@vitejs/plugin-rsc

@vitejs/plugin-rsc

This package provides React Server Components (RSC) support for Vite.

Features

• Framework-less RSC experience: The plugin implements RSC conventions and provides low level react-server-dom runtime API without framework-specific abstractions.
• CSS support: CSS is automatically code-split both at client and server components and they are injected upon rendering.
• HMR support: Enables editing both client and server components without full page reloads.
• Runtime agnostic: Built on Vite environment API and works with other runtimes (e.g., @cloudflare/vite-plugin).

Getting Started

You can start a project by copying an example locally by:

npx degit vitejs/vite-plugin-react/packages/plugin-rsc/examples/starter my-app

Examples

• ./examples/starter
  • This example provides an in-depth overview of API with inline comments to explain how they function within RSC-powered React application.
• ./examples/react-router
  • This demonstrates how to integrate experimental React Router RSC API with this plugin. It also includes @cloudflare/vite-plugin integration.
• ./examples/basic
  • This is mainly used for e2e testing and include various advanced RSC usages (e.g. "use cache" example). It also uses a high level @vitejs/plugin-rsc/extra/{rsc,ssr,browser} API for quick setup.
• ./examples/ssg
  • Static site generation (SSG) example with MDX and client components for interactivity.

Basic Concepts

This example is a simplified version of ./examples/starter. You can read ./examples/starter/src/framework/entry.{rsc,ssr,browser}.tsx for more in-depth commentary, which includes server function handling and client-side RSC re-fetching/re-rendering.

This is the diagram to show the basic flow of RSC rendering process. See also https://github.com/hi-ogawa/vite-plugins/discussions/606.

graph TD

    subgraph "<strong>rsc environment</strong>"
        A["React virtual dom tree"] --> |"[@vitejs/plugin-rsc/rsc]<br /><code>renderToReadableStream</code>"| B1["RSC Stream"];
    end

    B1 --> B2
    B1 --> B3

    subgraph "<strong>ssr environment</strong>"
        B2["RSC Stream"] --> |"[@vitejs/plugin-rsc/ssr]<br /><code>createFromReadableStream</code>"| C1["React virtual dom tree"];
        C1 --> |"[react-dom/server]<br/>SSR"| E["HTML String/Stream"];
    end

    subgraph "<strong>client environment</strong>"
        B3["RSC Stream"] --> |"[@vitejs/plugin-rsc/browser]<br /><code>createFromReadableStream</code>"| C2["React virtual dom tree"];
        C2 --> |"[react-dom/client]<br/>CSR: mount, hydration"| D["DOM Elements"];
    end

    style A fill:#D6EAF8,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style B1 fill:#FEF9E7,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style B2 fill:#FEF9E7,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style B3 fill:#FEF9E7,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style C1 fill:#D6EAF8,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style C2 fill:#D6EAF8,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style D fill:#D5F5E3,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style E fill:#FADBD8,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px

• vite.config.ts

import rsc from '@vitejs/plugin-rsc'
import { defineConfig } from 'vite'

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    // add plugin
    rsc(),
  ],

  // specify entry point for each environment.
  environments: {
    // `rsc` environment loads modules with `react-server` condition.
    // this environment is responsible for:
    // - RSC stream serialization (React VDOM -> RSC stream)
    // - server functions handling
    rsc: {
      build: {
        rollupOptions: {
          input: {
            index: './src/framework/entry.rsc.tsx',
          },
        },
      },
    },

    // `ssr` environment loads modules without `react-server` condition.
    // this environment is responsible for:
    // - RSC stream deserialization (RSC stream -> React VDOM)
    // - traditional SSR (React VDOM -> HTML string/stream)
    ssr: {
      build: {
        rollupOptions: {
          input: {
            index: './src/framework/entry.ssr.tsx',
          },
        },
      },
    },

    // client environment is used for hydration and client-side rendering
    // this environment is responsible for:
    // - RSC stream deserialization (RSC stream -> React VDOM)
    // - traditional CSR (React VDOM -> Browser DOM tree mount/hydration)
    // - refetch and re-render RSC
    // - calling server functions
    client: {
      build: {
        rollupOptions: {
          input: {
            index: './src/framework/entry.browser.tsx',
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
})

• entry.rsc.tsx

import * as ReactServer from '@vitejs/plugin-rsc/rsc' // re-export of react-server-dom/server.edge

