Extension Reload

Once an extension is loaded there is no way to pick up code changes without restarting the entire bot. load_extension and unload_extension already exist in bot.py, but there is no reload_extension that does both atomically and re-imports the underlying Python module.

The idea is to add bot.reload_extension(name) which unloads the running extension, re-imports its module with importlib.reload, re-instantiates the extension, and loads it back in. This makes the development loop significantly tighter without requiring a full bot restart.

Proposed API

bot.reload_extension("moderation")

# Or trigger it from inside a command
@bot.command()
async def reload(ctx, name: str):
    bot.reload_extension(name)
    await ctx.reply(f"Reloaded {name}.")

The critical detail is that importlib.reload only re-executes the module, it does not re-create the extension object, so reload_extension must also instantiate a fresh Extension from the reloaded module before calling load_extension. This means the framework needs a way to locate the extension's module (the mapping from extension name to module path should be stored at load time). State held inside the old extension instance is lost on reload, which is expected behaviour but should be documented clearly.

Inizia in bot.py leggendo le implementazioni esistenti di load_extension e unload_extension e tracciando il modo in cui i nomi delle estensioni vengono associati a moduli e istanze. Conferma il ciclo di vita necessario per bot.reload_extension(name), inclusi la reimportazione del modulo e la creazione di una nuova istanza dell’estensione. Il lavoro è completato quando l’API ricarica un’estensione senza riavviare il bot e documenta che lo stato dell’istanza viene perso.