Why Your stylesheets Aren't Included in the Webpack Build and How to Fix It

Описание: A clear guide explaining why stylesheets might not be included in your Webpack build and how to resolve the issues effectively.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/69726631/ asked by the user 'Ilya Petrikov' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/17253091/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/69727956/ provided by the user 'Saranga B' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/14969991/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Understanding the Problem: Missing Stylesheets in Webpack Build

If you've ever faced a situation where your stylesheets seem to be neglected during the Webpack build process, you're not alone. A common scenario arises when you are building a library using Webpack to share components across projects, and the styles defined in your CSS modules don’t appear in your React components. In this guide, we'll walk you through the likely reasons behind this issue and how to resolve it effectively.

What Happens in the Build Process?

When you import your React component, like UiButton, it may look something like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

However, when these styles are critical for your UI and they simply don’t apply, it can be frustrating. This post will break down the steps required to ensure that your styles are correctly included in the Webpack build.

Solution: How to Include Stylesheets in Webpack Build

Step 1: Review Webpack Configuration

The first step is to carefully examine your Webpack configuration file (webpack.config.js). The load order of your CSS handling rules is pivotal. Here’s where you might be going wrong:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

The Right Load Order

Webpack loaders are evaluated in the order they appear from right to left. In this case, because style-loader is listed first, it injects styles into the DOM but won't extract them properly with the MiniCssExtractPlugin.

To correct this, reorder the loaders like so:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This change tells Webpack to extract the CSS files using the MiniCssExtractPlugin before applying the css-loader, resolving the missing styles issue.

Step 2: Conditional Usage of Loaders

For better build optimization, consider distinguishing between production and development modes. This can be achieved as follows:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

By doing this, you enable the generation of a separate CSS file for production builds while using the style-loader in a more flexible development environment.

Step 3: Update package.json Scripts

Ensure that your build script in package.json is set up correctly to reflect the production environment. You should see something like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This command ensures that when you run your build, Webpack recognizes that it’s in production mode and applies all configurations accordingly.

Conclusion: Your Stylesheets Will Shine

With the adjustments outlined in this guide, you should now have a clearer understanding of why your stylesheets weren’t included in the Webpack build and how to fix it. By reordering the loaders, conditionally applying the styles handler, and ensuring your build script is accurate, you'll ensure that any component using styles will render correctly, whether in a library or a standalone project.

Implement these changes today, and let your UI components shine with the styles they deserve!