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Migration Guide

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Neutrino v8 to v9

Neutrino v9 is our largest release ever, bringing the preset and middleware ecosystem back to the native tools and utilities for which they were originally created. The biggest breaking change is the necessity to use external tools alongside Neutrino now, i.e. webpack, ESLint, Jest, Karma, and others' native CLIs will be used in tandem with Neutrino.

Additionally, the Neutrino API no longer accepts any middleware format other than functions. The .neutrinorc.js file is an exception, which still supports an object-based definition for setting Neutrino options. There is now a new package to assist in migration changes to core Neutrino middleware which are now middleware factories, since packages can no longer be required for you:

npx @neutrinojs/migrate
// Before:
module.exports = {
  use: [
    '@neutrinojs/react'
  ]
};

// After:
const react = require('@neutrinojs/react');

module.exports = {
  use: [
    react()
  ]
};

See the migration tool documentation for more details.

Unfortunately the migration tool is not yet able to handle other types of breaking changes (see #1336), so after running the tool you will also need to:

  1. Update the neutrino and @neutrinojs/* dependencies in package.json to version 9, and remove any packages that do not have a v9 release (such as @neutrinojs/env).

  2. Remove and re-generate any Yarn/npm lockfiles (eg yarn.lock or package-lock.json), to prevent problems caused by leftover dependencies.

  3. Refer to the updated package installation instructions on your build, lint and test preset's documentation pages, making sure to:

    • install the new peer dependencies (such as webpack, eslint, jest)
    • update the package.json scripts (such as build, start, lint) with the recommended values
    • create the configuration file for each tool (such as webpack.config.js, .eslintrc.js, jest.config.js). NB: The .eslintrc.js contents has changed, so will need updating if it already exists.
  4. Try running the yarn/npm build/start/test/lint commands to see if further migration steps are suggested via configuration error messages.

  5. Review the breaking changes listed below to check if any other adjustments are required.

To debug any difficulties in the upgrade process, you can run your respective Neutrino v8 command with --inspect-new and compare it with the output of Neutrino v9's --inspect flag. For example, to compare the difference between a v8 and v9 build, you can run respectively:

# Output v8 configuration
neutrino build --inspect-new

# Output v9 configuration
neutrino --inspect --mode production

You can also output these to files and diff them:

# Output v8 configuration
neutrino build --inspect-new > v8.config

# Output v9 configuration
neutrino --inspect --mode production > v9.config

git diff --no-index v8.config v9.config

Please file an issue if any issue arises from the upgrade that may not be outlined here.

A list of changes is detailed below for migrating:

  • BREAKING CHANGE The minimum supported Node.js version is 10. Node.js 6-9 are no longer supported #792 #1481.
  • BREAKING CHANGE Consumption of middleware and presets are now dependent on the external CLIs and configuration files for which they are intended #852. This does not negate the need for a .neutrinorc.js file in your projects, but rather is the configuration format for declaring all the middleware for a project. As an example, using the @neutrinojs/react preset also requires an installation of webpack, webpack-dev-server, and webpack-cli, as well as the creation of webpack.config.js file and the update of the script commands listed in package.json. Refer to the updated package installation instructions on your build, lint and test preset's documentation pages.
  • BREAKING CHANGE With the necessity of external CLIs means the removal of most of the Neutrino CLI's commands #852:
  • neutrino build can typically be replaced with webpack --mode production.
  • neutrino start can typically be replaced with webpack-dev-server --mode development --open.
  • neutrino test can typically be replaced with the CLI of your test runner, e.g. jest, karma start --single-run, or mocha.
  • neutrino lint can typically be replaced with eslint --cache --format codeframe --ext mjs,jsx,js src.
  • neutrino --inspect command still exists to get information about the configuration that Neutrino will use.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The Web, React, Vue, Node.js, and Library presets now use useBuiltIns: 'usage' as the default when configuring @babel/preset-env for polyfills. As a result you no longer need to manually import core-js, @babel/polyfill, or regenerator-runtime/runtime in your entry points, as was neceesary when useBuiltIns: 'entry' was the default setting. Note: core-js still needs to be present in your package.json for this default to take effect. #1484
  • BREAKING CHANGE With the removal of the Neutrino CLI and its --use flag, the .neutrinorc.js file for setting middleware is now mandatory within a project.
  • BREAKING CHANGE With the removal of the Neutrino CLI, many of the Neutrino API methods and functionality were no longer needed. This includes removal of neutrino.options.command. See the updated Neutrino API docs for updated information.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The Neutrino API's use method now only supports functions as middleware.
  • BREAKING CHANGE Since the Neutrino API now only recognizes functions as middleware, all core middleware packages export a factory function for accepting their options. This also means that middleware must be manually required and passed to Neutrino as it can no longer be required for you:
// .neutrinorc.js
const react = require('@neutrinojs/react');

