Node requires file extension for import statement

Question

I've been building a typescript app, in which I imported some constants from a file. VS Code's Auto-Import did the work for me, but when I compiled and ran the file, it threw an error because it couldn't find the module. It seems that the error comes from not having file extensions for the import statements, but it only appears in the compiled javascript and not in the typescript files.

index.ts:

import { __port__ } from "./constants";
import express from "express";
const app = express();
app.listen(__port__, () => console.log("listening on port" + __port__));

constants.ts:

export const __port__ = process.env.PORT || 3000;

node.js error message:

Error [ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND]: Cannot find module '/home/af2111/Desktop/Coding/myapp/server/dist/constants' imported from /home/af2111/Desktop/Coding/myapp/server/dist/index.js

af2111 · Accepted Answer · 2021-01-24 18:06:15Z

13

I fixed it, I had to add a .js extension in the import statements

answered Jan 24, 2021 at 18:06

af2111

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7 Comments

slebetman Over a year ago

This is because node.js follows the ES6 standard which forbids the interpreter from guessing filename extensions. You will also need to add file extensions if you want to use import in plain javascript in browsers. Typescript on the other hand was implemented based on the import syntax proposal before ES6 was finalized so they followed node module (commonjs) behavior which guesses file extensions. However when ES6 standard was finally published the real standard did not allow this. Node follows the real standard while typescript breaks the standard because the standard did not exist yet

Logan Over a year ago

Thank you for that slebetman, I've been fighting with that error all day. Now I'm just stuck being told that I can't import my files with *.ts (though they are typescript files) but have to call them *.js instead xD

lahsuk Over a year ago

@slebetman Is there a way to tell tsc to change all import to end with an extension in build time (e.g.> all arbitrary files to .js)?

lmat - Reinstate Monica Over a year ago

@Logan It may feel weird to import .js files in a typescript program, but remember that the typescript files are translated to .js files by tsc before runtime.

Kevin Ghadyani Over a year ago

Something about this seems wrong because I'm not adding .js in the browser. Is this the way libraries and other projects are doing it?

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