// the plugin assumes `rsc` entry having default export of request handler
export default async function handler(request: Request): Promise<Response> {
  // serialization React VDOM to RSC stream
  const root = (
    <html>
      <body>
        <h1>Test</h1>
      </body>
    </html>
  )
  const rscStream = ReactServer.renderToReadableStream(root)

  // respond direct RSC stream request based on framework's convention
  if (request.url.endsWith('.rsc')) {
    return new Response(rscStream, {
      headers: {
        'Content-type': 'text/x-component;charset=utf-8',
      },
    })
  }

  // delegate to SSR environment for html rendering
  // `loadModule` is a helper API provided by the plugin for multi environment interaction.
  const ssrEntry = await import.meta.viteRsc.loadModule<
    typeof import('./entry.ssr.tsx')
  >('ssr', 'index')
  const htmlStream = await ssrEntry.handleSsr(rscStream)

  // respond html
  return new Response(htmlStream, {
    headers: {
      'Content-type': 'text/html',
    },
  })
}

• entry.ssr.tsx

import * as ReactClient from '@vitejs/plugin-rsc/ssr' // re-export of react-server-dom/client.edge
import * as ReactDOMServer from 'react-dom/server.edge'

export async function handleSsr(rscStream: ReadableStream) {
  // deserialize RSC stream back to React VDOM
  const root = await ReactClient.createFromReadableStream(rscStream)

  // helper API to allow referencing browser entry content from SSR environment
  const bootstrapScriptContent =
    await import.meta.viteRsc.loadBootstrapScriptContent('index')

  // render html (traditional SSR)
  const htmlStream = ReactDOMServer.renderToReadableStream(root, {
    bootstrapScriptContent,
  })

  return htmlStream
}

• entry.browser.tsx

import * as ReactClient from "@vitejs/plugin-rsc/browser"; // re-export of react-server-dom/client.browser
import * as ReactDOMClient from "react-dom/client";

async function main() {
  // fetch and deserialize RSC stream back to React VDOM
  const rscResponse = await fetch(window.location.href + ".rsc);
  const root = await ReactClient.createFromReadableStream(rscResponse.body);

  // hydration (traditional CSR)
  ReactDOMClient.hydrateRoot(document, root);
}

main();

react-server-dom API

@vitejs/plugin-rsc/rsc

This module re-exports RSC runtime API provided by react-server-dom/server.edge

• renderToReadableStream: RSC serialization (React VDOM -> RSC stream)
• createFromReadableStream: RSC deserialization (RSC stream -> React VDOM). This is also available on rsc environment itself. For example, it allows saving serailized RSC and deserializing it for later use.
• decodeAction/decodeReply/loadServerAction: server function related...

@vitejs/plugin-rsc/ssr

This module re-exports RSC runtime API provided by react-server-dom/client.edge

• createFromReadableStream: RSC deserialization (RSC stream -> React VDOM)

@vitejs/plugin-rsc/browser

This module re-exports RSC runtime API provided by react-server-dom/client.browser

• createFromReadableStream: RSC deserialization (RSC stream -> React VDOM)
• createFromFetch: a robust way of createFromReadableStream((await fetch("...")).body)
• encodeReply/setServerCallback: server function related...

Environment helper API

The plugin provides an additional helper for multi environment interaction.

available on rsc or ssr environment

import.meta.viteRsc.loadModule

• Type: (environmentName: "ssr" | "rsc", entryName: string) => Promise<T>

This allows importing ssr environment module specified by environments.ssr.build.rollupOptions.input[entryName] inside rsc environment and vice versa.

During development, by default, this API assumes both rsc and ssr environments execute under the main Vite process. When enabling rsc({ loadModuleDevProxy: true }) plugin option, the loaded module is implemented as a proxy with fetch-based RPC to call in node environment on the main Vite process, which for example, allows rsc environment inside cloudflare workers to access ssr environment on the main Vite process.

During production build, this API will be rewritten into a static import of the specified entry of other environment build and the modules are executed inside the same runtime.

For example,

// ./entry.rsc.tsx
const ssrModule = await import.meta.viteRsc.loadModule("ssr", "index");
ssrModule.renderHTML(...);

// ./entry.ssr.tsx (with environments.ssr.build.rollupOptions.input.index = "./entry.ssr.tsx")
export function renderHTML(...) {}

available on rsc environment

import.meta.viteRsc.loadCss

• Type: (importer?: string) => React.ReactNode

This allows collecting css which is imported through a current server module and injecting them inside server components.

import './test.css'
import dep from './dep.tsx'

export function ServerPage() {
  // this will include css assets for "test.css"
  // and any css transitively imported through "dep.tsx"
  return (
    <>
      {import.meta.viteRsc.loadCss()}
      ...
    </>
  )
}

Where specifying loadCss(<id>), it will collect css through the server module resolved by <id>.

