yeoman webapp with grunt-connect-proxy not working

Question

I have installed the yeoman webapp generator and I am trying to set up a proxy to another server.

I installed the proxy with the following. npm install grunt-connect-proxy --save-dev

When I run grunt server, it shows

Running "configureProxies" task
Proxy created for: /people to localhost:3000 

It then directs me to a page running on localhost:9000 which says "Cannot GET /" There is a server running at localhost:3000 and I have tried other domains with no succes.

Here is my Gruntfile.js

// Generated on 2013-10-01 using generator-webapp 0.4.2
'use strict';

var proxySnippet = require('grunt-connect-proxy/lib/utils').proxyRequest;


// # Globbing
// for performance reasons we're only matching one level down:
// 'test/spec/{,*/}*.js'
// use this if you want to recursively match all subfolders:
// 'test/spec/**/*.js'

module.exports = function (grunt) {
// show elapsed time at the end
require('time-grunt')(grunt);
// load all grunt tasks
require('load-grunt-tasks')(grunt);

// configurable paths
var yeomanConfig = {
    app: 'app',
    dist: 'dist'
};

grunt.initConfig({
    yeoman: yeomanConfig,
    watch: {
        coffee: {
            files: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts/{,*/}*.coffee'],
            tasks: ['coffee:dist']
        },
        coffeeTest: {
            files: ['test/spec/{,*/}*.coffee'],
            tasks: ['coffee:test']
        },
        compass: {
            files: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/{,*/}*.{scss,sass}'],
            tasks: ['compass:server', 'autoprefixer']
        },
        styles: {
            files: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/{,*/}*.css'],
            tasks: ['copy:styles', 'autoprefixer']
        },
        livereload: {
            options: {
                livereload: '<%= connect.options.livereload %>'
            },
            files: [
                '<%= yeoman.app %>/*.html',
                '.tmp/styles/{,*/}*.css',
                '{.tmp,<%= yeoman.app %>}/scripts/{,*/}*.js',
                '<%= yeoman.app %>/images/{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg,gif,webp,svg}'
            ]
        }
    },
    connect: {
        options: {
            port: 9000,
            livereload: 35729,
            // change this to '0.0.0.0' to access the server from outside
            hostname: 'localhost'
        },
        proxies: [
            {
                context: '/people',
                host: 'localhost',
                port: 3000
            }
        ],
        livereload: {
            options: {
                open: true,
                base: [
                    '.tmp',
                    yeomanConfig.app
                ],
                middleware: function (connect) {
                    return [
                        proxySnippet
                    ];
                }
            }
        },
        test: {
            options: {
                base: [
                    '.tmp',
                    'test',
                    yeomanConfig.app
                ]
            }
        },
        dist: {
            options: {
                open: true,
                base: yeomanConfig.dist
            }
        }
    },
    clean: {
        dist: {
            files: [{
                dot: true,
                src: [
                    '.tmp',
                    '<%= yeoman.dist %>/*',
                    '!<%= yeoman.dist %>/.git*'
                ]
            }]
        },
        server: '.tmp'
    },
    jshint: {
        options: {
            jshintrc: '.jshintrc'
        },
        all: [
            'Gruntfile.js',
            '<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts/{,*/}*.js',
            '!<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts/vendor/*',
            'test/spec/{,*/}*.js'
        ]
    },
    mocha: {
        all: {
            options: {
                run: true,
                urls: ['http://<%= connect.test.options.hostname %>:<%= connect.test.options.port %>/index.html']
            }
        }
    },
    coffee: {
        dist: {
            files: [{
                expand: true,
                cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts',
                src: '{,*/}*.coffee',
                dest: '.tmp/scripts',
                ext: '.js'
            }]
        },
        test: {
            files: [{
                expand: true,
                cwd: 'test/spec',
                src: '{,*/}*.coffee',
                dest: '.tmp/spec',
                ext: '.js'
            }]
        }
    },
    compass: {
        options: {
            sassDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles',
            cssDir: '.tmp/styles',
            generatedImagesDir: '.tmp/images/generated',
            imagesDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/images',
            javascriptsDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts',
            fontsDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/fonts',
            importPath: '<%= yeoman.app %>/bower_components',
            httpImagesPath: '/images',
            httpGeneratedImagesPath: '/images/generated',
            httpFontsPath: '/styles/fonts',
            relativeAssets: false
        },
        dist: {
            options: {
                generatedImagesDir: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images/generated'
            }
        },
        server: {
            options: {
                debugInfo: true
            }
        }
    },
    autoprefixer: {
        options: {
            browsers: ['last 1 version']
        },
        dist: {
            files: [{
                expand: true,
                cwd: '.tmp/styles/',
                src: '{,*/}*.css',
                dest: '.tmp/styles/'
