RemoveWebpackPlugin

1.2.2 verified Sat Apr 25 auth: no javascript

Plugin for webpack to remove directories or files during the build process, similar to rm -r. Current stable version is 1.2.2. The plugin has low release cadence. It is straightforward but offers minimal features compared to alternatives like CleanWebpackPlugin. It supports removing single or multiple paths and configuring error handling (show, hide, fatal). Only works with webpack plugins API.

Common errors

error TypeError: RemoveWebpackPlugin is not a constructor ↓

cause Using import statement that returns default as an object instead of function.

fix

Use require('remove-webpack-plugin') instead of import.

error Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, lstat './dist' ↓

cause Removing a path that is not relative to project root or does not exist.

fix

Adjust paths to be relative to the project root, or ensure directories exist.

error Plugin attempted to remove files but nothing happened ↓

cause Plugin may be configured with errors: 'hide' and fails silently.

fix

Use { errors: 'show' } to see error messages.

Warnings

gotcha Use default export only; named imports will cause errors. ↓

fix Use const RemoveWebpackPlugin = require('remove-webpack-plugin');

gotcha Paths are relative to the project root, not the output directory. ↓

fix Ensure paths like './public/' are correct relative to process.cwd().

gotcha The plugin does not handle glob patterns; specify exact paths. ↓

fix Use CleanWebpackPlugin if glob support is needed.

Install

npm install remove-webpack-plugin

yarn add remove-webpack-plugin

pnpm add remove-webpack-plugin

Imports

RemoveWebpackPlugin

wrong

import RemoveWebpackPlugin from 'remove-webpack-plugin';

correct

const RemoveWebpackPlugin = require('remove-webpack-plugin');

Package does not export ES modules; use CommonJS require. Only default export available.

CommonJS require
```
const RemoveWebpackPlugin = require('remove-webpack-plugin');
```
No named exports; only default import via require.

ESM syntax

wrong

import RemoveWebpackPlugin from 'remove-webpack-plugin';

correct

const RemoveWebpackPlugin = require('remove-webpack-plugin');

ESM import is not supported; package lacks "type": "module" and does not provide ESM exports.

Quickstart

Shows how to configure RemoveWebpackPlugin to remove multiple directories and suppress warnings.

const RemoveWebpackPlugin = require('remove-webpack-plugin');

module.exports = {
  plugins: [
    new RemoveWebpackPlugin(['./public/', './build/'], { errors: 'hide' })
  ]
}