Use when working with the Stacks build system - building component libraries, CLI binaries, server Docker images, documentation, or the framework core. Covers @stacksjs/build, buddy build commands, build actions, and the server build pipeline.
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---
name: stacks-build
description: Use when working with the Stacks build system - building component libraries, CLI binaries, server Docker images, documentation, or the framework core. Covers @stacksjs/build, buddy build commands, build actions, and the server build pipeline.
license: MIT
compatibility: Bun >= 1.3.0, TypeScript
allowed-tools: Read Edit Write Bash Grep Glob
---
# Stacks Build System
## Key Paths
- Core package: `storage/framework/core/build/`
- Build actions: `storage/framework/core/actions/src/build/`
- Main build action: `storage/framework/core/actions/src/build.ts`
- Buddy commands: `storage/framework/core/buddy/src/commands/build.ts`
- Server build: `storage/framework/server/build.ts`
- Server Dockerfile: `storage/framework/server/Dockerfile`
- Types: `storage/framework/core/types/src/cli.ts`
## Source Files
```
build/src/
├── index.ts # intro() and outro() — build logging and timing
├── web-types.ts # Web types generation for IDE support
└── build.ts # Package build config (Bun.build)
actions/src/build/
├── cli.ts # Build Buddy CLI binary
├── server.ts # Build server Docker image
├── core.ts # Build all framework core packages
├── stacks.ts # Orchestrate CLI + core builds
├── component-libs.ts # Build the `components` library packages
├── libs.ts # Build every configured library package
├── docs.ts # Build documentation
├── desktop.ts # Build desktop app
└── views.ts # Build frontend views
```
## Build Types
```typescript
type BuildOption =
| 'components' | 'webComponents' | 'elements'
| 'functions' | 'libs' | 'docs' | 'views' | 'stacks' | 'all' | 'buddy' | 'server'
type BuildOptions = { [key in BuildOption]: boolean } & CliOptions
interface CliOptions {
verbose?: boolean
silent?: boolean
quiet?: boolean
cwd?: string
background?: boolean
timeoutMs?: number
project?: string
}
```
## CLI Commands
```bash
buddy build # Interactive build
buddy build components # All component libraries
buddy build:components # Alias
buddy build:web-components # Web Components library only
buddy build:functions # The `functions` library packages
buddy build:libs # Every configured library package
buddy build:cli # Buddy CLI binary
buddy build:server # Server Docker image
buddy build:core # All framework core packages
buddy build:stacks # CLI + core (full framework)
buddy build:docs # Documentation site
buddy build:desktop # Desktop application
buddy build:views # Frontend views
# Flags
buddy build -c # --components
buddy build -w # --web-components
buddy build -f # --functions
buddy build -l # --libs
buddy build -d # --docs
buddy build -b # --buddy
buddy build -s # --stacks
buddy build --server --verbose --project [name]
```
## Standard Build Pattern
Every core package follows this pattern:
```typescript
import { dts } from 'bun-plugin-dtsx'
import { intro, outro } from '../build/src'
const { startTime } = await intro({ dir: import.meta.dir })
const result = await Bun.build({
entrypoints: ['./src/index.ts'],
outdir: './dist',
format: 'esm',
target: 'bun',
minify: true,
plugins: [dts({ root: '.', outdir: './dist' })],
})
await outro({ dir: import.meta.dir, startTime, result })
```
## Releasing libraries out of `resources/`
`resources/functions` and `resources/components` are not limited to one npm
package each. `config/library.ts` carries a `packages` array, and each entry
claims a slice of one of those directories by glob and becomes its own package
with its own name, manifest, dist and version:
```ts
// config/library.ts
packages: [
// A file may be claimed by more than one package.
{ name: '@acme/fx', kind: 'functions', include: ['*.ts'], exclude: ['internal/**'] },
{ name: '@acme/fx-dates', kind: 'functions', include: ['dates/**'] },
{ name: '@acme/ui', kind: 'components', include: ['ui/**'], prefix: 'acme' },
{ name: '@acme/elements', kind: 'web-components', include: ['ui/**'], prefix: 'acme' },
]
```
The older single-package `functions` / `webComponents` keys still work: they
normalize into the same list, so a config written before `packages` existed
keeps building exactly one package. When `packages` is set, they are ignored.
