role-frontend:build-tooling

Build Tooling

When to use

• Setting up a new frontend project and choosing a build tool
• Configuring dev server, HMR, proxy, or library mode in Vite
• Replacing Babel with SWC or esbuild for faster transpilation
• Building micro-frontend architectures with Module Federation
• Setting up a monorepo with Turborepo or Nx
• Configuring ESLint flat config, Biome, Prettier, or pre-commit hooks
• Optimizing bundle size or establishing size budgets

Core principles

1. Vite first for new projects — native ESM dev server, Rollup production builds, massive plugin ecosystem
2. SWC over Babel for transpilation — 20-70x faster, drop-in replacement
3. pnpm for monorepos — prevents phantom dependencies, hard links save disk
4. Bundle budgets in CI — size-limit blocks bloat before it ships
5. Biome or separate tools — never run Prettier as an ESLint plugin

Reference Files

• references/vite-esbuild-swc.md — Vite config patterns, plugins, HMR, env vars, library mode, SSR mode; esbuild build API; SWC .swcrc and jest integration
• references/webpack-turbopack-module-federation.md — webpack 5 persistent cache, code splitting, bundle analysis; Turbopack vs Vite comparison; Module Federation remote/host setup
• references/linting-formatting-typescript.md — Biome config, ESLint 9+ flat config with TypeScript/React/a11y rules, Prettier config, pre-commit hooks, TypeScript strict tsconfig and project references
• references/monorepo-modules-packages.md — Turborepo and Nx task pipelines, pnpm workspaces, package manager comparison, dual ESM/CJS exports, bundle analysis tools, anti-patterns