Native Federation

Native Federation Overview

At its core, native federation is about doing one thing well inside your Module Federation project. Once you understand the pattern, you can apply it consistently across features and teams.

Good native federation pays off across the whole codebase: fewer surprises, easier testing, and smoother onboarding. The snippet below is a solid starting point.

const { ModuleFederationPlugin } = require('webpack').container;

module.exports = {
  plugins: [
    new ModuleFederationPlugin({
      name: 'shell',
      remotes: { catalog: 'catalog@http://localhost:3001/remoteEntry.js' },
      exposes: {},
      shared: { react: { singleton: true }, 'react-dom': { singleton: true } },
    }),
  ],
};

ModuleFederationPlugin configures which modules an app exposes, consumes, and shares.

Native Federation Example

new ModuleFederationPlugin({
  name: 'app',
  filename: 'remoteEntry.js',
  exposes: { './Widget': './src/Widget' },
  remotes: { other: 'other@http://host/remoteEntry.js' },
  shared: { react: { singleton: true } },
});

• Start from a minimal Native Federation example and grow it only as needed.
• Keep configuration explicit so Native Federation behaves the same in every environment.
• Name things clearly so teammates understand your Native Federation at a glance.
• Add tests around Native Federation early to lock in expected behaviour.

Module Federation Cheatsheet

Key Module Federation settings related to native federation.

How Native Federation Works in Module Federation

Native Federation builds on Module Federation's ability to load code from another independently built and deployed application at runtime. Each app can be a host, a remote, or both.

ModuleFederationPlugin configures which modules an app exposes, consumes, and shares.

• Remotes expose modules through a remoteEntry.js manifest.
• Hosts declare remotes and import exposed modules dynamically.
• Shared dependencies are deduplicated, ideally as singletons.
• Each micro frontend builds and deploys on its own schedule.

Practical Guidance for Native Federation

In production, native federation needs careful version management and graceful failure handling. Align shared dependency versions and always render a fallback when a remote cannot load.

Common Mistakes

• Skipping error handling and edge cases when wiring up native federation.
• Leaving native federation untested, so regressions slip into production.
• Over-engineering native federation before you actually need the extra flexibility.
• Ignoring documentation, which makes native federation hard for the next developer to change.

Key Takeaways

• Native Federation is a core part of working effectively with Module Federation.
• Start small and keep native federation focused on a single responsibility.
• Apply consistent patterns so native federation scales across your project.
• Test and document native federation to keep it maintainable over time.