            }]
        }
    },
    // not used since Uglify task does concat,
    // but still available if needed
    /*concat: {
        dist: {}
    },*/
    requirejs: {
        dist: {
            // Options: https://github.com/jrburke/r.js/blob/master/build/example.build.js
            options: {
                // `name` and `out` is set by grunt-usemin
                baseUrl: yeomanConfig.app + '/scripts',
                optimize: 'none',
                // TODO: Figure out how to make sourcemaps work with grunt-usemin
                // https://github.com/yeoman/grunt-usemin/issues/30
                //generateSourceMaps: true,
                // required to support SourceMaps
                // http://requirejs.org/docs/errors.html#sourcemapcomments
                preserveLicenseComments: false,
                useStrict: true,
                wrap: true
                //uglify2: {} // https://github.com/mishoo/UglifyJS2
            }
        }
    },
    rev: {
        dist: {
            files: {
                src: [
                    '<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/{,*/}*.js',
                    '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/{,*/}*.css',
                    '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images/{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg,gif,webp}',
                    '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/fonts/{,*/}*.*'
                ]
            }
        }
    },
    useminPrepare: {
        options: {
            dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>'
        },
        html: '<%= yeoman.app %>/index.html'
    },
    usemin: {
        options: {
            dirs: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>']
        },
        html: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>/{,*/}*.html'],
        css: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/{,*/}*.css']
    },
    imagemin: {
        dist: {
            files: [{
                expand: true,
                cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/images',
                src: '{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg}',
                dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images'
            }]
        }
    },
    svgmin: {
        dist: {
            files: [{
                expand: true,
                cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/images',
                src: '{,*/}*.svg',
                dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images'
            }]
        }
    },
    cssmin: {
        // This task is pre-configured if you do not wish to use Usemin
        // blocks for your CSS. By default, the Usemin block from your
        // `index.html` will take care of minification, e.g.
        //
        //     <!-- build:css({.tmp,app}) styles/main.css -->
        //
        // dist: {
        //     files: {
        //         '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/main.css': [
        //             '.tmp/styles/{,*/}*.css',
        //             '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/{,*/}*.css'
        //         ]
        //     }
        // }
    },
    htmlmin: {
        dist: {
            options: {
                /*removeCommentsFromCDATA: true,
                // https://github.com/yeoman/grunt-usemin/issues/44
                //collapseWhitespace: true,
                collapseBooleanAttributes: true,
                removeAttributeQuotes: true,
                removeRedundantAttributes: true,
                useShortDoctype: true,
                removeEmptyAttributes: true,
                removeOptionalTags: true*/
            },
            files: [{
                expand: true,
                cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>',
                src: '*.html',
                dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>'
            }]
        }
    },
    // Put files not handled in other tasks here
    copy: {
        dist: {
            files: [{
                expand: true,
                dot: true,
                cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>',
                dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>',
                src: [
                    '*.{ico,png,txt}',
                    '.htaccess',
                    'images/{,*/}*.{webp,gif}',
                    'styles/fonts/{,*/}*.*',
                    'bower_components/sass-bootstrap/fonts/*.*'
                ]
            }]
        },
        styles: {
            expand: true,
            dot: true,
            cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles',
            dest: '.tmp/styles/',
            src: '{,*/}*.css'
        }
    },
    modernizr: {
        devFile: '<%= yeoman.app %>/bower_components/modernizr/modernizr.js',
        outputFile: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/bower_components/modernizr/modernizr.js',
        files: [
            '<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/{,*/}*.js',
            '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/{,*/}*.css',
            '!<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/vendor/*'
        ],
        uglify: true
    },
    concurrent: {
        server: [
            'compass',
            'coffee:dist',
            'copy:styles'
        ],
        test: [
            'coffee',
            'copy:styles'
        ],
        dist: [
            'coffee',
            'compass',
            'copy:styles',
            'imagemin',
            'svgmin',
            'htmlmin'
        ]
    },
    bower: {
        options: {
            exclude: ['modernizr']
        },
        all: {
            rjsConfig: '<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts/main.js'
        }
    }
});

