Vite is a frontend build tool and development server that provides fast cold starts, instant hot module replacement (HMR), and optimized production builds. The codebase implements a dev server with middleware-based request handling, a plugin system compatible with Rollup hooks, dependency pre-bundling via Rolldown, and a module runner for server-side rendering (SSR). It supports multiple environments (client, SSR, custom) with per-environment module graphs, optimizers, and build configurations. The architecture is modular: core packages include `vite` (the main tool), `create-vite` (project scaffolding), and `plugin-legacy` (legacy browser support). Key entry points are the CLI (`bin/vite.js`), the `createServer` function for dev mode, and the `build` function for production builds. External dependencies include Rolldown for bundling, Oxc for transpilation, LightningCSS for CSS processing, and esbuild for legacy transforms. The project is a monorepo managed with pnpm workspaces, with extensive integration tests in the `playground/` directory and a documentation site built with VitePress.