| name | webflow-code-component:pre-deploy-check |
| description | Pre-deployment validation for Webflow Code Components. Checks bundle size, dependencies, prop configurations, SSR compatibility, styling setup, and common issues before running webflow library share. |
| compatibility | Node.js 18+, React 18+, TypeScript, @webflow/webflow-cli |
| metadata | {"author":"webflow","version":"1.1"} |
Build Validate
Validate code components before deployment to catch issues early.
When to Use This Skill
Use when:
- User is about to deploy and wants to check for issues first
- Proactively before running
webflow library share
- User asks to validate, check, or verify their components
- After making significant changes to components
Do NOT use when:
- Deployment already failed (use troubleshoot-deploy instead)
- Just building for local development
- Auditing code quality (use component-audit instead)
Instructions
Phase 1: Project Structure Check
-
Verify webflow.json exists:
- Check for required fields (
library.name, library.components)
- Validate glob pattern matches component files — the recommended pattern is
"./src/**/*.webflow.@(js|jsx|mjs|ts|tsx)" covering all supported extensions
- Check
globals path if specified — file must exist and be importable
- Check
bundleConfig path if specified — file must exist
-
Check dependencies:
- Verify
@webflow/webflow-cli installed
- Verify
@webflow/data-types installed
- Verify
@webflow/react installed
- Check for version compatibility (check installed versions, don't assume specific versions)
-
Verify component files:
- Find all
.webflow.tsx / .webflow.ts files matching the glob pattern
- Ensure matching React components exist
- Check for orphaned definition files
-
Validate imports in .webflow.tsx files:
- Must import
declareComponent from @webflow/react
- Must import
props from @webflow/data-types (if props are defined)
- Must import the actual React component being declared
Phase 2: Component Analysis
-
For each component, check:
declareComponent is called with the component and a config object
name is provided in the config
- All props have
name properties and appropriate defaultValue where applicable
- Prop types are valid — the 11 supported types are:
- Text (alias: String) — single line text input
- RichText — multi-line text with formatting
- TextNode — single/multi-line text editable on canvas
- Link — URL input (returns
{ href, target, preload } object)
- Image — image upload and selection
- Number — numeric input
- Boolean — true/false toggle
- Variant — dropdown with predefined options (requires
options array)
- Visibility — show/hide controls
- Slot — content areas for child components
- ID — HTML element ID
-
Validate component options:
- If
options object is present, validate:
applyTagSelectors is a boolean (default: false) — enables site tag selectors in Shadow DOM
ssr is a boolean (default: true) — controls server-side rendering
-
Check for SSR issues:
- Scan for browser-only API usage outside of
useEffect or guarded blocks:
window, document, localStorage, sessionStorage, navigator
- Flag dynamic/personalized content patterns (user-specific dashboards, authenticated views)
- Flag heavy/interactive UI that doesn't benefit from SSR (charts, 3D scenes, maps, animation-heavy elements)
- Flag non-deterministic output (random numbers, time-based values that differ server vs client)
- Suggest
ssr: false in options if component is purely interactive or browser-dependent
-
Check styling:
- Verify styles are imported in
.webflow.tsx or via globals file
- Check for site class usage — site classes do NOT work in Shadow DOM
- Site variables DO work:
var(--variable-name, fallback)
- Inherited CSS properties DO work:
font-family: inherit
- Tag selectors work IF
applyTagSelectors: true is set in component options
- Validate CSS-in-JS setup if used (see CSS-in-JS detection below)
-
Check for Shadow DOM + React Context issues:
- If a component uses slots (
props.Slot) AND imports/uses useContext or a Context Provider:
- Warn that parent and child components in slots cannot share React Context — each child renders in its own Shadow DOM with a separate React root
- Suggest alternatives: Nano Stores, custom events, URL parameters, or browser storage
Phase 3: Build Test
-
Run TypeScript/build check:
- Check for TypeScript compilation errors
- Verify all imports resolve correctly