grunt.registerTask('server', function (target) {
    if (target === 'dist') {
        return grunt.task.run(['build', 'connect:dist:keepalive']);
    }

    grunt.task.run([
        'clean:server',
        'configureProxies',
        'concurrent:server',
        'autoprefixer',
        'connect:livereload',
        'watch'
    ]);
});

grunt.registerTask('test', [
    'clean:server',
    'concurrent:test',
    'autoprefixer',
    'connect:test',
    'mocha'
]);

grunt.registerTask('build', [
    'clean:dist',
    'useminPrepare',
    'concurrent:dist',
    'autoprefixer',
    'requirejs',
    'concat',
    'cssmin',
    'uglify',
    'modernizr',
    'copy:dist',
    'rev',
    'usemin'
]);

grunt.registerTask('default', [
    'jshint',
    'test',
    'build'
]);

};

EDIT: here is my final working GruntFile

// Generated on 2013-10-06 using generator-webapp 0.4.3
'use strict';

var proxySnippet = require('grunt-connect-proxy/lib/utils').proxyRequest;
var mountFolder = function (connect, dir) {
    return connect.static(require('path').resolve(dir));
};

// # Globbing
// for performance reasons we're only matching one level down:
// 'test/spec/{,*/}*.js'
// use this if you want to recursively match all subfolders:
// 'test/spec/**/*.js'

module.exports = function (grunt) {
    // show elapsed time at the end
    require('time-grunt')(grunt);
    // load all grunt tasks
    require('load-grunt-tasks')(grunt);

