`replaceAll` is not working in Next.js (Node.js) when deployed to Render.com server

Question

My code all works locally (running Node 17.4.0).

But as I mentioned here , when I deploy to my production server at Render.com, which says Detected Node version 17.4.0 (which is the same version that I use for local development), functions throw errors like:

• TypeError: (0 , crypto__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_0__.randomUUID)(...).replaceAll is not a function .
• TypeError: (intermediate value).format(...).replaceAll is not a function at getShortLocalizedDate

How can I ensure that replaceAll can work on my production server?

PS I think Node has supported replaceAll since v15 .

Answer 1

Some things to check: Do you maybe have something else overriding the Node version set in engines.node ? According to https://render.com/docs/node-version , the engines.node value will be overridden by

1. A NODE_VERSION environment variable
2. A .node-version file at the root of your repo
3. A .nvmrc file at the root of your repo.

Also, when you deploy on Render, are you selecting Node as the Environment ?

Here's a small test deploy to Render I created to verify that odd Node version numbers work on Render and also to verify that replaceAll() works in Node v17.4.0.

Code (also at https://github.com/crcastle/test-replaceall )

server.js :

const http = require('http')


const requestListener = function (req, res) {
  const orig = 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. If the dog reacted, was it really lazy?';

  const monkey = orig.replaceAll('dog', 'monkey');
  // expected output: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy monkey. If the monkey reacted, was it really lazy?"
  
  // global flag required when calling replaceAll with regex
  const regex = /Dog/ig;
  const ferret = orig.replaceAll(regex, 'ferret');
  // expected output: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy ferret. If the ferret reacted, was it really lazy?"

  const version = process.version;

  res.writeHead(200);
  res.end(`Original: ${orig}\nMonkey: ${monkey}\nFerret: ${ferret}\nI am Node version ${version}`);
};

const HOST = "0.0.0.0";
const PORT = process.env.PORT || 10000;
const server = http.createServer(requestListener);
server.listen(PORT, HOST, () => {
  console.log(`Server is listening on http://${HOST}:${PORT}`);
});

package.json :

{
  "name": "test-replaceall",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "",
  "main": "index.js",
  "engines": {
    "node": "17.4.0"
  },
  "scripts": {
    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
  },
  "keywords": [],
  "author": "",
  "license": "ISC"
}

Output (also temporarily deployed to https://test-replaceall.onrender.com )

Original: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. If the dog reacted, was it really lazy?
Monkey: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy monkey. If the monkey reacted, was it really lazy?
Ferret: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy ferret. If the ferret reacted, was it really lazy?
I am Node version v17.4.0

Build and deploy log

Jun 15 04:07:08 PM  ==> Cloning from https://github.com/crcastle/test-replaceall...
Jun 15 04:07:09 PM  ==> Checking out commit 17972cbecfdeafc0eb1c4a09cad07400ab5c8bc1 in branch main
Jun 15 04:07:25 PM  ==> Detected Node version 17.4.0
Jun 15 04:07:26 PM  ==> Running build command 'npm i'...
Jun 15 04:07:27 PM  up to date, audited 1 package in 297ms
Jun 15 04:07:27 PM  found 0 vulnerabilities
Jun 15 04:07:43 PM  ==> Uploading build...
Jun 15 04:07:49 PM  ==> Build successful 🎉
Jun 15 04:07:49 PM  ==> Deploying...
Jun 15 04:08:25 PM  ==> Detected Node version 17.4.0
Jun 15 04:08:25 PM  ==> Starting service with 'node server.js'
Jun 15 04:08:25 PM  Server is listening on http://0.0.0.0:10000

Answer 2

https://render.com/docs/node-version seems incomplete.

I wonder if Render ignores odd-numbered Node versions.

I'd specified 17.4.0 in the environment variables and also in package.json , but then I'd still see the deployment log say "Detected Node version 18.3.0", and then replaceAll inexplicably still wouldn't work.

More recently I've specified NODE_VERSION=18.3.0 in the environment variables, and I've even added to package.json : "engines": { "node": ">=18.3.0 <19" }, . The latest deployment log at https://dashboard.render.com/web/srv-caevvv7ho1kse31neb0g/deploys/dep-cal3r7vh8vl4d0g8vujg again said: Jun 15 04:16:34 PM ==> Detected Node version 18.3.0 .

And this time replaceAll works!

So my interpretation is:

1. The Detected Node version ___ shown in deployment logs cannot be relied upon.
2. Specifying a Node version using methods at https://render.com/docs/node-version might not work unless their major version number is even (such as 18).

It's mysterious. But I'm glad my code is working now!