react switch to dev mode when use custom mode during vite build

Describe the bug

Using a .env.staging as my environment file, and I use rollup-plugin-visualizer to analyze the bundle. In the visualizer page I found react switch to development mode in the bundle files.

If I use .env.production with exactly the same content, react will switch to production mode.

Reproduction

npm init @vitejs/app vite-project -- --template react-ts
npm install rollup-plugin-visualizer --save-dev

package.json:

{
  "name": "vite-project",
  "version": "0.0.0",
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "vite",
    "build": "tsc && vite build",
    "serve": "vite preview",
    "dist:prod-staging": "tsc && vite build --mode staging"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "react": "^17.0.0",
    "react-dom": "^17.0.0"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@types/react": "^17.0.0",
    "@types/react-dom": "^17.0.0",
    "@vitejs/plugin-react-refresh": "^1.3.1",
    "typescript": "^4.1.2",
    "rollup-plugin-visualizer": "^4.2.2",
    "vite": "^2.1.3"
  }
}

vite config

import { defineConfig } from "vite";
import reactRefresh from "@vitejs/plugin-react-refresh";
import visualizer from "rollup-plugin-visualizer";

// https://vitejs.dev/config/
export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [reactRefresh(), visualizer({ open: true })],
});

.env.staging

NODE_ENV=production
VITE_SERVE_KIND=manage

after run npm run dist:prod-staging:

System Info

System:
    OS: Windows 10 10.0.19042
    CPU: (12) x64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8850H CPU @ 2.60GHz
    Memory: 11.64 GB / 31.52 GB
  Binaries:
    Node: 14.15.5 - C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.EXE
    npm: 6.14.11 - C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.CMD
  npmPackages:
    vite: ^2.1.3 => 2.1.3

Logs

C:\Users\alan\projects\vite-test\vite-project>npm run dist:prod-staging

> vite-project@0.0.0 dist:prod-staging C:\Users\alan\projects\vite-test\vite-project
> tsc && vite build --mode staging --debug

  vite:config bundled config file loaded in 119ms +0ms
  vite:config using resolved config: {
  vite:config   plugins: [
  vite:config     'alias',
  vite:config     'react-refresh',
  vite:config     'vite:dynamic-import-polyfill',
  vite:config     'vite:resolve',
  vite:config     'vite:html',
  vite:config     'vite:css',
  vite:config     'vite:esbuild',
  vite:config     'vite:json',
  vite:config     'vite:wasm',
  vite:config     'vite:worker',
  vite:config     'vite:asset',
  vite:config     'visualizer',
  vite:config     'vite:define',
  vite:config     'vite:css-post',
  vite:config     'vite:build-html',
  vite:config     'commonjs',
  vite:config     'vite:data-uri',
  vite:config     'rollup-plugin-dynamic-import-variables',
  vite:config     'vite:import-analysis',
  vite:config     'vite:esbuild-transpile',
  vite:config     'vite:terser',
  vite:config     'vite:reporter'
  vite:config   ],
  vite:config   mode: 'staging',
  vite:config   build: {
  vite:config     target: [ 'es2019', 'edge18', 'firefox60', 'chrome61', 'safari11' ],
  vite:config     polyfillDynamicImport: true,
  vite:config     outDir: 'dist',
  vite:config     assetsDir: 'assets',
  vite:config     assetsInlineLimit: 4096,
  vite:config     cssCodeSplit: true,
  vite:config     sourcemap: false,
  vite:config     rollupOptions: {},
  vite:config     commonjsOptions: { include: [Array], extensions: [Array] },
  vite:config     minify: 'terser',
  vite:config     terserOptions: {},
  vite:config     cleanCssOptions: {},
  vite:config     write: true,
  vite:config     emptyOutDir: null,
  vite:config     manifest: false,
  vite:config     lib: false,
  vite:config     ssr: false,
  vite:config     ssrManifest: false,
  vite:config     brotliSize: true,
  vite:config     chunkSizeWarningLimit: 500
  vite:config   },
  vite:config   configFile: 'C:/Users/alan/projects/vite-test/vite-project/vite.config.ts',
  vite:config   inlineConfig: {
  vite:config     root: undefined,
  vite:config     base: undefined,
  vite:config     mode: 'staging',
  vite:config     configFile: undefined,
  vite:config     logLevel: undefined,
  vite:config     clearScreen: undefined,
  vite:config     build: {}
  vite:config   },
  vite:config   root: 'C:/Users/alan/projects/vite-test/vite-project',
  vite:config   base: '/',
  vite:config   resolve: { dedupe: undefined, alias: [ [Object] ] },
  vite:config   publicDir: 'C:\\Users\\alan\\projects\\vite-test\\vite-project\\public',
  vite:config   command: 'build',
  vite:config   isProduction: true,
  vite:config   optimizeCacheDir: 'C:\\Users\\alan\\projects\\vite-test\\vite-project\\node_modules\\.vite',   
  vite:config   server: {},
  vite:config   env: {
  vite:config     VITE_SERVE_KIND: 'manage',
  vite:config     BASE_URL: '/',
  vite:config     MODE: 'staging',
  vite:config     DEV: false,
  vite:config     PROD: true
  vite:config   },
  vite:config   assetsInclude: [Function: assetsInclude],
  vite:config   logger: {
  vite:config     hasWarned: false,
  vite:config     info: [Function: info],
  vite:config     warn: [Function: warn],
  vite:config     error: [Function: error],
  vite:config     clearScreen: [Function: clearScreen]
  vite:config   },
  vite:config   createResolver: [Function: createResolver]
  vite:config } +8ms
vite v2.1.3 building for staging...
✓ 25 modules transformed.
dist/assets/favicon.17e50649.svg   1.49kb
dist/assets/logo.ecc203fb.svg      2.61kb
dist/index.html                    0.51kb
dist/assets/index.76acfdae.css     0.76kb / brotli: 0.40kb
dist/assets/index.12a4e508.js      1.52kb / brotli: 0.63kb
dist/assets/vendor.9c34ef57.js     270.05kb / brotli: 69.33kb

[FPG-Alan]

Thank you @anncwb ! after reading your pull request, I found a workaround for this issue:

# vite.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from "vite";
import reactRefresh from "@vitejs/plugin-react-refresh";

export default defineConfig(({ mode }) => ({
  define: {
    "process.env.NODE_ENV": (mode === "staging" && `"production"`) || `"${mode}"`,
  },
  plugins: [reactRefresh()],
}));

[JackyMai]

@FPG-Alan thanks a lot for getting back to me. I guess I’ll have to wait for the new release containing the merged PR for it to be fixed. May I ask if there’s any ETA for the next release?