nodejs / nodejs/node

Wrong error annotation when commonjs `require`s an ES module

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confirmed-bug
Dominant language
JavaScript
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Forks
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Version
  • ^22.4.0
  • main with the --no-experimental-require-module flag.
Platform
macOS arm64
Subsystem

esm,module

What steps will reproduce the bug?
mkdir undefined && cd undefined
echo '{"type":"module"}' > package.json
echo "import nothing from 'somewhere'" > app.js
echo "require('./app.js')" > test.cjs
node test.cjs
How often does it reproduce? Is there a required condition?

It starts to happen with v22.4.0. v20.x and <=22.3.0 are not affected.

What is the expected behavior? Why is that the expected behavior?
$ node test.cjs
/Users/mzasso/git/test/undefined/test.cjs:1
require('./app.js')
^

Error [ERR_REQUIRE_ESM]: require() of ES Module /Users/mzasso/git/test/undefined/app.js from /Users/mzasso/git/test/undefined/test.cjs not supported.
Instead change the require of app.js in /Users/mzasso/git/test/undefined/test.cjs to a dynamic import() which is available in all CommonJS modules.
    at Object.<anonymous> (/Users/mzasso/git/test/undefined/test.cjs:1:1) {
  code: 'ERR_REQUIRE_ESM'
}

Node.js v22.3.0
What do you see instead?
$ node test.cjs
/Users/mzasso/git/test/undefined/test.cjs:315
undefined
             ^

Error [ERR_REQUIRE_ESM]: require() of ES Module /Users/mzasso/git/test/undefined/app.js from /Users/mzasso/git/test/undefined/test.cjs not supported.
Instead change the require of app.js in /Users/mzasso/git/test/undefined/test.cjs to a dynamic import() which is available in all CommonJS modules.
    at TracingChannel.traceSync (node:diagnostics_channel:315:14)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/Users/mzasso/git/test/undefined/test.cjs:1:1) {
  code: 'ERR_REQUIRE_ESM'
}

Node.js v22.4.0
Additional information

As you can see, this seems to be caused by the presence of TracingChannel.traceSync in the stack trace.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by running the reproduction commands in the issue with Node.js v22.4.0 and the --no-experimental-require-module flag, then trace the ESM/CommonJS require error and the TracingChannel.traceSync stack annotation. Done means the error annotation points to the require('./app.js') line as in the expected output, with a regression test covering the reported version change.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript
Domain
backend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
38/100

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