module.exports = {
  use: [
    react(), // default options
    react(options) // custom options
  ]
}
  • BREAKING CHANGE The @neutrinojs/fork middleware has been removed #852. Either call webpack with separate configuration files calling out to Neutrino, or export multiple configurations from your webpack.config.js file:
// webpack.config.js
const neutrino = require('neutrino');

const config = neutrino().webpack();

module.exports = [
  // first build configuration
  config,

  // second build configuration
  { ...config, libraryTarget: 'commonjs2' },
];
  • BREAKING CHANGE The recommended method for setting Neutrino's root directory option has changed. You should set this from your .neutrinorc.js file to have it apply to all external configuration files #1041.
// .neutrinorc.js
module.exports = {
  options: {
    root: __dirname
  }
};
  • BREAKING CHANGE You can no longer define an env section in .neutrinorc.js configuration. In order to make environment-specific changes, conditionally define middleware or configuration overrides using environment variable values #852:
// .neutrinorc.js
const react = require('@neutrinojs/react');
const example = require('neutrino-preset-example');

module.exports = {
  use: [
    react(),
    (neutrino) => {
      if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'test') {
        neutrino.use(example);
      }
    }
  ]
}
  • BREAKING CHANGE Upgraded to latest major versions of webpack, webpack-dev-server, Babel, ESLint, and related packages #809 and others.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The @neutrinojs/chunk middleware has been removed in favor of webpack's improved functionality around splitChunks #809. See the split chunks documentation for more information. Usage of the vendor entry point will now throw an error when used with v9 and should not be used.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The @neutrinojs/babel-minify preset has been removed in favor of the much faster terser-webpack-plugin (which is the new default in webpack 4.26.0) #809, #1158 and #1215.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The @neutrinojs/web and dependent presets have renamed the minify.babel option to minify.source #809.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The @neutrinojs/web and dependent presets no longer include the @neutrinojs/image-minify or @neutrinojs/style-minify middleware. This means there are no preset options for minify.image and minify.style #809.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The @neutrinojs/minify package has been removed. The remaining individual minification middleware packages can be used instead #809.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The @neutrinojs/image-minify middleware has been removed #1105.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The @neutrinojs/pwa middleware has been removed #1105.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The @neutrinojs/stylelint middleware has been removed #1105.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The @neutrinojs/react and @neutrinojs/preact packages no longer use babel-plugin-jsx-pragmatic #827. This means if you did not import React or preact into your files using JSX, you will now need to import these packages explicitly when using JSX.
- import { Component } from 'react';
+ import React, { Component } from 'react';
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/react will now use the react-hot-loader v4 peerDependency when installed in your app #902. See React Hot Loader migration for instructions on upgrading to RHL v4 while installing it into your project also.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/web, @neutrinojs/node, and their dependent presets no longer configure defaults for copying static files at build time #814. Use the @neutrinojs/copy middleware to configure this for v9. For example:
// .neutrinorc.js
const copy = require('@neutrinojs/copy');

