Retry Strategies

Retry Strategies Overview

Retry Strategies is a building block you will reach for often in Module Federation. It keeps related logic together and makes your intent obvious to reviewers and future maintainers.

When you learn retry strategies properly, you avoid the guesswork that leads to bugs and rework. The example below shows the shape you will use in most real Module Federation projects.

const { ModuleFederationPlugin } = require('webpack').container;

module.exports = {
  plugins: [
    new ModuleFederationPlugin({
      name: 'shell',
      remotes: { catalog: 'catalog@http://localhost:3001/remoteEntry.js' },
      exposes: {},
      shared: { react: { singleton: true }, 'react-dom': { singleton: true } },
    }),
  ],
};

ModuleFederationPlugin configures which modules an app exposes, consumes, and shares.

Retry Strategies Example

new ModuleFederationPlugin({
  name: 'app',
  filename: 'remoteEntry.js',
  exposes: { './Widget': './src/Widget' },
  remotes: { other: 'other@http://host/remoteEntry.js' },
  shared: { react: { singleton: true } },
});

• Start from a minimal Retry Strategies example and grow it only as needed.
• Keep configuration explicit so Retry Strategies behaves the same in every environment.
• Name things clearly so teammates understand your Retry Strategies at a glance.
• Add tests around Retry Strategies early to lock in expected behaviour.

Module Federation Cheatsheet

Key Module Federation settings related to retry strategies.

How Retry Strategies Works in Module Federation

Retry Strategies builds on Module Federation's ability to load code from another independently built and deployed application at runtime. Each app can be a host, a remote, or both.

ModuleFederationPlugin configures which modules an app exposes, consumes, and shares.

• Remotes expose modules through a remoteEntry.js manifest.
• Hosts declare remotes and import exposed modules dynamically.
• Shared dependencies are deduplicated, ideally as singletons.
• Each micro frontend builds and deploys on its own schedule.

Practical Guidance for Retry Strategies

In production, retry strategies needs careful version management and graceful failure handling. Align shared dependency versions and always render a fallback when a remote cannot load.

Common Mistakes

• Copying retry strategies snippets without understanding what each line does.
• Skipping error handling and edge cases when wiring up retry strategies.
• Leaving retry strategies untested, so regressions slip into production.
• Over-engineering retry strategies before you actually need the extra flexibility.

Key Takeaways

• Retry Strategies is a core part of working effectively with Module Federation.
• Start small and keep retry strategies focused on a single responsibility.
• Apply consistent patterns so retry strategies scales across your project.
• Test and document retry strategies to keep it maintainable over time.