Plugin Bundle Size
Grafana LabsOfficialPublished by Grafana Labs
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- Tool integration
- Cloud and DevOps
- Apache-2.0
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AutoGineer summary
Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author
This skill provides a structured approach to reducing the initial load time of Grafana app plugins. By moving from a monolithic entry point to a code-split architecture, developers can ensure that only essential code is loaded initially, while feature-specific logic is fetched on demand. The guide covers CI-based bundle size monitoring, strategic refactoring of the entry point, and implementation of lazy-loading boundaries for routes, extensions, and components.
What it does
- Provides a step-by-step workflow for implementing React.lazy and Suspense in Grafana plugins.
- Offers guidance on setting up automated bundle size reporting in GitHub Actions.
- Explains how to refactor module.tsx to eliminate eager imports of feature code.
- Details techniques for route-based and component-level code splitting.
- Includes troubleshooting steps for common build and runtime issues.
- Provides best practices for managing singletons and shared dependencies.
When to use it
- When your Grafana plugin has a large initial JS payload that slows down startup.
- When you need to reduce the size of module.js to improve plugin performance.
- When you want to implement lazy loading for plugin pages or extensions.
- When you need to verify and optimise your plugin's chunk distribution.
Advantages
- Significantly reduces initial plugin load time.
- Prevents unnecessary code from being loaded by the browser.
- Provides clear metrics and CI integration for tracking bundle size changes.
- Standardises the approach to code splitting across different plugin types.
Usage examples
- “How can I reduce the initial bundle size of my Grafana app plugin?”
- The agent will guide you through measuring your current baseline, setting up CI reporting, and refactoring your module.tsx to use lazy-loaded wrappers.
- “My plugin is slow to load, how do I implement code splitting?”
- The agent will provide instructions on identifying heavy imports and applying React.lazy and Suspense to your routes and components.
- “Help me implement Suspense in my Grafana plugin.”
- The agent will show you how to wrap your lazy-loaded components in Suspense boundaries and handle fallbacks correctly.
- “How do I split my plugin chunks to improve performance?”
- The agent will explain how to use webpack magic comments to group related features and achieve an optimal chunk count.
Install
Download the skill as a ZIP:
https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/grafana/plugin-bundle-size/downloadUnzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:
mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip plugin-bundle-size.zip -d .agents/skills
Documentation by Grafana Labs
Grafana plugin bundle size optimisation
module.js is the render-blocking entry point for every Grafana app plugin. The smaller it is, the less impact the plugin has on Grafana's overall startup time. A well-split plugin should have a module.js under ~200 KB that contains nothing but lazy-loaded wrappers — all feature code loads on demand.
Target: ~15–25 JS chunks total. Fewer means too little splitting; far more (50+) means over-engineering.
Risk levels
Not all splitting opportunities carry the same risk. Apply them in this order:
| Level | What | Risk | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safe | module.tsx lazy wrappers (Priority 1) | Very low — no behaviour change | Highest — module.js drops 90%+ |
| Safe | Route-level lazy() (Priority 2) | Low — each route is self-contained | High — one chunk per route |
| Safe | Extension lazy() (Priority 3) | Low — extensions are isolated | Medium — independent chunk per extension |
| Moderate | Component registries / tab panels (Priority 4) | Medium — verify Suspense placement | Medium — splits heavy pages further |
| Do not touch | Vendor libraries (@grafana/scenes, @reduxjs/toolkit) | N/A | N/A — webpack splits these automatically |
| Do not touch | Shared utility components (Markdown, Spinner) used across many files | High churn, many callsites | Low — already in shared vendor chunks |
When in doubt, stop after Priority 2. Routes alone typically reduce module.js by 95%+.
Step 1: Add bundle size CI reporting (recommended)
Add the grafana/plugin-actions/bundle-size action to get automatic bundle size comparison comments on every PR. This posts a table showing entry point size changes, file count diffs, and total bundle impact.
Root-level plugins (plugin at repo root):
# .github/workflows/bundle-size.yml
name: Bundle Size
on:
pull_request:
push:
branches: [main]
workflow_dispatch:
jobs:
bundle-size:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
permissions:
contents: write
id-token: write
pull-requests: write
actions: read
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version-file: .nvmrc
- name: Install and build
run: yarn install
- name: Bundle Size
uses: grafana/plugin-actions/bundle-size@a66a1c96cdbb176f9cccf10cf23593e250db7cce # bundle-size/v1.1.0Subdirectory plugins (e.g. plugin/ in a monorepo):
The action's install step runs at the repo root and cannot find yarn.lock in a subdirectory. Work around this by installing deps yourself and symlinking to root:
jobs:
bundle-size:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
permissions:
contents: write
id-token: write
pull-requests: write
actions: read
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version-file: ./plugin/.nvmrc
- name: Install dependencies
working-directory: ./plugin
run: yarn install
- name: Symlink plugin to root for bundle-size action
run: |
ln -s plugin/yarn.lock yarn.lock
ln -s plugin/package.json package.json
ln -s plugin/.yarnrc.yml .yarnrc.yml
ln -s plugin/node_modules node_modules
- name: Bundle Size
uses: grafana/plugin-actions/bundle-size@a66a1c96cdbb176f9cccf10cf23593e250db7cce # bundle-size/v1.1.0
with:
working-directory: ./pluginHow it works: On push to main, builds and uploads a baseline artifact. On PRs, compares against it and posts a diff comment. Use workflow_dispatch to generate the first baseline.