- Identify any build-time issues
-
Check bundle size:
- If a build output exists, verify total bundle size is under 50MB (maximum bundle limit)
- If over limit, flag as error and suggest optimization
-
Run local bundle test (optional, suggest to user):
- Suggest running
npx webflow library bundle --public-path http://localhost:4000/ to test bundling before sharing
- If bundling issues occur, suggest
--debug-bundler flag to inspect the final webpack config
Phase 4: Detect Framework-Specific Setup
-
CSS-in-JS library detection:
- If project uses styled-components: verify
@webflow/styled-components-utils is installed and styledComponentsShadowDomDecorator is exported from globals decorators array
- If project uses Emotion or Material UI (
@emotion/styled, @emotion/react, @mui/material): verify @webflow/emotion-utils is installed and emotionShadowDomDecorator is exported from globals decorators array
-
Tailwind CSS detection:
- If project uses Tailwind CSS (
tailwindcss in dependencies):
- Verify
@tailwindcss/postcss is installed
- Verify
postcss.config.mjs exists with @tailwindcss/postcss plugin
- Verify Tailwind CSS is imported in globals file (e.g.,
@import "tailwindcss" in globals.css)
-
Sass/Less preprocessor detection:
- If project uses Sass (
.scss files or sass in dependencies): verify sass and sass-loader are installed, and a webpack config adds the .scss rule
- If project uses Less (
.less files or less in dependencies): verify less and less-loader are installed, and a webpack config adds the .less rule
- For either: verify
bundleConfig is set in webflow.json pointing to the webpack config
-
Webpack custom config validation (if bundleConfig is specified):
- Verify the file exists at the specified path
- Verify it uses CommonJS exports (
module.exports)
- Warn if it attempts to override blocked properties:
entry, output, target (these are silently filtered out)
- Verify
module.rules uses function syntax (currentRules) => { ... }, not an array
Phase 5: Report Results
- Generate validation report:
- List all checks performed
- Show passed/failed/warning status
- Provide fix suggestions for failures
- Indicate deployment readiness
Validation Checks
Required Checks
| Check | Severity | Description |
|---|
| webflow.json exists | Error | Required for CLI |
| Dependencies installed | Error | @webflow/webflow-cli, @webflow/data-types, @webflow/react |
| Component files exist | Error | React + definition files present |
| declareComponent called | Error | Required in .webflow.tsx with correct imports |
| Valid prop types | Error | Only the 11 supported types (Text/String, RichText, TextNode, Link, Image, Number, Boolean, Variant, Visibility, Slot, ID) |
| Build succeeds | Error | No compilation errors |
| Bundle size < 50MB | Error | Maximum bundle limit enforced by Webflow |
Warning Checks
| Check | Severity | Description |
|---|
| Props have defaults | Warning | Better designer experience |
| SSR compatibility | Warning | Browser APIs, dynamic content, heavy UI, non-deterministic output |
| Styles imported | Warning | Styles may not appear in Shadow DOM |
| Site class usage | Warning | Site classes don't work in Shadow DOM — use component-specific classes |
| Shadow DOM + Context | Warning | Slots prevent React Context sharing between parent/child |
| CSS-in-JS decorator | Warning | styled-components/Emotion need Shadow DOM decorators |
| Tailwind setup | Warning | Missing postcss config or globals import |
| Sass/Less setup | Warning | Missing loaders or webpack config |
| Webpack blocked props | Warning | entry, output, target overrides are silently ignored |
| Webpack rules format | Warning | Must use function syntax, not array |
| Component options | Warning | applyTagSelectors and ssr must be booleans |
| Glob pattern coverage | Warning | Pattern should cover all supported extensions (.js, .jsx, .mjs, .ts, .tsx) |
| bundleConfig file | Warning | File must exist if specified in webflow.json |
Info Checks
| Check | Severity | Description |
|---|
| Component count | Info | Number of components |
| Prop count | Info | Props per component |
| Bundle size | Info | Current bundle size vs 50MB limit |
| Frameworks detected | Info | CSS-in-JS, Tailwind, Sass/Less usage |
Examples
User prompt:
Check if my components are ready to deploy
Response:
🔍 Build Validation: My Component Library
Running pre-deployment checks...
