Uncaught Error: [HMR] Hot Module Replacement is disabled
<p>I'm using <code>webpack</code> for my build which works without any problems using the <code>webpack-dev-server</code> (<code>npm run watch</code>), however when I try to create a production build (<code>npm run build</code>) I seem to get the error in the console when I try to load the website and nothing shows up at all on-screen.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Uncaught Error: [HMR] Hot Module Replacement is disabled.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I have a few questions about this:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>My understanding of using <code>Hot Module Replacement</code> is that its designed for making life easier during development, it should not be used in production deployments. Is that correct?</p></li>
<li><p>Given the below, why is <code>Hot Module Replacement</code> is being used? I don't see what's driving it.</p></li>
<li><p>What's the best practice when it comes to production builds, should I have a separate <code>webpack</code> config for prod and dev? Ideally I'd like to make use of a single config purely to ease maintenance.</p></li>
</ol>

<p><strong>package.json</strong></p>

<pre><code>{
  // ...
  "scripts": {
    "build": "webpack --progress --colors --production",
    "watch": "webpack-dev-server --inline --hot --progress --colors"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "bootstrap": "^3.3.6",
    "bootstrap-sass": "^3.3.6",
    "bootstrap-webpack": "0.0.5",
    "extract-text-webpack-plugin": "^1.0.1",
    "html-webpack-plugin": "^2.15.0",
    "jquery": "^2.2.3",
    "node-sass": "^3.4.2",
    "react": "^15.0.1",
    "react-bootstrap": "^0.28.5",
    "react-dom": "^15.0.1",
    "react-redux": "^4.4.1",
    "react-router": "^2.0.1",
    "react-router-redux": "^4.0.1",
    "redux": "^3.3.1",
    "redux-thunk": "^2.0.1",
    "webpack": "^1.12.14"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "babel-core": "^6.7.4",
    "babel-loader": "^6.2.4",
    "babel-preset-es2015": "^6.6.0",
    "babel-preset-react": "^6.5.0",
    "css-loader": "^0.23.1",
    "exports-loader": "^0.6.3",
    "file-loader": "^0.8.5",
    "imports-loader": "^0.6.5",
    "less": "^2.6.1",
    "less-loader": "^2.2.3",
    "redux-devtools": "^3.2.0",
    "redux-logger": "^2.6.1",
    "sass-loader": "^3.2.0",
    "style-loader": "^0.13.1",
    "url-loader": "^0.5.7",
    "webpack-dev-server": "^1.14.1"
  }
}
</code></pre>

<p><strong>webpack.config.js</strong></p>

<pre><code>var webpack = require('webpack');
var htmlWebpackPlugin = require('html-webpack-plugin');
var path = require('path');

module.exports = {
    entry: [
        'webpack/hot/only-dev-server',
        path.resolve(__dirname, 'app/index.js')
    ],
    output: {
        path: path.resolve(__dirname, 'public'),
        filename: 'bundle.js'
    },
    module: {
        loaders: [
            { test: /\.jsx?$/, exclude: /node_modules/, loader: 'babel', query: { presets: [ 'es2015', 'react' ] } },
            { test: /\.scss$/, loader: 'style!css!sass?includePaths[]=' + path.resolve(__dirname, './node_modules/bootstrap-sass/assets/stylesheets/') },
            { test: /\.(ttf|eot|svg|woff(2)?)(\?[a-z0-9]+)?$/, loader: 'file' }
        ]
    },
    resolve: {
        modulesDirectories: ['node_modules']
    },
    plugins: [
        new webpack.NoErrorsPlugin(),
        new htmlWebpackPlugin({
            filename: 'index.html',
            template: './index.html',
            inject: false
        }),
        new webpack.ProvidePlugin({
            $: "jquery",
            jQuery: "jquery"
        }),
        new webpack.optimize.OccurenceOrderPlugin()
    ]
};
</code></pre>