HMR and Hot Reloading with the webpack-dev-server

The webpack-dev-server provides:

1. Speedy compilation of client side assets
2. Optional HMR which means that the page will reload automatically when after compilation completes. Note, some developers do not like this, as you'll abruptly lose any tweaks within the Chrome development tools.
3. Optional hot-reloading. The older react-hot-loader has been deprecated in favor of fast-refresh. For use with Webpack, see Client Side rendering and HMR using react-refresh-webpack-plugin section below or visit react-refresh-webpack-plugin for additional details.

If you are not using server-side rendering (not using prerender: true), then you can follow all the regular docs for using the bin/shakapacker-dev-server during development.

Server Side Rendering with the Default shakacode/shakapacker bin/shakapacker-dev-server

If you are using server-side rendering, then you have a couple of options. The recommended technique is to have a different Webpack configuration for server rendering.

If you use the same Webpack setup for your server and client bundles

If you do use the webpack-dev-server for prerendering, be sure to set the config/initializers/react_on_rails.rb setting of

config.same_bundle_for_client_and_server = true

dev_server.hmr maps to devServer.hot. This must be false if you're using the webpack-dev-server for client and server bundles.

dev_server.inline maps to devServer.inline. This must also be false.

If you don't configure these two to false, you'll see errors like:

• ReferenceError: window is not defined (if hmr is true)
• TypeError: Cannot read property 'prototype' of undefined (if inline is true)

Client-Side rendering with HMR using react-refresh-webpack-plugin

Basic installation

To enable the HMR functionality, you have to use ./bin/shakapacker-dev-server

1. In config/shakapacker.yml set hmr and inline dev_server properties to true.

   dev_server:
     https: false
     host: localhost
     port: 3035
     public: localhost:3035
     hmr: true
     # Inline should be set to true if using HMR
     inline: true

2. Add react-refresh packages:

   yarn add -D @pmmmwh/react-refresh-webpack-plugin react-refresh

3. HMR is for use with the webpack-dev-server, so we only add this for the webpack-dev-server.

   const { devServer } = require('shakapacker');
   
   const isWebpackDevServer = process.env.WEBPACK_DEV_SERVER;
   
   // plugins
   if (isWebpackDevServer) {
     environment.plugins.append(
       'ReactRefreshWebpackPlugin',
       new ReactRefreshWebpackPlugin({
         overlay: {
           sockPort: devServer.port,
         },
       }),
     );
   }

   We added overlay.sockPort option in ReactRefreshWebpackPlugin to match the webpack-dev-server port specified in config/shakapacker.yml. This makes SockJS works properly and fixes this error in browser console: GET http://localhost:[port]/sockjs-node/info?t=[xxxxxxxxxx] 404 (Not Found).

4. Add the react-refresh plugin in babel.config.js

   module.exports = function (api) {
     return {
       plugins: [process.env.WEBPACK_DEV_SERVER && 'react-refresh/babel'].filter(Boolean),
     };
   };

That's it :). Now the browser should reflect changes in .js and .css files without reloading.

If for some reason the plugin doesn't work, you can revert the changes and leave only devServer hmr/inline set to true, affecting only CSS files.

These plugins are working and tested with

• babel 7
• webpacker 5
• bootstrap 4
• jest 26
• core-js 3
• node 12.10.0
• [email protected]
• react-refresh 0.8.3
• react_on_rails 11.1.4

configuration.