Document createDevApp pattern for frontend plugin development

Add documentation for the new `@backstage/frontend-dev-utils` package
across three docs pages: the frontend system building plugins guide,
the CLI build system reference, and the project structure overview.

Signed-off-by: Patrik Oldsberg <poldsberg@gmail.com>
Made-with: Cursor
This commit is contained in:
Patrik Oldsberg
2026-03-16 11:50:57 +01:00
parent c25532a7a1
commit 0b4ed8550d
3 changed files with 33 additions and 1 deletions
+14
View File
@@ -294,6 +294,20 @@ will be set up that listens to the protocol, host and port set by `app.baseUrl`
in the configuration. If needed it is also possible to override the listening
options through the `app.listen` configuration.
For frontend plugin packages using the new frontend system, the recommended way to
set up the `dev/index` entry point is to use the `createDevApp` helper from
`@backstage/frontend-dev-utils`. It creates and renders a minimal Backstage app
with your plugin loaded:
```tsx title="in dev/index.ts"
import { createDevApp } from '@backstage/frontend-dev-utils';
import myPlugin from '../src';
createDevApp({ features: [myPlugin] });
```
For the legacy frontend system, the `@backstage/dev-utils` package provides equivalent helpers.
The frontend development bundling is currently based on
[Webpack](https://webpack.js.org/) and
[Webpack Dev Server](https://webpack.js.org/configuration/dev-server/). The