Nuxt Crouton
Guides

Rollback & Undo

Remove generated collections and undo changes with the rollback system

Nuxt Crouton includes a comprehensive rollback system to safely remove generated collections. This is useful when you need to:

  • Remove a collection you no longer need
  • Clean up after testing or experimentation
  • Regenerate a collection from scratch
  • Remove an entire layer

Single Collection Rollback

Remove a specific collection and all its generated files:

crouton-rollback shop products

This removes:

  • Components (List.vue, Form.vue, Table.vue)
  • Composables (useProducts.ts)
  • Types (products.ts)
  • API endpoints (if generated)
  • Database schema (if generated)
  • Config entries (app.config.ts)

Preview Before Removing

Use --dry-run to see what would be removed:

crouton-rollback shop products --dry-run

# Output:
📋 Preview: Would remove the following:

layers/shop/components/products/
  ├── List.vue
  ├── Form.vue
  └── Table.vue

layers/shop/composables/
  └── useProducts.ts

layers/shop/types/
  └── products.ts

Total: 5 files

Proceed? (y/n)

Keep Files, Clean Config Only

Remove config entries but keep generated files:

crouton-rollback shop products --keep-files

Useful when you want to keep customized components but remove them from the collection registry.

Skip Confirmation

For scripts or automation:

crouton-rollback shop products --force

Bulk Rollback

Remove multiple collections at once.

Remove Entire Layer

crouton-rollback-bulk --layer=shop

# Output:
⚠️  This will remove ALL collections in the 'shop' layer:
  - products (5 files)
  - categories (5 files)
  - orders (5 files)

Total: 15 files

Continue? (y/n)

Remove All Collections from Config

crouton-rollback-bulk --config=./crouton.config.js

# Reads the config file and removes all collections defined in it

Bulk Rollback Options

Same options as single rollback:

# Preview bulk changes
crouton-rollback-bulk --layer=shop --dry-run

# Keep files, clean config
crouton-rollback-bulk --layer=shop --keep-files

# Skip confirmation
crouton-rollback-bulk --layer=shop --force

Interactive Rollback

Launch an interactive UI to select collections:

crouton-rollback-interactive

Interactive UI:

? Select collections to remove:
  ◯ shop/products (5 files)
  ◯ shop/categories (5 files)
  ◉ shop/orders (5 files)
  ◯ blog/posts (5 files)

Use arrow keys to navigate, space to select, enter to confirm

Options:

# Preview mode
crouton-rollback-interactive --dry-run

# Keep files
crouton-rollback-interactive --keep-files

What Gets Removed

The rollback system removes:

✅ Always Removed

  • Generated component files
  • Generated composable files
  • Generated type files
  • Config registry entries (app.config.ts)

⚠️ Conditionally Removed

  • Database schema files (unless --keep-files)
  • API endpoints (unless --keep-files)
  • Layer directory (if empty after removal)

❌ Never Removed

  • Custom modifications you made
  • Non-generated files in the collection directory
  • Database data (only schema definitions)
  • Git history

Safe Rollback Workflow

Best practices for safe rollbacks:

1. Always Preview First

crouton-rollback shop products --dry-run

2. Check Git Status

git status
# Verify you have no uncommitted changes

3. Run Rollback

crouton-rollback shop products

4. Verify Changes

git status
git diff
# Review what was removed

5. Commit or Revert

# If correct:
git add .
git commit -m "Remove products collection"

# If wrong:
git restore .

Common Scenarios

Regenerate a Collection from Scratch

# 1. Remove the old collection
crouton-rollback shop products --force

# 2. Regenerate with updated schema
crouton-generate shop products --fields-file=product-schema.json

Remove Test Collections

# Remove all test collections at once
crouton-rollback-interactive
# Select all test collections in the UI

Clean Up Before Deployment

# Remove unused layer
crouton-rollback-bulk --layer=experiments --force

Preserve Customizations

# Keep customized files, just remove from registry
crouton-rollback shop products --keep-files

Troubleshooting

"Collection not found"

The collection may already be removed or was never generated:

# Check what collections exist
ls layers/*/components/

"Permission denied"

Files may be in use:

# Stop your dev server first
# Then try rollback again

"Config entry not found"

The collection isn't registered in app.config.ts. This is safe to ignore, or you can manually verify:

// app.config.ts
export default defineAppConfig({
  croutonCollections: {
    // Check if collection exists here
  }
})

Accidental Removal

Restore from Git:

git restore layers/shop/components/products/
git restore layers/shop/composables/useProducts.ts
# etc.

Best Practices

✅ DO:

  • Use --dry-run for preview before every rollback
  • Commit your work before running rollback commands
  • Verify changes with git status after rollback
  • Use interactive mode when unsure which collections to remove
  • Document why you're removing collections (in commit messages)

❌ DON'T:

  • Run bulk rollback without preview
  • Use --force without reviewing what will be removed
  • Forget to restart your dev server after rollback
  • Remove collections that other parts of your app depend on
  • Use rollback as a replacement for proper version control

Related Sections

Future Features

Upcoming features and enhancements being considered for Nuxt Crouton

Creating Custom CardMini Components

Step-by-step guide to building custom display components for reference fields