    grunt.initConfig({
        // configurable paths
        yeoman: {
            app: 'app',
            dist: 'dist'
        },
        watch: {
            compass: {
                files: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/{,*/}*.{scss,sass}'],
                tasks: ['compass:server', 'autoprefixer']
            },
            styles: {
                files: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/{,*/}*.css'],
                tasks: ['copy:styles', 'autoprefixer']
            },
            livereload: {
                options: {
                    livereload: '<%= connect.options.livereload %>'
                },
                files: [
                    '<%= yeoman.app %>/*.html',
                    '.tmp/styles/{,*/}*.css',
                    '{.tmp,<%= yeoman.app %>}/scripts/{,*/}*.js',
                    '<%= yeoman.app %>/images/{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg,gif,webp,svg}'
                ]
            }
        },
        connect: {
            options: {
                port: 9000,
                livereload: 35729,
                // change this to '0.0.0.0' to access the server from outside
                hostname: 'localhost'
            },
            proxies: [
                {
                    context: '/api',
                    host: 'localhost',
                    port: 4000,
                    https: false
                }
            ],
            livereload: {
                options: {
                    open: true,
                    base: [
                        '.tmp',
                        '<%= yeoman.app %>'
                    ],
                    middleware: function (connect) {
                        return [
                            proxySnippet,
                            mountFolder(connect, '.tmp'),
                            mountFolder(connect, 'app')
                        ];
                    }
                }
            },
            test: {
                options: {
                    base: [
                        '.tmp',
                        'test',
                        '<%= yeoman.app %>'
                    ]
                }
            },
            dist: {
                options: {
                    open: true,
                    base: '<%= yeoman.dist %>'
                }
            }
        },
        clean: {
            dist: {
                files: [{
                    dot: true,
                    src: [
                        '.tmp',
                        '<%= yeoman.dist %>/*',
                        '!<%= yeoman.dist %>/.git*'
                    ]
                }]
            },
            server: '.tmp'
        },
        jshint: {
            options: {
                jshintrc: '.jshintrc'
            },
            all: [
                'Gruntfile.js',
                '<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts/{,*/}*.js',
                '!<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts/vendor/*',
                'test/spec/{,*/}*.js'
            ]
        },
        mocha: {
            all: {
                options: {
                    run: true,
                    urls: ['http://<%= connect.test.options.hostname %>:<%= connect.test.options.port %>/index.html']
                }
            }
        },
        compass: {
            options: {
                sassDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles',
                cssDir: '.tmp/styles',
                generatedImagesDir: '.tmp/images/generated',
                imagesDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/images',
                javascriptsDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts',
                fontsDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/fonts',
                importPath: '<%= yeoman.app %>/bower_components',
                httpImagesPath: '/images',
                httpGeneratedImagesPath: '/images/generated',
                httpFontsPath: '/styles/fonts',
                relativeAssets: false,
                assetCacheBuster: false
            },
            dist: {
                options: {
                    generatedImagesDir: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images/generated'
                }
            },
            server: {
                options: {
                    debugInfo: true
                }
            }
        },
        autoprefixer: {
            options: {
                browsers: ['last 1 version']
            },
            dist: {
                files: [{
                    expand: true,
                    cwd: '.tmp/styles/',
                    src: '{,*/}*.css',
                    dest: '.tmp/styles/'
                }]
            }
        },
        // not used since Uglify task does concat,
        // but still available if needed
        /*concat: {
            dist: {}
        },*/
        requirejs: {
            dist: {
                // Options: https://github.com/jrburke/r.js/blob/master/build/example.build.js
                options: {
                    // `name` and `out` is set by grunt-usemin
                    baseUrl: '<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts',
                    optimize: 'none',
                    // TODO: Figure out how to make sourcemaps work with grunt-usemin
                    // https://github.com/yeoman/grunt-usemin/issues/30
                    //generateSourceMaps: true,
                    // required to support SourceMaps
                    // http://requirejs.org/docs/errors.html#sourcemapcomments
                    preserveLicenseComments: false,
                    useStrict: true,
                    wrap: true
                    //uglify2: {} // https://github.com/mishoo/UglifyJS2
                }
            }
        },
        rev: {
            dist: {
                files: {
                    src: [
                        '<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/{,*/}*.js',
                        '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/{,*/}*.css',
                        '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images/{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg,gif,webp}',
                        '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/fonts/{,*/}*.*'
                    ]
                }
            }
        },
        useminPrepare: {
            options: {
                dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>'
            },
            html: '<%= yeoman.app %>/index.html'
        },
        usemin: {
            options: {
                dirs: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>']
            },
            html: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>/{,*/}*.html'],
            css: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/{,*/}*.css']
        },
        imagemin: {
            dist: {
                files: [{
                    expand: true,
                    cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/images',
                    src: '{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg}',
                    dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images'
                }]
            }
        },
        svgmin: {
            dist: {
                files: [{
                    expand: true,
                    cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/images',
                    src: '{,*/}*.svg',
                    dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images'
                }]
            }
        },
        cssmin: {
            // This task is pre-configured if you do not wish to use Usemin
            // blocks for your CSS. By default, the Usemin block from your
            // `index.html` will take care of minification, e.g.
            //
            //     <!-- build:css({.tmp,app}) styles/main.css -->
            //
            // dist: {
            //     files: {
            //         '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/main.css': [
            //             '.tmp/styles/{,*/}*.css',
            //             '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/{,*/}*.css'
            //         ]
            //     }
            // }
        },
        htmlmin: {
            dist: {
                options: {
                    /*removeCommentsFromCDATA: true,
                    // https://github.com/yeoman/grunt-usemin/issues/44
                    //collapseWhitespace: true,
                    collapseBooleanAttributes: true,
                    removeAttributeQuotes: true,
                    removeRedundantAttributes: true,
                    useShortDoctype: true,
                    removeEmptyAttributes: true,
                    removeOptionalTags: true*/
                },
                files: [{
                    expand: true,
                    cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>',
                    src: '*.html',
                    dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>'
                }]
            }
        },
        // Put files not handled in other tasks here
        copy: {
            dist: {
                files: [{
                    expand: true,
                    dot: true,
                    cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>',
                    dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>',
                    src: [
                        '*.{ico,png,txt}',
                        '.htaccess',
                        'images/{,*/}*.{webp,gif}',
                        'styles/fonts/{,*/}*.*',
                        'bower_components/sass-bootstrap/fonts/*.*',
                        'templates/{,*/}*.*'
                    ]
                }]
            },
            styles: {
                expand: true,
                dot: true,
                cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles',
                dest: '.tmp/styles/',
                src: '{,*/}*.css'
            }
        },
        concurrent: {
            server: [
                'compass',
                'copy:styles'
            ],
            test: [
                'copy:styles'
            ],
            dist: [
                'compass',
                'copy:styles',
                'imagemin',
                'svgmin',
                'htmlmin'
            ]
        },
        bower: {
            options: {
                exclude: ['modernizr']
            },
            all: {
                rjsConfig: '<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts/main.js'
            }
        }
    });

    grunt.registerTask('server', function (target) {
        if (target === 'dist') {
            return grunt.task.run(['build', 'connect:dist:keepalive']);
        }

