Bug: esbuild builder 3rd party libs built not properly with browserify paths
- Dominant language
- TypeScript
- Stars
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- Avg merge
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- Merged PRs (30d)
- 162
Description
### Command
serve
### Is this a regression?
- [ ] Yes, this behavior used to work in the previous version
### The previous version in which this bug was not present was
none
### Description
We're currently in the evaluation of replacing the Webpack with ESBuild process from Angular.
The only blocker right now is, that the path replacements for the building process does not work as expected and the application directly crashes into a white screen.
### Minimal Reproduction
https://github.com/JohnnyDevNull/angular17-esbuild-browserify-error
1. Checkout the mentioned reproduction repo
2. `npm install`
3. `ng serve`
Open the app and you will directly see an Vite warning and the error from the 3rd party library we are using `fhir` in this case for the healthcare sector.
```
Module "stream" has been externalized for browser compatibility. Cannot access "stream.Stream" in client code. See https://vitejs.dev/guide/troubleshooting.html#module-externalized-for-browser-compatibility for more details.
```

```
Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'prototype')
```


As you can see in the configs below I've added the `paths` and `browser` properties to help esbuild understand the mapping, but it does not work anyways.
Just to mention, the 3rd party library is a CommonJS library, which we cannot avoid here, so its added to the `allowedCommonJsDependencies` configuration.
tsconfig.json
```
/* To learn more about this file see: https://angular.io/config/tsconfig. */
{
"compileOnSave": false,
"compilerOptions": {
"outDir": "./dist/out-tsc",
"strict": true,
"noImplicitOverride": true,
"noPropertyAccessFromIndexSignature": true,
"noImplicitReturns": true,
"noFallthroughCasesInSwitch": true,
"skipLibCheck": true,
"esModuleInterop": true,
"sourceMap": true,
"declaration": false,
"experimentalDecorators": true,
"moduleResolution": "node",
"importHelpers": true,
"target": "ES2022",
"module": "ES2022",
"useDefineForClassFields": false,
"lib": [
"ES2022",
"dom"
],
"baseUrl": ".",
"paths": {
"stream": ["node_modules/stream-browserify"]
}
},
"angularCompilerOptions": {
"enableI18nLegacyMessageIdFormat": false,
"strictInjectionParameters": true,
"strictInputAccessModifiers": true,
"strictTemplates": true
}
}
```
package.json
```
{
"name": "ng-dummy",
"version": "0.0.0",
"scripts": {
"ng": "ng",
"start": "ng serve",
"build": "ng build",
"watch": "ng build --watch --configuration development",
"test": "ng test"
},
"private": true,
"dependencies": {
"@angular/animations": "^17.3.0",
"@angular/common": "^17.3.0",
"@angular/compiler": "^17.3.0",
"@angular/core": "^17.3.0",
"@angular/forms": "^17.3.0",
"@angular/platform-browser": "^17.3.0",
"@angular/platform-browser-dynamic": "^17.3.0",
"@angular/router": "^17.3.0",
"fhir": "^4.12.0",
"rxjs": "~7.8.0",
"stream-browserify": "^3.0.0",
"tslib": "^2.3.0",
"zone.js": "~0.14.3"
},
"devDependencies": {
"@angular-devkit/build-angular": "^17.3.4",
"@angular/cli": "^17.3.4",
"@angular/compiler-cli": "^17.3.0",
"@types/fhir": "^0.0.41",
"@types/jasmine": "~5.1.0",
"jasmine-core": "~5.1.0",
"karma": "~6.4.0",
"karma-chrome-launcher": "~3.2.0",
"karma-coverage": "~2.2.0",
"karma-jasmine": "~5.1.0",
"karma-jasmine-html-reporter": "~2.1.0",
"typescript": "~5.4.2"
},
"browser": {
"stream": "stream-browserify"
}
}
```
### Exception or Error
```
Module "stream" has been externalized for browser compatibility. Cannot access "stream.Stream" in client code. See https://vitejs.dev/guide/troubleshooting.html#module-externalized-for-browser-compatibility for more details.
```
```
Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'prototype')
```
### Your Environment
```text
_ _ ____ _ ___
/ \ _ __ __ _ _ _| | __ _ _ __ / ___| | |_ _|
/ △ \ | '_ \ / _` | | | | |/ _` | '__| | | | | | |
/ ___ \| | | | (_| | |_| | | (_| | | | |___| |___ | |
/_/ \_\_| |_|\__, |\__,_|_|\__,_|_| \____|_____|___|
|___/
Angular CLI: 17.3.4
Node: 18.19.1
Package Manager: npm 10.2.4
OS: darwin arm64
Angular: 17.3.4
... animations, cli, common, compiler, compiler-cli, core, forms
... platform-browser, platform-browser-dynamic, router
Package Version
---------------------------------------------------------
@angular-devkit/architect 0.1703.4
@angular-devkit/build-angular 17.3.4
@angular-devkit/core 17.3.4
@angular-devkit/schematics 17.3.4
@schematics/angular 17.3.4
rxjs 7.8.1
typescript 5.4.5
zone.js 0.14.4
```
### Anything else relevant?
This issue was already reported with https://github.com/angular/angular-cli/issues/26901 but sadly to say closed. I hope you have now a better picture with my simple reproduction repo.
Contributor guide
Research direction
Clone the linked reproduction repository, run npm install and ng serve, and confirm the Vite externalization warning and runtime error. Inspect how the esbuild builder handles the paths mapping in tsconfig.json and the browser mapping in package.json; done means the fhir dependency loads without the stream warning or prototype error.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- angular, typescript
- Domain
- build-system, cli
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100