Trying to do transpiled and bundled standalone server

[thomasjm]

Description

I would really like to build a server entrypoint that is not only transpiled (as in #562) but also bundled, so that the resulting dist folder is completely standalone. I don't want to worry about providing a separate node_modules folder in production with dependencies like express.

I filed an issue in vavite about this, but I think it may properly be solved at the Vike level. None of the solutions I could find online have worked, but I've come up with a solution which I think is really close. The demo repo is here:

https://github.com/thomasjm/vike-standalone

The idea is simple: I add an extra entry to build.rollupOptions.input pointing at the server/index_prod.js file. (For simplicity, I created a separate index_prod.js file, which is like index.js but with development stuff removed.) Then I set ssr.noExternal to prevent externalizing just about everything (except Node builtins).

At this point, I can build a dist folder which contains dist/server/index.mjs, and just about everything is bundled. The server actually starts up when you run it!

The only issue I'm tripping on is related to @brillout/vite-plugin-import-build. This is the point where I could really use some help, as it seems the tricks of this plugin aren't working in this scenario. The output is below. Could I trouble you @brillout ?

npm run try-standalone

...
Copying dist dir to /tmp/tmp.DO0XbUx8u7
Switching to dir and starting standalone server...
Server running at http://localhost:3000
...
Error: [@brillout/vite-plugin-import-build@0.2.18][Bug] You stumbled upon a bug in the source code of @brillout/vite-plugin-import-build. Reach out at https://github.com/brillout/vite-plugin-import-build/issues/new and include this error stack (the error stack is usually enough to fix the problem). A maintainer will fix the bug (usually under 24 hours). Don't hesitate to reach out as it makes @brillout/vite-plugin-import-build more robust. Debug info (this is for the @brillout/vite-plugin-import-build maintainers; you can ignore this): `{"distImporterDir":"/tmp/tmp.DO0XbUx8u7/dist/server","distImporterPathUnresolved":"/tmp/tmp.DO0XbUx8u7/dist/server/importBuild.cjs"}`
    at createErrorWithCleanStackTrace (file:///tmp/tmp.DO0XbUx8u7/dist/server/chunks/chunk-d66c6d0c.js:1907:11)
    at assert (file:///tmp/tmp.DO0XbUx8u7/dist/server/chunks/chunk-d66c6d0c.js:1968:93)
    at loadWithNodejs (file:///tmp/tmp.DO0XbUx8u7/dist/server/chunks/chunk-d66c6d0c.js:2235:24)
    at async Object.loadServerBuild$1 [as loadServerBuild] (file:///tmp/tmp.DO0XbUx8u7/dist/server/chunks/chunk-d66c6d0c.js:2181:15)
    at async loadImportBuild (file:///tmp/tmp.DO0XbUx8u7/dist/server/chunks/chunk-d66c6d0c.js:2254:5)
    at async initGlobalContext (file:///tmp/tmp.DO0XbUx8u7/dist/server/chunks/chunk-d66c6d0c.js:2853:26)
    at async renderPageAndPrepare (file:///tmp/tmp.DO0XbUx8u7/dist/server/chunks/chunk-d66c6d0c.js:6380:5)
    at async renderPage_wrapper (file:///tmp/tmp.DO0XbUx8u7/dist/server/chunks/chunk-d66c6d0c.js:6355:22)
    at async renderPage (file:///tmp/tmp.DO0XbUx8u7/dist/server/chunks/chunk-d66c6d0c.js:6371:48)
    at async file:///tmp/tmp.DO0XbUx8u7/dist/server/index.mjs:121876:25

[brillout]

thomasjm/vike-standalone#1

The example is still not working but it seems to be because of an error about how you resolve the static dir; it should be fixable on the user land.

Let me know if you have further questions, and please update the example to make it work so that I can share with others. Keep me updated how it goes.

Thanks for opening this ticket. Closing in favor of #562:

Edit:

• Ideally with a bundled/standalone option, see Trying to do transpiled and bundled standalone server #1165 (which includes an example of how Vite can be configured to bundle everything).

[thomasjm]

Many thanks for the fast response @brillout ! I tried the PR and it works (if you've already built the project once). I added a question there about how this solution could be made better.

