Do I need to run `npm run prod` on production?

Title: Understanding npm Run Prod for Laravel Production Environments Introduction Laravel is an impressive framework that offers numerous useful tools to improve your development process. However, some tasks can be confusing or unclear especially when it comes to production setup. One such question that often arises is whether you need to run npm run prod on a live server (production). This article aims to clarify this issue and provide insights into Laravel's package.json file, the default npm commands, and how those relate to production environments. What Exactly is "NPM" in Package Management? NPM (Node Package Manager) is a tool used for managing dependencies and tasks related to JavaScript projects. It has become an essential part of any modern JavaScript project involving Node.js. The npm run prefix is the base command for running custom scripts specified in your package.json file. Laravel's Default Package.json File Laravel uses a default package.json containing only devDependencies - those are dependencies that we need during development but not necessarily during production. This is because the live server environment requires minimal resources and fast loading times, making it impractical to bundle all our dependencies. When is "npm run development" Used? Using a command such as npm run development, which is defined in Laravel's package.json file, we compile all the application dependencies with Webpack into a single file. This process is then pushed to production via version-control systems like GitHub or Bitbucket. The final step involves running this compiled file on the live server, ensuring our website is free of conflicts and works as intended. Why Do We Need "npm run prod"? npm run prod is not needed for Laravel's production environment since we have already bundled all dependencies with Webpack during development. Instead, running this command on a live server would potentially result in errors or conflicts due to different dependency versions between the development and production environments. For proper production setup, ensure your package.json file only contains devDependencies required for local development. Then follow standard best practices for Laravel's production environment by running `composer install` (which installs composer dependencies) on your live server. This will ensure a clean, error-free, and efficient live website without the need to run npm run prod. Conclusion Running npm run prod is not required for Laravel's production environment if you follow recommended deployment practices. It is essential to maintain a clear distinction between devDependencies for development and production-specific dependencies, allowing us to have an efficient, error-free live website without unnecessary command executions. For more information on this topic and many others related to Laravel frameworks, check out our comprehensive guide at https://laravelcompany.com/blog/.