Syntax error cannot use import statement outside a module nodejs

I’ve got an ApolloServer project that’s giving me trouble, so I thought I might update it and ran into issues when using the latest Babel. My «index.js» is:

require('dotenv').config()
import {startServer} from './server'
startServer()

And when I run it I get the error

SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module

First I tried doing things to convince TPTB* that this was a module (with no success). So I changed the «import» to a «require» and this worked.

But now I have about two dozen «imports» in other files giving me the same error.

*I’m sure the root of my problem is that I’m not even sure what’s complaining about the issue. I sort of assumed it was Babel 7 (since I’m coming from Babel 6 and I had to change the presets) but I’m not 100% sure.

Most of what I’ve found for solutions don’t seem to apply to straight Node. Like this one here:

ES6 module Import giving «Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier»

Says it was resolved by adding «type=module» but this would typically go in the HTML, of which I have none. I’ve also tried using my project’s old presets:

"presets": ["es2015", "stage-2"],
"plugins": []

But that gets me another error: «Error: Plugin/Preset files are not allowed to export objects, only functions.»

Here are the dependencies I started with:

"dependencies": {
"@babel/polyfill": "^7.6.0",
"apollo-link-error": "^1.1.12",
"apollo-link-http": "^1.5.16",
"apollo-server": "^2.9.6",
"babel-preset-es2015": "^6.24.1",

I had the same issue and the following has fixed it (using Node.js 12.13.1):

• Change .js files extension to .mjs
• Add --experimental-modules flag upon running your app.
• Optional: add "type": "module" in your package.json

More information: https://nodejs.org/api/esm.html

Node v14.16.0
For those who’ve tried .mjs and got:

Aviator@AW:/mnt/c/Users/Adrian/Desktop/Programming/nodejs_ex$ node just_js.mjs
file:///mnt/c/Users/Adrian/Desktop/Programming/nodejs_ex/just_js.mjs:3
import fetch from "node-fetch";
       ^^^^^

SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier

and who’ve tried import fetch from "node-fetch";
and who’ve tried const fetch = require('node-fetch');

Aviator@AW:/mnt/c/Users/Adrian/Desktop/Programming/nodejs_ex$ node just_js.js
(node:4899) Warning: To load an ES module, set "type": "module" in the package.json or use the .mjs extension.
(Use `node --trace-warnings ...` to show where the warning was created)
/mnt/c/Users/Adrian/Desktop/Programming/nodejs_ex/just_js.js:3
import fetch from "node-fetch";
^^^^^^

SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module  

and who’ve tried "type": "module" to package.json, yet continue seeing the error,

{
  "name": "test",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "to get fetch working",
  "main": "just_js.js",
  "type": "module",
  "scripts": {
    "test": "echo "Error: no test specified" && exit 1"
  },
  "author": "",
  "license": "MIT"
}

I was able to switch to axios without a problem.

import axios from 'axios'; <— put at top of file.
Example:

axios.get('https://www.w3schools.com/xml/note.xml').then(resp => {

    console.log(resp.data);
});

answered Sep 27, 2021 at 19:10

I’m new to Node.js, and I got the same issue for the AWS Lambda function (using Node.js) while fixing it.

I found some of the differences between CommonJS and ES6 JavaScript:

ES6:

• Add «type»:»module» in the package.json file

• Use «import» to use from lib.

  Example: import jwt_decode from jwt-decode

• Lambda handler method code should be define like this

  «exports.handler = async (event) => { }»

CommonJS:

• Don’t add «type»:»module» in the package.json file

• Use «require» to use from lib.

  Example: const jwt_decode = require(«jwt-decode»);

• The lambda handler method code should be defines like this:

  «export const handler = async (event) => { }»

If you are using ES6 JavaScript imports:

1. install cross-env
2. in package.json change "test": "jest" to "test": "cross-env NODE_OPTIONS=--experimental-vm-modules jest"
3. more in package.json, add these:

    ...,
    "jest": {
        "transform": {}
    },
    "type": "module"

Explanation:

cross-env allows to change environment variables without changing the npm command. Next, in file package.json you change your npm command to enable experimental ES6 support for Jest, and configure Jest to do it.

This error also comes when you run the command

node filename.ts

and not

node filename.js

Simply put, with the node command we will have to run the JavaScript file (filename.js) and not the TypeScript file unless we are using a package like ts-node.

If you want to use BABEL, I have a simple solution for that!