module.exports = {
  use: [
    // ...
    copy({
      patterns: [{
        context: 'src/static',
        from: '**/*',
        to: 'static',
      }],
    })
  ]
};
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/copy has renamed its debug option to logLevel to be synonymous with the option provided by copy-webpack-plugin. This option is now a string, not a boolean.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The neutrino.options.host and neutrino.options.port options have been removed #852. Set host and port via the devServer option of the web/react/... presets instead.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/web and dependent presets now default output.publicPath to '/', which means that apps not served from the root of a domain (such as those hosted on GitHub pages) will need to explicitly set their publicPath #1185. See the deployment path documentation.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/dev-server (used by @neutrinojs/web) no longer sets contentBase by default, meaning that in development any files that are not part of the webpack build need to be explicitly included (such as by importing from JS or using @neutrinojs/copy) or they will not be accessible from the dev server #1165. This prevents missing files from only being discovered once in production.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/dev-server no longer sets public or host, meaning that for certain workflows (such as running webpack-dev-server behind a proxy) you may need to set them yourself. In particular, due to a bug in the previous implementation, the dev server used to be accessible on all network interfaces, whereas it is now correctly only available over localhost. As such if running webpack-dev-server from within a Docker container or VM, you will now need to set host to 0.0.0.0 to allow connections from the host machine.
  • BREAKING CHANGE Babel has been upgraded from v6 to v7 #845. Any additional Babel plugins and presets you use in your projects should be compatible with Babel v7 if they are still necessary.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The fast-async Babel plugin is no longer used, so async functions will not be de-sugared to Promises by default any more #790. This means the preset option of polyfills.async has been removed.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The output format from neutrino --inspect has changed and is equivalent to the neutrino --inspect-new in Neutrino v8 #928.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The path and filename of built files has changed. Files with hashed filenames are now output under an assets/ subdirectory, and the hash has been shortened to 8 characters #930 and #1174. If you set custom headers for these files in your web server configuration (such as a long-expiry Cache-Control header), the rules/regex for them will need to be updated.
  • BREAKING CHANGE Module resolution now uses the webpack 4 defaults #926. This means that the option neutrino.options.node_modules has been removed.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The font and image loader rules have now been consolidated into a single rule for @neutrinojs/font-loader and another for @neutrinojs/image-loader #858.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/font-loader now uses file-loader instead of url-loader #858. This prevents asset inlining and will always generate separate files.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/style-loader now uses mini-css-extract-plugin instead of extract-text-webpack-plugin #809. This means any options you may have passed for options.extract.plugin must be updated for the new plugin.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/compile-loader now sets the babelrc option to false #826. If you wish to force specifying additional Babel configuration via a configuration file, you can set it to true via babel: { babelrc: true }.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/eslint and dependent middleware now throw if they are used by Neutrino after a compile preset #939, or if used with unrecognised eslint-loader options #1182. This is to prevent using an unknowingly broken configuration.
  • BREAKING CHANGE Most Neutrino middleware now throws if used twice with the same rule IDs. This is to prevent mis-configurations seen in the wild (such as using both @neutrinojs/web and one of the lower-level middleware it uses at the same time) #1162.
  • BREAKING CHANGE As Neutrino no longer supplies a CLI for executing project commands, the --debug flag no longer exists #852. You can still output debug information for middleware in your .neutrinorc.js with:
module.exports = {
  options: {
    debug: true
  }
};
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/html-loader used by the web-related presets now parse URLs defined in link tags in the HTML template #943.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/html-template now uses a custom template instead of one provided by html-webpack-template, which supports a smaller set of options but better html-webpack-plugin integration. You can override with your own template for more in-depth customization of this template and its content #1049.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The @neutrinojs/hot #981, @neutrinojs/env #983, and @neutrinojs/loader-merge #1182 middleware have been removed and their relevant functionality is now configured directly by its previously-consuming presets.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/node now compiles to the supported version of Node.js being used to run the build #991. Previously this was always defaulted to a particular Node.js v6 version. For example, if you use Node.js v8 to run webpack, Neutrino will tell Babel to compile your project to support back to Node.js v8.
  • BREAKING CHANGE Various build outputs and settings used by Neutrino were driven by the NODE_ENV environment variable #972. How the environment variable drives some of these options has changed and may cause output that is different than in v8. For example, sometimes output was controlled when the value was set to development, but now may be done when the value is not production.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The merging of Babel options has been updated to not merge array options, but instead overwrite them #1022.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/eslint and its dependent middleware now require ESLint v5, which may mean breaking changes to rule configuration and any parserOptions modifications #1025. See the ESLint migration docs for more information.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/eslint and its dependent middleware now only set loader-related default options if useEslintrc is true, to prevent linting configuration defaults from conflicting with values set in .eslintrc.* #1182. See the new documentation explaining how to use your own .eslintrc.*.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The options.mains Neutrino option can now also accept an object per entry point for setting individual options for html-webpack-plugin #1029. The previous API for setting these properties as strings is still supported. This also introduces a breaking API change as accessing an entry point property on neutrino.options.mains now returns a normalized object, even when using string options.
  • BREAKING CHANGE When configuring webpack with a target of node the @neutrinojs/jest preset will default its testEnvironment to also be node instead of jsdom #1030.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/web no longer supports the shorthand of devServer.proxy being set to a string #1175. Instead pass an object using the options here.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/web and its dependent middleware no longer have the options.hotEntries option #902.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/web and its dependent middleware no longer support style.extract being set to true #1221. Override style.extract.enabled instead.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/web, its dependent middleware, and @neutrinojs/library no longer include worker-loader for automatically loading *.worker.js files #1069. To add back support use a .neutrinorc.js configuration similar to:
module.exports = {
  use: [
    // ...
    (neutrino) => {
      neutrino.config.output
        .globalObject('this') // will prevent `window`
      .end()
      .module
        .rule('worker')
          .test(neutrino.regexFromExtensions(['worker.js']))
          .use('worker')
            .loader(require.resolve('worker-loader'))
            .options({
              // See: https://github.com/webpack-contrib/worker-loader#options
            });
    }
  ]
};
  • BREAKING CHANGE The loading order for config.resolve.extensions has been rearranged to be closer in parity to what webpack has configured by default #1080.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The tests directory is now additionally linted by default with @neutrinojs/eslint and its dependent middleware #951.
  • BREAKING CHANGE TypeScript extensions are no longer set by default in neutrino.options.extensions, and the vue extension is only added when used with @neutrinojs/vue.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/compile-loader no longer exports a merge function #1220. See the documentation on merging babel configuration for how to use the babel-merge package directly instead.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/clean options are now a single object format and automatically cleans the output build directory and does not accept root or paths options. The allowExternal option has been changed to dangerouslyAllowCleanPatternsOutsideProject. See the other updated options for clean-webpack-plugin.
  • BREAKING CHANGE Various dependencies have been updated which may bring their own breaking changes. Please check and test your project to ensure proper functionality.
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/web and its dependent middleware no longer accept a manifest option or include webpack-manifest-plugin automatically (#1254). Users may add it themselves like so:
// .neutrinorc.js
module.exports = {
  use: [
    // ...
    (neutrino) => {
      if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production') {
        neutrino.config.plugin('manifest')
          .use(require.resolve('webpack-manifest-plugin'));
      }
    }
  ]
}
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/style-loader now creates a single style rule with oneOfs, instead of multiple rules for handling css modules ((#1281)[https://github.com/neutrinojs/neutrino/pull/1281]).
  • BREAKING CHANGE @neutrinojs/vue now adds oneOfs instead of replacing existing style rules ((#1276)[https://github.com/neutrinojs/neutrino/pull/1276]).
  • ESLint caching is now enabled by default for new projects, so it is recommended to specify .eslintcache as being ignored from your source control commits.

