in rsbuild, why can't I reference png images from the public directory in the less file.

[senfish]

This is my rsbuild.config.ts

This is my directory structure：

--public
----demo.png
--src
----login
------index.less
------demo-test.png

when i use background-image: url('./demo-test.png'); is ok in less;
when i use background-image: url('/demo.png'); is error in less;
The error message is

 × Module build failed:
  ╰─▶   × Cannot find module '/demo.png'

Finally, I created a new assets directory under the src directory and put the demo.png image into the assets directory.
and used background-image: url('@/assets/demo.png');. It works fine.

Why can't I reference static resources in the public directory in the source code? What is the original intention of this design?

[SoonIter]

You could check this doc

https://rsbuild.dev/guide/basic/static-assets#import-assets-in-css-file

IMO, I prefer background-image: url('./demo-test.png'); and "a new assets directory under the src directory" rather than "public directory"

https://rsbuild.dev/guide/basic/static-assets#public-folder

1. publicDir is usually used for "robots.txt、manifest.json favicon.ico", and hosted by server

2. assets in publicDir is not processed by Rsbuild, if you are using https://github.com/rspack-contrib/rsbuild-plugin-image-compress, it doesn't work.