Rule `import/no-unresolved` raise false positive when there is no `main` field in the `package.json`

[macabeus]

What did you do? Please include the actual source code causing the issue, as well as the command that you used to run ESLint.

import GBAEmulator, { GbaContext } from 'react-gbajs'

Full code

./node_modules/.bin/eslint .

What did you expect to happen? Should raise no error. This package is present in the node_modules.

An important note: Since it's only for the browser, it has the field browser instead of main in its package.json (link). I made it following the NPM documentation. Despite that, I noticed that by adding the field main in its package.json, the error suppress - but it doesn't look correct.

What actually happened? Please copy-paste the actual, raw output from ESLint.

/Users/macabeus/ApenasMeu/klo-gba.js/brush/src/components/Emulator/index.js
  2:41  error  Unable to resolve path to module 'react-gbajs'  import/no-unresolved

/Users/macabeus/ApenasMeu/klo-gba.js/brush/src/components/KloGbaSidebar/Hacks/index.js
  7:28  error  Unable to resolve path to module 'react-gbajs'  import/no-unresolved

/Users/macabeus/ApenasMeu/klo-gba.js/brush/src/hooks/useGbaSaveRestoreState.js
  2:28  error  Unable to resolve path to module 'react-gbajs'  import/no-unresolved

/Users/macabeus/ApenasMeu/klo-gba.js/brush/src/index.js
  8:29  error  Unable to resolve path to module 'react-gbajs'  import/no-unresolved

/Users/macabeus/ApenasMeu/klo-gba.js/brush/src/providers/VisionProvider.js
  4:28  error  Unable to resolve path to module 'react-gbajs'  import/no-unresolved

✖ 5 problems (5 errors, 0 warnings)

✨  Done in 4.73s.

Steps to reproduce this issue:

1. Clone this repository: https://github.com/macabeus/klo-gba.js
2. Run yarn on its root
3. cd brush
4. yarn run lint

[ljharb]

A package just for the browser still needs node behavior, even if that’s “nothing”, so having it lack a main is a bug.

That said, it seems reasonable that when there’s no “main” present, but there is a browser field, that we respect it for the purposes of this rule - although i worry that would hide a bug in the common case.

[macabeus]

I think that it would be better not to demand the main field when browser is present. NPM doc is reasonable when explaining that it's an "instead of". Otherwise, I'm losing the hint that it's only for the browser.

browser If your module is meant to be used client-side the browser field should be used instead of the main field. This is helpful to hint users that it might rely on primitives that aren't available in Node.js modules. (e.g. window)

[ljharb]

Perhaps "main": false then - a missing main might just mean it's pointing to a missing index.js, since that's the default.

[macabeus]

Testing using false... And raises a warning on VSCode because the expected type is string. Probably it'll raise an error on other tools too.

I also tested using an empty string, and the lint error continues.

[ljharb]

false is a valid value; that's just the package.json typescript types being broken. If it's false, does the linter pass?

[macabeus]

There are the same lint errors even when using false.

[gautaz]

The same error occurs for the p-queue package which package.json only shows an exports field and no main field.

I agree that this is rather odd considering what is currently advised on the NodeJS site.

[LumaKernel]

I'm using monaco-editor (0.26.1) and getting no-unresolved error with import ... from 'monaco-editor'.

monaco-editor has following package.json:

...
  "typings": "./esm/vs/editor/editor.api.d.ts",
  "module": "./esm/vs/editor/editor.main.js",
...

https://github.com/microsoft/monaco-editor/blob/v0.26.1/package.json#L15-L16

[ljharb]

@LumaKernel that package.json is incorrect. The module field is not a thing, and the lack of main/exports combined with private:true means nobody can, or should be able to, import/require from that package.

[benmccann]

I ran into this with periscopic 3.0.3, which has the following in package.json:

  "module": "src/index.js",
  "type": "module",
  "exports": {
    "import": "./src/index.js"
  },

Seems like this could also be fixed by support exports (https://github.com/benmosher/eslint-plugin-import/issues/1868, https://github.com/benmosher/eslint-plugin-import/issues/1810)

[ljharb]

@benmccann yep! That ones a valid one, but since it lacks a main (which it should have for back compat support anyways), we can’t resolve it until exports is supported by resolve.

[niieani]

This is also raised for packages that are typescript definitions-only. One such example is callbag package, that only exports TypeScript types. When I do:

import type { Sink, Source } from 'callbag'

Rule import/no-unresolved is raised. But in this case only types field should be resolved, since there is no runtime behavior here. Ideally, all import type could probably be ignored, since TypeScript itself will error when it can't be resolved.

[ljharb]

@niieani import type should be completely ignored by no-unresolved, i think - does it warn on that on the latest version of the plugin?

[niieani]

@ljharb yup, simplest reproduction is that line I cited above. Install callbag and try that import type with the rule turned on and you'll get an error from eslint.

[ljharb]

I mean, that package is super broken because it has a "main" that doesn't exist - it should specify "main": false if it's not meant to be importable. You may want to file a bug on it.

That said, we should be using package.json, not the main, to verify import type packages, so i think that's the fix here.

[ghoullier]

All package authored by @sindresorhus will be migrated to pure esm module see article It's already the case for chalk and many other packages.

[ljharb]

@ghoullier yes, i'm aware - and that's very user-hostile and will break a ton of things, including this plugin.

I suggest switching to packages that preserve compatibility.

[kachkaev]

I have just upgraded a side-project to ESM – it consists of data-processing scripts and a Next.js app for data visualisations. Everything seems to be working with "type": "module" in package.json, thanks to experimental ESM support in ts-node and to a small temp hack in next.config.mjs.