        grunt.task.run([
            'clean:server',
            'configureProxies',
            'concurrent:server',
            'autoprefixer',
            'connect:livereload',
            'watch'
        ]);
    });

    grunt.registerTask('test', [
        'clean:server',
        'concurrent:test',
        'autoprefixer',
        'connect:test',
        'mocha'
    ]);

    grunt.registerTask('build', [
        'clean:dist',
        'useminPrepare',
        'concurrent:dist',
        'autoprefixer',
        'requirejs',
        'concat',
        'cssmin',
        'uglify',
        'copy:dist',
        'rev',
        'usemin'
    ]);

    grunt.registerTask('default', [
        'jshint',
        'test',
        'build'
    ]);
};

Answer 1

The approach above works, just adding a pitfall I stumbled upon.

When you proxy a request like

proxies: [
     {
        context: '/api',
        host: 'localhost',
        port: 8080,
        https: false,
        changeOrigin: false,
        xforward: false
     }
], 

then localhost:9000/api/ping will be proxied to localhost:8080/api/ping, so you should have a listening endpoint there. It doesn't rewrite (as I expected) to localhost:8080/ping basically removing the context. If you want to rewrite, you have to explicitly specify it.

proxies: [
    context: '/context',
    host: 'host',
    port: 8080,
    rewrite: {
        '^/removingcontext': '',
        '^/changingcontext': '/anothercontext'
    }
]

Answer 2

Change the connect livereload target as follows:

livereload: {
  options: {
    open: true,
    base: [
      '.tmp',
      yeomanConfig.app
    ],
    middleware: function (connect) {
      return [
        proxySnippet,
        connect.static(require('path').resolve('app')),
        connect.static(require('path').resolve('.tmp'))
      ];
    }
  }
}

Answer 3

This is all my gruntfile that works in angular web app backed with spring mvc rest services. All changes that I wrote are annotated with "//RAG"

// Generated on 2015-08-12 using generator-angular 0.12.1
'use strict';

// # Globbing
// for performance reasons we're only matching one level down:
// 'test/spec/{,*/}*.js'
// use this if you want to recursively match all subfolders:
// 'test/spec/**/*.js'

module.exports = function (grunt) {

  // Time how long tasks take. Can help when optimizing build times
  require('time-grunt')(grunt);

  // Automatically load required Grunt tasks
  require('jit-grunt')(grunt, {
    useminPrepare: 'grunt-usemin',
    ngtemplates: 'grunt-angular-templates',
    cdnify: 'grunt-google-cdn'
  });

  // Configurable paths for the application
  var appConfig = {
    app: require('./bower.json').appPath || 'app',
    dist: '../../../target/webapp'
  };

  // Define the configuration for all the tasks
  grunt.initConfig({

    // Project settings
    yeoman: appConfig,

    // Watches files for changes and runs tasks based on the changed files
    watch: {
      bower: {
        files: ['bower.json'],
        tasks: ['wiredep']
      },
      js: {
        files: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts/{,*/}*.js'],
        tasks: ['newer:jshint:all'],
        options: {
          livereload: '<%= connect.options.livereload %>'
        }
      },
      jsTest: {
        files: ['test/spec/{,*/}*.js'],
        tasks: ['newer:jshint:test', 'karma']
      },
      compass: {
        files: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/{,*/}*.{scss,sass}'],
        tasks: ['compass:server', 'autoprefixer:server']
      },
      gruntfile: {
        files: ['Gruntfile.js']
      },
      livereload: {
        options: {
          livereload: '<%= connect.options.livereload %>'
        },
        files: [
          '<%= yeoman.app %>/{,*/}*.html',
          '.tmp/styles/{,*/}*.css',
          '<%= yeoman.app %>/images/{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg,gif,webp,svg}'
        ]
      }
    },

