Targets

Because JavaScript can be written for both server and browser, webpack offers multiple deployment targets that you can set in your webpack configuration.

Usage

To set the target property, you set the target value in your webpack config:

webpack.config.js

module.exports = {
  target: 'node',
};

In the example above, using node webpack will compile for usage in a Node.js-like environment (uses Node.js require to load chunks and not touch any built in modules like fs or path).

Each target has a variety of deployment/environment specific additions, support to fit its needs. See what targets are available.

Multiple Targets

Although webpack does not support multiple strings being passed into the target property, you can create an isomorphic library by bundling two separate configurations:

webpack.config.js

const path = require('path');
const serverConfig = {
  target: 'node',
  output: {
    path: path.resolve(__dirname, 'dist'),
    filename: 'lib.node.js',
  },
  //…
};

const clientConfig = {
  target: 'web', // <=== can be omitted as default is 'web'
  output: {
    path: path.resolve(__dirname, 'dist'),
    filename: 'lib.js',
  },
  //…
};

module.exports = [serverConfig, clientConfig];

The example above will create a lib.js and lib.node.js file in your dist folder.

Resources

As seen from the options above, there are multiple deployment targets that you can choose from. Below is a list of examples and resources that you can refer to.

• compare-webpack-target-bundles: A great resource for testing and viewing different webpack targets. Also great for bug reporting.
• Boilerplate of Electron-React Application: A good example of a build process for electron's main process and renderer process.