Webpack Shell Plugin

0.5.0 verified Sat Apr 25 auth: no javascript maintenance

A webpack plugin that executes shell commands before and after webpack builds. Version 0.5.0 requires webpack 4+ (peer dependency). It supports arrays of commands for start, end, and exit phases, and provides a 'dev' mode to avoid re-running scripts in watch/watch-dev-server. Unlike alternatives like shelljs-webpack-plugin, it uses spawn by default but offers a 'safe' flag to fall back to exec. The plugin is unmaintained since 2019 and may have issues with webpack 5.

Common errors

error Error: Cannot find module 'webpack-shell-plugin' ↓

cause Module not installed or incorrect import path.

fix

Run 'npm install --save-dev webpack-shell-plugin' and use require('webpack-shell-plugin') in webpack.config.js.

Warnings

deprecated The 'verbose' option is deprecated and has no effect. ↓

fix Remove the verbose option from the plugin configuration.

gotcha On Windows, spawn may fail due to shell differences. Use the 'safe' option to switch to exec which uses cmd. ↓

fix Add { safe: true } to options.

gotcha The plugin does not expose a return value for scripts; any errors may not be caught. ↓

fix Wrap scripts in try-catch or redirect stderr to a log.

breaking Plugin may not work with webpack 5 without modification due to removed legacy plugin API. ↓

fix Use a fork like 'webpack-shell-plugin-next' or upgrade to a maintained plugin.

Install

npm install webpack-shell-plugin

yarn add webpack-shell-plugin

pnpm add webpack-shell-plugin

Imports

WebpackShellPlugin
wrong
```
import WebpackShellPlugin from 'webpack-shell-plugin';
```
correct
```
const WebpackShellPlugin = require('webpack-shell-plugin');
```
Package does not ship ESM; use CommonJS require. For TypeScript, you may need to install @types/webpack-shell-plugin or use require with no types.

Quickstart

Shows how to use WebpackShellPlugin with all three hooks (start, end, exit) in a webpack config.

const WebpackShellPlugin = require('webpack-shell-plugin');
const path = require('path');

module.exports = {
  entry: path.resolve(__dirname, 'src/app.js'),
  output: {
    path: path.resolve(__dirname, 'dist'),
    filename: 'bundle.js'
  },
  plugins: [
    new WebpackShellPlugin({
      onBuildStart: ['echo "Build started"'],
      onBuildEnd: ['echo "Build ended"'],
      onBuildExit: ['echo "Webpack process complete"'],
      dev: false
    })
  ]
};