Compare all v9 changes

Neutrino v7 to v8

Neutrino v8 introduces a number of changes, with some of them being breaking changes. To upgrade from Neutrino v7 to v8, be sure to check this list for tasks you may need to perform to use this latest version:

  • BREAKING CHANGE Middleware and preset packages have been migrated and scoped under the new @neutrinojs organization. See Migrated Packages for the full list of deprecated packages and the new scoped packages to migrate to. The core neutrino package remains available as is.
  • BREAKING CHANGE Removed entry option in order to support multiple main entry points via new mains options. See Customization for usage of mains in .neutrinorc.js. See API for usage of mains from the API. (#487)
  • BREAKING CHANGE *.css files in mains chunks are no longer inlined into the JS bundle by default. They are moved into a separate CSS file. To disable CSS extraction, pass options.extract = false to the style-loader middleware, or options.style.extract = false to the web preset. (#443)
  • BREAKING CHANGE There is no longer a plugin named minify when using the minify middleware. This is due to the minify middleware now being a composition of three different middleware. The associated plugins are babel-minify, style-minify, and image-minify, from their associated individual middleware, which can also be used separately.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The Karma preset now uses Headless Chrome by default to run tests. To that end, you will need Chrome 60+ installed. (#283)
  • BREAKING CHANGE The API methods .call() and .run() no longer accept additional middleware to load prior to running their registered handler. If you wish to load middleware prior, use the .use() method first. Also, these methods no longer automatically load .neutrinorc.js either, you must load this using .use() as well. (#425) (#424) For a concrete example, .eslintrc.js, which utilizes these changes, would migrate to the following:
const { Neutrino } = require('neutrino');