[thomasjm]

Maybe I'll continue the discussion here if you don't mind. I just did some more work trying to resolve the importBuild.cjs issue and came up with this: thomasjm/vike-standalone@3eb35dd

The tricky thing is that we want to bundle the reference to vike/dist/esm/node/runtime/globalContext/loadImportBuild.js, but we want to leave the references to ./pageFiles.mjs etc. to be resolved at runtime.

It doesn't quite work yet though and I'd appreciate any help -- it currently fails with this:

Error: [vike][Wrong Usage] Re-build your app (you're using vike@0.4.142 but your app was built with vike@undefined)
    at assertPluginManifest (file:///tmp/tmp.B834vb8whI/dist/server/chunks/chunk-4db35243.js:2819:3)
    at initGlobalContext (file:///tmp/tmp.B834vb8whI/dist/server/chunks/chunk-4db35243.js:2875:5)
    at async renderPageAndPrepare (file:///tmp/tmp.B834vb8whI/dist/server/chunks/chunk-4db35243.js:6397:5)
    at async renderPage_wrapper (file:///tmp/tmp.B834vb8whI/dist/server/chunks/chunk-4db35243.js:6372:22)
    at async renderPage (file:///tmp/tmp.B834vb8whI/dist/server/chunks/chunk-4db35243.js:6388:48)
    at async file:///tmp/tmp.B834vb8whI/dist/server/index.mjs:121884:25

[thomasjm]

Actually never mind, I got it to work as of thomasjm/vike-standalone@d9bbe82 !

It's super fragile and weird (uses sed to patch up the index.mjs file), but should serve as a proof of concept.

TBH, unless I'm missing something, it's beyond me why #562 and vitejs/vite#12165 are proposing such complicated solutions to this problem. It seems to me there's no need to bring in vavite or vite-node, when the approach I used here could just be bundled up in a Vike plugin.

[brillout]

Simpler solution: https://github.com/brillout/vike-standalone/tree/simpler.

it's beyond me why #562 and vitejs/vite#12165 are proposing such complicated solutions to this problem.

It's more complicated in a dev context.

[thomasjm]

Simpler solution: https://github.com/brillout/vike-standalone/tree/simpler.

Huh? That's a solution for the static assets problem, which I already fixed: thomasjm/vike-standalone@b521db6

The work I was doing above is to resolve the other problem, the one I've been trying to communicate on thomasjm/vike-standalone#1.

It's more complicated in a dev context.

Is it though?

• If you want bundling but no transpilation: my example main branch already works fine for dev and prod
• If you want bundling AND transpilation: simply use ts-node in dev, demonstrated in this branch: https://github.com/thomasjm/vike-standalone/tree/transpile-dev. Works in dev and prod.

[brillout]

For the other problem, I'm busy with a high prio ticket; I'll then have a look at it. I will circle back on this.

(With dev context I mean without ts-node. E.g. it isn't clear how HMR / auto-reload can be implemented.)

[thomasjm]

Sounds good, thanks! No rush, I'm happy since I have a workaround now.

With dev context I mean without ts-node. E.g. it isn't clear how HMR / auto-reload can be implemented.

If you ask me, HMR / auto-reload is a nice-to-have. It's easy to survive without it; the current disclaimer here clearly states what the user has to do.

On the other hand, the ability to create a standalone build at all is a must-have, or else it severely limits how you can deploy a Vike app.

[brillout]

I agree.

…

On Sun 8. Oct 2023 at 11:25, Tom McLaughlin ***@***.***> wrote: Sounds good, thanks! No rush, I'm happy since I have a workaround now. With dev context I mean without ts-node. E.g. it isn't clear how HMR / auto-reload can be implemented. If you ask me, HMR / auto-reload is a nice-to-have. It's easy to survive without it; the current disclaimer here <https://github.com/vikejs/vike/blob/ac0bb99f8828d98d88a2525564b90f7c0b9eeabe/examples/graphql-apollo-react/server/index.js#L1-L5> clearly states what the user has to do. On the other hand, the ability to create a standalone build *at all* is a must-have, or else it severely limits how you can deploy a Vike app. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1165 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAHVQRXSZUCH4P6HPRIWJOLX6JWQFAVCNFSM6AAAAAA5VUSGJOVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMYTONJRHE3TINZQHA> . You are receiving this because you modified the open/close state.Message ID: ***@***.***>