Do I need node_modules folder on live host server if I'm using webpack?

Question

To be clear, I am not asking if I need node_modules folder on live host server. That question & answer exists on Stack Overflow already. The consensus answer, in general is YES - I still need the node_modules directory during runtime.

I am also not asking about running npm init or npm install. I understand how that works.

I am specifically asking - do I still need the node_modules directory on the live/host server if I use webpack during my build process? Doesn't webpack bundle all the necessary JS, etc into folder? Can I delete the node_modules folder if use webpack? Or, will I still need that directory during runtime?

This is for a basic front end, client side web application only. This front end calls other API only for backend sevice. This front end web application is being hosted on Windows/IIS.

The site's published code includes static references like this:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/app.css?id=f243e9c6546d420fec1f">
<script src="/js/app.js?id=bf7be8f179cc272c0190"></script>

Ignore the id= part, as I think that's part of the web framework for cache busting.

Answer 1

During your web pack build process ,need the node modules folder , because when you import a file from the node_modules , web pack will try to fetch the file from the particular node_module folder recursively.

Once you successfully done with the build you will get a dist package folder with all the bundles for the deployment, it will not contain node_modules folders.

You can test it by using

npm run build

Answer 2

No, everything is in the bundle after you build. You can take the files defined as output (usually whatever is in the "dist" folder) and stick them on whatever static server you want without the need of the supporting node_modules.