---
## Project Structure
✅ webflow.json found
✅ library.name: "My Component Library"
✅ library.components: "./src/**/*.webflow.@(js|jsx|mjs|ts|tsx)"
✅ globals: "./src/globals.ts"
✅ bundleConfig: not specified (using defaults)
---
## Dependencies
✅ @webflow/webflow-cli: installed
✅ @webflow/data-types: installed
✅ @webflow/react: installed
✅ react: installed
✅ typescript: installed
---
## Frameworks Detected
✅ Tailwind CSS detected
✅ @tailwindcss/postcss installed
✅ postcss.config.mjs found
✅ globals.css imports Tailwind
---
## Components Found (4)
### 1. Button ✅
- File: src/components/Button/Button.webflow.tsx
- Imports: ✅ declareComponent, ✅ props, ✅ Button component
- Props: label (Text), variant (Variant), disabled (Boolean)
- All props have defaults ✅
- SSR compatible ✅
- Options: applyTagSelectors: true ✅
- Styles imported ✅
### 2. Card ✅
- File: src/components/Card/Card.webflow.tsx
- Imports: ✅ declareComponent, ✅ props, ✅ Card component
- Props: title (Text), image (Image), content (RichText), link (Link)
- All props have defaults ✅
- SSR compatible ✅
- Styles imported ✅
### 3. Modal ⚠️
- File: src/components/Modal/Modal.webflow.tsx
- Imports: ✅ declareComponent, ✅ props, ✅ Modal component
- Props: title (Text), isOpen (Boolean), content (Slot)
- All props have defaults ✅
- ⚠️ SSR Issue: Uses `document.body` in render
→ Suggestion: Add `ssr: false` to options or wrap in useEffect
- Styles imported ✅
### 4. CartIcon ⚠️
- File: src/components/CartIcon/CartIcon.webflow.tsx
- Imports: ✅ declareComponent, ✅ CartIcon component
- Props: none
- ⚠️ Missing props - component has no editable properties
→ Suggestion: Consider adding props for designer customization
- ⚠️ Uses localStorage without SSR guard
→ Suggestion: Wrap in useEffect or useState initializer
- Styles imported ✅
---
## Build Test
✅ Build completed successfully
✅ No TypeScript errors
✅ No webpack errors
✅ Bundle size: 2.3MB / 50MB limit
---
## Summary
| Category | Status |
|----------|--------|
| Project Structure | ✅ Pass |
| Dependencies | ✅ Pass |
| Frameworks | ✅ Pass |
| Components | ⚠️ 2 warnings |
| Build | ✅ Pass |
---
## Ready to Deploy: ⚠️ WITH WARNINGS
You can deploy, but consider fixing these issues:
1. **Modal SSR Issue**
Add to Modal.webflow.tsx:
```typescript
options: {
ssr: false
}
- CartIcon localStorage Usage
Update CartIcon.tsx:
const [count, setCount] = useState(() => {
if (typeof window === "undefined") return 0;
return parseInt(localStorage.getItem("cartCount") || "0");
});
💡 To deploy: npx webflow library share
💡 To test locally first: npx webflow library bundle --public-path http://localhost:4000/
---
**Example: Build Failure**
🔍 Build Validation: My Component Library
Running pre-deployment checks...
Project Structure
✅ webflow.json found
⚠️ library.components uses narrow glob: "./src//*.webflow.tsx"
→ Recommendation: Use "./src//*.webflow.@(js|jsx|mjs|ts|tsx)" to cover all supported extensions
Dependencies
❌ Missing: @webflow/react
Fix: npm install --save-dev @webflow/react
Build Test
❌ Build Failed
Error in src/components/Button/Button.webflow.tsx:
Module not found: Error: Can't resolve '@webflow/react'
Summary
| Category | Status |
|---|
| Dependencies | ❌ 1 error |
| Build | ❌ Failed |
Ready to Deploy: ❌ NO
Fix the following before deployment:
-
Install missing dependency
npm install --save-dev @webflow/react
-
Re-run validation
After installing, run this check again.
---
**Example: CSS-in-JS Missing Decorator**
🔍 Build Validation: My Component Library
Frameworks Detected
⚠️ styled-components detected but Shadow DOM decorator not configured
→ Install: npm install @webflow/styled-components-utils
→ Add to globals.ts:
typescript import { styledComponentsShadowDomDecorator } from "@webflow/styled-components-utils"; export const decorators = [styledComponentsShadowDomDecorator];
→ Reference globals in webflow.json:
json { "library": { "globals": "./src/globals.ts" } }
Without this, styled-components styles will be injected into document.head
instead of the Shadow DOM, and your components will appear unstyled.
---
**Example: Webpack Config Issues**
🔍 Build Validation: My Component Library
Webpack Configuration
⚠️ webpack.webflow.js: module.rules uses array syntax
→ Must use function syntax: rules: (currentRules) => { return [...]; }
→ Array syntax will not work — the function receives current rules to extend
⚠️ webpack.webflow.js: overrides output property
→ The output property is blocked and will be silently ignored
→ Blocked properties: entry, output, target
💡 Use --debug-bundler flag to inspect the final merged webpack config:
npx webflow library bundle --debug-bundler
---
**Example: Shadow DOM Context Warning**
Components Found (2)
1. ThemeProvider ⚠️
-
File: src/components/ThemeProvider/ThemeProvider.webflow.tsx
-
Props: theme (Variant), children (Slot)
-
⚠️ Shadow DOM + React Context Issue:
Component uses Slot prop AND React Context (ThemeContext).
