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Hands-onUpdated: 2026-09-08

Vite hands-on tutorial: from zero to your first runnable project

Step-by-step walkthrough of Vite with copy-paste commands, directory layout, and a first runnable artifact.

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Quick answer

How do I keep Vite and Rollup versions aligned?

Vite bundles a specific Rollup major version. Do not bump Rollup independently when upgrading Vite, or manualChunks behavior and the resulting split will drift.

Machine-readable page data: /data/vite-tutorial.json

In-depth analysis

Vite's native-ESM dev server and Rollup-based production bundling set the baseline for modern frontend build performance and developer experience. Going from zero to a first runnable project is about locking in the smallest end-to-end loop before you scale.

Vite · Config example
// vite.config.ts — production build, deep optimization
import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
export default defineConfig({
  build: {
    target: 'es2022',
    cssCodeSplit: true,
    rollupOptions: {
      output: { manualChunks: { vendor: ['vue', 'react'] } },
    },
  },
});
Best practices:Use the official scaffold to lock in a minimal loop, then add dependencies incrementally. Make the first commit ship a runnable artifact — never half-baked work into the main branch.
Pitfalls:Misconfigured manualChunks creates circular dependencies or pulls CSS into JS, growing the first-paint bundle. Do not blindly drop the build target to es2015 either. Do not pile on configuration first. Get a minimal runnable sample working, then layer dependencies.

Vite Hands-on Tutorial · Key takeaways

  • Project initialized with the official scaffold
  • Dependencies pinned to a single pnpm lockfile
  • Local dev server starts and first paint is reachable
  • First runnable commit pushed

FAQ & pitfalls

What breaks when Vite manualChunks is misconfigured?

Misconfiguration can pull CSS into JS or create circular dependencies, growing the first-paint bundle. Start with a coarse vendor split, then refine.

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What readers are asking

Questions that keep coming back in reader feedback, already answered.

  1. 01
    What goes wrong when Vite manualChunks is misconfigured?

    A wrong split pushes styles into the JS bundle or creates circular dependencies, and first-paint size goes up instead of down. Start with a coarse vendor split, then refine it.

    See the full guide →
  2. 02
    Why is my Astro component's interactivity not working?

    Components ship as zero-JS HTML by default, so an interactive one needs a client:* directive (client:load, client:visible, …). Without it the script is never bundled into the page.

    See the full guide →
  3. 03
    Why is my custom Tailwind v4 brand colour not applied?

    Colours must be declared in @theme (for example --color-brand). A missing @tailwindcss/vite plugin, or a leftover v3 config, makes bg-brand silently render nothing.

    See the full guide →
All questions →

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