This example demonstrates how to build a library with webpack that has dependencies to other libraries which should not be included in the compiled version.

We use the libraryTarget: "umd" option to build a UMD module that is consumable in CommonJs, AMD and with script tags. We don't specify the library option so the library is exported to the root namespace.

We use the externals option to define dependencies that should be resolved in the target environment.

In the simple case we just need to specify a string ("add"). Then it's resolved as "add" module in CommonJs and AMD, and as global add when used with script tag.

In the complex case we specify different values for each environment:

environment	config value	resolved as
CommonJs (strict)	["./math", "subtract"]	require("./math").subtract
CommonJs (node.js)	"./subtract"	require("./subtract")
AMD	"subtract"	define(["subtract"], ...)
script tag	"subtract"	this.subtract

example.js

var add = require("add");
var subtract = require("subtract");

exports.exampleValue = subtract(add(42, 2), 2);

webpack.config.js

module.exports = {
	output: {
		libraryTarget: "umd"
	},
	externals: [
		"add",
		{
			"subtract": {
				root: "subtract",
				commonjs2: "./subtract",
				commonjs: ["./math", "subtract"],
				amd: "subtract"
			}
		}
	]
}

js/output.js

(function webpackUniversalModuleDefinition(root, factory) {
	if(typeof exports === 'object' && typeof module === 'object')
		module.exports = factory(require("add"), require("./subtract"));
	else if(typeof define === 'function' && define.amd)
		define(["add", "subtract"], factory);
	else {
		var a = typeof exports === 'object' ? factory(require("add"), require("./math")["subtract"]) : factory(root["add"], root["subtract"]);
		for(var i in a) (typeof exports === 'object' ? exports : root)[i] = a[i];
	}
})(this, function(__WEBPACK_EXTERNAL_MODULE_1__, __WEBPACK_EXTERNAL_MODULE_2__) {
return /******/ (function(modules) { // webpackBootstrap
/******/ 	// The module cache
/******/ 	var installedModules = {};

/******/ 	// The require function
/******/ 	function __webpack_require__(moduleId) {

/******/ 		// Check if module is in cache
/******/ 		if(installedModules[moduleId])
/******/ 			return installedModules[moduleId].exports;

/******/ 		// Create a new module (and put it into the cache)
/******/ 		var module = installedModules[moduleId] = {
/******/ 			exports: {},
/******/ 			id: moduleId,
/******/ 			loaded: false
/******/ 		};

/******/ 		// Execute the module function
/******/ 		modules[moduleId].call(module.exports, module, module.exports, __webpack_require__);

/******/ 		// Flag the module as loaded
/******/ 		module.loaded = true;

/******/ 		// Return the exports of the module
/******/ 		return module.exports;
/******/ 	}


/******/ 	// expose the modules object (__webpack_modules__)
/******/ 	__webpack_require__.m = modules;

/******/ 	// expose the module cache
/******/ 	__webpack_require__.c = installedModules;

/******/ 	// __webpack_public_path__
/******/ 	__webpack_require__.p = "js/";

/******/ 	// Load entry module and return exports
/******/ 	return __webpack_require__(0);
/******/ })
/************************************************************************/
/******/ ([
/* 0 */
/*!********************!*\
  !*** ./example.js ***!
  \********************/
/***/ function(module, exports, __webpack_require__) {

	var add = __webpack_require__(/*! add */ 1);
	var subtract = __webpack_require__(/*! subtract */ 2);

	exports.exampleValue = subtract(add(42, 2), 2);

/***/ },
/* 1 */
/*!**********************!*\
  !*** external "add" ***!
  \**********************/
/***/ function(module, exports) {

	module.exports = __WEBPACK_EXTERNAL_MODULE_1__;

/***/ },
/* 2 */
/*!***************************************************************************************************************!*\
  !*** external {"root":"subtract","commonjs2":"./subtract","commonjs":["./math","subtract"],"amd":"subtract"} ***!
  \***************************************************************************************************************/
/***/ function(module, exports) {

	module.exports = __WEBPACK_EXTERNAL_MODULE_2__;

/***/ }
/******/ ])
});
;

Info

Uncompressed

Hash: 320ff2cedec78f734047
Version: webpack 1.9.10
Time: 67ms
    Asset     Size  Chunks             Chunk Names
output.js  2.88 kB       0  [emitted]  main
chunk    {0} output.js (main) 197 bytes [rendered]
    > main [0] ./example.js 
    [0] ./example.js 113 bytes {0} [built]
     + 2 hidden modules

Minimized (uglify-js, no zip)

Hash: 320ff2cedec78f734047
Version: webpack 1.9.10
Time: 170ms
    Asset       Size  Chunks             Chunk Names
output.js  710 bytes       0  [emitted]  main
chunk    {0} output.js (main) 197 bytes [rendered]
    > main [0] ./example.js 
    [0] ./example.js 113 bytes {0} [built]
     + 2 hidden modules