Vite Cheatsheet

Vite - Next Generation Frontend Tooling

Vite is a build tool that aims to provide a faster and leaner development experience for modern web projects. It consists of a dev server that provides rich feature enhancements over native ES modules, and a build command that bundles your code with Rollup.

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Table of Contents

• Installation
• Project Creation
• Development Server
• Configuration
• Build Process
• Plugin System
• Environment Variables
• Asset Handling
• CSS Processing
• TypeScript Support
• Testing Integration
• Deployment
• Performance Optimization
• Troubleshooting
• Best Practices

Installation

Global Installation

# Install Vite globally
npm install -g vite

# Using Yarn
yarn global add vite

# Using pnpm
pnpm add -g vite

# Verify installation
vite --version

Project-specific Installation

# Install as dev dependency
npm install --save-dev vite

# Using Yarn
yarn add --dev vite

# Using pnpm
pnpm add -D vite

Prerequisites

# Node.js version requirements
node --version  # Should be 14.18+ or 16+

# Check npm version
npm --version

# Update npm if needed
npm install -g npm@latest

Project Creation

Create New Projects

# Create vanilla JavaScript project
npm create vite@latest my-project

# Create with specific template
npm create vite@latest my-react-app -- --template react
npm create vite@latest my-vue-app -- --template vue
npm create vite@latest my-svelte-app -- --template svelte

# Using Yarn
yarn create vite my-project

# Using pnpm
pnpm create vite my-project

Available Templates

# JavaScript frameworks
npm create vite@latest -- --template vanilla
npm create vite@latest -- --template vanilla-ts
npm create vite@latest -- --template react
npm create vite@latest -- --template react-ts
npm create vite@latest -- --template vue
npm create vite@latest -- --template vue-ts
npm create vite@latest -- --template svelte
npm create vite@latest -- --template svelte-ts

# Additional templates
npm create vite@latest -- --template lit
npm create vite@latest -- --template lit-ts
npm create vite@latest -- --template preact
npm create vite@latest -- --template preact-ts

Project Structure

# Typical Vite project structure
my-vite-project/
├── index.html          # Entry HTML file
├── package.json        # Dependencies and scripts
├── vite.config.js      # Vite configuration
├── src/
│   ├── main.js         # Application entry point
│   ├── style.css       # Global styles
│   └── components/     # Component files
├── public/             # Static assets
└── dist/              # Build output (generated)

Development Server

Starting Development Server

# Start dev server
npm run dev

# Start with specific port
npm run dev -- --port 3000

# Start with specific host
npm run dev -- --host 0.0.0.0

# Start with HTTPS
npm run dev -- --https

# Start with custom config
npm run dev -- --config vite.config.custom.js

Development Server Options

# Open browser automatically
npm run dev -- --open

# Clear cache and restart
npm run dev -- --force

# Enable debug mode
DEBUG=vite:* npm run dev

# Start with specific mode
npm run dev -- --mode development

Hot Module Replacement (HMR)

// Enable HMR in your code
if (import.meta.hot) {
  import.meta.hot.accept('./module.js', (newModule) => {
    // Handle module update
  });

  // Accept self updates
  import.meta.hot.accept();

  // Dispose callback
  import.meta.hot.dispose((data) => {
    // Cleanup before update
  });
}

Configuration

Basic Configuration

// vite.config.js
import { defineConfig } from 'vite';

export default defineConfig({
  // Basic options
  root: './src',
  base: '/',
  mode: 'development',

  // Server configuration
  server: {
    port: 3000,
    host: true,
    open: true,
    https: false,
    proxy: {
      '/api': 'http://localhost:8080'
    }
  },

  // Build configuration
  build: {
    outDir: 'dist',
    assetsDir: 'assets',
    sourcemap: true,
    minify: 'terser'
  }
});

Advanced Configuration

// vite.config.js
import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import { resolve } from 'path';

export default defineConfig({
  // Resolve configuration
  resolve: {
    alias: {
      '@': resolve(__dirname, 'src'),
      '@components': resolve(__dirname, 'src/components'),
      '@utils': resolve(__dirname, 'src/utils')
    },
    extensions: ['.js', '.ts', '.jsx', '.tsx', '.vue']
  },

