diff --git a/coldspa/vite/ssr-server.js b/coldspa/vite/ssr-server.js
index f53fd8c..346a070 100755
--- a/coldspa/vite/ssr-server.js
+++ b/coldspa/vite/ssr-server.js
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 //
 // Flags:
 //   --prod             switches to prod mode
+//   --force            passes Vite's dependency optimizer force option in dev
 
 import { createServer as createHttpServer } from 'http';
 import { fileURLToPath, pathToFileURL } from 'url';
@@ -34,6 +35,8 @@ if (process.argv.includes('--prod')) {
     process.env.NODE_ENV = 'production';
 }
 
+const FORCE_OPTIMIZE_DEPS = process.argv.includes('--force');
+
 const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 const PROJECT_ROOT = resolve(process.cwd());
 const PORT = Number(process.env.COLDSPA_SSR_PORT || 5174);
@@ -73,6 +76,7 @@ async function getRenderer(framework) {
         viteDevServer = await createServer({
             root: PROJECT_ROOT,
             server: { middlewareMode: true },
+            optimizeDeps: FORCE_OPTIMIZE_DEPS ? { force: true } : undefined,
             appType: 'custom'
         });
     }
diff --git a/docs/getting-started.md b/docs/getting-started.md
index aba2f4a..d671e10 100644
--- a/docs/getting-started.md
+++ b/docs/getting-started.md
@@ -115,6 +115,8 @@ The Coldspa plugin handles client-entry shims, manifest output, and dev-server h
 
 `coldspa-ssr` is the SSR sidecar binary shipped in the npm package. Keeping it behind an `ssr` script lets `coldspa.Bootstrap` start the sidecar automatically with `npm run ssr`.
 
+If Vite's dependency optimizer cache needs to be rebuilt during development, run the sidecar with `coldspa-ssr --force` or `npm run ssr -- --force`.
+
 ## 6. Configure runtime URLs (optional)
 
 For local single-host dev, the defaults are fine. Otherwise create a `coldspa.config.json` at the webroot: