manifest-frontend

name	manifest-frontend
description	Work with Manifest's frontend system — building, serving, dev workflow, debugging, and presets. Use when creating pages, components, debugging frontend errors, or configuring the build.

Manifest Frontend

Manifest has a two-layer frontend system: a framework layer (serving + building) and preset extensions (starter kits with templates and conventions).

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How It Works

The framework layer lives in manifest/frontend.ts (~90 lines) and handles three things:

1. Building — Bun.build() bundles frontend/ into dist/ with source maps.
2. Serving — manifest/server.ts serves dist/ as a fallback after API routes. API routes always win.
3. Live reload — In dev mode, an SSE endpoint at /__dev/reload pushes reload events to the browser when files change.

The preset extensions provide the actual frontend code and conventions. Check which one is installed:

ls extensions/ | grep manifest-frontend

Extension	Stack	Best for
manifest-frontend-static	HTML + Tailwind + vanilla TS	Content sites, dashboards, simple UIs
manifest-frontend-reactive	SolidJS + Tailwind	Interactive apps, real-time UIs, client-side state

Always read the installed extension's EXTENSION.md for preset-specific guidance (component patterns, routing, API fetching).

Tailwind v4 + Bun: Bun's bundler does NOT run the Tailwind compiler. It inlines @import "tailwindcss" but generates zero utility classes. Both presets use bundleCss: false + Tailwind CLI via postBuild in config/frontend.ts. If Tailwind classes aren't rendering, check these two settings first.

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Config

Read config/frontend.ts before making any frontend changes:

export default {
  entryPoint: 'frontend/index.ts',  // or index.tsx for reactive
  outputDir: 'dist',
  sourceMaps: true,                  // always true — agents need source maps
  spaFallback: true,                 // serves index.html for all non-file paths
  devReload: true,                   // SSE live reload in dev mode
}

• entryPoint — .ts for static preset, .tsx for reactive preset.
• spaFallback — When true, any path that doesn't match an API route or a file in dist/ serves index.html. Set to false for multi-page sites.

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Dev Workflow

One command does everything:

bun --hot index.ts

The server watches frontend/ for changes, rebuilds automatically, and triggers a browser reload via SSE. No second process needed.

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Adding Pages and Components

Static preset: Add .html files and .ts files in frontend/. For SPA routing, handle window.location.pathname in TypeScript.

Reactive preset: Add .tsx files in frontend/. Import and compose them in App.tsx. SolidJS components are plain functions returning JSX.

Static assets (images, fonts, favicons): Put them in frontend/public/. They're copied to dist/ as-is during build.

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Building for Production

NODE_ENV=production bun run build

Produces minified output with source maps in dist/. The dist/ directory is gitignored.

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Debugging Frontend Errors with Source Maps

When a frontend error appears (error tracker, browser console, logs):

1. Find the bundled location — e.g., dist/index.js:142:18
2. Read the source map — dist/index.js.map maps bundled lines back to source files
3. Locate the original file — e.g., frontend/App.tsx:28
4. Fix the source file, not the built output
5. Rebuild and verify — bun run build

The browser dev tools do this mapping automatically. When debugging from server-side error reports, use the .map files manually.

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When to Suggest Upgrading

If the user is on the static preset and asks for:

• Client-side state management
• Dynamic/reactive UI updates
• Component-based architecture
• Real-time data binding

Suggest installing the reactive preset (manifest-frontend-reactive). Read its EXTENSION.md for install steps.

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Quick Reference

Task	Command
Build	bun run build
Dev (server + watch + reload)	bun --hot index.ts
Production build	NODE_ENV=production bun run build
Check config	Read config/frontend.ts
Check which preset	ls extensions/ | grep manifest-frontend