Unicorn with Synthesis Solution in a Helix Implementation

Question

We are having an issue with Synthesis and Unicorn in the same solution. I'm not sure if Helix really applies in this scenario but might be something to consider, since there are multiple projects and multiple Synthesis and Unicorn configurations.

But if Developer A creates new Sitecore items and then creates a new Unicorn configuration (usually for a feature). They then create the Synthesis based models. That all works perfectly fine.

Developer B gets latest and runs the gulp task to publish all files. Then they go to /unicorn.aspx to sync the new sitecore items, but they get a Synthesis error about the items not existing in the tree. (because they didn't sync the items with unicorn yet)

Is there an option in Synthesis to prevent this scenario from occurring, and to give the developer enough time to Sync Unicorn, before any Synthesis functionality occurs?

Answer 1

Maybe you did find the answer meanwhile but still ... In Habitat one of the gulp tasks is Run Unicorn and this will sync the serialized items in the repository to the database.

Considering Kamsar pushed Unicorn 4 now you can directly implement the new updated way for your gulp task. Basically the database is sorted before you can get to the website so no problems with synthesis.

Also, for the synthesis and your development environment, let the auto-generate config to do its job. Having these two you won't have to browse /unicorn or /synthesis on regular basis.