  // CSS configuration
  css: {
    preprocessorOptions: {
      scss: {
        additionalData: `@import "@/styles/variables.scss";`
      }
    },
    modules: {
      localsConvention: 'camelCase'
    }
  },

  // Environment variables
  define: {
    __APP_VERSION__: JSON.stringify(process.env.npm_package_version)
  },

  // Optimization
  optimizeDeps: {
    include: ['lodash', 'axios'],
    exclude: ['some-large-dependency']
  }
});

Conditional Configuration

// vite.config.js
import { defineConfig } from 'vite';

export default defineConfig(({ command, mode }) => {
  const config = {
    // Common configuration
  };

  if (command === 'serve') {
    // Development configuration
    config.server = {
      port: 3000
    };
  } else {
    // Build configuration
    config.build = {
      rollupOptions: {
        external: ['vue']
      }
    };
  }

  if (mode === 'production') {
    // Production-specific configuration
    config.build.minify = 'terser';
  }

  return config;
});

Build Process

Building for Production

# Build for production
npm run build

# Build with specific mode
npm run build -- --mode production

# Build with custom config
npm run build -- --config vite.config.prod.js

# Build and analyze bundle
npm run build -- --analyze

Build Configuration

// vite.config.js
export default defineConfig({
  build: {
    // Output directory
    outDir: 'dist',

    // Assets directory
    assetsDir: 'assets',

    // Generate sourcemaps
    sourcemap: true,

    // Minification
    minify: 'terser',

    // Terser options
    terserOptions: {
      compress: {
        drop_console: true,
        drop_debugger: true
      }
    },

    // Rollup options
    rollupOptions: {
      input: {
        main: resolve(__dirname, 'index.html'),
        admin: resolve(__dirname, 'admin.html')
      },
      output: {
        manualChunks: {
          vendor: ['vue', 'vue-router'],
          utils: ['lodash', 'axios']
        }
      }
    },

    // Asset inlining threshold
    assetsInlineLimit: 4096,

    // CSS code splitting
    cssCodeSplit: true,

    // Library mode
    lib: {
      entry: resolve(__dirname, 'src/main.js'),
      name: 'MyLib',
      fileName: 'my-lib'
    }
  }
});

Preview Built Application

# Preview production build
npm run preview

# Preview with specific port
npm run preview -- --port 4173

# Preview with HTTPS
npm run preview -- --https

Plugin System

Official Plugins

# Install official plugins
npm install --save-dev @vitejs/plugin-react
npm install --save-dev @vitejs/plugin-vue
npm install --save-dev @vitejs/plugin-svelte
npm install --save-dev @vitejs/plugin-legacy

Plugin Configuration

// vite.config.js
import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react';
import { resolve } from 'path';

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    react({
      // React plugin options
      include: "**/*.{jsx,tsx}",
      babel: {
        plugins: ['babel-plugin-styled-components']
      }
    })
  ]
});

Popular Community Plugins

# Install popular plugins
npm install --save-dev vite-plugin-eslint
npm install --save-dev vite-plugin-windicss
npm install --save-dev vite-plugin-pwa
npm install --save-dev vite-plugin-mock
npm install --save-dev vite-plugin-html

Custom Plugin Development

// Custom plugin example
function myPlugin() {
  return {
    name: 'my-plugin',
    configResolved(config) {
      // Access final config
    },
    buildStart(opts) {
      // Build start hook
    },
    load(id) {
      // Load hook
      if (id === 'virtual:my-module') {
        return 'export const msg = "Hello from virtual module"';
      }
    },
    transform(code, id) {
      // Transform hook
      if (id.endsWith('.special')) {
        return `export default ${JSON.stringify(code)}`;
      }
    }
  };
}

// Use custom plugin
export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [myPlugin()]
});

Environment Variables

Environment Files

# Environment file hierarchy
.env                # Loaded in all cases
.env.local          # Loaded in all cases, ignored by git
.env.[mode]         # Only loaded in specified mode
.env.[mode].local   # Only loaded in specified mode, ignored by git