Reference: grafana-k8s-plugin workflow
Step 2: Detect plugin context
# Confirm this is an app plugin (type: "app" — datasource/panel plugins have different needs)
jq -r '"\(.id) — \(.type)"' src/plugin.json
# Locate the entry point
ls src/module.ts src/module.tsx 2>/dev/null
# Measure the current PRODUCTION bundle size BEFORE making any changes
# Dev builds are unminified and much larger — always measure production
yarn build 2>/dev/null || npm run build
echo "=== module.js ===" && ls -lah dist/module.js
echo "=== all JS chunks ===" && ls -lah dist/*.js | sort -k5 -rh | head -20
echo "=== chunk count ===" && ls dist/*.js | wc -lRecord the baseline. A pre-split plugin commonly has a module.js of 1–3 MB with no other JS chunks.
Step 3: Check and update create-plugin
The @grafana/create-plugin tool controls .config/webpack/, .config/jest/, and other build scaffolding. Updating it often unlocks faster SWC compilation and better chunk output.
cat .config/.cprc.json 2>/dev/null || grep '"@grafana/create-plugin"' package.json
npm view @grafana/create-plugin version
npx @grafana/create-plugin@latest updateAfter updating, review the diff (especially .config/webpack/webpack.config.ts) and run a test build. If the plugin has a top-level webpack.config.ts that webpack-merges the base config, review the merge for conflicts.
Step 4: Analyse the codebase — find what to split
Do not start implementing until you have read all of these.
# Entry point — look for direct (non-lazy) imports of App, ConfigPage, exposeComponent targets
cat src/module.ts 2>/dev/null || cat src/module.tsx
# Root App component — look for direct page/route imports that should be lazy
cat src/App.tsx src/components/App.tsx src/feature/app/components/App.tsx 2>/dev/null | head -80
# Extension registrations — each should become an independent chunk
grep -r "exposeComponent\|addComponent\|addLink" src/ --include="*.ts" --include="*.tsx" -n
# Exported side-effect singletons (Faro, analytics) — must be extracted before splitting
grep -n "^export const\|^export let" src/module.ts src/module.tsx 2>/dev/null
grep -rn "from '.*module'" src/ --include="*.ts" --include="*.tsx" | grep -v node_modules
# Heavy synchronous imports
grep -rn "from 'monaco-editor\|@codemirror\|d3\b\|recharts\|chart\.js" \
src/ --include="*.ts" --include="*.tsx" | grep -v node_modulesKey rule: If a file is imported by module.ts directly (even transitively), it ends up in module.js. Everything reachable from a lazy boundary becomes its own chunk.
Step 5: Implement splits — in priority order
Named vs default exports:
React.lazy()requires adefaultexport. Most Grafana plugin components use named exports — use.then()to re-map:// Named export const LazyMyComp = lazy(() => import('./MyComponent').then(m => ({ default: m.MyComponent }))); // Default export const LazyMyComp = lazy(() => import('./MyComponent'));
Priority 1: module.tsx (highest impact, always do this first)
If the entry point is module.ts, rename it: git mv src/module.ts src/module.tsx
Make module.tsx import nothing from feature code except through lazy():
import React, { lazy, Suspense } from 'react';
import { AppPlugin, AppRootProps } from '@grafana/data';
import { LoadingPlaceholder } from '@grafana/ui';
import type { MyExtensionProps } from './extensions/MyExtension'; // import type — erased at compile time
import type { JsonData } from './features/app/state/slice';
// Lazy Faro init — keeps @grafana/faro-react out of module.js
let faroInitialized = false;
async function initFaro() {
if (faroInitialized) { return; }
faroInitialized = true;
const { initializeFaro } = await import('faro');
initializeFaro();
}
const LazyApp = lazy(async () => {
await initFaro();
return import('./features/app/App').then(m => ({ default: m.App }));
});
function App(props: AppRootProps<JsonData>) {
return <Suspense fallback={<LoadingPlaceholder text="" />}><LazyApp {...props} /></Suspense>;
}
const LazyMyExtension = lazy(() =>
import('./extensions/MyExtension').then(m => ({ default: m.MyExtension }))
);
function MyExtension(props: MyExtensionProps) {
return <Suspense fallback={<LoadingPlaceholder text="" />}><LazyMyExtension {...props} /></Suspense>;
}
export const plugin = new AppPlugin<JsonData>().setRootPage(App);
plugin.exposeComponent({ id: 'my-plugin/my-extension/v1', title: 'My Extension', component: MyExtension });Key details:
import typefor props prevents webpack from following the import into the eager bundleUse
new AppPlugin<JsonData>()if App usesAppRootProps<JsonData>— without the generic,setRootPage()type won't matchRemove any
App as unknown as ComponentClass<AppRootProps>cast — the lazy wrapper is a valid function component
Expected impact: module.js drops from MB range to ~50–200 KB.
