Vite Patterns
Build tool and dev server patterns for Vite 8+ projects. Covers configuration, environment variables, proxy setup, library mode, dependency pre-bundling, and common production pitfalls.
When to Use
- Configuring
vite.config.tsorvite.config.js - Setting up environment variables or
.envfiles - Configuring dev server proxy for API backends
- Optimizing build output (chunks, minification, assets)
- Publishing libraries with
build.lib - Troubleshooting dependency pre-bundling or CJS/ESM interop
- Debugging HMR, dev server, or build errors
- Choosing or ordering Vite plugins
How It Works
- Dev mode serves source files as native ESM — no bundling. Transforms happen on-demand per module request, which is why cold starts are fast and HMR is precise.
- Build mode uses Rolldown (v7+) or Rollup (v5–v6) to bundle the app for production with tree-shaking, code-splitting, and Oxc-based minification.
- Dependency pre-bundling converts CJS/UMD deps to ESM once via esbuild and caches the result under
node_modules/.vite, so subsequent starts skip the work. - Plugins share a unified interface across dev and build — the same plugin object works fo…