Environment Variable Examples

# .env
VITE_APP_TITLE=My App
VITE_API_URL=https://api.example.com

# .env.development
VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:3000/api

# .env.production
VITE_API_URL=https://api.production.com

Using Environment Variables

// In your application code
console.log(import.meta.env.VITE_APP_TITLE);
console.log(import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL);

// Built-in environment variables
console.log(import.meta.env.MODE);        // 'development' or 'production'
console.log(import.meta.env.BASE_URL);    // Base URL
console.log(import.meta.env.PROD);        // Boolean
console.log(import.meta.env.DEV);         // Boolean
console.log(import.meta.env.SSR);         // Boolean

TypeScript Environment Variables

// vite-env.d.ts
interface ImportMetaEnv {
  readonly VITE_APP_TITLE: string;
  readonly VITE_API_URL: string;
}

interface ImportMeta {
  readonly env: ImportMetaEnv;
}

Asset Handling

Static Assets

// Import static assets
import imgUrl from './img.png';
import workerUrl from './worker.js?worker';
import inlineWorker from './worker.js?worker&inline';

// URL imports
import assetAsURL from './asset.js?url';
import assetAsString from './shader.glsl?raw';

// Dynamic imports
const modules = import.meta.glob('./dir/*.js');
const modules = import.meta.glob('./dir/*.js', { eager: true });

Public Directory

# Files in public/ are served at root
public/
├── favicon.ico     # Available at /favicon.ico
├── robots.txt      # Available at /robots.txt
└── images/
    └── logo.png    # Available at /images/logo.png

Asset Processing

// vite.config.js
export default defineConfig({
  assetsInclude: ['**/*.gltf'],

  build: {
    assetsInlineLimit: 4096,
    rollupOptions: {
      output: {
        assetFileNames: (assetInfo) => {
          let extType = assetInfo.name.split('.').at(1);
          if (/png|jpe?g|svg|gif|tiff|bmp|ico/i.test(extType)) {
            extType = 'img';
          }
          return `assets/${extType}/[name]-[hash][extname]`;
        }
      }
    }
  }
});

CSS Processing

CSS Modules

/* styles.module.css */
.button {
  background: blue;
  color: white;
}

.button:hover {
  background: darkblue;
}

// Using CSS modules
import styles from './styles.module.css';

function Button() {
  return <button className={styles.button}>Click me</button>;
}

CSS Preprocessors

# Install preprocessors
npm install --save-dev sass
npm install --save-dev less
npm install --save-dev stylus

// vite.config.js
export default defineConfig({
  css: {
    preprocessorOptions: {
      scss: {
        additionalData: `@import "@/styles/variables.scss";`
      },
      less: {
        math: 'parens-division'
      },
      styl: {
        define: {
          $specialColor: new stylus.nodes.RGBA(51, 197, 255, 1)
        }
      }
    }
  }
});

PostCSS Integration

# Install PostCSS plugins
npm install --save-dev autoprefixer
npm install --save-dev tailwindcss
npm install --save-dev postcss-nested

// postcss.config.js
module.exports = {
  plugins: {
    tailwindcss: {},
    autoprefixer: {},
    'postcss-nested': {}
  }
};

CSS-in-JS Support

# Install CSS-in-JS libraries
npm install styled-components
npm install @emotion/react @emotion/styled
npm install @stitches/react

TypeScript Support

TypeScript Configuration

// tsconfig.json
{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "ES2020",
    "useDefineForClassFields": true,
    "lib": ["ES2020", "DOM", "DOM.Iterable"],
    "module": "ESNext",
    "skipLibCheck": true,
    "moduleResolution": "bundler",
    "allowImportingTsExtensions": true,
    "resolveJsonModule": true,
    "isolatedModules": true,
    "noEmit": true,
    "jsx": "react-jsx",
    "strict": true,
    "noUnusedLocals": true,
    "noUnusedParameters": true,
    "noFallthroughCasesInSwitch": true,
    "baseUrl": ".",
    "paths": {
      "@/*": ["src/*"]
    }
  },
  "include": ["src"],
  "references": [{ "path": "./tsconfig.node.json" }]
}

