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'
}

Answer 1

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...

1. Edit your package.json file to allow ESM imports. Add the following in your package.json file:

   {
     "type": "module"
   }
   

2. 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.

1. Replace your existing chalk key with the following in your package.json file:

   {
     "dependencies": {
       "chalk": "4.1.2"
     }
   }
   

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
   

3. 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.

Answer 2

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:

1. Switch your project to an ESM module and load the latest version of Chalk with import instead of require().

2. Install version 4 of Chalk which can be used with require().

3. 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');

Answer 3

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"

Answer 4

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.