Extra slow preview build (>1min)

[Supamiu]

Summary

I'm working on the Open Source Prisme Design System by Lucca: https://github.com/LuccaSA/lucca-front and we have a Storybook setup with Angular as base framework for the Design System.

Since Storybook 9, we've experienced heavy performance issues when building the storybook for local work, not only is the initial build very slow but any change to the code will take over 30s to be applied to the local Storybook, which makes dev work quite annoying.

The project is Open Source so you can check any configuration details you'd need on it, everything is in the .storybook folder.

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[dosubot[bot]]

Hi @Supamiu! I'm Dosu and I’m helping the storybook team.

Storybook 9 introduced several changes that can impact Angular build and reload performance. Here are the most effective steps you can try:

• Disable automatic docgen: In .storybook/main.ts, set framework.options.docgen = false. This skips expensive static analysis and can drastically reduce build and reload times, especially in large projects. You’ll need to manually define argTypes for controls/docs if you use them [details].
• Minimize the stories glob: Make sure your stories pattern only includes the files you actually need. A broad glob (like ../src/**/*.stories.@(ts|tsx)) can slow down startup if your repo is large [docs].
• Remove unnecessary addons: Especially check for @storybook/addon-docs or any non-essential or third-party addons. Each addon can add overhead [docs].
• Enable experimental zoneless mode: If you’re on Angular 21+, add experimentalZoneless: true to your Angular builder options in Storybook config. This can improve reload speed by reducing Angular’s change detection overhead [details].
• Keep Webpack logging at 'warn': Setting infrastructureLogging.level to 'info' can flood your console and slow perceived performance. Use 'warn' unless you’re debugging [discussion].

If you’ve already tried these or want more targeted advice, please share your .storybook/main.ts and any custom Webpack config. You can also run Storybook with DEBUG=storybook:* to see where the time is spent.

Let me know what you try or if you can share your config for a deeper look!

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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