NODE_ENV='development' produces broken builds with nitro

Which project does this relate to?

Start

Describe the bug

If NODE_ENV is set to 'development' at build time, the build command will succeed and the resulting server process can start, but all requests result in 500s with baffling error messages.

I think this is related to the new static NODE_ENV compilation feature. Affects 1.154 - 1.157

• Reproduction repository
• Discord Question Thread (Will disappear after a week of inactivity)

Fix for users

Unset NODE_ENV='development' when building. I wouldn't call it a 'workaround' as building for
production with that set doesn't really make sense, but the cause of the problem is not obvious. I
had set it in .env awhile ago for some reason or other that I can't remember, and lost a few hours
chasing this issue down. (Admittedly a skill issue but still)

Error text

Hopefully help anyone googling the issue find this:

❯ node .output/server/index.mjs 
➜ Listening on: http://localhost:3000/ (all interfaces)
TypeError: jsxDevRuntimeExports.jsxDEV is not a function
    at RootDocument (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_ssr/router-DgVFqghq.mjs:97:106)
    at renderWithHooks (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:8447:20)
    at renderElement (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:8521:16)
    at retryNode (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:9064:18)
    at renderNodeDestructive (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:8910:237)
    at finishFunctionComponent (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:8465:234)
    at renderElement (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:8523:9)
    at renderElement (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:8843:13)
    at retryNode (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:9064:18)
    at renderNodeDestructive (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:8910:237)
TypeError: jsxDevRuntimeExports.jsxDEV is not a function
    at RootDocument (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_ssr/router-DgVFqghq.mjs:97:106)
    ... 8 lines matching cause stack trace ...
    at renderNodeDestructive (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:8910:237) {
  cause: TypeError: jsxDevRuntimeExports.jsxDEV is not a function
      at RootDocument (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_ssr/router-DgVFqghq.mjs:97:106)
      at renderWithHooks (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:8447:20)
      at renderElement (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:8521:16)
      at retryNode (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:9064:18)
      at renderNodeDestructive (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:8910:237)
      at finishFunctionComponent (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:8465:234)
      at renderElement (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:8523:9)
      at renderElement (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:8843:13)
      at retryNode (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:9064:18)
      at renderNodeDestructive (file:///home/robert/development/tmp/tsstart-repo/.output/server/_chunks/_libs/react-dom.mjs:8910:237),
  status: 500,
  statusText: undefined,
  headers: undefined,
  data: undefined,
  body: undefined,
  unhandled: true
}

Your Example Website or App

https://github.com/rbuchberger/tsstart-build-bug

Steps to Reproduce the Bug or Issue

• Create new TSStart app, version 1.154.x (Not sure about 1.155-1.157)
• Set NODE_ENV='development' (possibly in an env file, as in this repo)
• pnpm build
• Build succeeds, appears normal.
• node .output/server/index.mjs
• Visit localhost:3000
• Get a 500 error in the browser, and TypeError: jsxDevRuntimeExports.jsxDEV is not a function in
  the server console. Changing NODE_ENV at this point makes no difference.

While troubleshooting, I also encountered errors related to missing dependencies. I presume the
dependencies themselves were stripped out, but the code which calls them wasn't.

Expected behavior

Anything other than waiting till the first request comes in at runtime to fail with a baffling error.

• Refuse to build with NODE_ENV='development' with a clear error message.
• Create a working build, without a static NODE_ENV and a console warning.
• Disregard and create a working build, along with a console warning.
• Honor and create a working build, with a console warning that the produced build is statically
  compiled into development mode.

Screenshots or Videos

Platform

• Router / Start Version: 1.154.13
• OS: Linux
• Browser: Any
• Bundler: Vite + Nitro
• Bundler Version: Vite 7.1.7, nitro-nightly 3.0.1

Additional context

Just wanna say thanks for an awesome project and all the work y'all do!

Start with the linked reproduction repository and reproduce the failure using pnpm build, then run .output/server/index.mjs with NODE_ENV='development'. Investigate the static NODE_ENV compilation behavior described in the issue and verify that a build either fails clearly or produces a working server with an appropriate warning instead of the reported 500 errors.