Packaging with vp pack

What it is#

vp build builds apps; vp pack builds libraries and binaries, powered by tsdown (on Rolldown). Out of the box it handles declaration files, multiple output formats, source maps, minification, and CSS bundling — configured in the pack block of vite.config.ts.

Why you'd care#

Publishing a package well is fiddly: .d.ts generation, ESM + CJS outputs, correct exports, source maps. vp pack bakes those best practices in, so a publishable library is a config block rather than a bespoke build script.

Before#

A hand-rolled tsdown.config.ts (or Rollup config), plus tsc for types, plus manual exports wiring in package.json.

After#

One pack block, one command.

Do it yourself#

1. Configure packaging#

Keep it all in vite.config.ts (Vite+ recommends against a separate tsdown.config.ts):

import { defineConfig } from 'vite-plus'

export default defineConfig({
  pack: {
    dts: true,
    format: ['esm', 'cjs'],
    sourcemap: true,
  },
})

2. Build the library#

vp pack
vp pack src/index.ts --dts   # one-off entry + types
vp pack --watch              # rebuild on change

Output looks like:

ESM dist/index.js   4.8 kB
DTS dist/index.d.ts 1.2 kB
✓ Pack completed in 128ms

3. Ship a standalone executable#

Bundle a CLI into a native binary that runs without a separate Node install:

import { defineConfig } from 'vite-plus'

export default defineConfig({
  pack: {
    entry: ['src/cli.ts'],
    exe: true,
  },
})

This uses Node's Single Executable Applications support.

Gotchas#

• vp build vs vp pack: apps use vp build; libraries and binaries use vp pack. Reaching for the wrong one is the classic mistake.
• Executables need a recent runtime. Node 25.7.0+ is required; if vp pack --exe reports an unsupported version, switch with vp env use 26 (runtime control is the next lesson).
• Executable support and CSS bundling (CSS Modules + Lightning CSS) are bundled into Vite+ — don't install @tsdown/exe, @tsdown/css, or lightningcss separately.
• Migrating an existing tsdown.config.ts? Move its options into pack and delete the file (see the Intermediate migration lesson).

Recap#

vp pack is the library/binary counterpart to vp build: tsdown-powered, configured in the pack block, with DTS, multi-format output, CSS bundling, and standalone executables built in. Next, the layer under everything — the Node runtime and supply chain.