module.exports = Neutrino({ root: __dirname })
  .use('.neutrinorc.js')
  .call('eslintrc');
  • BREAKING CHANGE When building, file-loader and url-loader will generate file names with pattern [name].[hash].[ext] instead of [hash].[ext]. (#435)
  • BREAKING CHANGE The web preset no longer uses the script-ext plugin. It was never functional and did not serve a purpose at this time. (#500)

Migrated Packages

Deprecated Preset/Middleware New Scoped Package
neutrino-middleware-banner @neutrinojs/banner
neutrino-middleware-chunk @neutrinojs/chunk
neutrino-middleware-clean @neutrinojs/clean
neutrino-middleware-compile-loader @neutrinojs/compile-loader
neutrino-middleware-copy @neutrinojs/copy
neutrino-middleware-dev-server @neutrinojs/dev-server
neutrino-middleware-env @neutrinojs/env
neutrino-middleware-eslint @neutrinojs/eslint
neutrino-middleware-font-loader @neutrinojs/font-loader
neutrino-middleware-hot @neutrinojs/hot
neutrino-middleware-html-loader @neutrinojs/html-loader
neutrino-middleware-html-template @neutrinojs/html-template
neutrino-middleware-image-loader @neutrinojs/image-loader
neutrino-middleware-loader-merge @neutrinojs/loader-merge
neutrino-middleware-minify @neutrinojs/minify
neutrino-middleware-pwa @neutrinojs/pwa
neutrino-middleware-start-server @neutrinojs/start-server
neutrino-middleware-style-loader @neutrinojs/style-loader
neutrino-preset-airbnb-base @neutrinojs/airbnb-base
neutrino-preset-jest @neutrinojs/jest
neutrino-preset-karma @neutrinojs/karma
neutrino-preset-mocha @neutrinojs/mocha
neutrino-preset-node @neutrinojs/node
neutrino-preset-react @neutrinojs/react
neutrino-preset-web @neutrinojs/web

Neutrino v6 to v7

Neutrino v7 introduces some changes, most of which are from major version bumps of dependent packages. To upgrade from Neutrino v6 to v7, be sure to check this list for tasks you may need to perform to use this latest version:

  • BREAKING CHANGE webpack-chain upgraded to v4. The breakage from this upgrade is the .noParse method which is now a plain shortcut method, allowing you to set any value.
  • BREAKING CHANGE webpack upgraded to v3. While most users should need no changes for this upgrade, be aware that it may still be possible for something to change during this upgrade.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The Web and React presets no longer include babel-polyfill by default, and have removed the polyfill.babel option. If you need babel-polyfill in your app, please import it.
  • BREAKING CHANGE ESLint has been upgraded to v4, which may bring linting configuration changes.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The Neutrino static option has been removed. The Web, React, and Node.js presets will still copy files from a src/static directory if it exists, but you can override your own copying directives using the neutrino-middleware-copy middleware.
  • BREAKING CHANGE Certain processes like minification or starting the dev server used to happen during many different values for the NODE_ENV environment variable. These are now controlled to run during certain NODE_ENV values like production or development, or when using certain commands like start or build. Look at the documentation for your specific presets to determine what environments or commands are used for certain configuration changes.
  • BREAKING CHANGE The minify plugin has switched to using the BabelMinifyWebpackPlugin, so the middleware options have been renamed from babili to minify and from overrides to plugin, e.g. neutrino.use(minify, { minify: {}, plugin: {} }) or ['neutrino-middleware-minify', { minify: {}, plugin: {} }].

