Vite Knowledge Patch

Covers Vite 7.0–8.0 (2025-06-24 through 2026-03-12). Claude Opus 4.6 knows Vite through 5.x. It is unaware of the features below.

Index

Topic	Reference	Key features
Breaking changes	references/breaking-changes.md	Node.js 20.19+, browser target, removed APIs, Rolldown default
Rolldown bundler	references/rolldown.md	Rust-based bundler, v7 opt-in → v8 default
Configuration	references/configuration.md	resolve.tsconfigPaths, devtools, server.forwardConsole
React plugin	references/react-plugin.md	@vitejs/plugin-react v6, Oxc, React Compiler setup
SSR & advanced	references/ssr-and-advanced.md	.wasm?init in SSR, emitDecoratorMetadata, Environment API

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Breaking Changes Summary

Vite 7 (2025-06-24)

Change	Detail
Node.js minimum	20.19+ or 22.12+ (Node 18 dropped, ESM-only distribution)
build.target default	'baseline-widely-available' (was 'modules') — Chrome 107, Edge 107, Firefox 104, Safari 16.0
Sass legacy API	Removed
splitVendorChunkPlugin	Removed

Vite 8 (2026-03-12)

Change	Detail
Default bundler	Rolldown (Rust-based) replaces esbuild + Rollup — rolldown-vite package no longer needed

Rolldown Bundler

Vite 7: Install rolldown-vite as drop-in replacement for vite to opt in:

# Vite 7 — opt-in to Rolldown
npm install rolldown-vite # drop-in replacement, no config changes needed

Vite 8: Rolldown is the default — just upgrade vite to 8.x. The rolldown-vite package is no longer needed. Existing Rollup/esbuild config options have a compatibility layer but may need adjustment for advanced configurations.

New Config Options

resolve.tsconfigPaths (8.0-beta)

Built-in tsconfig paths resolution — replaces vite-tsconfig-paths plugin:

export default defineConfig({
  resolve: {
    tsconfigPaths: true,
  },
})

devtools (8.0)

Enable Vite Devtools for debugging and analysis:

export default defineConfig({
  devtools: true,
})

server.forwardConsole (8.0)

Forwards browser console output to dev server terminal. Auto-activates when a coding agent is detected:

export default defineConfig({
  server: {
    forwardConsole: true,
  },
})

React Plugin v6 (8.0)

@vitejs/plugin-react v6 uses Oxc instead of Babel — Babel is no longer a dependency. For React Compiler, use @rolldown/plugin-babel:

import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react'
import babel from '@rolldown/plugin-babel'
import { reactCompilerPreset } from '@vitejs/plugin-react'

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    react(),
    babel({ presets: [reactCompilerPreset] }),
  ],
})

SSR & Advanced

.wasm?init Works in SSR (8.0)

WebAssembly .wasm?init imports now work in SSR environments, not just client-side:

import init from './module.wasm?init'
const instance = await init()

Built-in emitDecoratorMetadata (8.0-beta)

Vite 8 automatically handles TypeScript's emitDecoratorMetadata when enabled in tsconfig — no extra plugins or config needed.

Environment API: buildApp Hook (7.0, experimental)

New plugin hook to coordinate building of multiple environments. See the Environment API for Frameworks guide.

Vite 8 Typical Config

A complete example showing common Vite 8 options together:

import { defineConfig } from 'vite'
import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react'

export default defineConfig({
  devtools: true,
  resolve: {
    tsconfigPaths: true,
  },
  server: {
    forwardConsole: true,
  },
  plugins: [react()],
})

Reference Files

File	Contents
breaking-changes.md	Node.js requirements, browser target, removed features, Rolldown as default
rolldown.md	Rolldown bundler adoption path from v7 to v8
configuration.md	resolve.tsconfigPaths, devtools, server.forwardConsole
react-plugin.md	Plugin-react v6 with Oxc, React Compiler setup
ssr-and-advanced.md	WASM SSR support, decorator metadata, Environment API