Using Storybook#

Storybook is a tool dedicated to component debugging, providing around component development.

• Develop UIs that are more durable
• Test UIs with less effort and no flakes
• Document UI for your team to reuse
• Share how the UI actually works
• Automate UI workflows

Before when using Storybook, there are various problems related to configurations, Babel, Webpack, less or sass, but those are already included in Modern.js builder, using Modern.js builder can make your configurations a log easier.

You can switch between Webpack and Rspack smoothly in Modern.js builder, for those who already use Modern.js builder or Modern.js framework, you can start using Storybook with the same configurations.

Quick Start#

Before getting started, the current Storybook supports building using either Webpack or Rspack as the underlying tool. Depending on your needs, install any of the following packages:

• @modern-js/builder-webpack-provider: Use Webpack for building with better compatibility.
• @modern-js/builder-rspack-provider: Use Rspack for building with super fast startup speed (recommended).

Using in Modern.js projects, Not using legacy Storybook plugin(@modern-js/plugin-storybook)#

If your current project is already a Modern.js project and you haven't used any old version Storybook plugins, you can directly enable the Storybook feature by using the following command:

$ npx modern new
? Please select the operation you want: Enable features
? Please select the feature name: Enable「Storybook」V7

This command will create a template for Storybook, including:

• Creating a configuration folder .storybook and a default configuration file .storybook/main.ts.
• Creating example story components.
• Updating package.json to add dependencies @storybook/addon-essentials and @modern-js/storybook, as well as creating Storybook-related scripts.

To start, run npm run storybook.

Migrate from @modern-js/plugin-storybook#

If you are using an older version of the Storybook plugin, you can still run the command above to create templates and modify the package.json. You can also upgrade manually.

If you have made some custom configurations to Storybook in the older version, you need to move the configuration file root/config/storybook/main.(j|t)s to root/.storybook/main.(j|t)s.

And then add the following lines in root/.storybook/main.(j|t)s, specify framework as @modern-js/storybook.

const config = {
+  framework: {
+    name: '@modern-js/storybook'
+  }
};

export default config;

Update dependencies like @storybook/addon-* to major version 7.

Finally, follow the official Storybook documentation to make the necessary updates for some breaking changes, such as changes in story writing and MDX syntax. You can refer to the migration guide at storybook migrate doc.

Addon some scripts in your package.json

{
  "scripts": {
    "storybook": "storybook dev -p 6006",
    "build-storybook": "storybook build",
  }
}

To Start, run npm run storybook

Native Storybook users#

Modern.js Builder only support Storybook 7, so you need to upgrade from Storybook version 6 to version 7, please follow the steps outlined in the official Storybook documentation at storybook migrate doc.

const config = {
-  framework: '@storybook/react-webapck5',
+  framework: {
+    name: '@modern-js/storybook'
+  },
};

export default config;

The default config file path is modern.config.(j|t)s, for the detail config, see builder config.

If the original project includes configurations for Babel, they need to be written in the modern configuration. Most Babel configurations have already been included in Modern.js.

Enable Rspack build#

Rspack is known for its fast build speed. To use Rspack as a build tool in Modern.js, you only need to configure it as follows:

const config = {
  framework: {
    name: '@modern-js/storybook',
    options: {
-      bundler: 'webpack'
+      bundler: 'rspack'
    },
  },
  typescript: {
-    reactDocgen: 'react-docgen-typescript'
+    reactDocgen: 'react-docgen'
  }
};

export default config;

Note that in the above configuration, the reactDocgen configuration has been changed because Rspack currently does not support @storybook/react-docgen-typescript-plugin.

Before starting, make sure that you have installed the @modern-js/builder-rspack-provider package.

Configurations#

There are some configurations in .storybook/main.js.

configPath#

• Type: string
• Default: modern.config.(j|t)s

Specify the path of Modern.js Builder configuration.

Example:

const config = {
  framework: {
    name: '@modern-js/storybook',
    options: {
      configPath: 'modern.storybook.config.ts'
    }
  }
};

export default config;

bundler#

• Type: 'webpack' | 'rspack'
• Default: webpack

Specify the underlying build tool to use either Webpack or Rspack. Please make sure to install the corresponding provider. To use Webpack, install @modern-js/builder-webpack-provider. To use Rspack, install @modern-js/builder-rspack-provider.

Example:

const config = {
  framework: {
    name: '@modern-js/storybook',
    options: {
      bundler: 'rspack'
    }
  }
};

export default config;

builderConfig#

• Type: BuilderConfig
• Default: undefined

To modify the configuration of the builder, which has a higher priority than the configuration file, you can specify the Modern.js builder configuration directly here if you do not want to use the configuration file.

Example:

const config = {
  framework: {
    name: '@modern-js/storybook',
    options: {
      builderConfig: {
        alias: {
          react: require.resolve('react'),
          'react-dom': require.resolve('react-dom'),
        }
      }
    }
  }
};

export default config;

Command Line Interface#

@modern-js/storybook proxies some of the storybook cli commands.

storybook dev#

Start Storybook, more details at https://storybook.js.org/docs/react/api/cli-options#dev.

storybook build#

Build Storybook for production, more details at https://storybook.js.org/docs/react/api/cli-options#build.

ConfigFile#

The configuration file includes an additional field: builderPlugins, in addition to the Modern.js builder configuration. This field is used to enable builder plugins, such as enabling SWC compilation.

import { defineConfig } from '@modern-js/storybook';
import { builderPluginSwc } from '@modern-js/builder-plugin-swc';

const config = defineConfig({
  builderPlugins: [builderPluginSwc()]
});

export default config;

Storybook addon compatibility#

Due to the current version of Storybook in the document being version 7, please select the addon for Storybook V7.

When an addon does not require additional Babel or Webpack configurations, it can be used directly, such as @storybook/addon-essentials.

For some addons that require dependencies on Babel plugins and Webpack configurations, such as @storybook/addon-coverage, only @modern-js/builder-webpack-provider supports them.

Benefits#

Using @modern-js/storybook can bring you lightning-fast builds with Rspack, without the need for tedious configuration. It comes with many best practices for web development out-of-the-box, such as code splitting strategies, built-in support for CSS modules and postcss, TypeScript support, and commonly used Babel plugins.

The powerful capabilities of Modern.js builder can be directly used in Storybook projects.

Trouble Shooting#

1. Modern.js builder won't load your other configurations like babel.config.json, babel config needs to be set in Modern.js config, tools.babel. Webpack configuration can be written in either tools.webpack or tools.webpackChain.

2. If you find that the build performance is not good, please check if the Storybook automatic documentation generation feature is enabled. For optimal performance, configure it to use react-docgen. The difference between react-docgen and react-docgen-typescript is that the former is implemented based on Babel, while the latter is implemented based on TypeScript. The former has better performance but weaker type inference capabilities. If you are using Rspack for the build, only react-docgen is supported.

const config = {
  typescript: {
    reactDocgen: 'react-docgen'
  }
}

export default config