react next js err_require_esm Troubleshooting Guide for Next.js

If you're seeing the "err_require_esm" error in Next.js, don't worry, it's a common issue. This error typically occurs when you're trying to use a module that's not installed or is not in the correct format.

To resolve this issue, you need to ensure that the module you're trying to use is installed correctly. This means checking your package.json file to see if the module is listed as a dependency.

One common cause of the "err_require_esm" error is using a dynamic import with a module that's not an ES module. This can be tricky to spot, especially if you're new to Next.js.

ES Module Issues can be frustrating, especially if you're new to React and Next.js. The ERR_REQUIRE_ESM error is often caused by a mismatch between CommonJS and ES modules.

You'll know you're dealing with an ES module issue when you see the error message complaining about require() not being defined in an ES module scope. This can happen when you're using a package that's been updated to use ES modules, but your codebase is still using CommonJS syntax.

To fix this, you can try renaming your index.js file to index.cjs, as suggested in Example 2. However, this might not always be the solution, especially if you're dealing with a large codebase. In that case, you might need to dig deeper and identify the root cause of the issue.

Here's a summary of possible causes:

Before Next.js 12, you may have encountered similar issues with ES Module compatibility. One such example is with the unist-util-visit package, specifically version @3.1.0. Ezra had this problem and found the solution to be the correct answer.

You're not alone if you've faced issues with three.js as well. kimbaudi also encountered a similar problem and found the solution to be helpful. The website-git-switcher-pmndrs.vercel.app/react-three-fiber/ link was particularly useful for their issue.

Eric Burel had trouble with the build command esbuild index.ts --outdir=dist --sourcemap --bundle --minify --platform=neutral --main-fields=module,main,browser, which built as ESM but still threw an error when importing a module in _app.js.

The solution to this issue might be found in the "type": "module" field in the lib's package.json. Juliomalves suggested this as a potential solution, and Eric Burel confirmed that they had this field in their package.json.

ES Module Issues can be frustrating, especially when you're not sure what's causing them. One common issue is the ERR_REQUIRE_ESM error, which occurs when a module is trying to use the require statement to import an ES module.

This error can be caused by a mismatch between the module system used by your code and the module system used by the package you're trying to import. For example, if you're using a package that's an ES module, but your code is using the CommonJS module system, you'll get this error.

A good way to fix this issue is to inform Node.js to enable ES modules by adding the "type": "module" field to your package.json file. This will allow you to use the import statement instead of the require statement.

However, if you're still getting the error, it might be because you're using a package that's not compatible with ES modules. In this case, you can try downgrading the package to a version that's compatible with CommonJS.

Here are some common causes of the ERR_REQUIRE_ESM error:

To fix these issues, you can try the following:

Migration to ESM can be a challenge, especially when dealing with third-party packages that have migrated to ESM-only.

If a package has migrated to be an ESM-only package, you'll need to import it using a dynamic import instead of require().

Suppose you have a library called bar that was previously a CJS module, imported as follows: This will no longer work if the package has migrated to ESM-only.

You now need to import it like so: This is the new way to import ESM-only packages.

Next.js 12 has enabled support for ESM modules by default, as long as the ESM library has "type": "module" in its package.json.

This means you don't need to use next-transpile-modules to transpile ESM libraries in Next.js 12.

However, if you're using a library like ky that's exported as ESM, you can still transpile it with next-transpile-modules in next.config.js.

In Next.js 12.1, you can add "type": "module" to your package.json to enable ESM support.