| Kind | Built by | Published entry |
|---|---|---|
| `functions` | sources staged into the package's `src/`, then `transpilePackage` | `dist/index.js`, one module per source |
| `components` | stx `buildComponentLibrary` | `dist/index.js`, tree-shakeable per-component modules |
| `web-components` | the same compile | `dist/bundle.js`, one self-registering script |
```bash
buddy libs # what each package resolved to, on disk
buddy libs --json # the same, machine-readable
buddy build:libs # build them all (also `buddy build --libs`)
buddy build:functions # just the `functions` packages
buddy build:components # just the `components` packages
buddy build:web-components # just the `web-components` packages
buddy libs:publish --dry-run
buddy libs:publish # after a build; refuses a package with no dist
```
Packages build in `storage/framework/libs/packages/<dir>/`, where `<dir>` is
the unscoped npm name unless the entry sets `dir`. The whole directory is
generated and gitignored.
### Things that will stop a build, on purpose
- **A package that matches no files.** Nearly always a typo'd glob, and the
alternative is publishing an empty tarball. The release path skips unmatched
packages instead, so an app that never filled in `resources/` is not blocked.
- **Two packages that resolve to the same directory** (`@acme/ui` and
`@other/ui` both unscope to `ui`). Give one an explicit `dir`.
- **stx ambient globals in a `functions` package.** `state`, `useDark` and the
rest are injected into an stx page entry and exported by nothing, so a
bundled copy compiles and then throws `ReferenceError` on the consumer's
first call. Either import the names explicitly, or set `runtime: 'stx'` on
the package to declare that it is only ever consumed from inside an stx app.
### Release flow
`buddy release` runs `generate/lib-entries`, which stages sources and writes
each manifest without compiling — so a broken library config fails before a tag
exists rather than after. Versions follow the project version unless a package
pins its own, which is why the build (not the generate) is what CI runs after
the bump, and `buddy libs:publish` after that.
## Build Utilities (index.ts)
```typescript
async function intro(options: { dir: string, pkgName?: string, styled?: boolean }): Promise<{ startTime: number }>
async function outro(options: { dir: string, startTime: number, result: any, pkgName?: string }): Promise<void>
```
`outro()` handles two result formats:
- **Bun.build**: checks `result.success` and `result.logs`
- **esbuild**: checks `result.errors` array
## Server Build Pipeline (7 stages)
```
1. Stop running stacks-server Docker container
2. Clean previous build artifacts (app, config, dist, docs, storage)
3. Build framework server (compile ./src/index.ts)
4. Build user app files (compile ./app/**/*.{ts,js})
5. Fix import paths (replace storage/framework/server → dist)
6. Clean unwanted exports from dist files
7. Build Docker image (if cloud deployment enabled)
```
## Build Action Enums
```typescript
enum Action {
BuildViews = 'build/views'
BuildStacks = 'build/stacks'
BuildComponentLibs = 'build/component-libs'
BuildVueComponentLib = 'build-vue-component-lib'
BuildWebComponentLib = 'build-web-component-lib'
BuildFunctionLib = 'build-function-lib'
BuildCli = 'build/cli'
BuildCore = 'build/core'
BuildDesktop = 'build/desktop'
BuildDocs = 'build/docs'
BuildServer = 'build/server'
}
```
## Build Tool Stack
| Tool | Usage |
|------|-------|
| **Bun** | Primary bundler (`target: 'bun'`, `format: 'esm'`) |
| **Vite** | Component library builds |
| **bun-plugin-dtsx** | TypeScript declaration generation |
| **Docker** | Server containerization |
| **@babel/traverse** | AST traversal for export cleanup |
## Gotchas
- **Two result formats** — `outro()` must handle both Bun.build and esbuild formats
- **Server build mutates import paths** — stage 5 rewrites references in compiled output
- **Core build is sequential** — packages built one at a time, failures collected and reported
- **Docker build requires cloud config** — only builds if cloud deployment is enabled
- **Component libraries compile through stx**, not Vite. `buildComponentLibrary`
emits its own index and each generated component registers its custom element
on import, which is why a `web-components` package needs no entry file of its
own — it publishes `bundle.js` instead of `index.js`.
- **A library barrel is generated with `.ts` specifiers on purpose.**
`transpilePackage` rewrites relative `.ts` to `.js` on the way into `dist`. An
extensionless specifier survives as-is and only resolves under Bun, so the
package installs cleanly and fails on first import from Node or Vite.
- **`build:stacks` builds CLI first** — Buddy binary compiled before core packages
- **Server build cleans aggressively** — deletes app, config, dist, docs, storage before rebuild
- **The build package has @babel deps** — uses Babel for AST traversal during export cleanup