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wtf is react-refresh-webpack-plugin?

gaearon/react-refresh-webpack-plugin — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-17 · repo last pushed 2020-07-24

★ 5Audience · developerComplexity · 3/5DormantSetup · moderate

TL;DR

A Webpack plugin that reloads only the React component you changed during development, keeping the rest of the app's state intact instead of a full page refresh.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Patches changed components live
      Keeps app state on save
      Only active in development
    Tech stack
      Webpack
      Babel
      React
    Use cases
      Speed up UI iteration
      Preserve form state while coding
      Show error overlay on break
    Audience
      React developers
      UI designers

Code map

Detail Auto

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filefunction / class

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Keep form and navigation state intact while tweaking a React component's code

REASON 2

Speed up iteration on UI-heavy pages by avoiding full page reloads on every save

REASON 3

See a helpful error overlay in development when a component update breaks

What's in the stack?

WebpackBabelReact

How it stacks up

gaearon/react-refresh-webpack-plugin00kaku/wp-rest-playground1ncendium/aibuster
Stars555
Language—JavaScriptPython
Last pushed2020-07-24——
MaintenanceDormant——
Setup difficultymoderatehardmoderate
Complexity3/53/53/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperops devops

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires configuring both Webpack and Babel together, still experimental with some edge-case limitations.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Show me how to configure Webpack and Babel to enable React Fast Refresh with this plugin
Prompt 2
Add this plugin to my existing webpack-dev-server setup for React development
Prompt 3
Explain the limitations of this plugin, like why class components remount on update

Frequently asked questions

wtf is react-refresh-webpack-plugin?

A Webpack plugin that reloads only the React component you changed during development, keeping the rest of the app's state intact instead of a full page refresh.

Is react-refresh-webpack-plugin actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2020-07-24).

How hard is react-refresh-webpack-plugin to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is react-refresh-webpack-plugin for?

Mainly developer.

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