When using vite. Is the AddLinkHeadersForPreloadedAssets middleware redundant ?

[Phucnguyen113]

Laravel Version
12.x

PHP Version
8.3

Description
The AddLinkHeadersForPreloadedAssets middleware try to add a link header to preload script/style with out waiting htmlDomLoaded.
But i have seen Vite use preload by default. You can check on [this]. (https://github.com/laravel/framework/blob/12.x/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Vite.php#L686)

That's mean the AddLinkHeadersForPreloadedAssets middleware is reduntant when using Vite?

[ismaildasci]

Good question! They serve slightly different purposes:

AddLinkHeadersForPreloadedAssets middleware:

• Adds HTTP Link headers with rel=preload
• Browser starts downloading BEFORE parsing HTML
• Works at HTTP protocol level

Vite's built-in preload:

• Adds <link rel="modulepreload"> tags in HTML
• Browser discovers these while parsing <head>
• Slightly later than HTTP headers

Are they redundant?

Not exactly - HTTP Link headers can give a small performance boost because the browser can start fetching before it even sees the HTML. But honestly, for most apps the difference is negligible.

My recommendation:

• For simple apps: skip the middleware, Vite's preload is enough
• For high-traffic apps where every millisecond matters: use both
• If you're behind a CDN that supports 103 Early Hints: definitely use the middleware

The middleware is there as an option, not a requirement. If you're not seeing performance issues, you probably don't need it.