Nuxt JS Boilerplate Setup Application

Setup boilerplate application for development, staging and production with some modules:

Using Yarn package manager

• PM2 global installation on host
• RimRaf
• Nuxt-Start for staging & production with PM2
• Runtime Config
• Tailwind CSS
• Style Resource (SASS)
• Web font loader (Google font)
• Sitemap
• Security
• Robots
• Font Awesome
• Image Optimizer (jpg, png, gif, svg & webp)

Note: All Modules install in dependencies not in devDependencies, due to deploy application with CI/CD & Docker

Prepare application config files for Development, Staging & Production

• Development Environment (.env.development)

# MASTER CONFIG
# DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT
APP_HOST=0.0.0.0
APP_PORT=3000
APP_MODE="Development"
APP_URL=http://localhost:3000
API_URL=https://api.development-domain.com:8080/v1/

• Staging Environment (.env.staging)

# MASTER CONFIG
# STAGING ENVIRONMENT
APP_HOST=0.0.0.0
APP_PORT=3000
APP_MODE="Development"
APP_URL=http://staging-domain.com:8080
API_URL=https://api.staging-domain.com:8080/v1/

• Production Environment (.env.production)

# MASTER CONFIG
# PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENT
APP_HOST=0.0.0.0
APP_PORT=3000
APP_MODE="Development"
APP_URL=http://production-domain.com
API_URL=https://api.production-domain.com/v1/

You can custom all config value with your own config. And set up your key env to the Nuxt config and nuxt/vue files

How to use on Nuxt Config (nuxt.config.js), like use dotenv module:

process.env.APP_URL

...
  server: {
    port: process.env.APP_PORT,
    host: process.env.APP_HOST,
    timing: false,
  },
  
  publicRuntimeConfig: {
    appURL: process.env.APP_URL,
    apiURL: process.env.API_URL,
  },

How to use on part of Nuxt/Vue files with Public Runtime Config or Private Runtime Config in nuxt.config.js

Sample in Pages/index.vue

<template>
  <div>
    <p>APP url: {{ appURL }} || API url: {{ $config.apiURL }}</p>
  </div>
</template>

<script>
export default {
  data () {
    return {
      appURL: this.$config.appURL
    }
  }
}
</script>

---

Production Setup (Nuxt-Start + RimRaf + PM2)

• Documentation for Nuxt-Start here
• Documentation for RimRaf here
• Documentation for PM2 here

Installation for Nuxt-Start:

using yarn:

yarn add nuxt-start

Installation for RimRaf:

using yarn:

yarn add rimraf

Installation for PM2 for Global installation:

using yarn:

yarn add pm2 -g

PM2 ecosystem config ecosystem.config.js:

module.exports = {
  apps: [
    {
      name: 'restaurant-staging-app',
      exec_mode: 'cluster',
      instances: 2,
      script: 'nuxt-start',
      args: '--dotenv .env.staging',
      watch: true,
      out_file: '/dev/null',
      error_file: '/dev/null',
      env: {
        HOST: '0.0.0.0',
        PORT: 3000,
        NODE_ENV: 'production',
      },
    },
    {
      name: 'restaurant-production-app',
      exec_mode: 'cluster',
      instances: 2,
      script: 'nuxt-start',
      args: '--dotenv .env.production',
      watch: true,
      out_file: '/dev/null',
      error_file: '/dev/null',
      env: {
        HOST: '0.0.0.0',
        PORT: 3000,
        NODE_ENV: 'production',
      },
    },
  ],
}

Finally modify package.json script:

