The jimu libraries that come with Experience Builder can be used to include a variety of functionality into your widget. In addition to this functionality, third-party libraries can be included and used within a custom Experience Builder widget. This sample demonstrates how to configure Experience Builder to load a third-party library (jQuery) via the manifest.json dependency property and use it within a custom Experience Builder widget.
How to use the sample
Clone the sample repo and copy this widget's folder (within widgets) to the client/your-extensions/widgets folder of your Experience Builder installation.
How it works
The jQuery CDN url is included in the dependency property in the manifest.json file. Since it is listed there, Experience Builder loads the library and then jQuery can be used in the widget - in this case, the jQuery $ variable is being used in widget.tsx.
This method of installing a third-party library, via CDN using manifest.json, should be used if this library is planned on being used in multiple widgets. See the Using Third-Party Libraries guide topic for information about how to use this pattern and other ways to use third-party libraries.