    // The actual grunt server settings
    connect: {
      options: {
        port: 9000,
        // Change this to '0.0.0.0' to access the server from outside.
        hostname: 'localhost',
        livereload: 35729
      },
      //RAG
      proxies: [
        {
          context: '/ws',
          host: 'localhost',
          port: 8080,
          //https: false,
          //xforward: false,
          //headers: {
            // "x-custom-added-header": value
          // },
          //hideHeaders: ['x-removed-header'],
          //rewrite: {
          //  '^/ws': ''
          //}
        }
      ],
      livereload: {
        options: {
          open: true,
          //RAG
          /*
          middleware: function (connect) {
            return [
              connect.static('.tmp'),
              connect().use(
                '/bower_components',
                connect.static('./bower_components')
              ),
              connect().use(
                '/app/styles',
                connect.static('./app/styles')
              ),
              connect.static(appConfig.app)
            ];
          }
          */
          middleware: function (connect, options) {
            var middlewares = [
              connect.static('.tmp'),
              connect().use(
                  '/bower_components',
                  connect.static('./bower_components')
              ),
              connect().use(
                  '/app/styles',
                  connect.static('./app/styles')
              ),
              connect.static(appConfig.app)
            ];

            if (!Array.isArray(options.base)) {
              options.base = [options.base];
            }

            // Setup the proxy
            middlewares.push(require('grunt-connect-proxy/lib/utils').proxyRequest);

            // Serve static files
            options.base.forEach(function(base) {
              middlewares.push(connect.static(base));
            });

            return middlewares;
          }
        }
      },
      test: {
        options: {
          port: 9001,
          middleware: function (connect) {
            return [
              connect.static('.tmp'),
              connect.static('test'),
              connect().use(
                '/bower_components',
                connect.static('./bower_components')
              ),
              connect.static(appConfig.app)
            ];
          }
        }
      },
      dist: {
        options: {
          open: true,
          base: '<%= yeoman.dist %>'
        }
      }
    },

    // Make sure code styles are up to par and there are no obvious mistakes
    jshint: {
      options: {
        jshintrc: '.jshintrc',
        reporter: require('jshint-stylish')
      },
      all: {
        src: [
          'Gruntfile.js',
          '<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts/{,*/}*.js'
        ]
      },
      test: {
        options: {
          jshintrc: 'test/.jshintrc'
        },
        src: ['test/spec/{,*/}*.js']
      }
    },

    // Empties folders to start fresh
    clean: {
      dist: {
        files: [{
          dot: true,
          src: [
            '.tmp',
            '<%= yeoman.dist %>/{,*/}*',
            '!<%= yeoman.dist %>/.git{,*/}*'
          ]
        }]
      },
      server: '.tmp'
    },

    // Add vendor prefixed styles
    autoprefixer: {
      options: {
        browsers: ['last 1 version']
      },
      server: {
        options: {
          map: true
        },
        files: [{
          expand: true,
          cwd: '.tmp/styles/',
          src: '{,*/}*.css',
          dest: '.tmp/styles/'
        }]
      },
      dist: {
        files: [{
          expand: true,
          cwd: '.tmp/styles/',
          src: '{,*/}*.css',
          dest: '.tmp/styles/'
        }]
      }
    },

    // Automatically inject Bower components into the app
    wiredep: {
      app: {
        src: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/index.html'],
        ignorePath:  /\.\.\//
      },
      test: {
        devDependencies: true,
        src: '<%= karma.unit.configFile %>',
        ignorePath:  /\.\.\//,
        fileTypes:{
          js: {
            block: /(([\s\t]*)\/{2}\s*?bower:\s*?(\S*))(\n|\r|.)*?(\/{2}\s*endbower)/gi,
              detect: {
                js: /'(.*\.js)'/gi
              },
              replace: {
                js: '\'{{filePath}}\','
              }
            }
          }
      },
      sass: {
        src: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/{,*/}*.{scss,sass}'],
        ignorePath: /(\.\.\/){1,2}bower_components\//
      }
    },

    // Compiles Sass to CSS and generates necessary files if requested
    compass: {
      options: {
        sassDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles',
        cssDir: '.tmp/styles',
        generatedImagesDir: '.tmp/images/generated',
        imagesDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/images',
        javascriptsDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts',
        fontsDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/fonts',
        importPath: './bower_components',
        httpImagesPath: '/images',
        httpGeneratedImagesPath: '/images/generated',
        httpFontsPath: '/styles/fonts',
        relativeAssets: false,
        assetCacheBuster: false,
        raw: 'Sass::Script::Number.precision = 10\n'
      },
      dist: {
        options: {
          generatedImagesDir: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images/generated'
        }
      },
      server: {
        options: {
          sourcemap: true
        }
      }
    },

    // Renames files for browser caching purposes
    filerev: {
      dist: {
        src: [
          '<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/{,*/}*.js',
          '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/{,*/}*.css',
          '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images/{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg,gif,webp,svg}',
          '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/fonts/*'
        ]
      }
    },