Singletons (e.g. Faro): If module.ts has export const faro = initializeFaro(), do NOT keep it as a top-level import. Extract it to src/faro.ts, update all internal imports from '*/module' → '*/faro', then use the dynamic initFaro() pattern above.
Priority 2: Route-based splitting in App.tsx
import React, { lazy, Suspense } from 'react';
import { Route, Routes } from 'react-router-dom';
import { LoadingPlaceholder } from '@grafana/ui';
const HomePage = lazy(() => import('../pages/Home'));
const SettingsPage = lazy(() => import('../pages/Settings'));
const DetailPage = lazy(() => import('../pages/Detail'));
function App(props: AppRootProps) {
return (
<Suspense fallback={<LoadingPlaceholder text="" />}>
<Routes>
<Route path="home" element={<HomePage />} />
<Route path="settings" element={<SettingsPage />} />
<Route path="detail/:id" element={<DetailPage />} />
<Route path="" element={<HomePage />} />
</Routes>
</Suspense>
);
}
export default App;Bypass barrel files: Target the actual component file in the import(), not an index.ts barrel that re-exports multiple things:
// Risky — barrel may pull in other heavy modules
const Catalog = lazy(() => import('features/catalog'));
// Better — only pulls in Catalog's tree
const Catalog = lazy(() => import('features/catalog/Catalog').then(m => ({ default: m.Catalog })));Priority 3: Extension components
Each extension should export default its component. Use fallback={null} for extensions that load quickly:
// src/extensions/MyExtension.tsx
export default function MyExtension(props: MyExtensionProps) {
return <AppProviders><MyExtensionContent {...props} /></AppProviders>;
}Surgical split: If an extension wrapper must stay eager in module.tsx, lazy-load the heavy component it renders:
const HeavyInner = lazy(() => import('components/features/HeavyInner'));
export function MyExtension() {
return <Suspense fallback={<LoadingPlaceholder text="" />}><HeavyInner /></Suspense>;
}Priority 4: Component registries and tab panels
For arrays of objects containing React components (e.g. tab panels), lazy-load each entry. Critical: ensure a <Suspense> boundary exists where the component renders.
const ConfigDetails = lazy(() => import('./ConfigDetails/ConfigDetails').then(m => ({ default: m.ConfigDetails })));
const Overview = lazy(() => import('./Overview/Overview').then(m => ({ default: m.Overview })));
const tabs = [
{ id: 'overview', component: Overview },
{ id: 'config', component: ConfigDetails },
];
// In the parent that renders the active tab:
<Suspense fallback={<LoadingPlaceholder text="" />}>
{ActiveTab && <ActiveTab />}
</Suspense>For datasource plugins (setConfigEditor, setQueryEditor, VariableSupport, AnnotationSupport), see references/datasource-plugins.md.
Step 6: Group related chunks if over-splitting
If the build produces more than ~25 JS files, use webpack magic comments:
const FleetList = lazy(() => import(/* webpackChunkName: "fleet" */ '../pages/FleetList'));
const FleetDetail = lazy(() => import(/* webpackChunkName: "fleet" */ '../pages/FleetDetail'));One webpackChunkName per logical feature area. Don't group unrelated pages.
Step 7: Measure and verify
yarn build 2>/dev/null || npm run build
echo "=== module.js ===" && ls -lah dist/module.js
echo "=== all JS chunks (largest first) ===" && ls -lah dist/*.js | sort -k5 -rh | head -30
echo "=== chunk count ===" && ls dist/*.js | wc -l| Metric | Target |
|---|---|
module.js size | < 200 KB |
| Total JS chunk count | 15–25 |
| Largest single chunk | < 1 MB |
# Analyse bundle composition if a chunk is unexpectedly large
npx webpack-bundle-analyzer dist/stats.json 2>/dev/nullStep 8: Test the running plugin
Open the plugin in a Grafana instance
Navigate to every route — each triggers a new chunk download
DevTools → Network → JS: confirm lazy chunks load on navigation, not all upfront
Check Console for errors
Test any
exposeComponentextensions from other Grafana apps
For troubleshooting common issues, see references/troubleshooting.md.
References
grafana-collector-app — app plugin reference implementation
grafana/plugin-actions — official Grafana plugin CI actions
Files
- ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer859 B
- LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer11.1 KiB
- SKILL.md14.1 KiB
- references/datasource-plugins.md2.4 KiB
- references/troubleshooting.md2.8 KiB
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Attribution and licence
- Published by
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- Grafana Labs (Official)
- Source
- grafana/skills · skills/grafana-plugins/plugin-bundle-size · commit 8fb72a5
- Licence
- Apache License 2.0 (redistribution allowed)
- LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
- ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
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