webpack-cli

What is webpack-cli?

The webpack-cli npm package provides a command-line interface for the webpack bundler, which allows developers to interact with webpack and its features directly from the command line. It enables tasks such as creating a new webpack project, managing configurations, running the development server, and more.

What are webpack-cli's main functionalities?

Initializing a new webpack project

This command sets up a new webpack project by generating a default configuration file. It can also install webpack and related dependencies if they are not already installed.

webpack-cli init

Generating a configuration file

Generates a webpack configuration file based on the user's preferences. It can be used to quickly scaffold a new configuration or to update an existing one.

webpack-cli generate

Running a webpack build

Executes the webpack build process, which bundles the source files according to the webpack configuration. This is typically used for production builds.

webpack-cli build

Starting a development server

Starts the webpack development server, which provides a live reloading environment for development purposes. It watches for file changes and automatically recompiles the project.

webpack-cli serve

Running webpack in watch mode

Runs webpack in watch mode, where it watches for file changes and recompiles the project as necessary. This is useful during development to see changes reflected immediately.

webpack-cli watch

Other packages similar to webpack-cli

parcel-bundler

Parcel is a web application bundler that offers a similar zero-configuration experience to webpack. It focuses on speed and simplicity, with a built-in development server and hot module replacement. Unlike webpack-cli, Parcel does not require a separate CLI package to run commands.

rollup

Rollup is a module bundler for JavaScript that compiles small pieces of code into something larger and more complex, such as a library or application. It is known for its efficient output and tree-shaking capabilities. Rollup's CLI is included in the main package, unlike webpack which separates the CLI.

browserify

Browserify lets you require('modules') in the browser by bundling up all of your dependencies. It is an older tool compared to webpack and focuses on compatibility with Node.js modules. Browserify's CLI is also part of the main package.

README

webpack CLI

The official CLI of webpack

About

webpack CLI provides a flexible set of commands for developers to increase speed when setting up a custom webpack project. As of webpack v4, webpack is not expecting a configuration file, but often developers want to create a more custom webpack configuration based on their use-cases and needs. webpack CLI addresses these needs by providing a set of tools to improve the setup of custom webpack configuration.

How to install

When you have followed the Getting Started guide of webpack then webpack CLI is already installed!

Otherwise

npm install --save-dev webpack-cli

or

yarn add webpack-cli --dev

Supported arguments and commands

Usage

All interactions with webpack-cli are of the form

npx webpack-cli [command] [options]

If no command is specified then bundle command is used by default

Help Usage

To display basic commands and arguments -

npx webpack-cli --help

To display all supported commands and arguments -

npx webpack-cli --help=verbose

or

npx webpack-cli --help verbose

Available Commands

  build|bundle|b [entries...] [options]                 Run webpack (default command, can be omitted).
  configtest|t [config-path]                            Validate a webpack configuration.
  help|h [command] [option]                             Display help for commands and options.
  info|i [options]                                      Outputs information about your system.
  init|create|new|c|n [generation-path] [options]       Initialize a new webpack project.
  loader|l [output-path] [options]                      Scaffold a loader.
  migrate|m <config-path> [new-config-path]             Migrate a configuration to a new version.
  plugin|p [output-path] [options]                      Scaffold a plugin.
  serve|server|s [entries...] [options]                 Run the webpack dev server.
  version|v [commands...]                               Output the version number of 'webpack', 'webpack-cli' and 'webpack-dev-server' and commands.
  watch|w [entries...] [options]                        Run webpack and watch for files changes.

webpack 4

  Options:
  --analyze                     It invokes webpack-bundle-analyzer plugin to get bundle information
  -c, --config <value...>       Provide path to a webpack configuration file e.g. ./webpack.config.js.
  --config-name <value...>      Name of the configuration to use.
  -m, --merge                   Merge two or more configurations using 'webpack-merge'.
  --env <value...>              Environment passed to the configuration when it is a function.
  --node-env <value>            Sets process.env.NODE_ENV to the specified value.
  --progress [value]            Print compilation progress during build.
  -j, --json [value]            Prints result as JSON or store it in a file.
  -d, --devtool <value>         Determine source maps to use.
  --no-devtool                  Do not generate source maps.
  --entry <value...>            The entry point(s) of your application e.g. ./src/main.js.
  -h, --hot [value]             Enables Hot Module Replacement
  --no-hot                      Disables Hot Module Replacement
  --mode <value>                Defines the mode to pass to webpack.
  --name <value>                Name of the configuration. Used when loading multiple configurations.
  -o, --output-path <value>     Output location of the file generated by webpack e.g. ./dist/.
  --prefetch <value>            Prefetch this request
  --stats [value]               It instructs webpack on how to treat the stats e.g. verbose.
  --no-stats                    Disable stats output.
  -t, --target <value...>       Sets the build target e.g. node.
  -w, --watch                   Watch for files changes.
  --no-watch                    Do not watch for file changes.
  --watch-options-stdin         Stop watching when stdin stream has ended.
  --no-watch-options-stdin      Do not stop watching when stdin stream has ended.

Global options:
  --color                       Enable colors on console.
  --no-color                    Disable colors on console.
  -v, --version                 Output the version number of 'webpack', 'webpack-cli' and 'webpack-dev-server' and commands.
  -h, --help [verbose]          Display help for commands and options.

webpack 5

Checkout OPTIONS.md to see list of all available options.

Exit codes and their meanings

Exit Code	Description
0	Success
1	Errors from webpack
2	Configuration/options problem or an internal error

CLI Environment Variables

Environment Variable	Description
WEBPACK_CLI_SKIP_IMPORT_LOCAL	when true it will skip using the local instance of webpack-cli.
WEBPACK_CLI_FORCE_LOAD_ESM_CONFIG	when true it will force load the ESM config.
WEBPACK_PACKAGE	Use a custom webpack version in CLI.
WEBPACK_CLI_HELP_WIDTH	Use custom width for help output.

Configuration Environment Variables

You can use the following environment variables inside your webpack configuration:

Environment Variable	Description
WEBPACK_SERVE	true if serve|s is being used.
WEBPACK_BUILD	true if build|bundle|b is being used.
WEBPACK_WATCH	true if --watch|watch|w is being used.

Checkout webpack.js.org for more detailed documentation of webpack-cli.

Changelog

4.7.0 (2021-05-06)

Bug Fixes

• parsing of empty --env flags (#2643) (bc12f1a)
• update usage info (#2594) (9d07d67)

Features

• add create and new alias for init (#2616) (5a9789d)
• add server alias for serve command (#2631) (c9ee947)
• add flag to force start finish log (#2566) (281aad3)
• added --no-devtool to webpack v4(#2603) (7c6f390)
• added support arguments description (#2659) (4dfd166)