[Bug]: Custom admin route in plugin is not automatically reloaded/rebuilt in plugin:develop mode

[addemod]

Package.json file

{
  "name": "@dtc/backend",
  "version": "0.0.1",
  "description": "A starter for Medusa projects.",
  "author": "Medusa (https://medusajs.com)",
  "license": "MIT",
  "keywords": [
    "sqlite",
    "postgres",
    "typescript",
    "ecommerce",
    "headless",
    "medusa"
  ],
  "scripts": {
    "build": "medusa build",
    "start": "medusa start",
    "dev": "medusa develop",
    "test:integration:http": "TEST_TYPE=integration:http NODE_OPTIONS=--experimental-vm-modules jest --silent=false --runInBand --forceExit",
    "test:integration:modules": "TEST_TYPE=integration:modules NODE_OPTIONS=--experimental-vm-modules jest --silent=false --runInBand --forceExit",
    "test:unit": "TEST_TYPE=unit NODE_OPTIONS=--experimental-vm-modules jest --silent --runInBand --forceExit"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "@medusajs/admin-sdk": "2.15.3",
    "@medusajs/admin-shared": "2.15.3",
    "@medusajs/caching": "2.15.3",
    "@medusajs/cli": "2.15.3",
    "@medusajs/dashboard": "2.15.3",
    "@medusajs/draft-order": "2.15.3",
    "@medusajs/framework": "2.15.3",
    "@medusajs/medusa": "2.15.3",
    "@medusajs/ui": "4.1.13",
    "@myorg/my-plugin": "file:.yalc/@myorg/my-plugin",
    "@tanstack/react-query": "5.64.2",
    "react-i18next": "13.5.0",
    "react-router-dom": "6.30.3",
    "zod": "4.2.0"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@medusajs/test-utils": "2.15.3",
    "@swc/core": "^1.7.28",
    "@swc/jest": "^0.2.36",
    "@types/jest": "^29.5.13",
    "@types/node": "^20.12.11",
    "@types/react": "^18.3.2",
    "@types/react-dom": "^18.2.25",
    "jest": "^29.7.0",
    "prop-types": "^15.8.1",
    "react": "^18.3.1",
    "react-dom": "^18.3.1",
    "ts-node": "^10.9.2",
    "typescript": "^5.6.2",
    "vite": "^5.4.14",
    "yalc": "^1.0.0-pre.53"
  },
  "engines": {
    "node": ">=20"
  },
  "packageManager": "yarn@4.14.1"
}

Node.js version

24.16.0

Database and its version

PostgreSQL 17.9

Operating system name and version

Windows 11

Browser name

Chrome

What happended?

When developing a plugin with a custom admin route, the route is not automatically refreshed when content is changed. The custom route is not updated, and a hard reload does not make a difference. Nothing is logged in the watcher for neither the backend nor the plugin.

Followed every step of the docs for creating a plugin

Expected behavior

The admin route to automatically reload with HMR to display the new contents of a plugin's custom admin route

Actual behavior

Nothing happens. Requires a full plugin:publish to detect changes.

Link to reproduction repo

https://github.com/addemod/studious-broccoli

[medusa-os-bot]

I was able to confirm this issue.

When running medusa plugin:develop, the file watcher in developPluginBackend explicitly ignores the src/admin directory of the plugin (see packages/core/framework/src/build-tools/compiler.ts), so changes to admin extensions in a plugin are never detected, rebuilt, or republished via yalc. As a result, only plugin:publish — which runs the full plugin build including buildPluginAdminExtensions — picks up admin changes.

This is also at odds with what the plugin development docs currently say, which mention "real-time HMR updates of admin extensions" while using plugin:develop.

The fix likely requires wiring the admin bundler into the plugin develop flow so that src/admin changes trigger a rebuild and yalc republish. The fix is non-trivial because it involves the admin bundler integration, so we are tagging this with help-wanted. Community contributions are welcome — see our contribution guidelines to get started.

Thank you for the detailed report and the reproduction repo!

[shahednasser]

Hi @addemod thank you for reporting this issue. I couldn't reproduce it. Can you share the steps you're taking exactly? Would help us in triaging the issue.

[addemod]

Hi @addemod thank you for reporting this issue. I couldn't reproduce it. Can you share the steps you're taking exactly? Would help us in triaging the issue.

To clarify, this is on windows 11, if that makes any difference. I am using yarn v4. I created the backend via yarn dlx create-medusa-app@latest my-medusa-store, skipped storefront. In the reproduction repo I attached a readme for the repro steps. I created the plugin via yarn dlx create-medusa-app my-plugin --plugin. In the plugin, I added a simple admin route at /my-plugin/src/admin/routes/test/page.tsx.

After creating the plugin and the admin route, it is published to the local yalc via yarn medusa plugin:publish, then inside the backend yarn medusa plugin:add @myorg/my-plugin. Then I start the plugin in dev mode with yarn dev, and then cd into the backend and also run it in dev mode with the same command yarn dev.

After everything is up and running, make a change to the admin route, such as changing the text. I expect the text to update in the admin back office, but nothing happens. No log inside in neither of the dev terminals.

I can't really clarify it more than this. Maybe @Chris79OG can clarify more, that linked a PR?

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[github-actions]

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