harsh-harlequin

Docker image size with TanStack Start , pnpm

Hey folks 👋 I’m using TanStack Start with pnpm and Docker, and I’m noticing that my production Docker image is quite large 710 MB. Has anyone else experienced this? Is that size expected for a typical TanStack Start app, or might I be doing something wrong?

9 Replies

harsh-harlequinOP•2mo ago

My package.json dependencies

  "dependencies": {
    "@tanstack/react-query": "5.81.5",
    "@tanstack/react-query-devtools": "5.81.5",
    "@tanstack/react-router": "1.125.3",
    "@tanstack/react-router-devtools": "1.125.3",
    "@tanstack/react-start": "1.125.3",
    "better-auth": "1.2.12",
    "class-variance-authority": "0.7.1",
    "clsx": "2.1.1",
    "date-fns": "4.1.0",
    "drizzle-orm": "0.44.2",
    "lucide-react": "0.525.0",
    "pg": "8.16.3",
    "react": "19.1.0",
    "react-dom": "19.1.0",
    "superjson": "2.2.2",
    "tailwind-merge": "3.3.1",
    "zod": "3.25.74"
  },

  "dependencies": {
    "@tanstack/react-query": "5.81.5",
    "@tanstack/react-query-devtools": "5.81.5",
    "@tanstack/react-router": "1.125.3",
    "@tanstack/react-router-devtools": "1.125.3",
    "@tanstack/react-start": "1.125.3",
    "better-auth": "1.2.12",
    "class-variance-authority": "0.7.1",
    "clsx": "2.1.1",
    "date-fns": "4.1.0",
    "drizzle-orm": "0.44.2",
    "lucide-react": "0.525.0",
    "pg": "8.16.3",
    "react": "19.1.0",
    "react-dom": "19.1.0",
    "superjson": "2.2.2",
    "tailwind-merge": "3.3.1",
    "zod": "3.25.74"
  },

In my Docker build I install only (production) dependencies using:
RUN pnpm install --frozen-lockfile --prod --ignore-scripts I did some digging on the image size, seems a lot comes from transitive deps via @tanstack/react-start, like @netlify/zip-it-and-ship-it, precinct, detective-typescript, typescript, prettier, etc.
Not sure if all of these need to be pulled in as dependencies of Start 🤔

correct-apricot•2mo ago

What are you putting in your docker container? Build makes everything, including a apckage.json and a node_modules folder in the output folder

harsh-harlequinOP•2mo ago

@Roderik | SettleMint Ah, that makes sense, thanks! Switched to just copying the .output folder into the final image and dropped the extra installs. Now with node:24.3.0-alpine the image is down to 159 MB. Appreciate the tip! 🙌

harsh-harlequinOP•2mo ago

https://tenor.com/view/dumb-dog-cant-think-not-today-gif-13881894

Tenor

correct-apricot•2mo ago

use target: "bun", in the vite config and use the bun slim image for even less size and more speed

harsh-harlequinOP•2mo ago

That’s crazy, tried it image size is around 100MB 🤯
Not sure if I’ll switch yet, how are you finding it in production? Any caveats or cons to be aware of?

generous-apricot•2mo ago

Can you share the Dockerfile?

harsh-harlequinOP•2mo ago

sorry don't have it anymore, just gave it a test run with bun, but for now sticking with node

correct-apricot•2mo ago

FROM oven/bun:1.2.18-slim
WORKDIR /usr/src/app

COPY .output/ /usr/src/app

EXPOSE 3000/tcp
ENV NODE_ENV=production
USER bun
ENTRYPOINT [ "bun", "run", "server/index.mjs" ]

FROM oven/bun:1.2.18-slim
WORKDIR /usr/src/app

COPY .output/ /usr/src/app

EXPOSE 3000/tcp
ENV NODE_ENV=production
USER bun
ENTRYPOINT [ "bun", "run", "server/index.mjs" ]

but i compile on the CI

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Docker image size with TanStack Start , pnpm

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