Error [ERR_REQUIRE_ESM]: require() of ES Module when running `prisma db seed `

Question

I have a project that is using TypeScript, Prisma & NextJS.

I want to see my database with prisma using the yarn prisma db seed command.

However, I am facing issues.

The problem is the file that I am using to seed my database prisma/seed.ts is using an import statement and that file is subsequently importing a .mjs file.

So I get the following error in the console when I run yarn prisma db seed

import { env } from '../../env/server.mjs';
                     ^
Error [ERR_REQUIRE_ESM]: require() of ES Module

Here is my package.json. In my package.json I set up a script to use different compiler options for commonjs modules. I also needed to set the prisma.seed property to define which file is the seed file.

{
  "name": "...",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "private": true,
  "scripts": {
    "ts-node": "ts-node --compiler-options '{\"module\": \"CommonJS\"}'",
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "@prisma/client": "^4.5.0",
    "next": "13.0.2",
    "react": "18.2.0",
    "react-dom": "18.2.0",
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@babel/preset-env": "7.12.1",
    "@types/node": "^18.0.0",
    "@types/react": "^18.0.14",
    "@types/react-dom": "^18.0.5",
    "prisma": "^4.5.0",
    "ts-node": "^10.9.1",
    "typescript": "^4.8.4",
  },
  "prisma": {
    "seed": "yarn ts-node prisma/seed.ts"
  }
}

Here is my tsconfig.json file to configure TypeScript settings. I tried adding ts-node.esm set to true here but doesn't seem to work, so maybe some other config property needs amended/added.

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "es2017",
    "lib": ["dom", "dom.iterable", "esnext"],
    "allowJs": true,
    "skipLibCheck": true,
    "strict": true,
    "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true,
    "noEmit": true,
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "module": "esnext",
    "moduleResolution": "node",
    "resolveJsonModule": true,
    "isolatedModules": true,
    "jsx": "preserve",
    "incremental": true,
    "noUncheckedIndexedAccess": true,
  },
  "ts-node": {
    "esm": true
  },
  "include": ["next-env.d.ts", "types/**/*.ts", "next-auth.d.ts", "**/*.ts", "**/*.tsx", "**/*.js", "**/*.cjs", "**/*.mjs"],
  "exclude": ["node_modules"]
}

And here is my prisma/seed.ts file.

import { prisma } from '../src/server/db/client';

const main = async () => {
  console.log('seeding');
};

main()
  .catch((e) => {
    console.error(e);
    process.exit(1);
  })
  .finally(async () => {
    await prisma.$disconnect();
  });

The import for ../src/server/db/client is the file that includes the .mjs import. That is causing the error.

I need the script to handle both allowing import statements of TypeScript files but ALSO.mjs files. Not one or the other, I need both for the script to run successfully, I've found ways to remove the Error [ERR_REQUIRE_ESM]: require() of ES Module error but then get the following error instead

import { prisma } from '../src/server/db/client';
^^^^^^

SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module

For example; Updating the ts-node script to be

"ts-node": "ts-node --compiler-options '{\"module\": \"ESNext\"}'",

and updating the prisma.seed to be

"prisma": {
  "seed": "ts-node prisma/seed.ts"
}

Any help is greatly appreciated

Answer 1

To run ES Modules, you can add the following property in the top-level of your package.json file:

{
  "name": "...",
  "type": "module",
  // ...
}