Frontend dependencies

We use yarn@1 to manage frontend dependencies.

There are a few exceptions in the GitLab repository, stored in vendor/assets/.

What are production and development dependencies?

These dependencies are defined in two groups within package.json, dependencies and devDependencies. For our purposes, we consider anything that is required to compile our production assets a “production” dependency. That is, anything required to run the webpack script with NODE_ENV=production. Tools like eslint, jest, and various plugins and tools used in development are considered devDependencies. This distinction is used by omnibus to determine which dependencies it requires when building GitLab.

Exceptions are made for some tools that we require in the compile-production-assets CI job such as webpack-bundle-analyzer to analyze our production assets post-compile.

Updating dependencies

See the main Dependencies page for general information about dependency updates.

Patching dependencies

Patches can be applied to dependencies with patch-package. Patches are stored under the patches/ directory.

What warrants a patch

Dependencies should only be patched as a last resort, as they are technical debt. Here are some acceptable reasons for patching a dependency:

• it is unmaintained, so there isn’t an upstream version which includes the change;
• there is a vulnerability identified that we cannot wait for upstream to fix;
• to change aspects that are specific to GitLab and would or could not be changed upstream.

Patching a dependency

1. If possible, add tests that ensure the patch achieves the desired behavior.
2. Edit the relevant file directly in node_modules. Ensure to include a comment in your edit which details:
   • why the patch is needed,
   • when it can be removed,
   • a link to an issue or merge request which describes the problem that the patch solves.
3. Generate the patch from your edit by running yarn patch-package <package-name>.
4. Add the patch with git add patches/.
5. Commit as usual.

Updating a patch

Patches are specific to the particular version of the dependency. When that dependency is updated, any patches for it must also be updated.

If the patch applies cleanly:

1. Run yarn patch-package <package-name> to rename the patch to apply to the new version.
2. Run git add patches/.
3. Commit as usual.

If the patch does not apply cleanly, determine whether the patch is still needed.

• If so, create a new patch from scratch.
• If not, delete the patch file, and commit.