TypeScript in Vite Config

// vite.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react';
import { resolve } from 'path';

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [react()],
  resolve: {
    alias: {
      '@': resolve(__dirname, './src')
    }
  },
  server: {
    port: 3000
  }
});

Type Checking

# Run TypeScript compiler for type checking
npx tsc --noEmit

# Add to package.json scripts
{
  "scripts": {
    "type-check": "tsc --noEmit",
    "build": "tsc --noEmit && vite build"
  }
}

Testing Integration

Vitest Setup

# Install Vitest
npm install --save-dev vitest

# Install testing utilities
npm install --save-dev @testing-library/react
npm install --save-dev @testing-library/jest-dom
npm install --save-dev jsdom

// vite.config.js
import { defineConfig } from 'vite';

export default defineConfig({
  test: {
    globals: true,
    environment: 'jsdom',
    setupFiles: './src/test/setup.ts'
  }
});

Test Configuration

// src/test/setup.ts
import '@testing-library/jest-dom';

// Mock environment variables
Object.defineProperty(import.meta, 'env', {
  value: {
    VITE_API_URL: 'http://localhost:3000'
  }
});

Example Tests

// src/components/Button.test.tsx
import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
import { Button } from './Button';

test('renders button with text', () => {
  render(<Button>Click me</Button>);
  expect(screen.getByRole('button')).toHaveTextContent('Click me');
});

Package.json Scripts

{
  "scripts": {
    "test": "vitest",
    "test:ui": "vitest --ui",
    "test:run": "vitest run",
    "coverage": "vitest run --coverage"
  }
}

Deployment

Static Hosting

# Build for production
npm run build

# Deploy to various platforms
# Netlify
npm install -g netlify-cli
netlify deploy --prod --dir dist

# Vercel
npm install -g vercel
vercel --prod

# GitHub Pages
npm install --save-dev gh-pages

Docker Deployment

# Dockerfile
FROM node:18-alpine as build

WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci

COPY . .
RUN npm run build

FROM nginx:alpine
COPY --from=build /app/dist /usr/share/nginx/html
COPY nginx.conf /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

EXPOSE 80
CMD ["nginx", "-g", "daemon off;"]

CI/CD Pipeline

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
name: Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: '18'
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Run tests
        run: npm run test:run

      - name: Build
        run: npm run build

      - name: Deploy to Netlify
        uses: nwtgck/actions-netlify@v2.0
        with:
          publish-dir: './dist'
          production-branch: main
        env:
          NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN }}
          NETLIFY_SITE_ID: ${{ secrets.NETLIFY_SITE_ID }}

Performance Optimization

Bundle Analysis

# Install bundle analyzer
npm install --save-dev rollup-plugin-visualizer

# Add to vite.config.js
import { visualizer } from 'rollup-plugin-visualizer';

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    visualizer({
      filename: 'dist/stats.html',
      open: true
    })
  ]
});

Code Splitting

// Dynamic imports for code splitting
const LazyComponent = lazy(() => import('./LazyComponent'));

// Route-based splitting
const routes = [
  {
    path: '/home',
    component: lazy(() => import('./pages/Home'))
  },
  {
    path: '/about',
    component: lazy(() => import('./pages/About'))
  }
];

Optimization Configuration

// vite.config.js
export default defineConfig({
  build: {
    rollupOptions: {
      output: {
        manualChunks: {
          vendor: ['react', 'react-dom'],
          router: ['react-router-dom'],
          ui: ['@mui/material', '@mui/icons-material']
        }
      }
    }
  },

  optimizeDeps: {
    include: ['react', 'react-dom'],
    exclude: ['@vite/client', '@vite/env']
  }
});

Performance Monitoring

// Performance monitoring script
function measurePerformance() {
  // Measure bundle size
  const bundleSize = performance.getEntriesByType('navigation')[0].transferSize;

  // Measure load time
  const loadTime = performance.timing.loadEventEnd - performance.timing.navigationStart;

  // Send metrics to analytics
  analytics.track('performance', {
    bundleSize,
    loadTime,
    userAgent: navigator.userAgent
  });
}

window.addEventListener('load', measurePerformance);

