diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ed3e9877..a8760d44 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@
     "prismjs": "^1.20.0",
     "sirv": "^1.0.10",
     "slash": "^3.0.0",
-    "vite": "^2.0.0-alpha.1",
+    "vite": "^2.0.0-alpha.2",
     "vue": "^3.0.4"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
diff --git a/src/client/app/exports.ts b/src/client/app/exports.ts
index 21ee2965..6012598b 100644
--- a/src/client/app/exports.ts
+++ b/src/client/app/exports.ts
@@ -24,3 +24,6 @@ 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/node/alias.ts b/src/node/alias.ts
index 8d6ab6fb..50f59a45 100644
--- a/src/node/alias.ts
+++ b/src/node/alias.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import path from 'path'
-import { AliasOptions } from 'vite'
+import { Alias, AliasOptions } from 'vite'
 import { UserConfig } from './config'
 
+const PKG_ROOT = path.join(__dirname, '../../')
 export const APP_PATH = path.join(__dirname, '../client/app')
 export const SHARED_PATH = path.join(__dirname, '../client/shared')
 export const DEFAULT_THEME_PATH = path.join(
@@ -20,17 +21,47 @@ export const SITE_DATA_REQUEST_PATH = '/' + SITE_DATA_ID
 // 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 createAlias(
+export function resolveAliases(
+  root: string,
   themeDir: string,
   userConfig: UserConfig
 ): AliasOptions {
-  return {
+  const paths: Record<string, string> = {
     ...userConfig.alias,
     '/@app': APP_PATH,
     '/@theme': themeDir,
     '/@default-theme': DEFAULT_THEME_PATH,
     '/@shared': SHARED_PATH,
-    vitepress: `${APP_PATH}/exports.js`,
     [SITE_DATA_ID]: SITE_DATA_REQUEST_PATH
   }
+
+  const aliases: Alias[] = [
+    ...Object.keys(paths).map((p) => ({
+      find: p,
+      replacement: paths[p]
+    })),
+    { find: /^vitepress$/, replacement: `${APP_PATH}/exports.js` }
+  ]
+
+  let isLinked = false
+  try {
+    require.resolve('vitepress', { paths: [root] })
+  } catch (e) {
+    isLinked = true
+  }
+
+  if (isLinked) {
+    // aliases for local linked development
+    aliases.push(
+      { find: /^vitepress\//, replacement: PKG_ROOT + '/' },
+      {
+        find: /^vue$/,
+        replacement: require.resolve(
+          '@vue/runtime-dom/dist/runtime-dom.esm-bundler.js'
+        )
+      }
+    )
+  }
+
+  return aliases
 }
diff --git a/src/node/config.ts b/src/node/config.ts
index da078a20..e565e6ec 100644
--- a/src/node/config.ts
+++ b/src/node/config.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import path from 'path'
 import fs from 'fs-extra'
 import chalk from 'chalk'
 import globby from 'globby'
-import { createAlias, APP_PATH, DEFAULT_THEME_PATH } from './alias'
+import { resolveAliases, APP_PATH, DEFAULT_THEME_PATH } from './alias'
 import { SiteData, HeadConfig, LocaleConfig } from '../../types/shared'
 import { MarkdownOptions } from './markdown/markdown'
 import { AliasOptions } from 'vite'
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ export async function resolveConfig(
     outDir: resolve(root, 'dist'),
     tempDir: path.resolve(APP_PATH, 'temp'),
     markdown: userConfig.markdown,
-    aliases: createAlias(themeDir, userConfig)
+    aliases: resolveAliases(root, themeDir, userConfig)
   }
 
   return config
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 32bc629c..e0ddaef1 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -5939,10 +5939,10 @@ verror@1.10.0:
     core-util-is "1.0.2"
     extsprintf "^1.2.0"
 
-vite@^2.0.0-alpha.1:
-  version "2.0.0-alpha.1"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/vite/-/vite-2.0.0-alpha.1.tgz#bc184f7c0b06e9142dd0b5e49a0a7cbbb79989d2"
-  integrity sha512-bmpgZuTQo3n4jO/jsdiNZRZSIUZeISkCW9c99FV+lnwukA1DFri3ix9w7x439xYQnqDAzONPMfKHtR1zdmyDag==
+vite@^2.0.0-alpha.2:
+  version "2.0.0-alpha.2"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/vite/-/vite-2.0.0-alpha.2.tgz#ef03271c0dc9d301076fbeed01b48849f89722a1"
+  integrity sha512-iGTlNzH4uskwEu32XmDk0i9dFRUax9ZHjL+5DXbX/cisNYQC35KhLaiLKwdL3iSu8fFYc3nd8sfKfCndJxL3AQ==
   dependencies:
     esbuild "^0.8.26"
     postcss "^8.2.1"