Prerequisites

What you’ll install

Each tool is introduced in the module that first uses it, but here’s the full list so you can set up ahead of time.

• Node.js 20+ — the runtime for every app and BFF in the project.
• pnpm 9+ — the package manager; Mosaic is a pnpm-workspaces monorepo (the shell, the remotes, and their BFFs all live in one repo).
• Vite — the build tool for the shell and the React/Svelte remotes, with the Module Federation plugin (@module-federation/vite). Installed per-app, not globally.
• A modern browser with DevTools — you’ll watch remotes load over the network and inspect custom elements.
• git — you’ll deploy each slice independently later, and version control makes the “independent deploy” story concrete.

No global framework CLIs are required — each app is scaffolded with Vite or Astro inside the monorepo.

What the course assumes

Mosaic is a frontend-architecture project. You’ll get the most out of it if you’re comfortable with:

• JavaScript/TypeScript — modules, async/await, and ES module import. The course leans on ESM heavily, since runtime module loading is the whole idea.
• One component framework — you don’t need all of React, Svelte, and Astro up front; each is introduced as its remote is built. Prior React helps most, since the shell is React.
• The browser platform — the DOM, custom events, and a first taste of Web Components (custom elements). Module 5 teaches them properly.
• HTTP basics — the BFFs are tiny, but you should be comfortable with a fetch and a JSON response.

You do not need prior micro-frontend or Module Federation experience — that’s what the course is for.

Verify

You’re set up when:

• node --version shows 20 or newer, and pnpm --version shows 9 or newer.
• git --version works.
• You can open a browser’s DevTools Network and Elements panels — you’ll live in them.

Next, the roadmap shows where Mosaic fits in the wider series.