Angular CLI incorrectly loads jasmine-core as an ES module

[sgravrock]

Command

new, test

Is this a regression?

• [x] Yes, this behavior used to work in the previous version

The previous version in which this bug was not present was

Likely 19.0.x

Description

Note: I maintain Jasmine.

jasmine-core is a plain old script/CommonJS hybrid, not an ES module, but the Angular dev tools load it via <script type="module">. That appears to be the cause of the global this problems that the angular CLI works around by monkey patching the window object to look like it's from an old version of the GJS runtime. It could cause other problems as well.

https://github.com/angular/angular-cli/pull/29104 appears to have introduced both the bug and the GJS workaround.

jasmine-core 6.x will use globalThis to find the global object, which should do away with the need for the GJS workaround. But it will also emit a warning if it's loaded as an ES module in the browser, since that's an unsupported and un-tested configuration that's already known to have caused problems.

Minimal Reproduction

1. Run ng new and accept the defaults. (I used @angular/cli 20.3.5.)
2. In the created project, run npm t.
3. Click the debug button in Karma.
4. View source in the resulting tab.
5. Look for the script tag that loads jasmine.js.

If you want to see the warning:

1. Run ng new and select the zoneless option. This isn't strictly necessary but it will avoid errors related to jasmine/jasmine#2078.
2. Patch package.json as shown below.
3. Remove package-lock.json and node_modules.
4. Run npm install.
5. Run npm t.

diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 0474f8f..2fff3a9 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -37,12 +37,20 @@
     "@angular/cli": "^20.3.5",
     "@angular/compiler-cli": "^20.3.0",
     "@types/jasmine": "~5.1.0",
-    "jasmine-core": "~5.9.0",
+    "jasmine-core": "github:jasmine/jasmine#6.0",
     "karma": "~6.4.0",
     "karma-chrome-launcher": "~3.2.0",
     "karma-coverage": "~2.2.0",
     "karma-jasmine": "~5.1.0",
     "karma-jasmine-html-reporter": "~2.1.0",
     "typescript": "~5.9.2"
+  },
+  "overrides": {
+    "karma-jasmine": {
+      "jasmine-core": "6.0.0-alpha.0"
+    },
+    "karma-jasmine-html-reporter": {
+      "jasmine-core": "6.0.0-alpha.0"
+    }
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}

Exception or Error

Your Environment

_                      _                 ____ _     ___
    / \   _ __   __ _ _   _| | __ _ _ __     / ___| |   |_ _|
   / △ \ | '_ \ / _` | | | | |/ _` | '__|   | |   | |    | |
  / ___ \| | | | (_| | |_| | | (_| | |      | |___| |___ | |
 /_/   \_\_| |_|\__, |\__,_|_|\__,_|_|       \____|_____|___|
                |___/
    


Angular CLI: 20.3.5
Node: 20.19.0
Package Manager: npm 10.8.2
OS: darwin arm64
    

Angular: 20.3.4
... common, compiler, compiler-cli, core, forms
... platform-browser, router

Package                      Version
------------------------------------
@angular-devkit/architect    0.2003.5
@angular-devkit/core         20.3.5
@angular-devkit/schematics   20.3.5
@angular/build               20.3.5
@angular/cli                 20.3.5
@schematics/angular          20.3.5
rxjs                         7.8.2
typescript                   5.9.3
zone.js                      0.15.1

Anything else relevant?

No response

[sgravrock]

Possibly related: https://github.com/angular/angular-cli/issues/24778

If (as I suspect from reading the code) the Angular dev tools are loading all JS files as ES modules, this could be just the tip of the iceberg.

[hybrist]

Thanks for letting us know about the upcoming change to Jasmine, much appreciated!

The timing between module and non-module script loading makes it challenging to load jasmine as recommended. But we're actively working on a revamp of the unit testing story for Angular projects which might reduce the friction here.

[sgravrock]

The timing between module and non-module script loading makes it challenging to load jasmine as recommended.

Ah yes.

In case it helps, here's what jasmine-browser-runner does. The key is that jasmine-browser-runner knows about jasmine-core and loads it before any user code (lines 18-20) as a plain script tag without defer. After that, the code to load user scripts is pretty much all whale guts and angry bees. But regardless of which path through it is taken, it all happens after jasmine-core has had a chance to load and hook up its global error handlers. AFAIK that code reliably loads mixes of plain scripts and modules in sequence.