topic Using $arcgis.import() with self hosted SDK in ArcGIS JavaScript Maps SDK Questions

Using $arcgis.import() with self hosted SDK

NicolasGIS — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 17:55:23 GMT

Hello,

In my organization, I can't use the CDN for data privacy reasons.

I need to download the SDK and host it.

I like the coding style offered by $arcgis.import() rather than using AMD and find it really convenient but I found out that it is not defined in the SDK downloaded:

https://developers.arcgis.com/javascript/latest/sdk-downloads-and-archive/

It's true that it is always refereed that is it only available for application built with the CDN so I guess it is by design but I was wondering why not making it available there as well ?

More info on the official blog post: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/js-api-arcgis/developers/future-proof-your-arcgis-javascript-app

Thanks for listening !

Nicolas

Re: Using $arcgis.import() with self hosted SDK

ReneRubalcava — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 19:31:34 GMT

The download of the SDK should be the same as what is published to the CDN.

Test this out locally and was able to use $arcgis.import()

<html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1,user-scalable=no" /> <title> Test app </title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="http://localhost/builds/arcgis_js_v50_core_api/javascript/5.0/esri/themes/light/main.css" /> <script type="module" src="http://localhost/builds/arcgis_js_v50_core_api/javascript/5.0/core.js"></script> <style> html, body, #viewDiv { padding: 0; margin: 0; height: 100%; width: 100%; } </style> <script type="module"> const [Map, MapView, Search] = await $arcgis.import([ "@arcgis/core/Map.js", "@arcgis/core/views/MapView.js", "@arcgis/core/widgets/Search.js", ]); const map = new Map({ basemap: "dark-gray-vector", }); const view = new MapView({ container: "viewDiv", map: map, }); const search = new Search({ view: view, }); view.ui.add(search, "top-right"); </script> </head> <body> <div id="viewDiv"></div> </body> </html>

Only place it's not available is in the npm build.

Re: Using $arcgis.import() with self hosted SDK

NicolasGIS — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 19:42:55 GMT

Thanks for your quick reply @ReneRubalcava !

Happy to read it is possible ! I must have done something wrong in my setup then. My bad. I had $arcgis.import error though everything seemed loaded at first sight. Will try again and let you know.

By the way, it would be great to have a simple export button with all the components and core wired properly for a given SDK version. Downloading everything manually from npm is error prone !