ERROR: Expected identifier but found "import"

[ti777777]

Describe what esbuild is doing incorrectly and what it should be doing instead.

When using Vite to create a new project, it fails to start properly. Downgrading esbuild to version 0.24.0 resolves the issue.

OS: Windows 10
Node.js Version: v22.12.0

PS C:\react-app> npm run dev

[email protected] dev
vite

X [ERROR] Expected identifier but found "import"

(define name):1:0:
  1 │ import.meta.dirname
    ╵ ~~~~~~

X [ERROR] Expected identifier but found "import"

(define name):1:0:
  1 │ import.meta.filename
    ╵ ~~~~~~

X [ERROR] Expected identifier but found "import"

(define name):1:0:
  1 │ import.meta.url
    ╵ ~~~~~~

failed to load config from C:\react-app\vite.config.ts
error when starting dev server:
Error: Build failed with 3 errors:
(define name):1:0: ERROR: Expected identifier but found "import"
(define name):1:0: ERROR: Expected identifier but found "import"
(define name):1:0: ERROR: Expected identifier but found "import"
at failureErrorWithLog (C:\react-app\node_modules\esbuild\lib\main.js:1476:15)
at C:\react-app\node_modules\esbuild\lib\main.js:945:25
at runOnEndCallbacks (C:\react-app\node_modules\esbuild\lib\main.js:1316:45)
at buildResponseToResult (C:\react-app\node_modules\esbuild\lib\main.js:943:7)
at C:\react-app\node_modules\esbuild\lib\main.js:970:16
at responseCallbacks. (C:\react-app\node_modules\esbuild\lib\main.js:622:9)
at handleIncomingPacket (C:\react-app\node_modules\esbuild\lib\main.js:677:12)
at Socket.readFromStdout (C:\react-app\node_modules\esbuild\lib\main.js:600:7)
at Socket.emit (node:events:524:28)
at addChunk (node:internal/streams/readable:561:12)

[woohs]

+1
I have the same problem.

[hi-ogawa]

Vite uses define: { 'import.meta.url': 'xxx' } and it was working on 0.24.0, but it looks like this is now an error on 0.24.1
https://esbuild.github.io/try/#YgAwLjI0LjEAewogIGRlZmluZTogeyAnaW1wb3J0Lm1ldGEudXJsJzogJyJoZWxsbyInIH0KfQBlAGVudHJ5LmpzAGNvbnNvbGUubG9nKGltcG9ydC5tZXRhLnVybCk

[suhailkc]

npm i -D [email protected]

[ffimnsr]

Happening to me as well, it broke the whole vite builds even the latest one. So, locking to version 0.24.0 temporarily fixes this.

[yeyunwen]

1. 在项目的 package.json 中添加 resolutions 字段（如果你使用的是 pnpm 或 yarn）：

{
  // ... 其他配置 ...
  "resolutions": {
    "esbuild": "0.24.0"
  }
}

2. 更新依赖：运行以下命令以更新依赖并应用 resolutions：
   pnpm i

[SerkanSipahi]

@yeyunwen works for me. Thanks.

[wisnunugroho21]

+1
0.24.1 version cause an error for vite

[peshoicov]

I had this problem with both bun and node based projects, but installing esbuild 0.24.0 solved it only in the node based projects ... :(

[Priyam7295]

npm i -D [email protected]

This worked for me.

[Prashanthbadri112]

npm i -D [email protected]

This works fine for me

[sansuiblog]

npm i -D [email protected]

thanks

[5lon]

Big shot, awesome. That's perfect
Perfectly solve problems

[jeff-fe]

vitejs/vite#19024

[axolo]

#10 64.72 ✘ [ERROR] Expected identifier but found "import"
#10 64.72       1 │ import.meta.dirname
#10 64.72         ╵ ~~~~~~

[Aduwoayooluwa]

npm i -D [email protected]

This worked for me. Thank you. 0.24.1 breaks vite builds

[Vishnu-Siva-B]

npm i -D [email protected]

This works but why this happens

[codecraftwt]

I am getting the same error. I have downgraded the version of esbuild to 0.24.0, but I am still encountering the error while deploying the React + Vite project on Render.

[Thyran]

Same error using tsup

npm i -D [email protected]

Also worked for me. Hopefully they fix this quickly

[talhatayyab]

https://stackoverflow.com/a/79301134/13086128