Documentation
Custom Applications
BETA

Serving Static Assets

When you start the HTTP server, you need to make a decision where to host CSS and JavaScript assets. Possible choices are:

  • Upload the static assets to a remote CDN (Content Delivery Network) or Cloud Storage (recommended).
  • Keep the static assets on the HTTP server.

We strongly recommend uploading static assets to a remote CDN or Cloud Storage if possible. This prevents broken references. A broken reference is when a file is requested by the browser which is no longer found on the server. It often happens during application re-deploys.

For example, imagine if a user has the Merchant Center opened. The index.html page contains references to the static assets, for example, app.v1.js. If we have the static assets served by the HTTP server, when a new version of the application is deployed, the app.v1.js file is no longer present on the HTTP server. If the user performs an action without reloading the browser, there is a chance that the app.v1.js file is requested by the browser, is unavailable, and causes a runtime error.

If the static assets are uploaded to a remote CDN or Cloud Storage instead, uploading new versions of the application don't affect old versions still receiving outdated assets. When a user reloads the page, their browser requests the new assets, and the application launch is seamless.

Serving assets on a remote CDN or Cloud Storage

First, upload the assets from dist/assets directory to a CDN or Cloud Storage. Then define the location URL of the storage directory in the cdnUrl in the env.json.

For example, Merchant Center static assets are uploaded to a Google Cloud Storage bucket named mc-production-eu for the eu region's production assets. Then simply reference the URL in cdnUrl in the env.json.

{
  "cdnUrl": "https://storage.googleapis.com/mc-production-eu"
}

Serving assets using the HTTP server

We do not recommend serving assets using the HTTP server for production use.

To serve static assets in using the HTTP server, do the following:

  • Include the /dist directory in the project or in the Docker container.
  • Explicitly enable this option when running the mc-http-server by passing the --use-local-assets flag.
  • In the env.json file, set the cdnUrl to the root domain where the server is hosted. For example, if the application is hosted at https://my-custom-app.com, the cdnUrl should be https://my-custom-app.com.