Neutrino v5 to v6

Neutrino v6 introduces a number of changes, with some of them being breaking changes. To upgrade from Neutrino v5 to v6, be sure to check this list for tasks you may need to perform to use this latest version:

  • BREAKING CHANGE Neutrino overrides and configuration is no longer done from package.json, but can automatically be picked up in a .neutrinorc.js file. If you want to leave your configuration in package.json until you migrate completely to the RC file, put the following contents in your .neutrinorc.js file:
const pkg = require('./package.json');

module.exports = {
  options: pkg.neutrino.options || {},
  use: [
    ...(pkg.neutrino.use || []),
    neutrino => neutrino.config.merge(pkg.neutrino.config || {})
  ]
};

See the documentation on .neutrinorc.js for more details on overriding configuration.

  • BREAKING CHANGE The Web and React presets no longer include a polyfill for Buffer. This saves approximately 60KB of polyfills from being loaded, at the expense of using the Buffer constructor. If you need the Buffer constructor or a dependency relies on it, you can override the configuration in .neutrinorc.js:
neutrino.config.node.set('Buffer', true)
  • BREAKING CHANGE Neutrino no longer relies on HOST, PORT, and HTTPS environment variables for overriding the webpack-dev-server settings, respectively. You can choose to either override these from .neutrinorc.js or a one-off basis using CLI options:
// Override a preset/middleware:
module.exports = {
  use: [
    ['neutrino-preset-react', {
      devServer: {
        host: '192.168.1.10',
        port: 3000,
        https: true
      }
    }]
  ]
};
// Override all presets:
module.exports = {
  options: {
    host: '192.168.1.10',
    port: 3000,
    https: true
  }
};
# Override from CLI
neutrino start --options.host 192.168.1.10 --options.port 3000 --options.https
  • BREAKING CHANGE Setting host of 0.0.0.0 for webpack-dev-server is insecure and will not work properly. This is from https://github.com/webpack/webpack-dev-server/issues/887 causing a potential security issue into webpack users' machines. When using host, specify your actual local IP address, and Neutrino will bind it to the public property of webpack-dev-server and set the host to 0.0.0.0 for you. Attempting to access the site from a host other than specified will result in an invalid host header error.

Should you absolutely need to access the site from any potential host, for example if behind a proxy or firewall, override from .neutrinorc.js:

// Override a preset/middleware
module.exports = {
  use: [
    ['neutrino-preset-react', {
      devServer: {
        disableHostCheck: true
      }
    }]
  ]
};

// Override configuration
neutrino.config.devServer.disableHostCheck(true)
  • BREAKING CHANGE The chunk middleware no longer includes a plugin named "chunk", and instead exposes several plugins which handle different chunking mechanisms: named-modules, named-chunks, vendor-chunk, runtime-chunk, and name-all.

  • BREAKING CHANGE With the changes in chunk middleware, there is no longer a named-modules middleware for v6 since this now comes with the chunk middleware.

  • BREAKING CHANGE All non-JS assets within your source directory are not automatically copied to the output directory. A new Neutrino option for static now specifies a directory for all non-compiled/included assets, and this defaults to src/static. For example, if you wanted to include some images into the build that are not imported into your project, you can place them in src/static and they will be automatically copied to build/static.

  • BREAKING CHANGE The run function from Neutrino's exports has been removed in favor of a run method on the API.

  • BREAKING CHANGE The build, start, test, and inspect functions from Neutrino's exports no longer instantiate the Neutrino API, but are now functions that are passed to the Neutrino API's run method. For example, to run the build function, you can pass it via:

const { Neutrino, build } = require('neutrino');

Neutrino()
  .run('build', [middleware], build)
  .fork(errorHandler, successHandler);

See the Neutrino API for details on the updated API.

  • BREAKING CHANGE Since the Neutrino API has changed, creating a .eslintrc.js file has also changed. If you have your middleware defined in .neutrinorc.js, your .eslintrc.js file can be as simple as:
module.exports = require('neutrino/src/api')().call('eslintrc');

For a more verbose example version without .neutrinorc.js:

const { Neutrino } = require('neutrino');
const api = Neutrino();

module.exports = api.call('eslintrc', ['neutrino-preset-airbnb-base', 'neutrino-preset-react']);

BREAKING CHANGE An empty object is no longer passed as options to middleware if no options have been specified.