...
"scripts": {
  "test": "jest",
  "clean": "rimraf .nuxt && rimraf dist",
  "dev": "nuxt --dotenv .env.development",
  "build:dev": "yarn clean && nuxt build --dotenv .env.development",
  "start:dev": "nuxt start --dotenv .env.development",
  "generate:dev": "nuxt generate --dotenv .env.development",
  "build:staging": "yarn clean && nuxt build --dotenv .env.staging",
  "start:staging": "pm2 start ecosystem.config.js --only nuxt-staging-app && pm2 logs",
  "reload:staging": "pm2 reload ecosystem.config.js --only nuxt-staging-app",
  "stop:staging": "pm2 stop ecosystem.config.js --only nuxt-staging-app",
  "delete:staging": "yarn stop:staging && pm2 delete ecosystem.config.js --only nuxt-staging-app",
  "build:production": "yarn clean && nuxt build --dotenv .env.production",
  "start:production": "pm2 start ecosystem.config.js --only nuxt-production-app && pm2 logs",
  "reload:production": "pm2 reload ecosystem.config.js --only nuxt-production-app",
  "stop:production": "pm2 stop ecosystem.config.js --only nuxt-production-app",
  "delete:production": "yarn stop:production && pm2 delete ecosystem.config.js --only nuxt-production-app"
},

Build Setup

# install dependencies
$ yarn install

# serve with hot reload at development
$ yarn dev

# build for development and launch server LOCAL
$ yarn build:dev
$ yarn start:dev

# build for staging and launch server use PM2
$ yarn build:staging
$ yarn start:staging
$ yarn stop:staging
$ yarn reload:staging
$ yarn delete:staging

# build for production and launch server use PM2
$ yarn build:production
$ yarn start:production
$ yarn stop:production
$ yarn reload:production
$ yarn delete:production

# generate static project
$ yarn generate:dev

Integrate with Tailwind CSS (Manual or Upgrade if install before):

# install Tailwind CSS
using yarn:

yarn add @nuxtjs/tailwindcss tailwindcss@npm:@tailwindcss/postcss7-compat @tailwindcss/postcss7-compat postcss@^7 autoprefixer@^9

Custom Nuxt config on nuxt.config.js

// nuxt.config.js
export default {
  buildModules: ['@nuxtjs/tailwindcss']
}

Create your configuration file

Next, generate your tailwind.config.js file:

npx tailwindcss init

This will create a minimal tailwind.config.js file at the root of your project:

// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
  purge: [],
  darkMode: false, // or 'media' or 'class'
  theme: {
    extend: {},
  },
  variants: {
    extend: {},
  },
  plugins: [],
}

Configure Tailwind to remove unused styles in production

In your tailwind.config.js file, configure the purge option with the paths to all of your pages and components so Tailwind can tree-shake unused styles in production builds:

 // tailwind.config.js
  module.exports = {
-   purge: [],
+   purge: {
+     // enable remove unused CSS only in production
+     enabled: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production',
+     // any file that contain the reference of CSS styles by the class
+     content: [
+       './components/**/*.{vue,js}',
+       './layouts/**/*.vue',
+       './pages/**/*.vue',
+       './plugins/**/*.{js,ts}',
+       './nuxt.config.{js,ts}',
+     ],
+   },
    darkMode: false, // or 'media' or 'class'
    theme: {
      extend: {},
    },
    variants: {
      extend: {},
    },
    plugins: [],
  }

Using SASS global variables in Nuxt JS

Using a configuration file for global variables in Nuxt is very simple, it just takes some steps to follow

Step 1: Add sass-loader and node-sass to your project

using yarn:

yarn add node-sass sass-loader

Step 2: Adding the plugin style-resources to your project. If you don't know about plugins take a look in NuxtJS documentation. Also you can review the mentioned plugin right here.

using yarn:

yarn add @nuxtjs/style-resources

Step 3: Adding to your assets directory a new sccs directory (this is where your global variable files will be stored, you can use as much as you like)

./assets/scss/vars/colors.scss
./assets/scss/abstracts/_mixins.scss
./assets/scss/global.scss

Step 4: Modify your nuxt.config.js file to map the new styles

modules: [
  '@nuxtjs/style-resources',
],

styleResources: {
    scss: [
    './assets/scss/vars/*.scss',
    './assets/scss/abstracts/_mixins.scss', // use underscore "_" & also file extension ".scss"
    './assets/scss/global.scss',
    ]
},

Include Tailwind custom config with SCSS

Custom nuxt.config.js with tailwindcss config:

