diff --git a/packages/@contentlayer/cli/src/commands/BuildCommand.ts b/packages/@contentlayer/cli/src/commands/BuildCommand.ts
index 40391cac..3f4b4c3d 100644
--- a/packages/@contentlayer/cli/src/commands/BuildCommand.ts
+++ b/packages/@contentlayer/cli/src/commands/BuildCommand.ts
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ export class BuildCommand extends BaseCommand {
   executeSafe = () =>
     pipe(
       this.clearCacheIfNeeded(),
-      T.chain(() => core.getConfig({ configPath: this.configPath })),
+      T.chain(() => core.getConfig({ configPath: this.configPath, esbuildOptions: { external: this.external } })),
       T.tap((config) => (config.source.options.disableImportAliasWarning ? T.unit : T.fork(core.validateTsconfig))),
       T.chain((config) => core.generateDotpkg({ config, verbose: this.verbose })),
       T.tap(core.logGenerateInfo),
diff --git a/packages/@contentlayer/cli/src/commands/DevCommand.ts b/packages/@contentlayer/cli/src/commands/DevCommand.ts
index c6fc17ad..45067f63 100644
--- a/packages/@contentlayer/cli/src/commands/DevCommand.ts
+++ b/packages/@contentlayer/cli/src/commands/DevCommand.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ export class DevCommand extends BaseCommand {
   executeSafe = () =>
     pipe(
       S.fromEffect(this.clearCacheIfNeeded()),
-      S.chain(() => core.getConfigWatch({ configPath: this.configPath })),
+      S.chain(() => core.getConfigWatch({ configPath: this.configPath, esbuildOptions: { external: this.external } })),
       S.tapSkipFirstRight(() => T.log(`Contentlayer config change detected. Updating type definitions and data...`)),
       S.tapRight((config) =>
         config.source.options.disableImportAliasWarning ? T.unit : T.fork(core.validateTsconfig),
diff --git a/packages/@contentlayer/cli/src/commands/PostInstallCommand.ts b/packages/@contentlayer/cli/src/commands/PostInstallCommand.ts
index 4d63b8c6..4bcc1aa3 100644
--- a/packages/@contentlayer/cli/src/commands/PostInstallCommand.ts
+++ b/packages/@contentlayer/cli/src/commands/PostInstallCommand.ts
@@ -10,12 +10,18 @@ export class PostInstallCommand extends BaseCommand {
   static paths = [['postinstall']]
 
   executeSafe = () => {
-    const { configPath } = this
+    const { configPath, external } = this
     return pipe(
       T.gen(function* ($) {
         const artifactsDirPath = yield* $(core.ArtifactsDir.mkdir)
 
-        yield* $(generateTypes({ artifactsDirPath, moduleName: 'generated', configPath }))
+        yield* $(
+          generateTypes({
+            artifactsDirPath,
+            moduleName: 'generated',
+            configOptions: { configPath, esbuildOptions: { external } },
+          }),
+        )
 
         yield* $(addToplevelDotpkgToGitignore())
       }),
@@ -30,11 +36,11 @@ export class PostInstallCommand extends BaseCommand {
 const generateTypes = ({
   artifactsDirPath,
   moduleName,
-  configPath,
+  configOptions,
 }: {
   artifactsDirPath: string
   moduleName: string
-  configPath?: string
+  configOptions: Parameters<typeof core.getConfig>[0]
 }) =>
   T.gen(function* ($) {
     const dirPath = path.join(artifactsDirPath, moduleName)
@@ -51,7 +57,7 @@ const generateTypes = ({
 
     if (indexDtsFileExists && typesDtsFileExists) return
 
-    const sourceEither = yield* $(pipe(core.getConfig({ configPath }), T.either))
+    const sourceEither = yield* $(pipe(core.getConfig(configOptions), T.either))
     if (sourceEither._tag === 'Left') {
       if (sourceEither.left._tag === 'NoConfigFoundError') {
         yield* $(fs.writeFile(indexDtsFilePath, moduleStubFileIndexDts))
diff --git a/packages/@contentlayer/cli/src/commands/_BaseCommand.ts b/packages/@contentlayer/cli/src/commands/_BaseCommand.ts
index 13c69687..cf8c4761 100644
--- a/packages/@contentlayer/cli/src/commands/_BaseCommand.ts
+++ b/packages/@contentlayer/cli/src/commands/_BaseCommand.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,12 @@ export abstract class BaseCommand extends Command {
     description: 'More verbose logging and error stack traces',
   })
 
+  external = Option.String('--external', {
+    description: 'External dependencies to exclude from the config bundle',
+    validator: t.isArray(t.isString()),
+    required: false,
+  })
+
   abstract executeSafe: () => T.Effect<OT.HasTracer & HasClock & HasCwd & HasConsole & fs.HasFs, unknown, void>
 
   execute = (): Promise<void> =>
diff --git a/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/getConfig/esbuild.ts b/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/getConfig/esbuild.ts
index 30545071..4e3be1a8 100644
--- a/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/getConfig/esbuild.ts
+++ b/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/getConfig/esbuild.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ export abstract class EsbuildWatcher {
 
 export type BuildResult = esbuild.BuildResult
 export type Plugin = esbuild.Plugin
+export type BuildOptions = esbuild.BuildOptions
 
 export type EsbuildError = UnknownEsbuildError | KnownEsbuildError
 
diff --git a/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/getConfig/index.ts b/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/getConfig/index.ts
index 59e1eb0c..214fe2da 100644
--- a/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/getConfig/index.ts
+++ b/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/getConfig/index.ts
@@ -34,12 +34,14 @@ export type Config = {
 
