What is the best way to preload my chunked CSS?

[jameshibbard]

I'm currently running my Rails/Vue app through Google's PageSpeed Insights and it's telling me I could shave off a reasonable amount of time (on mobile) if I preload my chunked CSS.

It says:

Consider using <link rel=preload> to prioritize fetching resources that are currently requested later in page load
URL: …css/below-fold-369ba11f.chunk.css

It seems webpack 4.6.0 adds support for preloading using a magic comment:

import(/* webpackPreload: true */ "...")

However, the latest version of webpacker uses webpack 4.33.

What is the best way to implement this using the current version of webpacker? I'd be grateful for a pointer in the right direction.

[jakeNiemiec]

However, the latest version of webpacker uses webpack 4.33.

Luckily, I think you may have just misread the version. 4.33 is 27 versions later than 4.6. Enjoy preloading, but keep in mind the specifics: #1874 (comment)

Funny you should ask today, we are currently looking into the CSS/font/image aspect this in #2124. Hopefully, we can ship this feature for styles soon.

[jameshibbard]

Lol, oops, I was reading that as 4.3.3.
Thanks for the quick response and helpful links :)

[jakeNiemiec]

No problem, feel free to chime in on the other issue with your use-case.

[jameshibbard]

Sure thing. I just need to get it working first.

I'm creating the chunk like this:

const BelowFold = () => import(
  './below-fold.vue'
  /* webpackChunkName: "below-fold" */
);

Which works as expected.

However, when I change that to:

const BelowFold = () => import(
  './below-fold.vue'
  /* webpackPreload: true */
  /* webpackChunkName: "below-fold" */
);

Google PageSpeed Insights still complains that I should preload /packs/css/below-fold-e23536a5.chunk.css.

Do have any idea where I'm going wrong?

(Sorry, I know this likely isn't a webpacker issue, so I can head off to StackOverflow if you'd rather).

[jakeNiemiec]

I think we can use Webpacker.manifest.lookup to resolve like this:

<link href="<%= Webpacker.manifest.lookup('below-fold-chunk.css') %>" rel="preload" as="style">

Can you do me a favor? Could you post your generated manifest.json file? It should be somewhere in public.

[jameshibbard]

Sure.

{
  "application.css": "/packs/css/application-cade8523.css",
  "application.css.map": "/packs/css/application-cade8523.css.map",
  "application.js": "/packs/js/application-807c7484ddb65da3f261.js",
  "application.js.map": "/packs/js/application-807c7484ddb65da3f261.js.map",
  "below-fold.css": "/packs/css/below-fold-a5c67fb7.chunk.css",
  "below-fold.css.map": "/packs/css/below-fold-a5c67fb7.chunk.css.map",
  "below-fold.js": "/packs/js/below-fold-bfbd2fbf1380f51ecae1.chunk.js",
  "below-fold.js.map": "/packs/js/below-fold-bfbd2fbf1380f51ecae1.chunk.js.map",
  "entrypoints": {
    "application": {
      "css": [
        "/packs/css/application-cade8523.css"
      ],
      "js": [
        "/packs/js/application-807c7484ddb65da3f261.js"
      ],
      "css.map": [
        "/packs/css/application-cade8523.css.map"
      ],
      "js.map": [
        "/packs/js/application-807c7484ddb65da3f261.js.map"
      ]
    }
  },
  "media/fonts/brand-icons.eot": "/packs/media/fonts/brand-icons-13db00b7.eot",
  "media/fonts/brand-icons.svg": "/packs/media/fonts/brand-icons-a1a749e8.svg",
  "media/fonts/brand-icons.ttf": "/packs/media/fonts/brand-icons-c5ebe0b3.ttf",
  "media/fonts/brand-icons.woff": "/packs/media/fonts/brand-icons-a046592b.woff",
  "media/fonts/brand-icons.woff2": "/packs/media/fonts/brand-icons-e8c322de.woff2",
  "media/fonts/icons.eot": "/packs/media/fonts/icons-8e3c7f55.eot",
  "media/fonts/icons.svg": "/packs/media/fonts/icons-962a1bf3.svg",
  "media/fonts/icons.ttf": "/packs/media/fonts/icons-b87b9ba5.ttf",
  "media/fonts/icons.woff": "/packs/media/fonts/icons-faff9214.woff",
  "media/fonts/icons.woff2": "/packs/media/fonts/icons-0ab54153.woff2",
  "media/fonts/outline-icons.eot": "/packs/media/fonts/outline-icons-701ae6ab.eot",
  "media/fonts/outline-icons.svg": "/packs/media/fonts/outline-icons-82f60bd0.svg",
  "media/fonts/outline-icons.ttf": "/packs/media/fonts/outline-icons-ad97afd3.ttf",
  "media/fonts/outline-icons.woff": "/packs/media/fonts/outline-icons-ef60a4f6.woff",
  "media/fonts/outline-icons.woff2": "/packs/media/fonts/outline-icons-cd6c777f.woff2",
  "media/images/flags.png": "/packs/media/images/flags-9c74e172.png"
}

[jakeNiemiec]

Thats what I thought. (the chunk bit is from webpack) This should work:

<link href="<%= Webpacker.manifest.lookup('below-fold.css') %>" rel="preload" as="style">

becomes 👇

<link href="/packs/css/below-fold-a5c67fb7.chunk.css" rel="preload" as="style">

Tell me how that works. (also, test out with fonts)

[jameshibbard]

Oh yeah, that completely solved the problem. Thank you very much indeed!

also, test out with fonts

The fonts are being pulled in by Semantic UI. Should I go through and add a similar line for each font?

[jameshibbard]

Ok, ta. I'll look into that tomorrow.

Thanks once again for your help.

[jakeNiemiec]

Should I go through and add a similar line for each font?

I am not too familiar with Semantic UI, but I would assume so since they are in your manifest.