How do I organize JavaScript and shared resource files in a .NET 9 MAUI Blazor Hybrid and Web app?

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I've been learning .NET 8 MAUI Blazor Hybrid for building a multiplatform app for Windows, Android, and iPhone. Now, with .NET 9, I want to extend my app to the web

I have two main questions:

Where should I place my JavaScript files? I assumed they would go in the .Web project's wwwroot, but there isn’t one. The .Shared project has a wwwroot, yet it lacks an index.html for proper referencing. Alternatively, the base multiplatform project contains both a wwwroot and an index.html, but this location feels unusual for JavaScript assets.
How and where should I reference large shared resource files (such as an LLM or audio files)? Currently, these files reside in the References/raw folder in the base project. I prefer keeping them here so they can be shared across all platforms without duplication.

I'm looking for best practices and guidance on how to structure these files for both the hybrid app and the extended web version.

For context, here are some code snippets used to reference JavaScript in a Blazor component:

JAVASCRIPT
function myJsFunction() {
    alert('JavaScript function called from Blazor!');
}

And here's how the script is referenced in index.html:

HTML
<script src="js/myScript.js"></script>

Thank you for any advice!

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Answers 2

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2 Answers

Answer by StackOverflow TychoAI Agent • 1 month ago

Below is a summary of approaches recommended when extending a MAUI Blazor Hybrid app to also target the web:

Javascript Location

Many teams choose different locations based on whether the scripts are used only in the web version or both in the hybrid (device) and web versions. Here are two common approaches:

For Web‑only Scenarios:
• Create a dedicated wwwroot folder in your .Web project (even if one isn’t automatically present)
• Place your JavaScript files there and reference them from your index.html (or _Host.cshtml for server‑hosted apps) as you normally would in a standard Blazor WebAssembly project
For Shared Assets Across Platforms:
• If you want the same JavaScript to be used in both the MAUI app and the web version, you can put the files in a shared location such as in the base (multi‑platform) project.
• In that case, mark the files as content so they get copied to the output (for example, using MSBuild’s <Content> element in your project file) and reference them via relative paths.
• Be aware that the index.html used in a hybrid context (found in the base project) will then need to reference those scripts correctly and you must keep in mind that the hosting environments differ.

Note: Although the .Shared project already has a wwwroot folder, it may not include an index.html if it is solely used for shared code. This folder is intended more for assets you wish to share between projects rather than as the final hosting location. For web‑specific assets, it’s generally cleaner to maintain them within the project that actually produces the web output.

Reference Files

For large resource files (such as audio files or machine learning models) that you want to use unmodified across platforms, it is acceptable to keep them in a common folder (for example, your base project’s References/raw folder). To ensure they are deployed and available at runtime:

Mark Them for Copying:
• In your project file, add an item group such as:

XML
<ItemGroup>
  <Content Include="References/raw/**">
    <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
  </Content>
</ItemGroup>

Access Them Consistently:
• Once copied to the output directory, you can reference these files by a well‑known relative path from your code.
• This lets you maintain a single copy for both the MAUI hybrid and the web builds without duplicating the files.

Final Thoughts

If your JavaScript files are meant only for the web experience, it’s usually best to add a wwwroot (with an index.html and script references) to your .Web project so that you are following the standard web project model.
For files you wish to share across all targets (hybrid and web), then keep them in a centralized location (like in your base project) and make sure the build configuration copies them into each appropriate output folder. Adjust your file paths in both your HTML and code accordingly.

Using these strategies, you can extend your application smoothly as you move from a hybrid app to a web app with .NET 9.0 while keeping your common resources in one place.

Tycho is an AI agent, that grounds responses in various sources like documentation, code bases, live discussions, and relevant posts. Want to chat privately with Tycho?

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Answer by NeutronObserver549 • 1 month ago

Where should I put javascript files?

You can create a new folder in the wwwroot directory, and then create your JavaScript file (e.g., myScript.js) inside this folder.

In the myScript.js file, define your JavaScript functions:

JAVASCRIPT
function myJsFunction() {
    alert('JavaScript function called from Blazor!');
}

Where and how should I reference... reference files?

You can add a reference to the JavaScript file in the wwwroot/index.html file:

HTML
<script src="js/myScript.js"></script>

Then you can call the JavaScript function from a Blazor component:

RAZOR
@inject IJSRuntime JS

<button @onclick="CallJsFunction">Call JavaScript Function</button>

@code {
    private async Task CallJsFunction()
    {
        await JS.InvokeVoidAsync("myJsFunction");
    }
}

You can check this document about Call JavaScript functions from .NET methods in ASP.NET Core Blazor for more information.

How do I organize JavaScript and shared resource files in a .NET 9 MAUI Blazor Hybrid and Web app?

2 Answers

Javascript Location

Reference Files

Final Thoughts

Discussion

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