# Jekyll build -w vs. jekyll serve

**URL:** <https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/jekyll-build-w-vs-jekyll-serve/2310>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [October 31, 2018, 10:54am UTC](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/jekyll-build-w-vs-jekyll-serve/2310 "2018-10-31T10:54:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![iloveip](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.jekyllrb.com/iloveip/32/1038_2.png) [@iloveip](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/u/iloveip)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 10:54am UTC](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/jekyll-build-w-vs-jekyll-serve/2310/1 "2018-10-31T10:54:55Z")

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Hi there,

What’s the difference between `jekyll build -w` and `jekyll serve`? I would like to use Jekyll with Webpack and React. And in [this post](https://medium.com/@allizadrozny/using-webpack-and-react-with-jekyll-cfe137f8a2cc) it is recommended to use `$ jekyll build -w` with `$ webpack -w`. Is it possible to use `$ webpack -w` with `jekyll serve`? Or it’s better to use `jekyll build -w`?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ckruse](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.jekyllrb.com/ckruse/32/16_2.png) [@ckruse](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/u/ckruse)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/jekyll-build-w-vs-jekyll-serve/2310/2 "2018-10-31T16:00:08Z")

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You’d typically use `jekyll serve` while developing locally and `jekyll build` when you’re ready to build the site for production. `serve` fires up a local web server, whereas `build` just spits out the static site once.

Here’s how I use webpack with Jekyll on a Vue site:

While developing:  
`webpack --mode development --watch & bundle exec jekyll serve --livereload`  
The `--livereload` is a convenience flag and simply refreshes the browser after you’ve made changes.

For production build:  
`webpack --mode production && bundle exec jekyll build`

For convenience I define these in my `package.json` and, for example, use `npm run dev` when developing locally. Here’s an example file:

> <https://github.com/grantmakers/profiles/blob/source/package.json>

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![iloveip](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.jekyllrb.com/iloveip/32/1038_2.png) [@iloveip](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/u/iloveip)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 5:49pm UTC](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/jekyll-build-w-vs-jekyll-serve/2310/3 "2018-10-31T17:49:58Z")

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Thank you very much for your reply! I have a couple more questions. Why do you have in the first case only one `&` and in the second case two `&&`? And another question, can I define these commands in a `Rakefile`? Or it’s better to do this in `package.json`?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ckruse](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.jekyllrb.com/ckruse/32/16_2.png) [@ckruse](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/u/ckruse)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 7:03pm UTC](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/jekyll-build-w-vs-jekyll-serve/2310/4 "2018-10-31T19:03:55Z")

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`&&` essentially means “run command A, and _when it finishes_ run command B”.

`&` simply runs the processes in the background.

Since the development commands contain the `--watch` flag, the processes never finish. Thus, if you tried to use `&&` with the `--watch` flag, the second command would never be called as the first command never finishes.

Defining the commands in npm (hence `package.json`) is a personal preference. My Ruby-fu is weak, so I prefer to stick with Javascript-centric tools whenever possible.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![iloveip](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.jekyllrb.com/iloveip/32/1038_2.png) [@iloveip](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/u/iloveip)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 12:17pm UTC](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/jekyll-build-w-vs-jekyll-serve/2310/5 "2018-11-02T12:17:47Z")

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Thank you very much for the explanation! Is there any way to define a commit message in `package.json`? For example, in my Rakefile I have:

```auto
desc "Push the site to GitHub"
# Usage: rake push "Commit message"
task :push do
  message = ARGV.last
  task message.to_sym do ; end
  system "git add ."
  system "git commit -am '#{message}'"
  system "git push"
  puts "Pushed latest commit to GitHub."
end

```