npm link + shared libraries stale federation rebuilds and no browser reload in local dev (NF v4 / Angular 21)

[mohsenvafa]

Summary

We use Native Federation v4 on Angular 21 with a shell + 3 MFE remotes. Shared libraries (@cr-portal/common, @cr-portal-domain/core) are developed locally via npm link (ng-packagr dist/ symlinked into the host’s node_modules, with ng build --watch in the lib repos).

In local dev, changes to linked libraries don’t reliably show up in the browser. The dev server often logs a federation rebuild (Re-bundling… Done!), but we still need a manual browser refresh — and sometimes a dev-server restart — to see updates. This is much worse than normal ng serve live reload.

We previously got it working with a custom patch (file watcher + forced remapping rebuild + browser reload via SSE), but removed it because it was too fragile to maintain across upgrades.

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Environment

Package | Version -- | -- Angular (@angular/core, CLI, @angular/build, Material, etc.) | 21.2.12 @angular-architects/native-federation-v4 | 21.2.1 @softarc/native-federation | 4.1.3 @softarc/native-federation-orchestrator | 4.2.2 @softarc/native-federation-node | 3.3.4 TypeScript | 5.9.3 es-module-shims | 1.5.12 Node | >=20.19.0 (22.x also tested)

We removed all patches and are using manual refresh for now.

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Suggestion

Please consider first-class support for npm link / locally linked shared packages in NF v4 dev mode, for example:

• Watch linked package paths under node_modules (or configurable watch roots)
• Reliable cache invalidation when sharedMappings resolve through symlinks
• Wire up host browser reload when federation rebuild completes (SSE / buildNotificationsEndpoint)
• Document a supported npm-link local dev workflow for v4

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Willing to help

Happy to provide:

• Terminal logs (rebuild + SSE lines)
• Details of the patch approach that worked but was abandoned

Thanks for looking into this.