Remember this is for nodejs example: like an expressJS server!

If you are going to use react or another framework, look in the babel documentation!

First, install (do not install unnecessary things that will only trash your project!)

npm install --save-dev @babel/core @babel/node

Just 2 WAO

then config your babel file in your repo!

file name:

babel.config.json

{
    "presets": ["@babel/preset-env"]
}

if you don’t want to use the babel file, use:

Run in your console, and script.js is your entry point!

npx babel-node --presets @babel/preset-env -- script.js

the full information is here; https://babeljs.io/docs/en/babel-node

answered Dec 30, 2021 at 23:52

I had this issue when I was running migration

Its es5 vs es6 issue

Here is how I solved it

I run

npm install @babel/register

and add

require("@babel/register")

at the top of my .sequelizerc file my

and go ahead to run my sequelize migrate.
This is applicable to other things apart from sequelize

babel does the transpiling

answered Dec 1, 2020 at 10:58

To make your import work and avoid other issues, like modules not working in Node.js, just note that:

With ES6 modules you can not yet import directories. Your import should look like this:

import fs from './../node_modules/file-system/file-system.js'

The documentation is confusing. I use Node.js to perform some local task in my computer.

Let’s suppose my old script was test.js. Within it, if I want to use

import something from "./mylocalECMAmodule";

it will throw an error like this:

(node:16012) Warning: To load an ES module, set "type": "module" in the package.json or use the .mjs extension.
SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module
...

This is not a module error, but a Node.js error. Forbid loading anything outside a ‘module’.

To fix this, just rename your old script test.js into test.mjs.

That’s all.

My solution was to include babel-node path while running nodemon as follows:

nodemon node_modules/.bin/babel-node index.js

You can add in your package.json script as:

debug: nodemon node_modules/.bin/babel-node index.js

NOTE: My entry file is index.js. Replace it with your entry file (many have app.js/server.js).

1. I had the same problem when I started to use Babel… But later, I
   had a solution… I haven’t had the problem any more so far…
   Currently, Node.js v12.14.1, «@babel/node»: «^7.8.4», I use babel-node and nodemon to execute (Node.js is fine as well..)
2. package.json: «start»: «nodemon —exec babel-node server.js «debug»: «babel-node debug server.js»!! Note: server.js is my entry
   file, and you can use yours.
3. launch.json. When you debug, you also need to configure your launch.json file «runtimeExecutable»:
   «${workspaceRoot}/node_modules/.bin/babel-node»!! Note: plus
   runtimeExecutable into the configuration.
4. Of course, with babel-node, you also normally need and edit another file, such as the babel.config.js/.babelrc file

I recently had the issue. The fix which worked for me was to add this to file babel.config.json in the plugins section:

["@babel/plugin-transform-modules-commonjs", {
    "allowTopLevelThis": true,
    "loose": true,
    "lazy": true
  }],

I had some imported module with // and the error «cannot use import outside a module».

Wrong MIME-Type for JavaScript Module Files

The common source of the problem is the MIME-type for «Module» type JavaScript files is not recognized as a «module» type by the server, the client, or the ECMAScript engine that process or deliver these files.

The problem is the developers of Module JavaScript files incorrectly associated Modules with a new «.mjs» (.js) extension, but then assigned it a MIME-type server type of «text/javascript». This means both .js and .mjs types are the same. In fact the new type for .js JavaScript files has also changed to «application/javascript», further confusing the issue. So Module JavaScript files are not being recognized by any of these systems, regardless of Node.js or Babel file processing systems in development.

The main problem is this new «module» subtype of JavaScript is yet known to most servers or clients (modern HTML5 browsers). In other words, they have no way to know what a Module file type truly is apart from a JavaScript type!

So, you get the response you posted, where the JavaScript engine is saying it needs to know if the file is a Module type of JavaScript file.

The only solution, for server or client, is to change your server or browser to deliver a new Mime-type that trigger ES6 support of Module files, which have an .mjs extension. Right now, the only way to do that is to either create a HTTP content-type on the server of «module» for any file with a .mjs extension and change your file extension on module JavaScript files to «.mjs», or have an HTML script tag with type="module" added to any external <script> element you use that downloads your external .js JavaScript module file.

Once you fool the browser or JavaScript engines into accepting the new Module file type, they will start doing their scripting circus tricks in the JS engines or Node.js systems you use.

answered Dec 25, 2022 at 2:06