    // Reads HTML for usemin blocks to enable smart builds that automatically
    // concat, minify and revision files. Creates configurations in memory so
    // additional tasks can operate on them
    useminPrepare: {
      html: '<%= yeoman.app %>/index.html',
      options: {
        dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>',
        flow: {
          html: {
            steps: {
              js: ['concat', 'uglifyjs'],
              css: ['cssmin']
            },
            post: {}
          }
        }
      }
    },

    // Performs rewrites based on filerev and the useminPrepare configuration
    usemin: {
      html: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>/{,*/}*.html'],
      css: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/{,*/}*.css'],
      js: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/{,*/}*.js'],
      options: {
        assetsDirs: [
          '<%= yeoman.dist %>',
          '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images',
          '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles'
        ],
        patterns: {
          js: [[/(images\/[^''""]*\.(png|jpg|jpeg|gif|webp|svg))/g, 'Replacing references to images']]
        }
      }
    },

    // The following *-min tasks will produce minified files in the dist folder
    // By default, your `index.html`'s <!-- Usemin block --> will take care of
    // minification. These next options are pre-configured if you do not wish
    // to use the Usemin blocks.
    // cssmin: {
    //   dist: {
    //     files: {
    //       '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/main.css': [
    //         '.tmp/styles/{,*/}*.css'
    //       ]
    //     }
    //   }
    // },
    // uglify: {
    //   dist: {
    //     files: {
    //       '<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/scripts.js': [
    //         '<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/scripts.js'
    //       ]
    //     }
    //   }
    // },
    // concat: {
    //   dist: {}
    // },

    imagemin: {
      dist: {
        files: [{
          expand: true,
          cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/images',
          src: '{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg,gif}',
          dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images'
        }]
      }
    },

    svgmin: {
      dist: {
        files: [{
          expand: true,
          cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/images',
          src: '{,*/}*.svg',
          dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images'
        }]
      }
    },

    htmlmin: {
      dist: {
        options: {
          collapseWhitespace: true,
          conservativeCollapse: true,
          collapseBooleanAttributes: true,
          removeCommentsFromCDATA: true
        },
        files: [{
          expand: true,
          cwd: '<%= yeoman.dist %>',
          src: ['*.html'],
          dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>'
        }]
      }
    },

    ngtemplates: {
      dist: {
        options: {
          module: 'mainApp',
          htmlmin: '<%= htmlmin.dist.options %>',
          usemin: 'scripts/scripts.js'
        },
        cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>',
        src: 'views/{,*/}*.html',
        dest: '.tmp/templateCache.js'
      }
    },

    // ng-annotate tries to make the code safe for minification automatically
    // by using the Angular long form for dependency injection.
    ngAnnotate: {
      dist: {
        files: [{
          expand: true,
          cwd: '.tmp/concat/scripts',
          src: '*.js',
          dest: '.tmp/concat/scripts'
        }]
      }
    },

    // Replace Google CDN references
    cdnify: {
      dist: {
        html: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>/*.html']
      }
    },

    // Copies remaining files to places other tasks can use
    copy: {
      dist: {
        files: [{
          expand: true,
          dot: true,
          cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>',
          dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>',
          src: [
            '*.{ico,png,txt}',
            '.htaccess',
            '*.html',
            'images/{,*/}*.{webp}',
            'styles/fonts/{,*/}*.*'
          ]
        }, {
          expand: true,
          cwd: '.tmp/images',
          dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images',
          src: ['generated/*']
        }, {
          expand: true,
          cwd: '.',
          src: 'bower_components/bootstrap-sass-official/assets/fonts/bootstrap/*',
          dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>'
        }]
      },
      styles: {
        expand: true,
        cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles',
        dest: '.tmp/styles/',
        src: '{,*/}*.css'
      }
    },

    // Run some tasks in parallel to speed up the build process
    concurrent: {
      server: [
        'compass:server'
      ],
      test: [
        'compass'
      ],
      dist: [
        'compass:dist',
        'imagemin',
        'svgmin'
      ]
    },

