Electron and Typescript - Uncaught ReferenceError: exports is not defined

Question

I have an electron app that is written in typescript. Here is the minimum code:

someModule.ts:

function someFunction() {}

export default someFunction;

main.ts:

import someFunction from "./someModule";

someFunction();

index.html:

...

<script defer src="main.js"></script>

...

index.ts (package entry which starts with npm start):

import { BrowserWindow, app } from "electron";

const createWindow = () => {
    const win = new BrowserWindow({
        webPreferences: {
            nodeIntegration: true,
            contextIsolation: false,
        }
    });

    win.loadFile("./index.html");
}

app.whenReady().then(() => {
    createWindow();
});

app.on("window-all-closed", () => {
    if(process.platform !== "darwin") app.quit();
})

tsconfig.json:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "ES2022",
    "lib": ["DOM"], 
    "module": "CommonJS",
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true,
    "strict": true, 
    "skipLibCheck": true                                 
  }
}

When I run the app (by npx tsc && node index.js command (which is npm start in package scripts)) the console in electron window gives an error:

Uncaught ReferenceError: exports is not defined
    at main.js:5:23

How can I fix this?

perhaps something to do with your tsconfig.json (see stackoverflow.com/questions/43042889/…) — Alain BUFERNE
– Alain BUFERNE, Commented Dec 5, 2022 at 14:27
@UsithaIndeewara sorry didn't read your code closely enough. You need to set your module type to commonjs in your tsconfig, and make sure you do not have type: module in your package.json. Electron is node.js, it doesn't support the ESM syntax for .js files. See also this q/a — Jared Smith
– Jared Smith, Commented Dec 5, 2022 at 15:05
My tsconfig already has "module": "commonjs" and I don't have "type": "module" in package.json. But the error occurs. @JaredSmith @AlainBUFERNE — Usitha Indeewara
– Usitha Indeewara, Commented Dec 6, 2022 at 0:56
Does this answer your question? Typescript & Electron exports is not defined — Syscall
– Syscall, Commented Apr 3, 2024 at 6:51

Usitha Indeewara · Accepted Answer · 2022-12-08 09:36:26Z

0

The problem was solved by adding this in the index.html file:

<script>
    require("./main.js");
</script>

instead of <script src="main.js"></script>

edited Dec 8, 2022 at 9:36

answered Dec 6, 2022 at 12:11

Usitha Indeewara

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