diff --git a/packages/webpack5/src/helpers/errors.ts b/packages/webpack5/src/helpers/errors.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0dbca3e38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/webpack5/src/helpers/errors.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+// todo: refine
+export function error(message: string, info?: { possibleCauses?: string[] }) {
+	console.error(`
+	NativeScript Webpack encountered an error and cannot proceed with the build:
+
+	${message}
+
+	Possible causes:
+	${info?.possibleCauses?.map((cause) => `- ${cause}`).join('\n')}
+	`);
+}
diff --git a/packages/webpack5/src/helpers/flavor.ts b/packages/webpack5/src/helpers/flavor.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..202dd67eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/webpack5/src/helpers/flavor.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import { defaultConfigs } from '@nativescript/webpack';
+
+export function determineProjectFlavor(): keyof typeof defaultConfigs {
+	// todo;
+
+	// error(`
+	// Could not determine project flavor.
+	//
+	// Please use webpack.useConfig('<flavor>') to explicitly set the base config.
+	// `, {
+	// 	possibleCauses: [
+	// 		'Not in a NativeScript project',
+	// 		'The project is not at the current working directory'
+	// 	]
+	// })
+
+	return 'vue';
+}
diff --git a/packages/webpack5/src/index.ts b/packages/webpack5/src/index.ts
index 5f83d0968..266809741 100644
--- a/packages/webpack5/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/webpack5/src/index.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import Config from 'webpack-chain';
-import webpack, { config } from 'webpack';
+import webpack from 'webpack';
 import { configs } from './configuration';
+import { determineProjectFlavor } from './helpers/flavor';
 
 export type Platform = 'android' | 'ios' | string;
 
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ export interface IWebpackEnv {
 let webpackChains: any[] = [];
 let webpackMerges: any[] = [];
 let env: IWebpackEnv = {};
+let explicitUseConfig = false;
 
 ////// PUBLIC API
 export const defaultConfigs = configs;
@@ -30,10 +32,10 @@ export function init(_env: IWebpackEnv) {
 	if (_env) {
 		env = _env;
 	}
-	// todo: determine default config based on deps and print **useful** error if it fails.
 }
 
 export function useConfig(config: keyof typeof defaultConfigs) {
+	explicitUseConfig = true;
 	webpackChains.push(configs[config]);
 }
 
@@ -48,6 +50,10 @@ export function mergeWebpack(mergeFn: (config: Partial<webpack.Configuration>, e
 export function resolveChainableConfig() {
 	const config = new Config();
 
+	if (!explicitUseConfig) {
+		useConfig(determineProjectFlavor());
+	}
+
 	// this applies all chain configs
 	webpackChains.forEach((chainFn) => {
 		return chainFn(config, env);