@inversifyjs/plugin-dispose

InversifyJS plugin to enable proper disposal of singleton-scoped services when a container is no longer needed.

Installation

npm install @inversifyjs/plugin-dispose inversify

Usage

Registering the Plugin

To use the plugin, you need to register it with your InversifyJS container. The plugin adds support for the standard JavaScript Symbol.dispose and Symbol.asyncDispose interfaces to your container:

import { Container } from 'inversify';
import { PluginDispose } from '@inversifyjs/plugin-dispose';

const container = new Container();

// Register the PluginDispose plugin
container.register(PluginDispose);

Disposing Singleton Services

Once registered, the plugin automatically tracks all singleton-scoped bindings in your container. When it's time to clean up resources, you can use either the synchronous or asynchronous disposal methods:

Synchronous Disposal

// Synchronous disposal
container[Symbol.dispose]();

This will call any registered deactivation handlers for singleton-scoped services in the correct order, ensuring proper cleanup. All deactivation handlers must be synchronous when using this method.

Asynchronous Disposal

// Asynchronous disposal
await container[Symbol.asyncDispose]();

This allows for asynchronous cleanup operations and will properly await all asynchronous deactivation handlers. You can also use the TypeScript using or await using statements for automatic disposal:

// Using 'using' statement for automatic disposal
using container = new Container();
container.register(PluginDispose);
// Container will be disposed when exiting scope

// Using 'await using' for asynchronous disposal
await using asyncContainer = new Container();
asyncContainer.register(PluginDispose);
// Container will be asynchronously disposed when exiting scope

Defining Deactivation Handlers

There are two ways to define deactivation handlers for your services:

Using the onDeactivation Method

interface Database {
  connect(): void;
  disconnect(): Promise<void>;
}

class PostgresDatabase implements Database {
  // Implementation...

  async disconnect(): Promise<void> {
    // Cleanup logic
    console.log('Disconnecting from database');
  }
}

// Register with deactivation handler
container
  .bind<Database>('Database')
  .to(PostgresDatabase)
  .inSingletonScope()
  .onDeactivation(async (instance) => {
    await instance.disconnect();
  });

Using the @preDestroy Decorator

import { preDestroy, injectable } from 'inversify';

@injectable()
class LogService {
  private fileHandle: any;

  constructor() {
    this.fileHandle = { /* some resource */ };
  }

  @preDestroy()
  async cleanup(): Promise<void> {
    // Close file handles, etc.
    console.log('Cleaning up log service');
    this.fileHandle = null;
  }
}

container.bind(LogService).toSelf().inSingletonScope();

How It Works

This plugin automatically:

1. Tracks all singleton-scoped bindings in your container
2. Manages the dependency graph to ensure services are disposed in the correct order
3. Provides standard disposal interfaces (Symbol.dispose and Symbol.asyncDispose)
4. Invokes any registered deactivation handlers when disposal is triggered

Example

Here's a complete example showing how to use the plugin with services that need proper cleanup:

import { Container, injectable, preDestroy } from 'inversify';
import { PluginDispose } from '@inversifyjs/plugin-dispose';

@injectable()
class DatabaseConnection {
  private isConnected = false;

  constructor() {
    this.connect();
  }

  private connect(): void {
    console.log('Connecting to database');
    this.isConnected = true;
  }

  @preDestroy()
  disconnect(): void {
    if (this.isConnected) {
      console.log('Disconnecting from database');
      this.isConnected = false;
    }
  }
}

@injectable()
class UserRepository {
  constructor(private dbConnection: DatabaseConnection) {}
  
  @preDestroy()
  cleanup(): void {
    console.log('Cleaning up user repository');
  }
}

function buildContainer(): Container {
  // Create and configure container
  const container = new Container();
  container.register(PluginDispose);

  return container;
}

await using container = buildContainer()

// Register services
container.bind(DatabaseConnection).toSelf().inSingletonScope();
container.bind(UserRepository).toSelf().inSingletonScope();

// Use the services
const userRepo = container.get(UserRepository);

// Output:
// Cleaning up user repository
// Disconnecting from database