt-config-merge

Adds grunt.config.merge function (and alias grunt.mergeConfig), allowing you to organize your configuration object by feature.

Update: This plugin is now included natively in Grunt v0.4.5+

Starting in Grunt v0.4.5, they've merged this plugin into the root library!
This means that this plugin is now obsolete.
Please use the native grunt.config.merge instead!

Unfortunately, though, they did not include the alias grunt.mergeConfig.
In my opinion, mergeConfig symbolizes that it's a replacement for initConfig, and helps readability.
So, if you agree, you can simply add the following line of code to the top of your Gruntfile.js:

grunt.mergeConfig = grunt.config.merge;

Organize your Gruntfile by feature

Adds grunt.mergeConfig(...), which replaces grunt.initConfig(...), and enables you to organize your Gruntfile by feature, rather than by task.

Example:

Gruntfile.js

module.exports = function(grunt) {

  require('grunt-config-merge')(grunt);



  // Default options:
  grunt.mergeConfig({
    concat: { options: { process: true } },
    watch: { options: { atBegin: true, livereload: true } }
  });



  // JavaScripts:
  grunt.registerTask('build-js', [ 'concat:JS', 'jshint' ]);
  grunt.mergeConfig({
    concat: { 'JS': { files: allJS } },
    jshint: { 'JS': { files: allJS } },
    watch: { 'JS': { files: allJS, tasks: [ 'build-js' ] } }
  });



  // CSS:
  grunt.registerTask('build-css', [ 'concat:CSS' ]);
  grunt.mergeConfig({
    concat: { 'CSS': { files: allCSS } },
    watch: { 'CSS': { files: allCSS, tasks: [ 'build-css' ] } }
  });



  grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-concat');
  grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-jshint');
  grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-watch');

};

And then, easily split your Gruntfile into separate files!

Gruntfile.js:

module.exports = function(grunt) {

  require('grunt-config-merge')(grunt);

  require('./build-defaults.js')(grunt);
  require('./build-js.js')(grunt);
  require('./build-css.js')(grunt);

  grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-concat');
  grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-jshint');
  grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-watch');

};

build-css.js:

module.exports = function(grunt) {

  // CSS:
  grunt.registerTask('build-css', [ 'concat:CSS' ]);
  grunt.mergeConfig({
    concat: { 'CSS': { files: allCSS } },
    watch: { 'CSS': { files: allCSS, tasks: [ 'build-css' ] } }
  });

};

build-js.js:

module.exports = function(grunt) {

  // JavaScripts:
  grunt.registerTask('build-js', [ 'concat:JS', 'jshint' ]);
  grunt.mergeConfig({
    concat: { 'JS': { files: allJS } },
    jshint: { 'JS': { files: allJS } },
    watch: { 'JS': { files: allJS, tasks: [ 'build-js' ] } }
  });

};

Etc...

Installation

Download and install via Node Package Manager:

npm install --save-dev grunt-config-merge

Then add this line near the top of your Gruntfile:

require('grunt-config-merge')(grunt);

And go ahead and start using grunt.mergeConfig instead of grunt.initConfig!