For me, this unlocked execa@v6 , chalk@v5 and sort-keys@v5. All of these project dependencies are authored by sindresorhus and are ESM-only.

Although I have no runtime issues, importing chalk unexpectedly triggers ESLint:

import chalk from "chalk"; // ❌ Unable to resolve path to module 'chalk'. eslint(import/no-unresolved)

The other two very similar packages don’t produce any ESLint errors. Here are package.json of the versions I am using:

• ✅ https://unpkg.com/browse/[email protected]/package.json
• ✅ https://unpkg.com/browse/[email protected]/package.json
• ❌ https://unpkg.com/browse/[email protected]/package.json

Does anyone see anything that would break import/no-unresolved only for chalk? 🤔

In the meantime, I’ll stick with "import/no-unresolved": "off" and will expect yarn lint:tsc to monitor imports.

P.S.: Pure ESM packages are somewhat painful, but I appreciate the migration pressure created by maintainers. The faster we move the ecosystem to ESM-only, the better for everyone. This year I had to explain differences between ESM and CommonJS to new devs and also assist with quite intricate repo configs. I hope all this knowledge becomes unnecessary for most folks by the end of 2022!

[ljharb]

The pressure you're discussing is not actually helping the ecosystem; i invite you to check the per-version download counts for every package that's gone ESM-only. It's a clear signal that developers do not want that.

The reason is because sindre is actually authoring their packages incorrectly - by omitting main entirely, there's a default "main" of index.js, which execa and sort-keys have. The proper way to have an ESM-only package would be "main": false, which would then correctly create a warning for all of them.

Regardless of this plugin's inevitable eventual support for ESM resolution - which should of course work - I would strongly encourage you to migrate to package authors that maintain compatibility over ones that attempt to subjugate their users by forcing them to use a specific subset of node's available module systems.

[c-vetter]

@ljharb You claim false to be valid for main. Can you please cite your source?

The official docs for the field don't mention false:

• https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v6/configuring-npm/package-json#main
• https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v7/configuring-npm/package-json#main
• https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v8/configuring-npm/package-json#main
• https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v12.x/api/packages.html#packages_main_entry_point_export
• ~~v13 seems to lack that page ¯\_(ツ)_/¯~~
• https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v14.x/api/packages.html#packages_main
• https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v15.x/api/packages.html#packages_main
• https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v16.x/api/packages.html#main
• https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v17.x/api/packages.html#main

On the other hand, the nodejs.org pages list type as <string>. Plus, https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v16.x/api/modules.html shows this pseudo code:

LOAD_AS_DIRECTORY(X)
1. If X/package.json is a file,
   a. Parse X/package.json, and look for "main" field.
   b. If "main" is a falsy value, GOTO 2.
   c. let M = X + (json main field)
   d. LOAD_AS_FILE(M)
   e. LOAD_INDEX(M)
   f. LOAD_INDEX(X) DEPRECATED
   g. THROW "not found"
2. LOAD_INDEX(X)

1.b indicates that false would not that the package cannot be required but that index.js would be tried.

[ljharb]

@rasenplanscher mkdir -p node_modules/main-false && echo '{"main": false}' > node_modules/main-false/package.json && touch node_modules/main-false/index.js && node -pe "require.resolve('main-false')" does show that you're right. I'll add a test case to resolve for this.

That still makes "omit main entirely" an incorrect approach, unless there's no index.js present - which the packages mentioned above have.

In that case, my testing shows that setting main to {} will, at least, error in every node version down to 0.10 (0.6 and 0.8 still default to index.js in that case), and "exports" takes precedence over this incorrect "main" in node versions that support it. Probably a better alternative, then, is to have an explicit main that points to a file that exists, but throws a runtime error immediately upon being required.

[jmcombs]

@kachkaev I have this same issue. I opened an issue with chalk. Looks like it's because "main": "./source/index.js", is missing from package.json. Chalk with ESLint & Airbnb Base #536

[jmcombs]

@macabeus In the issue I have open with chalk this was the feedback from @sindresorhus:

main can be useful when you have backwards compatibility with CommonJS. Chalk does not support CommonJS, so it makes no sense to specify it when exports is the proper way to define entry points. I don't plan to add main just because the maintainer of the import ESLint plugin is difficult (he usually is). Source

He seems to have a valid point regarding throwing this linting error on a package that is not backwards compatible with CommonJS. Thoughts? I'm just stuck in the middle.

[ljharb]

@jmcombs i could have told you there was no point in opening an issue; chalk's maintainer has made an intentional decision to author their packages in this way, and they're not likely to change it.

This plugin will eventually support "exports"; until then, you can ignore the package in the import/ignore setting, disable the rule overall or with an override comment, or, migrate to use another package that has chosen to retain backwards compatibility.

[jmcombs]

@ljharb Sorry about the personal attack from them. I'll ignore it for now and monitor the bug that you have open on it. Thanks for your hard work on this package!

[ljharb]

@sindresorhus since you locked the thread, this is the reply i was about to send:

The "usually is" part is the personal attack, which goes far beyond that thread.

I certainly do describe the negative effects of your decisions, there and elsewhere, but that's not an attack on your character.

[sindresorhus]

I'm sorry. A personal attack was not intended.

[ljharb]

Thanks, I appreciate that.

[danielweck]

This workaround works for me: https://gist.github.com/danielweck/cd63af8e9a8b3492abacc312af9f28fd

[silverwind]

Could exports just be treated as an alias to main for the purpose of linting?

Or maybe this module could just use either require.resolve which does not have the issue. Also there's experimental import.meta.resolve.