Rspack Has a Free API You're Not Using

#rspack #webpack #javascript #webdev

Rspack is a Rust-powered webpack replacement that's 5-10x faster. It's webpack-compatible — your webpack config works with minimal changes.

The Free APIs You're Missing

1. Webpack Compatibility — Drop-In Replacement

// rspack.config.js — looks like webpack.config.js!
module.exports = {
  entry: "./src/index.ts",
  output: { filename: "[name].[contenthash].js" },
  module: {
    rules: [
      { test: /\.tsx?$/, use: "builtin:swc-loader" },
      { test: /\.css$/, use: ["style-loader", "css-loader"] },
      { test: /\.(png|svg)$/, type: "asset" },
    ],
  },
  plugins: [new rspack.HtmlRspackPlugin({ template: "./index.html" })],
};

2. Built-In SWC Loader — No babel-loader

{
  test: /\.(js|ts|tsx)$/,
  use: {
    loader: "builtin:swc-loader",
    options: {
      jsc: {
        parser: { syntax: "typescript", tsx: true },
        transform: { react: { runtime: "automatic" } },
      },
    },
  },
}

SWC compilation built into the bundler. No separate transpilation step.

3. Module Federation 2.0 — Micro-Frontends

const { ModuleFederationPlugin } = require("@module-federation/enhanced/rspack");

module.exports = {
  plugins: [
    new ModuleFederationPlugin({
      name: "host_app",
      remotes: {
        remote_app: "remote_app@http://localhost:3001/remoteEntry.js",
      },
      shared: ["react", "react-dom"],
    }),
  ],
};

4. Built-In CSS Extraction — No mini-css-extract-plugin

module.exports = {
  experiments: { css: true },
  module: {
    rules: [
      {
        test: /\.module\.css$/,
        type: "css/module",
      },
    ],
  },
};

Native CSS Modules support. No extra plugins.

5. Profile — Built-In Build Analysis

# Generate build profile
RSPACK_PROFILE=ALL rspack build

# Opens in Chrome DevTools Performance tab
# Shows exactly where time is spent

Benchmarks

Operation	webpack	Rspack	Speedup
Dev cold start	12s	1.2s	10x
HMR	800ms	80ms	10x
Production build	45s	6s	7.5x

Getting Started

npm create rspack@latest
cd my-rspack-app
npm run dev

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