...
tailwindcss: {
    cssPath: '~/assets/scss/tailwind.scss',
    configPath: 'tailwind.config.js',
    exposeConfig: false,
    config: {}
},

Open the ./assets/scss/tailwind.scss file that Nuxt.js generates for you by default and use the @tailwind directive to include Tailwind's base, components, and utilities styles, replacing the original file contents:

/* purge css start ignore */
@tailwind base;
@tailwind components;
/* purge css and ignore */
@tailwind utilities;

*,
*:before,
*:after {
  @apply box-border m-0;
}

Add Webfontloader Module

Documentation here

using yarn:

yarn add nuxt-webfontloader

And then add config webfontloader to nuxt.config.js:

export default {
  modules: [
    'nuxt-webfontloader',
  ],

  webfontloader: {
    google: {
      families: ['Lato:400,700'] //Loads Lato font with weights 400 and 700
    }
  },
}

Add Sitemap Module

Documentation here

using yarn:

yarn add @nuxtjs/sitemap

Setup config in nuxt.config.js:

export default {
  ...
  modules: [
    '@nuxtjs/sitemap'
  ]

  sitemap: {
    hostname: 'https://example.com',
    gzip: true,
  },
}

Add Robots Module

Documentation here

using yarn:

yarn add @nuxtjs/robots

Setup config in nuxt.config.js:

export default {
  ...
  modules: [
    '@nuxtjs/robots'
  ]

  robots: {
    UserAgent: '*',
    Disallow: '/'
  },
}

Add Nuxt Security

This module allows you to configure various security headers such as CSP, HSTS or even generate security.txt file. Here is a list of availables features :

• Strict-Transport-Security header
• Content-Security-Policy header
• X-Frame-Options header
• X-Xss-Protection
• X-Content-Type-Options header
• Referrer-Policy header
• Feature-Policy header

security.txt file generation

Documentation here

using yarn:

yarn add @dansmaculotte/nuxt-security

Setup config in nuxt.config.js:

{
  modules: [
    // Simple usage
    '@dansmaculotte/nuxt-security'
  ],

  // Top level options
  security: {
    csp: {
      directives: {
        defaultSrc: ["'self'"],
        scriptSrc: ["'self'"],
        objectSrc: ["'self'"],
      },
      reportOnly: false,
    },
  },
}

Add Nuxt Font Awesome

Module to use Font Awesome icons in your Nuxt.js project.

using yarn:

yarn add @nuxtjs/fontawesome @fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons @fortawesome/free-brands-svg-icons @fortawesome/free-regular-svg-icons

Setup config in nuxt.config.js:

  ...
  buildModules: [
    '@nuxtjs/fontawesome',
  ],
  
  // Fontawesome module configuration
  fontawesome: {
    component: 'fa',
    icons: {
      solid: ['faHome', 'faHeart'],
      
      // include all icons. But dont do this.
      // solid: true,
      // brands: true,
      // regular: true,
    },

use on html tag (for free):

• fas = solid icon (@fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons)
• fab = brands icon (@fortawesome/free-brands-svg-icons)
• far = regular icon (@fortawesome/free-regular-svg-icons)
• fad = duotone icon (@fortawesome/free-duotone-svg-icons)
• fal = light icon (@fortawesome/free-light-svg-icons)

<fa :icon="['fas', 'home']" />

Add Nuxt Optimized Images

Automatically optimizes images used in Nuxt.js projects (JPEG, PNG, SVG, WebP and GIF).

Documentation here

using yarn:

yarn add @aceforth/nuxt-optimized-images

Optimization Packages here

using yarn:

yarn add imagemin-mozjpeg imagemin-pngquant imagemin-gifsicle imagemin-svgo  webp-loader lqip-loader responsive-loader sqip-loader sharp

Setup config in nuxt.config.js:

export default {
  ...
  buildModules: [
    '@aceforth/nuxt-optimized-images',
  ],

  optimizedImages: {
    optimizeImages: true
  }
}

For detailed explanation on how things work, check out Nuxt.js docs.

---

Do not hesitate if there are suggestions and criticisms 😃 :) @asapdotid