14 KiB
webpack-dev-middleware
An express-style development middleware for use with webpack bundles and allows for serving of the files emitted from webpack. This should be used for development only.
Some of the benefits of using this middleware include:
- No files are written to disk, rather it handles files in memory
- If files changed in watch mode, the middleware delays requests until compiling has completed.
- Supports hot module reload (HMR).
Requirements
This module requires a minimum of Node v6.9.0 and Webpack v4.0.0, and must be used with a server that accepts express-style middleware.
Getting Started
First thing’s first, install the module:
npm install webpack-dev-middleware --save-dev
Note: We do not recommend installing this module globally.
Usage
const webpack = require('webpack');
const middleware = require('webpack-dev-middleware');
const compiler = webpack({
// webpack options
;
})const express = require('express');
const app = express();
.use(
appmiddleware(compiler, {
// webpack-dev-middleware options
});
)
.listen(3000, () => console.log('Example app listening on port 3000!')); app
Options
The middleware accepts an options
Object. The following
is a property reference for the Object.
Note: The publicPath
property is required, whereas
all other options are optional
methods
Type: Array
Default: [ 'GET', 'HEAD' ]
This property allows a user to pass the list of HTTP request methods accepted by the server.
headers
Type: Object
Default: undefined
This property allows a user to pass custom HTTP headers on each
request. eg. { "X-Custom-Header": "yes" }
index
Type: String
Default: undefined
“index.html”, // The index path for web server, defaults to “index.html”. // If falsy (but not undefined), the server will not respond to requests to the root URL.
lazy
Type: Boolean
Default: undefined
This option instructs the module to operate in ‘lazy’ mode, meaning that it won’t recompile when files change, but rather on each request.
logger
Type: Object
Default: webpack-log
In the rare event that a user would like to provide a custom logging
interface, this property allows the user to assign one. The module
leverages webpack-log
for creating the loglevelnext
logging management by default. Any custom logger must adhere to the same
exports for compatibility. Specifically, all custom loggers must have
the following exported methods at a minimum:
log.trace
log.debug
log.info
log.warn
log.error
Please see the documentation for loglevel
for more
information.
logLevel
Type: String
Default: 'info'
This property defines the level of messages that the module will log. Valid levels include:
trace
debug
info
warn
error
silent
Setting a log level means that all other levels below it will be
visible in the console. Setting logLevel: 'silent'
will
hide all console output. The module leverages webpack-log
for logging management, and more information can be found on its
page.
logTime
Type: Boolean
Default: false
If true
the log output of the module will be prefixed by
a timestamp in the HH:mm:ss
format.
mimeTypes
Type: Object
Default: null
This property allows a user to register custom mime types or
extension mappings. eg.
mimeTypes: { 'text/html': [ 'phtml' ] }
.
By default node-mime will throw an error if you try to map a type to
an extension that is already assigned to another type. Passing
force: true
will suppress this behavior (overriding any
previous mapping). eg.
mimeTypes: { typeMap: { 'text/html': [ 'phtml' ] } }, force: true }
.
Please see the documentation for node-mime
for more information.
publicPath
Type: String
Required
The public path that the middleware is bound to. Best Practice:
use the same publicPath
defined in your webpack config. For
more information about publicPath
, please see the webpack
documentation.
reporter
Type: Object
Default: undefined
Allows users to provide a custom reporter to handle logging within the module. Please see the default reporter for an example.
serverSideRender
Type: Boolean
Default: undefined
Instructs the module to enable or disable the server-side rendering mode. Please see Server-Side Rendering for more information.
stats
Type: Object
Default: { context: process.cwd() }
Options for formatting statistics displayed during and after compile. For more information and property details, please see the webpack documentation.
watchOptions
Type: Object
Default: { aggregateTimeout: 200 }
The module accepts an Object
containing options for file
watching, which is passed directly to the compiler provided. For more
information on watch options please see the webpack
documentation
writeToDisk
Type: Boolean|Function
Default: false
If true
, the option will instruct the module to write
files to the configured location on disk as specified in your
webpack
config file. Setting
writeToDisk: true
won’t change the behavior of the
webpack-dev-middleware
, and bundle files accessed through
the browser will still be served from memory. This option provides
the same capabilities as the WriteFilePlugin
.
This option also accepts a Function
value, which can be
used to filter which files are written to disk. The function follows the
same premise as Array#filter
in which a return value of false
will not write
the file, and a return value of true
will write
the file to disk. eg.
{writeToDisk: (filePath) => {
return /superman\.css$/.test(filePath);
;
} }
fs
Type: Object
Default: MemoryFileSystem
Set the default file system which will be used by webpack as primary destination of generated files. Default is set to webpack’s default file system: memory-fs. This option isn’t affected by the writeToDisk option.
