@workflow/builders 4.1.3: JSON import attribute stripped from bundled deps, breaking all local step execution on Node 22

Summary

@workflow/builders@4.1.3 appears to strip the with { type: 'json' } import attribute from bundled dependencies. The result is that the local runtime cannot execute any step on Node 22: the queue operation fails and waitForHook times out with no pending hook.

Error

[local world] Queue operation failed: TypeError: Module
"file:///…/node_modules/.pnpm/builtin-modules@5.0.0/node_modules/builtin-modules/builtin-modules.json"
needs an import attribute of "type: json"

Then, from @workflow/vitest:

Error: waitForHook timed out after 30000ms: no pending hook found for run wrun_…

The workflow starts and gets a run id; no step ever runs, so no hook is ever registered.

Why this looks like a bundler issue rather than a dependency issue

builtin-modules@5.0.0 ships the attribute correctly:

// node_modules/builtin-modules/index.js
import builtinModules from './builtin-modules.json' with {type: 'json'};
export default builtinModules;

The attribute is present in source and absent at runtime, so something is removing it in transit. @workflow/builders bundles with esbuild (0.28.1 in the failing stack), and esbuild has historically dropped import attributes in some transform paths.

Version skew ruled out

• @workflow/builders@4.1.3 declares builtin-modules: 5.0.0
• exactly 5.0.0 resolves (pnpm, no hoisting surprise)
• every published 5.x (5.0.0 → 5.3.0) imports that JSON identically

So no overrides pin avoids it.

Environment

node	v22.23.1
workflow	4.6.2 (latest)
@workflow/builders	4.1.3
@workflow/vitest	4.0.14
next	16.2.x
package manager	pnpm 9 (workspace)
OS	macOS (darwin 25.5)

Reproduction

1. Next.js app with withWorkflow() in next.config.ts.
2. A workflow with one "use step" function.
3. vitest run with the workflow() plugin from @workflow/vitest, starting the workflow and awaiting waitForHook.

The step never executes; the queue error above appears on stderr.

Impact

Any local integration test that depends on a step running — which is all of them — cannot pass on Node 22 with this builders version. In our case it blocked verifying that an approval hook rejects a run, which we could not defer without also deferring the guarantee.

Note

#1654 is a related but distinct builders regression (Node builtins mangled to relative paths). This one is specifically the JSON import attribute being lost.

Start by reproducing the failure through the workflow() plugin from @workflow/vitest in a Next.js app, then inspect the @workflow/builders esbuild 0.28.1 bundling path and compare it with node_modules/builtin-modules/index.js. Done means the JSON import attribute survives bundling and the local step executes successfully on Node 22 without the queue error or waitForHook timeout.