    // Test settings
    karma: {
      unit: {
        configFile: 'test/karma.conf.js',
        singleRun: true
      }
    }
  });

  grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-connect-proxy'); //RAG

  grunt.registerTask('serve', 'Compile then start a connect web server', function (target) {
    if (target === 'dist') {
      return grunt.task.run(['build', 'connect:dist:keepalive']);
    }

    grunt.task.run([
      'clean:server',
      'wiredep',
      'concurrent:server',
      'autoprefixer:server',
      'configureProxies:server', // RAG
      'connect:livereload',
      'watch'
    ]);
  });

  grunt.registerTask('server', 'DEPRECATED TASK. Use the "serve" task instead', function (target) {
    grunt.log.warn('The `server` task has been deprecated. Use `grunt serve` to start a server.');
    grunt.task.run(['serve:' + target]);
  });

  grunt.registerTask('test', [
    'clean:server',
    'wiredep',
    'concurrent:test',
    'autoprefixer',
    'connect:test',
    'karma'
  ]);

  grunt.registerTask('build', [
    'clean:dist',
    'wiredep',
    'useminPrepare',
    'concurrent:dist',
    'autoprefixer',
    'ngtemplates',
    'concat',
    'ngAnnotate',
    'copy:dist',
    'cdnify',
    'cssmin',
    'uglify',
    'filerev',
    'usemin',
    'htmlmin'
  ]);

  grunt.registerTask('default', [
    'newer:jshint',
    'test',
    'build'
  ]);
};

Answer 4

You will also need to setup middleware in "test" for proxy to work in functional test cases.

        connect: {
        proxies: [
            {
                context: '/api',
                host: 'localhost',
                port: 8080,
                https: false,
                changeOrigin: false,
                xforward: false
            }
        ],            
       livereload: {
            options: {
                middleware: function (connect, options) {
                    if (!Array.isArray(options.base)) {
                        options.base = [options.base];
                    }

                    // Setup the proxy
                    var middlewares = [require('grunt-connect-proxy/lib/utils').proxyRequest];

                    // Serve static files.
                    options.base.forEach(function (base) {
                        middlewares.push(connect.static(base));
                    });

                    // Make directory browse-able.
                    var directory = options.directory || options.base[options.base.length - 1];
                    middlewares.push(connect.directory(directory));

                    return middlewares;
                },
                open: true,
                base: [
                    '.tmp',
                    '<%= yeoman.app %>'
                ]
            }
        },
          test: {
            options: {
                middleware: function (connect, options) {
                    if (!Array.isArray(options.base)) {
                        options.base = [options.base];
                    }

                    // Setup the proxy
                    var middlewares = [require('grunt-connect-proxy/lib/utils').proxyRequest];

                    // Serve static files.
                    options.base.forEach(function (base) {
                        middlewares.push(connect.static(base));
                    });

                    // Make directory browse-able.
                    var directory = options.directory || options.base[options.base.length - 1];
                    middlewares.push(connect.directory(directory));

                    return middlewares;
                },
                port: 9001,
                base: [
                    '.tmp',
                    'test',
                    '<%= yeoman.app %>'
                ]
            }
        }
      }

grunt.registerTask('e2e', [
    'clean:server',
    'concurrent:test',
    'autoprefixer',
    'configureProxies:server',
    'connect:test',
    'protractor:run'
]);

Answer 5

This worked for me

 livereload: {
    options: {
      open: true,
      middleware: function (connect) {
        return [
          proxySnippet,
              connect.static('.tmp'),
              connect().use(
                '/bower_components',
                connect.static('./bower_components')
              ),
              connect().use(
                '/app/styles',
                connect.static('./app/styles')
              ),
              connect.static(appConfig.app)
        ];
      }
    }
  },

Answer 6

for yeoman-angular v < 0.9.8
change your grunt connect object to look like this

    connect: {
        options: {
            port: 9000,
            // Change this to '0.0.0.0' to access the server from outside.
            hostname: 'localhost',
            livereload: 35729
        },
        proxies: [
            {
                context: '/api', // the context of the data service
                host: 'localhost', // wherever the data service is running
                port: 80 // the port that the data service is running on
            }
        ],

        livereload: {
            options: {
                open: true,
                middleware: function (connect) {
                    var middlewares = [];
                    // Setup the proxy
                    middlewares.push(require('grunt-connect-proxy/lib/utils').proxyRequest);

                    // Serve static files
                    middlewares.push(
                        connect.static('.tmp'),
                        connect().use(
                            '/bower_components',
                            connect.static('./bower_components')
                        ),
                        connect.static(appConfig.app)
                    );

                    return middlewares;
                }
            }
        },
        ...
        // removed for brevity since there will be no changes on the test and dist objects
      }