 export const getConfig = ({
   configPath,
+  esbuildOptions,
 }: {
   /** Contentlayer config source path */
   configPath?: string
+  esbuildOptions?: esbuild.BuildOptions
 }): T.Effect<OT.HasTracer & HasCwd & fs.HasFs, GetConfigError, Config> =>
   pipe(
-    getConfigWatch({ configPath }),
+    getConfigWatch({ configPath, esbuildOptions }),
     S.take(1),
     S.runCollect,
     T.map(Chunk.unsafeHead),
@@ -49,8 +51,10 @@ export const getConfig = ({
 
 export const getConfigWatch = ({
   configPath: configPath_,
+  esbuildOptions,
 }: {
   configPath?: string
+  esbuildOptions?: esbuild.BuildOptions
 }): S.Stream<OT.HasTracer & HasCwd & fs.HasFs, never, E.Either<GetConfigError, Config>> => {
   const resolveParams = pipe(
     T.structPar({
@@ -66,6 +70,7 @@ export const getConfigWatch = ({
     S.chainMapEitherRight(({ configPath, outfilePath, cwd }) =>
       pipe(
         esbuild.makeAndSubscribe({
+          ...esbuildOptions,
           entryPoints: [configPath],
           entryNames: '[name]-[hash]',
           outfile: outfilePath,
diff --git a/packages/contentlayer-stackbit-yaml-generator/src/cli/DefaultCommand.ts b/packages/contentlayer-stackbit-yaml-generator/src/cli/DefaultCommand.ts
index 66a3dd24..425c2c00 100644
--- a/packages/contentlayer-stackbit-yaml-generator/src/cli/DefaultCommand.ts
+++ b/packages/contentlayer-stackbit-yaml-generator/src/cli/DefaultCommand.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,12 @@ export class DefaultCommand extends Command {
     validator: t.isString(),
   })
 
+  external = Option.String('--external', {
+    description: 'External dependencies to exclude from the config bundle',
+    validator: t.isArray(t.isString()),
+    required: false,
+  })
+
   // TODO refactor similar to `@contentlayer2/cli`
   async execute() {
     try {
@@ -55,7 +61,7 @@ export class DefaultCommand extends Command {
 
   executeSafe = (): T.Effect<OT.HasTracer & HasCwd & HasConsole & fs.HasFs, unknown, void> =>
     pipe(
-      getConfig({ configPath: this.configPath }),
+      getConfig({ configPath: this.configPath, esbuildOptions: { external: this.external } }),
       T.chain((config) =>
         T.struct({ source: T.succeed(config.source), schema: config.source.provideSchema(config.esbuildHash) }),
       ),
diff --git a/packages/next-contentlayer/src/plugin.ts b/packages/next-contentlayer/src/plugin.ts
index 81f29458..d77dfd43 100644
--- a/packages/next-contentlayer/src/plugin.ts
+++ b/packages/next-contentlayer/src/plugin.ts
@@ -3,23 +3,25 @@ import '@contentlayer2/utils/effect/Tracing/Enable'
 import * as core from '@contentlayer2/core'
 import { errorToString } from '@contentlayer2/utils'
 import { E, OT, pipe, S, T } from '@contentlayer2/utils/effect'
+import type * as esbuild from 'esbuild'
 import type { WebpackOptionsNormalized } from 'webpack'
 
 import { checkConstraints } from './check-constraints.js'
 
 export type NextPluginOptions = {
   configPath?: string | undefined
+  esbuildOptions?: Pick<esbuild.BuildOptions, 'external'> | undefined
 }
 
 /** Seems like the next.config.js export function might be executed multiple times, so we need to make sure we only run it once */
 let contentlayerInitialized = false
 
-const runContentlayerDev = async ({ configPath }: NextPluginOptions) => {
+const runContentlayerDev = async ({ configPath, esbuildOptions }: NextPluginOptions) => {
   if (contentlayerInitialized) return
   contentlayerInitialized = true
 
   await pipe(
-    core.getConfigWatch({ configPath }),
+    core.getConfigWatch({ configPath, esbuildOptions }),
     S.tapSkipFirstRight(() => T.log(`Contentlayer config change detected. Updating type definitions and data...`)),
     S.tapRight((config) => (config.source.options.disableImportAliasWarning ? T.unit : T.fork(core.validateTsconfig))),
     S.chainSwitchMapEitherRight((config) => core.generateDotpkgStream({ config, verbose: false, isDev: true })),
@@ -29,12 +31,12 @@ const runContentlayerDev = async ({ configPath }: NextPluginOptions) => {
   )
 }
 
-const runContentlayerBuild = async ({ configPath }: NextPluginOptions) => {
+const runContentlayerBuild = async ({ configPath, esbuildOptions }: NextPluginOptions) => {
   if (contentlayerInitialized) return
   contentlayerInitialized = true
 
   await pipe(
-    core.getConfig({ configPath }),
+    core.getConfig({ configPath, esbuildOptions }),
     T.chain((config) => core.generateDotpkg({ config, verbose: false })),
     T.tap(core.logGenerateInfo),
     OT.withSpan('next-contentlayer:runContentlayerBuild'),
@@ -56,14 +58,14 @@ export const runBeforeWebpackCompile = async ({
   const isNextDev = mode === 'development'
   const isBuild = mode === 'production'
 
-  const { configPath } = pluginOptions
+  const { configPath, esbuildOptions } = pluginOptions
 
   if (isBuild) {
     checkConstraints()
-    await runContentlayerBuild({ configPath })
+    await runContentlayerBuild({ configPath, esbuildOptions })
   } else if (isNextDev && !devServerStartedRef.current) {
     devServerStartedRef.current = true
     // TODO also block here until first Contentlayer run is complete
-    runContentlayerDev({ configPath })
+    runContentlayerDev({ configPath, esbuildOptions })
   }
 }