Children placed in slots render in separate Shadow DOM containers
with their own React roots — they cannot access this Context.
Alternatives for cross-component state:
- Nano Stores (lightweight reactive state)
- Custom events (window.dispatchEvent/addEventListener)
- URL parameters (for shareable state)
- Browser storage (localStorage/sessionStorage)
---
## Guidelines
### Validation Order
Run checks in this order for efficiency:
1. Project structure (fast, catches obvious issues)
2. Dependencies (medium, required for build)
3. Component analysis (medium, catches code issues)
4. Framework detection (medium, validates CSS-in-JS/Tailwind/Sass setup)
5. Build test (slow, but required)
### SSR Detection Patterns
Look for these patterns that indicate SSR issues:
```typescript
// Direct browser API usage (will break SSR)
window.innerWidth
document.getElementById
localStorage.getItem
navigator.userAgent
sessionStorage.getItem
// Dynamic/personalized content (may cause hydration mismatch)
// User-specific dashboards, authenticated views
// Heavy/interactive UI (SSR adds no value, re-renders anyway)
// Charts, 3D scenes, maps, animation-driven elements
// Non-deterministic output (differs server vs client)
Math.random()
new Date().toLocaleString()
// Safe patterns (in useEffect or state initializer)
useEffect(() => {
// Browser APIs here are fine
}, []);
useState(() => {
if (typeof window === "undefined") return default;
return window.innerWidth;
});
When SSR issues are found, prominently suggest the ssr: false option:
export default declareComponent(MyComponent, {
name: "My Component",
options: {
ssr: false
},
});
CSS-in-JS / Tailwind / Preprocessor Detection
Check project dependencies and files to detect styling frameworks:
styled-components:
- Detect:
styled-components in package.json dependencies
- Require:
@webflow/styled-components-utils installed
- Require:
styledComponentsShadowDomDecorator in globals decorators array
Emotion / Material UI:
- Detect:
@emotion/styled, @emotion/react, or @mui/material in dependencies
- Require:
@webflow/emotion-utils installed
- Require:
emotionShadowDomDecorator in globals decorators array
Tailwind CSS:
- Detect:
tailwindcss in dependencies
- Require:
@tailwindcss/postcss installed
- Require:
postcss.config.mjs with @tailwindcss/postcss plugin
- Require: Tailwind import in globals CSS (
@import "tailwindcss")
Sass:
- Detect:
.scss files in src or sass in dependencies
- Require:
sass and sass-loader installed as dev dependencies
- Require: webpack config with
.scss rule using function syntax for module.rules
- Require:
bundleConfig set in webflow.json
Less:
- Detect:
.less files in src or less in dependencies
- Require:
less and less-loader installed as dev dependencies
- Require: webpack config with
.less rule using function syntax for module.rules
- Require:
bundleConfig set in webflow.json
Webpack Config Validation Rules
When bundleConfig is specified in webflow.json:
- File must exist at the specified path
- Must use CommonJS:
module.exports = { ... }
- Blocked properties that are silently ignored:
entry, output, target
module.rules must be a function, not an array: rules: (currentRules) => { ... }
ModuleFederationPlugin and MiniCssExtractPlugin are auto-deduplicated
Common Build Errors
| Error | Cause | Fix |
|---|
| "Can't resolve '@webflow/react'" | Missing dependency | npm i -D @webflow/react |
| "Cannot find module './Component'" | Wrong import path | Check relative paths |
| "Type 'X' is not assignable" | TypeScript error | Fix type mismatch |
| "Unexpected token" | Syntax error | Check JSX/TS syntax |
| "Maximum call stack" | Circular import | Break dependency cycle |
| Bundle exceeds 50MB | Too many/large dependencies | Tree-shake, lazy load, replace heavy libs |
| Styles not appearing | Missing Shadow DOM decorator | Add CSS-in-JS decorator or import styles in .webflow.tsx |
Bundle Size Optimization
Quick wins for reducing bundle size:
- Use production build: Ensure minification is enabled
- Tree-shake imports: Import specific exports
- Replace heavy libraries: moment → date-fns, lodash → lodash-es
- Lazy load: Dynamic imports for heavy components
- Check for duplicates: Multiple React versions, etc.
- Monitor size: Bundle must stay under 50MB limit