diff --git a/src/client/app/exports.ts b/src/client/app/exports.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 6012598b..00000000
--- a/src/client/app/exports.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
-// exports in this file are exposed to themes and md files via 'vitepress'
-// so the user can do `import { useRoute, useSiteData } from 'vitepress'`
-
-// generic types
-export type { Router, Route } from './router'
-
-// theme types
-export * from './theme'
-
-// composables
-export { useRouter, useRoute } from './router'
-export { useSiteData } from './composables/siteData'
-export { useSiteDataByRoute } from './composables/siteDataByRoute'
-export { usePageData } from './composables/pageData'
-export { useFrontmatter } from './composables/frontmatter'
-
-// utilities
-export { inBrowser, joinPath } from './utils'
-
-// components
-export { Content } from './components/Content'
-
-import { ComponentOptions } from 'vue'
-import _Debug from './components/Debug.vue'
-const Debug = _Debug as ComponentOptions
-export { Debug }
-
-// default theme
-export { default as DefaultTheme } from '../theme-default'
diff --git a/src/client/app/index.html b/src/client/app/index.html
deleted file mode 100644
index 69e2efbb..00000000
--- a/src/client/app/index.html
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-<div id="app"></div>
-<script type="module" src="/@app/index.js"></script>
diff --git a/src/client/index.ts b/src/client/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8dc04483
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/client/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+// exports in this file are exposed to themes and md files via 'vitepress'
+// so the user can do `import { useRoute, useSiteData } from 'vitepress'`
+
+// generic types
+export type { Router, Route } from './app/router'
+
+// theme types
+export * from './app/theme'
+
+// composables
+export { useRouter, useRoute } from './app/router'
+export { useSiteData } from './app/composables/siteData'
+export { useSiteDataByRoute } from './app/composables/siteDataByRoute'
+export { usePageData } from './app/composables/pageData'
+export { useFrontmatter } from './app/composables/frontmatter'
+
+// utilities
+export { inBrowser, joinPath } from './app/utils'
+
+// components
+export { Content } from './app/components/Content'
+
+import { ComponentOptions } from 'vue'
+import _Debug from './app/components/Debug.vue'
+const Debug = _Debug as ComponentOptions
+export { Debug }
+
+// default theme
+export { default as DefaultTheme } from './theme-default'
diff --git a/src/client/tsconfig.json b/src/client/tsconfig.json
index a2762775..08160422 100644
--- a/src/client/tsconfig.json
+++ b/src/client/tsconfig.json
@@ -8,11 +8,10 @@
     "lib": ["ESNext", "DOM"],
     "types": ["vite"],
     "paths": {
-      "/@theme/*": ["theme-default/*"],
-      "/@default-theme/*": ["theme-default/*"],
       "/@shared/*": ["shared/*"],
       "/@types/*": ["../../types/*"],
-      "vitepress": ["app/exports.ts"]
+      "/@theme/*": ["theme-default/*"],
+      "vitepress": ["index.ts"]
     }
   },
   "include": [
diff --git a/src/node/alias.ts b/src/node/alias.ts
index 50f59a45..add67ee8 100644
--- a/src/node/alias.ts
+++ b/src/node/alias.ts
@@ -17,10 +17,6 @@ export const DEFAULT_THEME_PATH = path.join(
 export const SITE_DATA_ID = '@siteData'
 export const SITE_DATA_REQUEST_PATH = '/' + SITE_DATA_ID
 
-// this is a path resolver that is passed to vite
-// so that we can resolve custom requests that start with /@app or /@theme
-// we also need to map file paths back to their public served paths so that
-// vite HMR can send the correct update notifications to the client.
 export function resolveAliases(
   root: string,
   themeDir: string,
@@ -28,9 +24,7 @@ export function resolveAliases(
 ): AliasOptions {
   const paths: Record<string, string> = {
     ...userConfig.alias,
-    '/@app': APP_PATH,
     '/@theme': themeDir,
-    '/@default-theme': DEFAULT_THEME_PATH,
     '/@shared': SHARED_PATH,
     [SITE_DATA_ID]: SITE_DATA_REQUEST_PATH
   }
@@ -40,7 +34,10 @@ export function resolveAliases(
       find: p,
       replacement: paths[p]
     })),
-    { find: /^vitepress$/, replacement: `${APP_PATH}/exports.js` }
+    {
+      find: /^vitepress$/,
+      replacement: path.join(__dirname, '../client/index')
+    }
   ]
 
   let isLinked = false
diff --git a/src/node/plugin.ts b/src/node/plugin.ts
index a32d6b9c..21d53f33 100644
--- a/src/node/plugin.ts
+++ b/src/node/plugin.ts
@@ -77,12 +77,16 @@ export function createVitePressPlugin(
 
     configureServer(server) {
       // serve our index.html after vite history fallback
-      const indexPath = `/@fs/${path.join(APP_PATH, 'index.html')}`
       return () => {
         // @ts-ignore
-        server.app.use((req, _, next) => {
+        server.app.use((req, res, next) => {
           if (req.url!.endsWith('.html')) {
-            req.url = indexPath
+            res.statusCode = 200
+            res.end(
+              `<div id="app"></div>\n` +
+                `<script type="module" src="/@fs/${APP_PATH}/index.js"></script>`
+            )
+            return
           }
           next()
         })