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SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module

Not confirmed yet · posted

Cause

Node loads the .js file as CommonJS: its nearest package.json declares "type": "commonjs" (what npm 11 npm init writes), or has no type on Node <22.7/<20.19, which lack ESM syntax detection.

Fix

risk: low

// the package.json nearest to the file (a nested one wins over the repo root)-  "type": "commonjs",+  "type": "module",// or keep the package CommonJS and rename only this file to .mjs

Don’t try

node --experimental-modules index.js — ESM needs no flag since Node 12.17/13.2 and current Node accepts this one as a no-op, so the file is still parsed as CommonJS.

set "type": "module" in the repo-root package.json while a nested package.json sits closer to the file — Node uses the nearest package.json up the tree; the nested one (often dist/ or a workspace package) keeps deciding the module type.

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