diff --git a/packages/webpack5/.gitignore b/packages/webpack5/.gitignore
index 4e768b56d..f62c3253a 100644
--- a/packages/webpack5/.gitignore
+++ b/packages/webpack5/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
-# 
\ No newline at end of file
+#
+dist
diff --git a/packages/webpack5/__tests__/configuration/__snapshots__/vue.spec.ts.snap b/packages/webpack5/__tests__/configuration/__snapshots__/vue.spec.ts.snap
index 6afda83b5..59dbda398 100644
--- a/packages/webpack5/__tests__/configuration/__snapshots__/vue.spec.ts.snap
+++ b/packages/webpack5/__tests__/configuration/__snapshots__/vue.spec.ts.snap
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 exports[`vue configuration for android 1`] = `
 "{
+  mode: 'development',
   resolve: {
     symlinks: true,
     alias: {
@@ -137,6 +138,7 @@ exports[`vue configuration for android 1`] = `
 
 exports[`vue configuration for ios 1`] = `
 "{
+  mode: 'development',
   resolve: {
     symlinks: true,
     alias: {
diff --git a/packages/webpack5/package.json b/packages/webpack5/package.json
index 35267f3b3..0288cdc57 100644
--- a/packages/webpack5/package.json
+++ b/packages/webpack5/package.json
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
   "main": "index.js",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
   "scripts": {
-    "build": "echo todo",
+    "build": "tsc",
     "test": "jest"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
diff --git a/packages/webpack5/src/configuration/base.ts b/packages/webpack5/src/configuration/base.ts
index 72a30dc01..490faca13 100644
--- a/packages/webpack5/src/configuration/base.ts
+++ b/packages/webpack5/src/configuration/base.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,13 @@ export default function (env: IWebpackEnv): Config {
 	const config = new Config();
 	const distPath = getDistPath(env);
 	const platform = determinePlatformFromEnv(env);
+	const mode = env.production ? 'production' : 'development';
+
+	// set mode
+	config.mode(mode);
+
+	// todo: devtool
+	// config.devtool()
 
 	// look for loaders in
 	//  - @nativescript/webpack/loaders
diff --git a/packages/webpack5/tsconfig.json b/packages/webpack5/tsconfig.json
index 9c28969b1..b39bb86db 100644
--- a/packages/webpack5/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/webpack5/tsconfig.json
@@ -2,8 +2,9 @@
 	"compilerOptions": {
 		"rootDir": ".",
 		"baseUrl": ".",
-		"target": "es2015",
+		"target": "es2017",
 		"module": "commonjs",
+		"outDir": "./dist",
 		"declaration": true,
 		"emitDecoratorMetadata": true,
 		"experimentalDecorators": true,