Vite manifest not found in Laravel - Rocketeers app

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Vite manifest not found in Laravel
==================================

### [\#Laravel](https://rocketeersapp.com/knowledge/laravel)

This error means Laravel cannot find your compiled frontend assets. Either the dev server is not running, or you never built your assets for production.

 Published by [Mark van Eijk](https://rocketeersapp.com/author/mark-van-eijk) on June 23, 2026 · 1 minute read

1. [About the error](#content-about-the-error)
2. [Why do I see this error](#content-why-do-i-see-this-error)
3. [Solution](#content-solution)
4. [In development](#content-in-development)
5. [In production](#content-in-production)
6. [Older projects (Laravel Mix)](#content-older-projects-laravel-mix)

[\#](#content-about-the-error "Permalink")About the error
---------------------------------------------------------

The message reads:

 ```
Illuminate\Foundation\ViteException: Vite manifest not found at: /var/www/public/build/manifest.json

```

The `@vite` directive in your Blade layout looks up that `manifest.json` to know which compiled CSS and JS files to load. If the file isn't there, Laravel throws.

[\#](#content-why-do-i-see-this-error "Permalink")Why do I see this error
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The manifest is generated by Vite when it builds your assets. It's missing because:

- You're in development but the Vite dev server isn't running.
- You're in production but you never ran the build step.
- The `public/build` directory wasn't deployed to the server.

[\#](#content-solution "Permalink")Solution
-------------------------------------------

### [\#](#content-in-development "Permalink")In development

Start the Vite dev server and leave it running alongside your application:

 ```
npm run dev

```

While `npm run dev` is running, `@vite` talks to the dev server directly and no manifest file is needed.

### [\#](#content-in-production "Permalink")In production

Build the assets. This is what generates `public/build/manifest.json`:

 ```
npm install
npm run build

```

Make this part of your deploy process so it runs on every release. If you build locally and deploy, make sure the `public/build` directory is actually uploaded and **not** excluded by a `.gitignore` or rsync filter.

### [\#](#content-older-projects-laravel-mix "Permalink")Older projects (Laravel Mix)

If your project still uses Laravel Mix instead of Vite, the equivalent error mentions `mix-manifest.json`. The fix is the same idea with Mix's commands:

 ```
npm run dev      # development
npm run production   # build for production

```

For zero-downtime deploys where assets are built per release, see [zero downtime PHP deployments](/zero-downtime-php-deployments).

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