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Port Already in Use

# Find process using port
lsof -ti:3000

# Kill process
kill -9 $(lsof -ti:3000)

# Use different port
npm run dev -- --port 3001

Module Resolution Issues

// vite.config.js
export default defineConfig({
  resolve: {
    alias: {
      '@': path.resolve(__dirname, './src')
    },
    extensions: ['.js', '.ts', '.jsx', '.tsx', '.vue']
  }
});

Build Errors

# Clear cache
rm -rf node_modules/.vite

# Reinstall dependencies
rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
npm install

# Force rebuild
npm run build -- --force

Memory Issues

# Increase Node.js memory limit
export NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=4096"

# Or in package.json
{
  "scripts": {
    "build": "NODE_OPTIONS='--max-old-space-size=4096' vite build"
  }
}

Debug Mode

# Enable debug logging
DEBUG=vite:* npm run dev

# Specific debug categories
DEBUG=vite:deps npm run dev
DEBUG=vite:hmr npm run dev
DEBUG=vite:config npm run dev

Performance Debugging

// vite.config.js
export default defineConfig({
  server: {
    hmr: {
      overlay: false
    }
  },

  build: {
    sourcemap: true,
    rollupOptions: {
      onwarn(warning, warn) {
        // Suppress specific warnings
        if (warning.code === 'MODULE_LEVEL_DIRECTIVE') return;
        warn(warning);
      }
    }
  }
});

Best Practices

Project Structure

# Recommended project structure
src/
├── components/          # Reusable components
│   ├── ui/             # Basic UI components
│   └── features/       # Feature-specific components
├── pages/              # Page components
├── hooks/              # Custom hooks
├── utils/              # Utility functions
├── services/           # API services
├── stores/             # State management
├── styles/             # Global styles
├── assets/             # Static assets
└── types/              # TypeScript types

Configuration Management

// Use environment-specific configs
// vite.config.base.js
export const baseConfig = {
  plugins: [react()],
  resolve: {
    alias: {
      '@': resolve(__dirname, './src')
    }
  }
};

// vite.config.dev.js
import { baseConfig } from './vite.config.base.js';

export default defineConfig({
  ...baseConfig,
  server: {
    port: 3000,
    open: true
  }
});

Performance Best Practices

// Lazy load components
const LazyComponent = lazy(() => 
  import('./Component').then(module => ({
    default: module.Component
  }))
);

// Preload critical resources
const criticalResource = import('./critical-module');

// Use dynamic imports for large libraries
async function loadChart() {
  const { Chart } = await import('chart.js');
  return Chart;
}

Security Best Practices

// vite.config.js
export default defineConfig({
  server: {
    headers: {
      'X-Frame-Options': 'DENY',
      'X-Content-Type-Options': 'nosniff',
      'Referrer-Policy': 'strict-origin-when-cross-origin'
    }
  },

  build: {
    rollupOptions: {
      external: (id) => {
        // Externalize sensitive modules
        return id.includes('secret') || id.includes('private');
      }
    }
  }
});

Development Workflow

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "vite",
    "build": "tsc && vite build",
    "preview": "vite preview",
    "test": "vitest",
    "test:ui": "vitest --ui",
    "lint": "eslint src --ext ts,tsx --report-unused-disable-directives --max-warnings 0",
    "lint:fix": "eslint src --ext ts,tsx --fix",
    "type-check": "tsc --noEmit",
    "analyze": "vite build --analyze"
  }
}

---

Summary

Vite is a powerful, fast, and modern build tool that significantly improves the development experience for frontend projects. Key advantages include:

• Lightning Fast: Instant server start and lightning-fast HMR
• Rich Features: TypeScript, JSX, CSS pre-processors support out of the box
• Optimized Build: Uses Rollup for production builds with advanced optimizations
• Plugin Ecosystem: Extensive plugin system for customization
• Framework Agnostic: Works with React, Vue, Svelte, and vanilla JavaScript

For optimal performance, leverage Vite's native ES modules in development, configure proper code splitting for production, and utilize the rich plugin ecosystem for enhanced functionality.