Configuration

Out of the box, webpack won't require you to use a configuration file. However, it will assume the entry point of your project is src/index and will output the result in dist/main.js minified and optimized for production.

Usually your projects will need to extend this functionality, for this you can create a webpack.config.js file in the root folder and webpack will automatically use it.

All the available configuration options are specified below.

New to webpack? Check out our guide to some of webpack's core concepts to get started!

Use different config file

If for some reason you want to use different config file depending on certain situations you can change this via command line by using the --config flag.

package.json

"scripts": {
  "build": "webpack --config prod.config.js"
}

Options

Click on the name of each option in the configuration code below to jump to the detailed documentation. Also note that the items with arrows can be expanded to show more examples and, in some cases, more advanced configuration.

Notice that throughout the configuration we use Node's built-in path module and prefix it with the __dirname global. This prevents file path issues between operating systems and allows relative paths to work as expected. See this section for more info on POSIX vs. Windows paths.

webpack.config.js

const path = require('path');

module.exports = {
  mode: "production", // "production" | "development" | "none"  mode: "production", // enable many optimizations for production builds
  mode: "development", // enabled useful tools for development
  mode: "none", // no defaults
  // Chosen mode tells webpack to use its built-in optimizations accordingly.
  entry: "./app/entry", // string | object | array  entry: ["./app/entry1", "./app/entry2"],
  entry: {
    a: "./app/entry-a",
    b: ["./app/entry-b1", "./app/entry-b2"]
  },
  // defaults to ./src
  // Here the application starts executing
  // and webpack starts bundling
  output: {
    // options related to how webpack emits results
    path: path.resolve(__dirname, "dist"), // string
    // the target directory for all output files
    // must be an absolute path (use the Node.js path module)
    filename: "bundle.js", // string    filename: "[name].js", // for multiple entry points
    filename: "[chunkhash].js", // for long term caching
    // the filename template for entry chunks
    publicPath: "/assets/", // string    publicPath: "",
    publicPath: "https://cdn.example.com/",
    // the url to the output directory resolved relative to the HTML page
    library: "MyLibrary", // string,
    // the name of the exported library
    libraryTarget: "umd", // universal module definition        libraryTarget: "umd2", // universal module definition
        libraryTarget: "commonjs2", // exported with module.exports
        libraryTarget: "commonjs", // exported as properties to exports
        libraryTarget: "amd", // defined with AMD defined method
        libraryTarget: "this", // property set on this
        libraryTarget: "var", // variable defined in root scope
        libraryTarget: "assign", // blind assignment
        libraryTarget: "window", // property set to window object
        libraryTarget: "global", // property set to global object
        libraryTarget: "jsonp", // jsonp wrapper
    // the type of the exported library
    /* Advanced output configuration */    pathinfo: true, // boolean
    // include useful path info about modules, exports, requests, etc. into the generated cod
    chunkFilename: "[id].js",
    chunkFilename: "[chunkhash].js", // for long term caching
    // the filename template for additional chunks
    jsonpFunction: "myWebpackJsonp", // string
    // name of the JSONP function used to load chunks
    sourceMapFilename: "[file].map", // string
    sourceMapFilename: "sourcemaps/[file].map", // string
    // the filename template of the source map location
    devtoolModuleFilenameTemplate: "webpack:///[resource-path]", // string
    // the name template for modules in a devtool
    devtoolFallbackModuleFilenameTemplate: "webpack:///[resource-path]?[hash]", // string
    // the name template for modules in a devtool (used for conflicts)
    umdNamedDefine: true, // boolean
    // use a named AMD module in UMD library
    crossOriginLoading: "use-credentials", // enum
    crossOriginLoading: "anonymous",
    crossOriginLoading: false,
    // specifies how cross origin request are issued by the runtime
    /* Expert output configuration (on own risk) */    devtoolLineToLine: {
      test: /\.jsx$/
    },
    // use a simple 1:1 mapped SourceMaps for these modules (faster)
    hotUpdateMainFilename: "[hash].hot-update.json", // string
    // filename template for HMR manifest
    hotUpdateChunkFilename: "[id].[hash].hot-update.js", // string
    // filename template for HMR chunks
    sourcePrefix: "\t", // string
    // prefix module sources in bundle for better readablitity
  },
  module: {
    // configuration regarding modules
    rules: [
      // rules for modules (configure loaders, parser options, etc.)
      {
        test: /\.jsx?$/,
        include: [
          path.resolve(__dirname, "app")
        ],
        exclude: [
          path.resolve(__dirname, "app/demo-files")
        ],
        // these are matching conditions, each accepting a regular expression or string
        // test and include have the same behavior, both must be matched
        // exclude must not be matched (takes preferrence over test and include)
        // Best practices:
        // - Use RegExp only in test and for filename matching
        // - Use arrays of absolute paths in include and exclude
        // - Try to avoid exclude and prefer include
        issuer: { test, include, exclude },
        // conditions for the issuer (the origin of the import)
        enforce: "pre",
        enforce: "post",
        // flags to apply these rules, even if they are overridden (advanced option)
        loader: "babel-loader",
        // the loader which should be applied, it'll be resolved relative to the context
        // -loader suffix is no longer optional in webpack2 for clarity reasons
        // see webpack 1 upgrade guide
        options: {
          presets: ["es2015"]
        },
        // options for the loader
      },
      {
        test: /\.html$/,
        use: [
          // apply multiple loaders and options
          "htmllint-loader",
          {
            loader: "html-loader",
            options: {
              /* ... */
            }
          }
        ]
      },
      { oneOf: [ /* rules */ ] },
      // only use one of these nested rules
      { rules: [ /* rules */ ] },
      // use all of these nested rules (combine with conditions to be useful)
      { resource: { and: [ /* conditions */ ] } },
      // matches only if all conditions are matched
      { resource: { or: [ /* conditions */ ] } },
      { resource: [ /* conditions */ ] },
      // matches if any condition is matched (default for arrays)
      { resource: { not: /* condition */ } }
      // matches if the condition is not matched
    ],
    /* Advanced module configuration */    noParse: [
      /special-library\.js$/
    ],
    // do not parse this module
    unknownContextRequest: ".",
    unknownContextRecursive: true,
    unknownContextRegExp: /^\.\/.*$/,
    unknownContextCritical: true,
    exprContextRequest: ".",
    exprContextRegExp: /^\.\/.*$/,
    exprContextRecursive: true,
    exprContextCritical: true,
    wrappedContextRegExp: /.*/,
    wrappedContextRecursive: true,
    wrappedContextCritical: false,
    // specifies default behavior for dynamic requests
  },
  resolve: {
    // options for resolving module requests
    // (does not apply to resolving to loaders)
    modules: [
      "node_modules",
      path.resolve(__dirname, "app")
    ],
    // directories where to look for modules
    extensions: [".js", ".json", ".jsx", ".css"],
    // extensions that are used
    alias: {
      // a list of module name aliases
      "module": "new-module",
      // alias "module" -> "new-module" and "module/path/file" -> "new-module/path/file"
      "only-module$": "new-module",
      // alias "only-module" -> "new-module", but not "only-module/path/file" -> "new-module/path/file"
      "module": path.resolve(__dirname, "app/third/module.js"),
      // alias "module" -> "./app/third/module.js" and "module/file" results in error
      // modules aliases are imported relative to the current context
    },
    /* alternative alias syntax */    alias: [
      {
        name: "module",
        // the old request
        alias: "new-module",
        // the new request
        onlyModule: true
        // if true only "module" is aliased
        // if false "module/inner/path" is also aliased
      }
    ],
    /* Advanced resolve configuration */    symlinks: true,
    // follow symlinks to new location
    descriptionFiles: ["package.json"],
    // files that are read for package description
    mainFields: ["main"],
    // properties that are read from description file
    // when a folder is requested
    aliasFields: ["browser"],
    // properites that are read from description file
    // to alias requests in this package
    enforceExtension: false,
    // if true request must not include an extensions
    // if false request may already include an extension
    moduleExtensions: ["-module"],
    enforceModuleExtension: false,
    // like extensions/enforceExtension but for module names instead of files
    unsafeCache: true,
    unsafeCache: {},
    // enables caching for resolved requests
    // this is unsafe as folder structure may change
    // but performance improvement is really big
    cachePredicate: (path, request) => true,
    // predicate function which selects requests for caching
    plugins: [
