Restore a shared Vendure Insights layout nightly

We will restore the existing React Dashboard Insights layout each night by copying a designated administrator’s saved layout. A single-file scheduled task accepts the template login identifier in its constructor. This is a periodic reset, not a locked dashboard.

Scope and prerequisites

This approach was verified against Vendure 3.6.3. Read the Vendure best practices before implementing it, and the coding and testing best practices before writing tests.

Enable DashboardPlugin and DefaultSchedulerPlugin, and run a worker. Choose a template account and have it save an Insights layout. The plain cron 0 3 * * * uses the scheduler’s default timezone; it does not explicitly select Amsterdam or implement daylight-saving handling.

In 3.6.3, vendure.dashboard.userSettings stores user-scoped settings. Its widgetLayout maps widget IDs to { x, y, w, h }. Check the installed dashboard’s user-settings.tsx and Insights route before adapting this to another version. Do not assume this internal settings shape is stable across upgrades.

Implementation

1. In the Vendure application, create src/sync-insights-layout-task.ts:

import {
  Administrator, Logger, RequestContextService, ScheduledTask,
  SettingsStoreService, TransactionalConnection,
} from '@vendure/core';

const key = 'vendure.dashboard.userSettings';
type Settings = Record<string, unknown> & {
  widgetLayout?: Record<string, { x: number; y: number; w: number; h: number }>;
};

/** Restores administrator layouts without replacing their other preferences. */
export class SyncInsightsLayoutTask extends ScheduledTask {
  /** Accepts the template login identifier, not its administrator ID. */
  constructor(templateIdentifier: string) {
    super({
      id: 'sync-insights-layout',
      description: 'Restore the shared Insights layout',
      schedule: '0 3 * * *',
      execute: async ({ injector, scheduledContext }) => {
        const connection = injector.get(TransactionalConnection);
        const contexts = injector.get(RequestContextService);
        const store = injector.get(SettingsStoreService);

        // Read the template in its own user scope.
        const admins = await connection.getRepository(scheduledContext, Administrator)
          .find({ relations: ['user'] });
        const template = admins.find(a => a.user.identifier === templateIdentifier);
        if (!template) {
          Logger.warn('Template administrator missing; skipping', 'SyncInsightsLayoutTask');
          return;
        }
        const templateCtx = await contexts.create({ apiType: 'admin', user: template.user });
        const source = await store.get<Settings>(templateCtx, key);
        if (!source?.widgetLayout || !Object.keys(source.widgetLayout).length) {
          Logger.warn('Template layout missing; skipping', 'SyncInsightsLayoutTask');
          return;
        }

        // Preserve each recipient's other settings; skip the template itself.
        for (const admin of admins) {
          if (admin.id === template.id) continue;
          const ctx = await contexts.create({ apiType: 'admin', user: admin.user });
          const current = await store.get<Settings>(ctx, key);
          const result = await store.set(ctx, key, {
            ...current, widgetLayout: source.widgetLayout,
          });
          if (!result.result) throw new Error(`Layout sync failed: ${result.error}`);
        }
      },
    });
  }
}

2. Import the task in vendure-config.ts. Append it to existing schedulerOptions.tasks, without dropping other tasks:

schedulerOptions: {
  tasks: [new SyncInsightsLayoutTask('template-admin@example.com')],
},

Replace the example identifier with the chosen account’s login. Deploy the server and worker. No migration or new environment variable is required.

Verification

3. Add an e2e test using createTestEnvironment, SQL.js, DashboardPlugin, and DefaultSchedulerPlugin. For this server-only test, set runTasksInWorkerOnly: false and a short manualTriggerCheckInterval.

4. Create a recipient administrator through GraphQL. Save different template and recipient preferences through setSettingsStoreValue. As superadmin, call:

mutation {
  runScheduledTask(id: "sync-insights-layout") { success }
}

Poll getSettingsStoreValue as the recipient with a bounded wait. Expect the template layout and the recipient’s original language/theme. Verify the template stays unchanged. Separately execute the task with an unknown template, and with a template lacking a saved layout: both should warn and leave recipients untouched. Assert the cron string. Do not wait until 03:00 in tests.

5. Run the application’s test suite, TypeScript checks, and dashboard build. In the verified application these were npm test, npx tsc --noEmit, npx tsc --noEmit -p tsconfig.e2e.json, and npm run build, from its Vendure directory; adapt to local scripts.

Limitations

Existing tabs need a reload. Saving stale dashboard settings can overwrite the nightly reset. Permissions still control which widgets and data each administrator sees. New admins receive the layout on the next run. A failed write stops the task after any earlier recipients were updated; rerunning is safe. For continuous enforcement, use a separate dashboard customization rather than claiming this cron locks the layout.