How to load an external config file in a Webpack-React application without bundling it?

I have a web application that is written with React and bundled with Webpack. The application has a JSON config file that I want to include at runtime and not to be bundled with webpack.

In my entry point for the application I am importing the contents using the json-loader but doing that forces the file to be embedded in the application and I can't update the config file once it's been bundled.

How can I configure my webpack.config.js file to exclude my config.json file but still let me import it in my application? It's not a module so I don't know if it can be included in the externals section of my webpack.config.js

I tried using require.ensure but all I see now is the contents of config.json bundled into a 1.1.bundle.js file and changing the config file does nothing.

app.js

let config;
require.ensure(['./config.json'], require => {
    config = require('./config.json');
});

Solution

I ended up using a modified version of that to load my script externally. My application doesn't require the config immediately so the async aspect doesn't make a difference here.

I placed this at the top of my <head> in applications entry page with a co-located config file.

<head>
    ... other scripts
    <script>
        var config= window.config|| {};
        $.getJSON('config.json', function(response) {
            config= response;
        });
    </script>
</head>
<body>
    <div id='root'/>
    <script src='dist/app.bundle.js'></script>
</body>