      // ...
    ]
    // additional plugins applied to the resolver
  },
  performance: {
    hints: "warning", // enum    hints: "error", // emit errors for perf hints
    hints: false, // turn off perf hints
    maxAssetSize: 200000, // int (in bytes),
    maxEntrypointSize: 400000, // int (in bytes)
    assetFilter: function(assetFilename) {
      // Function predicate that provides asset filenames
      return assetFilename.endsWith('.css') || assetFilename.endsWith('.js');
    }
  },
  devtool: "source-map", // enum  devtool: "inline-source-map", // inlines SourceMap into original file
  devtool: "eval-source-map", // inlines SourceMap per module
  devtool: "hidden-source-map", // SourceMap without reference in original file
  devtool: "cheap-source-map", // cheap-variant of SourceMap without module mappings
  devtool: "cheap-module-source-map", // cheap-variant of SourceMap with module mappings
  devtool: "eval", // no SourceMap, but named modules. Fastest at the expense of detail.
  // enhance debugging by adding meta info for the browser devtools
  // source-map most detailed at the expense of build speed.
  context: __dirname, // string (absolute path!)
  // the home directory for webpack
  // the entry and module.rules.loader option
  //   is resolved relative to this directory
  target: "web", // enum  target: "webworker", // WebWorker
  target: "node", // Node.js via require
  target: "async-node", // Node.js via fs and vm
  target: "node-webkit", // nw.js
  target: "electron-main", // electron, main process
  target: "electron-renderer", // electron, renderer process
  target: (compiler) => { /* ... */ }, // custom
  // the environment in which the bundle should run
  // changes chunk loading behavior and available modules
  externals: ["react", /^@angular\//],  externals: "react", // string (exact match)
  externals: /^[a-z\-]+($|\/)/, // Regex
  externals: { // object
    angular: "this angular", // this["angular"]
    react: { // UMD
      commonjs: "react",
      commonjs2: "react",
      amd: "react",
      root: "React"
    }
  },
  externals: (request) => { /* ... */ return "commonjs " + request }
  // Don't follow/bundle these modules, but request them at runtime from the environment
  serve: { //object
    port: 1337,
    content: './dist',
    // ...
  },
  // lets you provide options for webpack-serve
  stats: "errors-only",  stats: { //object
    assets: true,
    colors: true,
    errors: true,
    errorDetails: true,
    hash: true,
    // ...
  },
  // lets you precisely control what bundle information gets displayed
  devServer: {
    proxy: { // proxy URLs to backend development server
      '/api': 'http://localhost:3000'
    },
    contentBase: path.join(__dirname, 'public'), // boolean | string | array, static file location
    compress: true, // enable gzip compression
    historyApiFallback: true, // true for index.html upon 404, object for multiple paths
    hot: true, // hot module replacement. Depends on HotModuleReplacementPlugin
    https: false, // true for self-signed, object for cert authority
    noInfo: true, // only errors & warns on hot reload
    // ...
  },
  plugins: [
    // ...
  ],
  // list of additional plugins
  /* Advanced configuration */  resolveLoader: { /* same as resolve */ }
  // separate resolve options for loaders
  parallelism: 1, // number
  // limit the number of parallel processed modules
  profile: true, // boolean
  // capture timing information
  bail: true, //boolean
  // fail out on the first error instead of tolerating it.
  cache: false, // boolean
  // disable/enable caching
  watch: true, // boolean
  // enables watching
  watchOptions: {
    aggregateTimeout: 1000, // in ms
    // aggregates multiple changes to a single rebuild
    poll: true,
    poll: 500, // intervall in ms
    // enables polling mode for watching
    // must be used on filesystems that doesn't notify on change
    // i. e. nfs shares
  },
  node: {
    // Polyfills and mocks to run Node.js-
    // environment code in non-Node environments.
    console: false, // boolean | "mock"
    global: true, // boolean | "mock"
    process: true, // boolean
    __filename: "mock", // boolean | "mock"
    __dirname: "mock", // boolean | "mock"
    Buffer: true, // boolean | "mock"
    setImmediate: true // boolean | "mock" | "empty"
  },
  recordsPath: path.resolve(__dirname, "build/records.json"),
  recordsInputPath: path.resolve(__dirname, "build/records.json"),
  recordsOutputPath: path.resolve(__dirname, "build/records.json"),
  // TODO
}

Want to rapidly generate webpack configuration file for your project requirements with few clicks away.

Generate Custom Webpack Configuration is an interactive portal you can play around by selecting custom webpack configuration options tailored for your frontend project. It automatically generates a minimal webpack configuration based on your selection of loaders/plugins, etc.