rollup-plugin-esbuild

6.2.1 verified Mon Apr 27 auth: no javascript

A Rollup plugin that uses esbuild for fast TypeScript/ESNext compilation and minification, replacing rollup-plugin-typescript2, @rollup/plugin-typescript, and rollup-plugin-terser. Current stable version is 6.2.1 (released Feb 2025), with active maintenance and releases every few months. Key differentiators: full esbuild integration (including JSX, define, loaders), built-in optimizeDeps for pre-bundling, standalone minify plugin, and support for Rollup 1-4. Requires esbuild >=0.18.0 and Rollup ^1.20.0 || ^2.0.0 || ^3.0.0 || ^4.0.0. Ships TypeScript types.

Common errors

error Error: [plugin:esbuild] Transform failed with 1 error: <file>:<line>:<col>: ERROR: No loader is configured for ".vue" files ↓

cause Plugin does not handle .vue files by default; custom loader needed.

fix

Add loaders: { '.vue': 'jsx' } or use a separate Vue plugin before esbuild.

error Cannot find module 'rollup-plugin-esbuild' ↓

cause Missing installation or wrong import path in ESM/CJS context.

fix

Install with 'yarn add rollup-plugin-esbuild --dev' and ensure you use the correct import syntax for your module system.

error TypeError: esbuild is not a function ↓

cause CommonJS require() on ESM-only package.

fix

Use dynamic import: const esbuild = (await import('rollup-plugin-esbuild')).default;

error Error: [plugin:esbuild] You must set the 'target' option to use the 'jsx' loader ↓

cause Missing or invalid target when using JSX loader.

fix

Set a valid target like 'es2020' in plugin options or tsconfig.

error Error: [plugin:esbuild] 'define' must be an object with string values ↓

cause define values must be string literals representing the replacement code.

fix

Use JSON.stringify for values: define: { __VERSION__: JSON.stringify('1.0.0') }

Warnings

breaking v6.0.0 removed tsconfig resolution and the 'types' field. tsconfig will not be automatically resolved; you must pass 'tsconfig' option explicitly if needed. ↓

fix Explicitly set tsconfig: 'tsconfig.json' in plugin options if you rely on tsconfig for JSX or target.

breaking v5.0.0 dropped Node.js <14 support and upgraded to Rollup v3. Users on older Rollup must upgrade. ↓

fix Update Rollup to v3+ and Node.js to >=14.

breaking v6.2.0 added default loaders for .mjs, .cjs, .mts, .cts, .tsx, .jsx. This may cause conflicts if you already had custom loaders for these extensions. ↓

fix Review loaders option to avoid duplicate mapping; set loaders explicitly if you want to override defaults.

deprecated The 'optimizeDeps' option is experimental and may break across minor versions. ↓

fix Test thoroughly with each upgrade; consider alternative dep pre-bundling methods if stability is critical.

gotcha Plugin is ESM-only via default export. In CommonJS environments, you must use dynamic import(). ↓

fix Use async wrappers: const esbuild = (await import('rollup-plugin-esbuild')).default;

gotcha When using 'minify' standalone, esbuild may remove TypeScript type imports that are used only for types, causing dead code elimination. ↓

fix Ensure type-only imports are side-effect-free; use 'import type' syntax.

Install

npm install rollup-plugin-esbuild

yarn add rollup-plugin-esbuild

pnpm add rollup-plugin-esbuild

Imports

default export
wrong
```
const esbuild = require('rollup-plugin-esbuild')
```
correct
```
import esbuild from 'rollup-plugin-esbuild'
```
Default export is ESM-only. For CommonJS use dynamic import or bundler transform.

minify

wrong

const { minify } = require('rollup-plugin-esbuild')

correct

import { minify } from 'rollup-plugin-esbuild'

Named export for standalone minify plugin. Also ESM-only.

type definition
wrong
```
import { Options } from 'rollup-plugin-esbuild'
```
correct
```
import type { Options } from 'rollup-plugin-esbuild'
```
Use 'import type' for TypeScript type-only imports to avoid emitting at runtime.

Quickstart

Shows how to use the esbuild plugin in a Rollup config with TypeScript, minification, define, and custom loaders.

// rollup.config.js
import esbuild from 'rollup-plugin-esbuild';

export default {
  input: 'src/index.ts',
  output: {
    file: 'dist/bundle.js',
    format: 'esm',
  },
  plugins: [
    esbuild({
      target: 'es2020',
      minify: true,
      define: {
        __VERSION__: JSON.stringify('1.0.0'),
      },
      loaders: {
        '.json': 'json',
      },
    }),
  ],
};