Add support for inline output with block => false

[dereuromark]

Summary

When passing block => false option to script() or css() methods, the helper now returns the tags as a string instead of buffering to view blocks.

This is consistent with CakePHP's Html helper behavior and allows for inline asset rendering in templates.

Bug fixed: Previously passing block => false would crash with:

TypeError: Cake\View\View::append(): Argument #1 ($name) must be of type string, false given

Changes

• script(): Returns ?string - tag string when block is false, null otherwise
• css(): Returns ?string - tag string when block is false, null otherwise
• addDependentCss(): Returns dependent CSS tags when inline mode is enabled

Use Case

This enables inline asset loading in view elements:

// In a template element - outputs directly without view blocks
<?= $this->Vite->css(['files' => ['theme'], 'block' => false]) ?>
<?= $this->Vite->script(['files' => ['app'], 'block' => false]) ?>

Tests

• testScriptWithBlockFalseOutputsInline
• testScriptWithBlockFalseInProductionMode
• testCssWithBlockFalseOutputsInline
• testCssWithBlockFalseInProductionMode
• testScriptWithBlockFalseOutputsPreloadTagsInline
• testScriptWithBlockFalseOutputsDependentCssInline

[josbeir]

thanks!
could you merge my ci fixes from the main branch so we know CI is green ?

There also seem to be some other test failures that should be handled ?

[dereuromark]

You need to allow this in the settings. Then i can click the button :)

[josbeir]

You need to allow this in the settings. Then i can click the button :)

It should be good for new work by you. It seems that this setting is for "new contributors to the project"

[dereuromark]

Allow updating in PR or sth
It is its own setting

[josbeir]

Allow updating in PR or sth It is its own setting

think its okay how it is configured now. It should start the worlflow automatically for new commits on this branch

[dereuromark]

Thats a different setting. The updste Button is a different one. Its not the one about permission.

[dereuromark]

[josbeir]

Right, done!

[dereuromark]

I cleaned up the approach. Now it looks good.

[josbeir]

maybe just add a little entry about $block in the docs?

[josbeir]

The actual issue I see is in development mode: every script() call injects @vite/client, so multiple calls in one request can output the client tag multiple times (layout + element, multiple elements, etc.).
This PR keeps that behavior and makes it more visible in inline mode.

Would you consider a small follow-up to deduplicate @vite/client per request?

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Adds inline rendering support to the CakeVite ViteHelper so callers can pass block => false to get generated <script>/<link> tags back as a string (instead of appending to view blocks), aligning behavior with CakePHP’s HtmlHelper and fixing the prior View::append(false, ...) crash.

Changes:

• Update ViteHelper::script() and ViteHelper::css() to return ?string (string when block === false, otherwise null).
• Update dependent CSS handling so it can be returned inline when inline mode is enabled.
• Add README documentation and PHPUnit coverage for inline output scenarios (dev + production, preload tags, dependent CSS).

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

File	Description
src/View/Helper/ViteHelper.php	Implements inline output return values for script()/css() and adjusts dependent CSS handling to support inline mode.
tests/TestCase/View/Helper/ViteHelperTest.php	Adds tests asserting inline output is returned and that view blocks remain empty when block => false.
README.md	Documents the new “Inline Output” behavior and adds it to the table of contents.

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[dereuromark]

Done! Added the @vite/client deduplication to this PR along with docs updates.

Changes:

• @vite/client is now only output once per request in development mode, even with multiple script() calls
• pluginScript()/pluginCss() now return ?string to support inline mode
• cssBlock => false now properly skips dependent CSS injection when not in inline mode
• Updated README with docs for deduplication and cssBlock option

[josbeir]

thanks!