Dependency potential BREAKING CHANGES:

  • babel-core upgraded to v7.0.0
  • file-loader upgraded to v0.11.2
  • file-loader removed from html-loader middleware, switched to html-loader
  • babili-webpack-plugin upgraded to v0.1.1
  • css-loader upgraded to v0.28.4
  • style-loader upgraded to v0.18.2
  • jest upgraded to v20.0.3
  • react-hot-loader upgraded to v3.0.0-beta.7

  • Async polyfills are now using fast-async instead of Babel's regenerator. The reasoning is explained in the fast-async README:

'fast-async' is a Babel v6.x.x plugin that implements the ES7 keywords async and await using syntax transformation at compile-time, rather than generators. The main reason for using 'fast-async' as opposed to Babel's default implementation of async/await is performance (https://github.com/MatAtBread/nodent#performance) - it's 3-4 times faster in a browser/node, and as much as 10 times faster on a mobile browsers, mainly due to avoiding generators (and therefore regenerator).

If you wish to disable the fast-async polyfill, you can specify it to the Web, React, and Node.js presets from your .neutrinorc.js:

module.exports = {
  use: [
    ['neutrino-preset-web', {
      polyfills: { async: false }
    }]
  ]
};
  • The React preset is now additionally Babel-compiled with transform-class-properties, and during development also includes transform-es2015-classes to work around https://github.com/gaearon/react-hot-loader/issues/313.

  • The Node.js preset, start-server middleware, and babel-preset-env in any middleware can be debugged with the --debug CLI flag or the Neutrino option debug.

  • The Node.js preset now compiles Babel to support Node.js LTS which has moved to v6.10 from v6.9.

  • Babel compiles using a cacheDirectory to improve subsequent build times.

  • The Neutrino API now exposes generic prerun and run events which are triggered prior to at any command running, e.g. running neutrino build will trigger a prebuild, prerun, build, and run events.

  • The ESLint middleware now defaults to a development NODE_ENV if none is specified.

  • Configuration can now more easily be overridden based on the values of environment variables from .neutrinorc.js using the env property. Each property within env maps to an environment variable with key-values mapping to environment values which contain further middleware. This works for any environment variable, not just NODE_ENV. For example, if you wanted to include additional middleware when NODE_ENV is production:

module.exports = {
  env: {
    NODE_ENV: {
      production: {
        use: ['neutrino-middleware-pwa']
      }
    }
  }
};

Neutrino v4 to v5

Neutrino v5 introduces a number of changes, with some of them being breaking changes. To upgrade from Neutrino v4 to v5, be sure to check this list for tasks you may need to perform to use this latest version:

  • Updates to config for creating plugins (from webpack-chain v3 upgrade):
// Creating plugins in v4
neutrino.config
  .plugin(name)
  .use(WebpackPlugin, ...args)

// Creating plugins in v5
neutrino.config
  .plugin(name)
  .use(WebpackPlugin, args)
  • Updates to config for modifying plugins (from webpack-chain v3 upgrade):
// Modifying plugins in v4
neutrino.config
  .plugin(name)
  .inject((Plugin, args) => new Plugin(...newArgs))

// Modifying plugins in v5
neutrino.config
  .plugin(name)
  .tap(args => newArgs);
  • Updates to config for creating loaders (from webpack-chain v3 upgrade):
// Creating loaders in v4
neutrino.config.module
  .rule('compile')
  .loader('babel', 'babel-loader', {
    options: {
      plugins: ['your-babel-plugin']
    }
  });

// Creating loaders in v5
neutrino.config.module
  .rule('compile')
  .use('babel')
    .loader('babel-loader')
    .options({ plugins: ['your-babel-plugin'] });
  • Updates to config for modifying loaders (from webpack-chain v3 upgrade). The function now gets its options directly instead of being nested in an object:
// Modifying loaders in v4
neutrino.config.module
  .rule('compile')
  .loader('babel', props => merge(props, {
    options: {
      plugins: ['your-babel-plugin']
    }
  }));

