How would you fix an 'ERR_REQUIRE_ESM' error?

Question

I am trying to use the chalk npm. My code is:

     const chalk = require('chalk');

          console.log(
          chalk.green('All sytems go') +
          chalk.orange('until').underline +
          chalk.black(chalk.bgRed('an error occurred'))
           );

And I receive this error in my terminal when I type node main.js

Error [ERR_REQUIRE_ESM]: require() of ES Module /Users/ezell/Documents/CodeX/NPM/node_modules/chalk/source/index.js from /Users/ezell/Documents/CodeX/NPM/main.js not supported.
Instead change the require of index.js in /Users/ezell/Documents/CodeX/NPM/main.js to a dynamic import() which is available in all CommonJS modules.
    at Object.<anonymous> (/Users/ezell/Documents/CodeX/NPM/main.js:1:15) {
  code: 'ERR_REQUIRE_ESM'
}

vivek sharma · Answer 1 · 2022-08-14T04:41:29.333

I got the same 'ERR_REQUIRE_ESM' error for nanoid:^4.0.0 & there are multiple ways to resolve this error:-

1)Use fix esm https://www.npmjs.com/package/fix-esm module & import the module like this:

const someModule = require("fix-esm").require("some-module");

2)Use dynamic import as shown below:

import('nanoid') 
.then((res)=>{ console.log(res) })         
.catch((err)=>{ console.log(err) });

Just make sure you dont have type:"module" field in package.json in above both cases otherwise you got "TypeError [ERR_UNKNOWN_FILE_EXTENSION]: Unknown file extension" error

3)Downgrade the module version to a stable old version, for eg in my case it was resolved when I downgraded nanoid version to :

"nanoid": "^3.1.22"

That was the most useful answer for me. Thank you for sharing. — Ikem Krueger, Jul 06 '23 at 15:28

score 4 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 21 '22 at 01:31

The latest version of Chalk is only compatible with ESM modules and thus wants you to load it with import, not require().

From the doc:

IMPORTANT: Chalk 5 is ESM. If you want to use Chalk with TypeScript or a build tool, you will probably want to use Chalk 4 for now. Read more.

So, your choices are:

Switch your project to an ESM module and load the latest version of Chalk with import instead of require().
Install version 4 of Chalk which can be used with require().
With a fairly recent version of Node.JS, you can use dynamic import to load the ESM module into your CommonJS module: const chalk = await import('chalk');

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 09 '22 at 03:58

You need to switch to using the import keyword, as Chalk 5 only supports ESM modules.

So, to fix your code to adapt these changes, you need to...

Edit your package.json file to allow ESM imports. Add the following in your package.json file:
```
{
  "type": "module"
}
```
Load Chalk with the import keyword, as so:
```
import chalk from "chalk";
```

If you, however, want to use require(), you need to downgrade to Chalk 4. Follow these steps to downgrade.

Replace your existing chalk key with the following in your package.json file:
```
{
  "dependencies": {
    "chalk": "4.1.2"
  }
}
```
Then, run the following command to install Chalk from your package.json file. Make sure to run this in the directory in which your package.json file is in!
```
$ npm install
```
Use the require() statement like normal.
```
const chalk = require("chalk");
```

In summary, these are the two things you can do.

Stay with Chalk 5, and update import statements.
Downgrade to Chalk 4, and keep require() statements.

Thank you so much! Adding the import chalk from "chalk"; and "type": "module" worked!! — Tarneka Ezell, Apr 09 '22 at 17:34

score 1 · Answer 4 · edited Aug 12 '22 at 17:26

1

Solution, this happens because you have to use the current stable release 2.x first:

npm uninstall -D node-fetch

After that:

npm install node-fetch@2

This should work.

edited Aug 12 '22 at 17:26

Tyler2P

2,324
26
22
31

answered Aug 09 '22 at 16:18

Elio Rivas

11
1

I really wished there was more explanation to this "solution". – Professor Tom Apr 19 '23 at 17:15

How would you fix an 'ERR_REQUIRE_ESM' error?

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