Orchestrator

The v4 host runtime, used as an opt-in on v3 — semver-aware version resolution, cross-reload caching and a drop-in bundle for HTML-only hosts.

@softarc/native-federation-orchestrator is the browser runtime that ships with Native Federation v4. On the v3 line the default runtime is the classic runtime — but the orchestrator reads the same remoteEntry.json contract, so a v3 host can opt into it without rebuilding its remotes.

This page covers what that buys you and what it costs. The full reference lives in the v4 docs; every link below points there.

When it is worth opting in

The v3 runtime deduplicates a shared dependency only when two remotes declare a byte-identical version. Everything else gets its own copy under its own scope. Opt into the orchestrator when that is the problem you have:

Remotes disagree on versions. The orchestrator compares the declared semver ranges and elects one version per package instead of shipping several. See Version Resolver.
Repeat visits re-fetch every manifest. The v3 runtime holds its registry in memory only, so a full page load starts from zero. The orchestrator can persist resolved metadata in sessionStorage or localStorage — this matters most for server-rendered hosts that reload on every navigation. See Configuration → Storage.
The host is not a SPA. A single <script> tag plus a manifest in the DOM wires up a plain HTML page — no npm install, no bundler. See Getting Started.
You need a CSP-friendly runtime with SRI. Both DOM sinks go through a vetted Trusted Types policy, and artifacts can be pinned against hashes. See Security & SRI.

If none of those apply, the v3 runtime is the simpler choice and is what the Angular adapter wires up for you.

What v3 remotes cannot use

A v3 build emits a subset of what v4 emits. The optional fields v4 added — $version, chunks, integrity, and the per-dependency shareScope and pool tags — are simply absent from a v3 remoteEntry.json. The orchestrator accepts that input, but the features driven by those fields have nothing to act on:

Feature	On v3-built remotes
Semver-range resolution	Works — driven by `packageName`, `version`, `requiredVersion`, `singleton` and `strictVersion`, all of which v3 emits.
Persistent caching	Works — it caches the fetched `remoteEntry.json` regardless of which major produced it.
Share scopes	Not available — the scope is declared per shared dependency at build time, so every v3 dependency lands in the global scope.
Dependency pooling	Limited — build-declared pool tags are absent.
Module-level SRI	Not available from the build — a v3 `remoteEntry.json` carries no `integrity` map. You can still pin the manifest and each `remoteEntry.json` by hand.
Node.js / SSR execution	Browser-only on the v3 line. A server-rendered host works, but its remotes load client-side after the page arrives.

Adopting it on a v3 host

The orchestrator replaces the runtime import in your bootstrap; the build side does not change.

npm i @softarc/native-federation-orchestrator

// src/main.ts — was: import { initFederation } from '@softarc/native-federation-runtime';
import { initFederation } from '@softarc/native-federation-orchestrator';

initFederation('/assets/federation.manifest.json')
  .then(({ loadRemoteModule }) => import('./bootstrap').then(m => m.bootstrap(loadRemoteModule)))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

The shapes differ in one way that matters: the orchestrator's initFederation resolves to an object carrying loadRemoteModule, rather than exposing a module-level function that reads global state. Thread that loader through your app instead of importing it. The full option set — logger, storage, modes, import-map implementation — is in Configuration.

On Angular, keep using the v3 adapter for the build and swap only the runtime call in main.ts. The adapter's own runtime re-exports are the classic runtime's, so import the orchestrator directly rather than from @angular-architects/native-federation.

Full reference

The orchestrator's documentation lives in the v4 tree:

Page	What it covers
Getting Started	The quickstart bundle, the event registry, writing your own init script.
Architecture	The manifest, the internal caches, how the import map is built.
Configuration	Every `initFederation` option.
Version Resolver	Resolution across scopes, the strict scope, dynamic init.
Dependency Pooling	Keeping a coupled package family assembled from one build.
Event Registry	`window.__NF_REGISTRY__` — race-free init, cross-MFE resources.
Module Federation	`createGetShared`, the bridge to webpack MF's `shared` config.
Security & SRI	CSP setup for the Trusted Types policy and the SRI trust chain.

Example repositories

Angular host (v3) — the orchestrator inside an Angular monorepo using Native Federation v3.
Vanilla JS/HTML host — the orchestrator inside a plain HTML page.
Angular host (v4) — the same Angular setup on v4.

Moving the whole stack rather than just the runtime? See Migration to v4.