Using paths in TypeScript in a NodeJS project

Question

I'm trying to use the paths property in tsconfig.json in a NodeJS project.

In tsconfig.json I have something like this:

"baseUrl": ".",
"paths": {
  "@myApp/server/*": [
    "server/src/*"
  ],
  "@myApp/common/*": [
    "common/src/*"
  ]
},

Running tsc outputs all JS files as expected, but they retain the @myApp... imports. As a result, node won't run as it can't resolve all modules having as path @myApp....

I can't find a way to convert the paths I've set in tsconfig.json to a value that can be used by node. I've only found this question on SO, but it's quite outdated and it does not lead to a clean solution.

Do we have a way to transpile TS to JS in a way in which we are able to use paths?

And I am sure that you are aware of the fact that baseUrl is relative to the location of 'tsconfig.json'. can you please confirm? — Avinash Maurya
– Avinash Maurya, Commented Aug 4, 2018 at 9:23
Yes of course. As I said, typescript is working fine, the setup in tsconfig.json is correct. The problem is that the absolute paths defined in tsconfig.json dont't work in JS, and I'm looking for a way to convert them to relative paths. — don
– don, Commented Aug 4, 2018 at 9:26
what is the command that you are using to transpile ts code? — Avinash Maurya
– Avinash Maurya, Commented Aug 4, 2018 at 9:41

FacePalm · Accepted Answer · 2019-08-28 09:37:03Z

13

If anyone out here is using with nodejs and tsconfig-paths. You can use the following commands to make the absolute paths work:

// With ts-node    
ts-node -r tsconfig-paths/register src/main.js

// With node    
node -r ts-node/register/transpile-only -r tsconfig-paths/register dist/main.js

Got this from here: https://github.com/dividab/tsconfig-paths/issues/61

answered Aug 28, 2019 at 9:37

FacePalm

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Comments

don · Accepted Answer · 2019-06-12 18:49:22Z

Until today I was using tspath as suggested in the accepted answer, but I started to get some issues with relative paths having as baseUrl: '../'.

I switched to a webpack based approach, with this webpack.config.ts config:

import { TsConfigPathsPlugin } from 'awesome-typescript-loader';
import * as fs from 'fs-extra';
import { join } from 'path';
import * as webpack from 'webpack';

const packageConfig = fs.readJSONSync('./package.json', { encoding: 'utf-8' });

const externals = {};
for (const packageName in packageConfig.dependencies)
  externals[packageName] = packageName;

const serverConfig: webpack.Configuration = {
  entry: {
    index: './src/index.ts'
  },
  resolve: {
    extensions: ['.ts', '.js'],
    plugins: [
      new TsConfigPathsPlugin({ configFileName: 'tsconfig.json' })
    ]
  },
  target: 'node',
  node: {
    __dirname: false
  },
  externals,
  output: {
    path: join(__dirname, 'dist'),
    filename: '[name].js',
    library: '[name]',
    libraryTarget: 'umd'
  },
  module: {
    rules: [{
      test: /\.ts$/,
      loader: 'awesome-typescript-loader'
    }]
  },
  plugins: [
    new webpack.BannerPlugin(`Copyright © 2018-${new Date().getFullYear()} BOHR. All rights reserved.`)
  ],
  mode: 'production',
  optimization: {
    minimize: false
  }
};

// tslint:disable-next-line:no-default-export
export default [serverConfig];

Note the imports, you will need to add few packages to use this configuration.

don · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-04 10:08:01Z

1

I've found this npm package that converts all absolute paths to relative paths: https://www.npmjs.com/package/tspath.

Running tsc will produce the files with the absolute paths (e.g. @myApp/server/my-library). Then run tspath will convert all paths to the relative path.

answered Aug 4, 2018 at 10:08

don

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Comments

Yakov Fain · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-04 10:02:29Z

-1

Why won't you just use the path module in the code and resolve the path to rest of the directories relative to the one where you started the server from?

Take a look at the line 6 in this example: https://github.com/Farata/angulartypescript/blob/master/code-samples/Angular6/chapter12/server/rest-server-angular.ts.

The __dirname points at the directory where the server was started from, and public is a subdirectory of this directory. I didn't use the paths option of tsc.

edited Aug 4, 2018 at 10:02

answered Aug 4, 2018 at 9:57

Yakov Fain

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1 Comment

don Over a year ago

Take a look at this post, goenning.net/2017/07/21/… :-)

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