// virtual:my-framework-helper
export function Assets() {
  return <>
    {import.meta.viteRsc.loadCss("/routes/home.tsx")}
    {import.meta.viteRsc.loadCss("/routes/about.tsx")}
    {...}
  </>
}

// user-app.tsx
import { Assets } from "virtual:my-framework-helper";

export function UserApp() {
  return <html>
    <head>
      <Assets />
    </head>
    <body>...</body>
  </html>
}

<id>?vite-rsc-css-export=<name>

This special query convention provides automatic injection of import.meta.viteRsc.loadCss.

For example,

// my-route.tsx
export function Page(props) {
  return <div>...</div>
}

// my-route.css?vite-rsc-css-export=Page
function Page(props) {
  return <div>...</div>
}

function __Page(props) {
  return (
    <>
      {import.meta.viteRsc.loadCss()}
      <Page {...props} />
    </>
  )
}

export { __Page as Page }

available on ssr environment

import.meta.viteRsc.loadBootstrapScriptContent("index")

This provides a raw js code to execute a browser entry file specified by environments.client.build.rollupOptions.input.index. This is intended to be used with React DOM SSR API, such as renderToReadableStream

import bootstrapScriptContent from 'virtual:vite-rsc/bootstrap-script-content'
import { renderToReadableStream } from 'react-dom/server.edge'

const bootstrapScriptContent =
  await import.meta.viteRsc.loadBootstrapScriptContent('index')
const htmlStream = await renderToReadableStream(reactNode, {
  bootstrapScriptContent,
})

available on client environment

rsc:update event

This event is fired when server modules are updated, which can be used to trigger re-fetching and re-rendering of RSC components on browser.

import * as ReactClient from '@vitejs/plugin-rsc/browser'

import.meta.hot.on('rsc:update', async () => {
  // re-fetch RSC stream
  const rscPayload = await ReactClient.createFromFetch(
    fetch(window.location.href + '.rsc'),
  )
  // re-render ...
})

Plugin API

@vitejs/plugin-rsc

import rsc from '@vitejs/plugin-rsc'
import { defineConfig } from 'vite'

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    rsc({
      // this is only a shorthand of specifying each rollup input via
      // `environments[name].build.rollupOptions.input.index`
      entries: {
        rsc: '...',
        ssr: '...',
        client: '...',
      },

      // by default, the plugin sets up middleware
      // using `default` export of `rsc` environment `index` entry.
      // this behavior can be customized by `serverHandler` option.
      serverHandler: false,

      // when `loadModuleDevProxy: true`, `import.meta.viteRsc.loadModule` is implemented
      // through `fetch` based RPC, which allows, for example, rsc environment inside
      // cloudflare workers to communicate with node ssr environment on main Vite process.
      loadModuleDevProxy: true,

      // by default, `loadCss()` helper is injected based on certain heuristics.
      // if it breaks, it can be opt-out or selectively applied based on files.
      rscCssTransform: { filter: (id) => id.includes('/my-app/') },

      // by default, the plugin uses a build-time generated encryption key for
      // "use server" closure argument binding.
      // This can be overwritten by configuring `defineEncryptionKey` option,
      // for example, to obtain a key through environment variable during runtime.
      // cf. https://nextjs.org/docs/app/guides/data-security#overwriting-encryption-keys-advanced
      defineEncryptionKey: 'process.env.MY_ENCRYPTION_KEY',
    }),
  ],
})

Higher level API

This is a wrapper of react-server-dom API and helper API to setup a minimal RSC app without writing own framework code like ./examples/starter/src/framework. See ./examples/basic for how this API is used.

@vitejs/plugin-rsc/extra/rsc

• renderRequest

@vitejs/plugin-rsc/extra/ssr

• renderHtml

@vitejs/plugin-rsc/extra/browser

• hydrate

Credits

This project builds on fundamental techniques and insights from pioneering Vite RSC implementations. Additionally, Parcel and React Router's work on standardizing the RSC bundler/app responsibility has guided this plugin's API design:

• Waku
• @lazarv/react-server
• @jacob-ebey/vite-react-server-dom
• React Router RSC
• Parcel RSC