// Modifying loaders in v5
neutrino.config.module
  .rule('compile')
    .use('babel')
      .tap(options => merge(options, { plugins: ['your-babel-plugin'] }));
  • Updates to include and exclude for rules (from webpack-chain v3). In the previous webpack-chain package, include and exclude were functions where you provided paths as arguments. These are now ChainedMaps, making them much more extensible should you need to manipulate these values:
// Adding rule includes and excludes in v4
neutrino.config.module
  .rule('compile')
    .include(x, y)
    .exclude(x, y);

// Adding rule includes and excludes in v5
neutrino.config.module
  .rule('compile')
    .include
      .add(x)
      .add(y)
      .end()
    .exclude
      .add(x)
      .add(y);

// You can also use .merge() to add multiple paths at once:
neutrino.config.module
  .rule('compile')
    .include.merge([x, y]).end()
    .exclude.merge([x, y]);
  • Simple configuration via package.json now done from top-level neutrino object. Rename config to neutrino, and rename config.neutrino to neutrino.config. Presets also fall under this neutrino object. The custom object has been renamed to options.
{
  "neutrino": {
    "config": {
      "entry": {
        "vendor": ["react"]
      }
    },
    "use": [
      "neutrino-preset-react"
    ],
    "options": {
      "mocha": {
        "reporter": "nyan"
      }
    }
  }
}
  • The Web preset has renamed its styling rule from css to style:
// v4 API for Web preset
neutrino.config.module.rule('css')

// v5 API for Web preset
neutrino.config.module.rule('style')
{
  "neutrino": {
    "config": {
      "module": {
        "rule": {
          "style": {}
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
  • The Neutrino CLI has renamed --presets to --use to better reflect the usage of middleware and presets, and to make the inclusion of middleware consistent with the API at neutrino.use().
  • Jest upgraded to v19, which changes the option testPathDirs to roots. Jest options set using package.json can now only be done at neutrino.options.jest (no more package.json jest);
  • Linting base is deprecated in favor of neutrino-middleware-eslint:
// v4 API
const lint = require('neutrino-lint-base');

lint(neutrino);
neutrino.config.module
  .rule('lint')
  .loader('eslint', props => merge(props, { rules: { /* */ } }));

// v5 API
const eslint = require('neutrino-middleware-eslint');

neutrino.use(eslint, {
  eslint: {
    rules: { /* */ }
  }
})
  • When using a linting preset or consuming anything with neutrino-middleware-eslint, the eslintrc() method has been moved from neutrino.custom.eslintrc to neutrino.eslintrc:
// v4 API
neutrino.custom.eslintrc();

// v5 API
neutrino.eslintrc();
  • The default export of the Neutrino package is now an object with several methods, one of these being the low-level Neutrino API:
const { Neutrino } = require('neutrino');
  • The Neutrino API has undergone significant changes and no longer needs to be called as a constructor with new.

  • The Neutrino API no longer accepts preset strings as its argument. The function now accepts an options object to be set at neutrino.options:

const { Neutrino } = require('neutrino');
const api = Neutrino({ mocha: { reporter: 'nyan' } });

api.options.mocha.reporter // "nyan"
  • Since the Neutrino API no longer accepts preset strings in its constructor, you must now pass presets and middleware as code/functions to the .use() method.
// v4 API
const Neutrino = require('neutrino');
const api = new Neutrino(['neutrino-preset-node', 'neutrino-preset-mocha']);

// v5 API
const { Neutrino } = require('neutrino');
const api = Neutrino();

api.use(require('neutrino-preset-node'));
api.use(require('neutrino-preset-mocha'));

This also means the API function no longer does preset module resolution. If you wish to require presets and middleware and have them simultaneously used, use requiresAndUses:

// v5 API
const { Neutrino } = require('neutrino');
const api = Neutrino();

api.usesAndRequires([
  'neutrino-preset-node',
  'neutrino-preset-mocha'
]);
  • neutrino.getWebpackOptions() has been removed in favor of the lower level to neutrino.config.toConfig().
  • Using a node target no longer skips the watcher for a builder, it now uses the webpack source watcher. This means commands like neutrino start && node build are obsolete. neutrino build && node build would work to start a Node instance for production-built bundles.