Note: As of 3.5.x version of the middleware you have
to provide .join()
method to the fs
instance
manually. This can be done simply by using path.join
:
.join = path.join; // no need to bind fs
API
webpack-dev-middleware
also provides convenience methods
that can be use to interact with the middleware at runtime:
close(callback)
Instructs a webpack-dev-middleware instance to stop watching for file changes.
Parameters
callback
Type: Function
A function executed once the middleware has stopped watching.
invalidate()
Instructs a webpack-dev-middleware instance to recompile the bundle. e.g. after a change to the configuration.
const webpack = require('webpack');
const compiler = webpack({ ... });
const middleware = require('webpack-dev-middleware');
const instance = middleware(compiler);
.use(instance);
app
setTimeout(() => {
// After a short delay the configuration is changed and a banner plugin is added
// to the config
.apply(new webpack.BannerPlugin('A new banner'));
compiler
// Recompile the bundle with the banner plugin:
.invalidate();
instance, 1000); }
waitUntilValid(callback)
Executes a callback function when the compiler bundle is valid, typically after compilation.
Parameters
callback
Type: Function
A function executed when the bundle becomes valid. If the bundle is valid at the time of calling, the callback is executed immediately.
const webpack = require('webpack');
const compiler = webpack({ ... });
const middleware = require('webpack-dev-middleware');
const instance = middleware(compiler);
.use(instance);
app
.waitUntilValid(() => {
instanceconsole.log('Package is in a valid state');
; })
Known Issues
Multiple Successive Builds
Watching (by means of lazy: false
) will frequently cause
multiple compilations as the bundle changes during compilation. This is
due in part to cross-platform differences in file watchers, so that
webpack doesn’t loose file changes when watched files change rapidly. If
you run into this situation, please make use of the TimeFixPlugin
.
Server-Side Rendering
Note: this feature is experimental and may be removed or changed completely in the future.
In order to develop an app using server-side rendering, we need
access to the stats
,
which is generated with each build.
With server-side rendering enabled,
webpack-dev-middleware
sets the stat
to
res.locals.webpackStats
and the memory filesystem to
res.locals.fs
before invoking the next middleware, allowing
a developer to render the page body and manage the response to
clients.
Note: Requests for bundle files will still be handled by
webpack-dev-middleware
and all requests will be pending
until the build process is finished with server-side rendering
enabled.
Example Implementation:
const webpack = require('webpack');
const compiler = webpack({
// webpack options
;
})const isObject = require('is-object');
const middleware = require('webpack-dev-middleware');
// This function makes server rendering of asset references consistent with different webpack chunk/entry configurations
function normalizeAssets(assets) {
if (isObject(assets)) {
return Object.values(assets);
}
return Array.isArray(assets) ? assets : [assets];
}
.use(middleware(compiler, { serverSideRender: true }));
app
// The following middleware would not be invoked until the latest build is finished.
.use((req, res) => {
appconst assetsByChunkName = res.locals.webpackStats.toJson().assetsByChunkName;
const fs = res.locals.fs;
const outputPath = res.locals.webpackStats.toJson().outputPath;
// then use `assetsByChunkName` for server-sider rendering
// For example, if you have only one main chunk:
.send(`
res<html>
<head>
<title>My App</title>
<style>
${normalizeAssets(assetsByChunkName.main)
.filter((path) => path.endsWith('.css'))
.map((path) => fs.readFileSync(outputPath + '/' + path))
.join('\n')}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div id="root"></div>
${normalizeAssets(assetsByChunkName.main)
.filter((path) => path.endsWith('.js'))
.map((path) => `<script src="${path}"></script>`)
.join('\n')}
</body>
</html>
`);
; })
Support
We do our best to keep Issues in the repository focused on bugs, features, and needed modifications to the code for the module. Because of that, we ask users with general support, “how-to”, or “why isn’t this working” questions to try one of the other support channels that are available.
Your first-stop-shop for support for webpack-dev-server should by the excellent documentation for the module. If you see an opportunity for improvement of those docs, please head over to the webpack.js.org repo and open a pull request.
From there, we encourage users to visit the webpack Gitter chat and
talk to the fine folks there. If your quest for answers comes up dry in
chat, head over to StackOverflow
and do a quick search or open a new question. Remember; It’s always much
easier to answer questions that include your
webpack.config.js
and relevant files!
If you’re twitter-savvy you can tweet #webpack with your question and someone should be able to reach out and lend a hand.
If you have discovered a 🐛, have a feature suggestion, or would like to see a modification, please feel free to create an issue on Github. Note: The issue template isn’t optional, so please be sure not to remove it, and please fill it out completely.
Contributing
Please take a moment to read our contributing guidelines if you haven’t yet done so.