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Frequently Asked Questions

What does evergreen mean?

The concept behind an evergreen project is derived from https://www.w3.org/2001/tag/doc/evergreen-web/. As such, this plugin only actively supports the Active LTS version of Node.js. As quoted from the W3C document, this decision was made:

  1. Intentionally: to simplify their implementation, reduce resource requirements or meet environmental constraints

Additionally, this decision was made to leverage speed, stability, and platform enhancements (namely in http) in the latest Active LTS Node version(s).

Some users will not be able to leverage this plugin either because they cannot upgrade, because they won't upgrade, or because another dependency prevents an upgrade. The author and maintainers of this plugin understand that, and feel that the benefits of supporting only the Active LTS version of Node.js outweigh the detriments.

Please Note: This is not currently a topic for debate or discussion on this repository. Issues which raise the topic will be closed, but will remain unlocked.

The [::] URI is odd, what is that?

With Node v8+, servers which inherit from net.Server will automatically choose an IPv6 hostname when one is not specified. This plugin chooses not to enforce IPv4 when a host is not provided, but rather lets the underlying system behave according to its defaults.

IPv6 can be unfamiliar territory for users, and the rules around IPv6 addresses are rather different than IPv4. According to Wikipedia:

The localhost (loopback) address, 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1, and the IPv6 unspecified address, 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0, are reduced to ::1 and ::, respectively.

Since net.Server uses 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0 (an unspecified address) by default, the resulting representation is ::, which is the zero-compressed representation of the unspecified address. Since that's not at all valid in a browser's address bar, and :: isn't a valid URI in that scope, :: is represented as [::] in URI format. Hence, the URI you see from the server by default looks something like http://[::]:55555.

Why doesn't the server default to localhost?

This plugin is used by a plethora of different users with different needs. As soon as localhost is made the default, users will inevitably ask for 0.0.0.0, 127.0.0.0, etc. In order to avoid the debate entirely, we allow the Node subsystems and net.Server to behave in their default manner.

What does the "Not Found / 404" error mean?

In a nutshell, this means that the static file middleware (koa-static) attempted to serve an index file, but couldn't find one. By default, the server will use the path of the webpack compiler context property. This error is typically seen when using HtmlWebpackPlugin and when the output path is different from the context (see this question for why we use context). To remedy this, add your output path to the static option when instantiating the plugin. e.g.

// webpack.config.js
const { join } = require('path');
const outputPath = join(process.cwd(), '/dist');
module.exports = {
  ...
  output: {
    path: outputPath
  },
  plugins: [new Serve({ static: outputPath })]
  ...
}

Alternative, one can use an array to add multiple paths for static file resolution, and files from those paths will be served from the root. e.g. { serve: [ process.cwd(), outputPath, ... ]}.

Why does the static option default to compiler.context?

When creating webpack-plugin-serve, we drew upon lessons learned from webpack-dev-server and webpack-serve. It is impossible to cater to the needs of every webpack user. That was a lesson hard-learned. A logical, best case coverage decision was made to use compiler.context. In the event that a configuration is specified, and an output path is not specified in the configuration, the compiler will set the output path to the compiler context. And unless set, the compiler context defaults to the current working directory. Based on experience and user feedback about the defaults (or lack thereof) in webpack-dev-server and webpack-serve, compiler.context was chosen the "safest" default.

Why can't I use Node v10.14.x?

The minor version range for Node v10.14.x contains a regression which causes ERR_STREAM_WRITE_AFTER_END and Invalid WebSocket frame: RSV1 must be clear errors when using WebSockets. We've narrowed the issue down to that version range of Node, as 10.13.x is not effected.

Why do I have to include webpack-plugin-serve/client in the entry?

On webpack-plugin-serve this file is responsible to control the Hot Module Replacement, i.e, the communication between the webpack compiler and the browser. After a change happens on a file, the server is going to send a message to the browser "Hey browser, here are the files you have to hot replace, and here is the new compilation hash". By doing that, the script that you included knows what files changed and handles them to the webpack hmr code that exists on the browser too.

This file is also responsible to serve some of the special features we created, the overlays (status and progress).