NODE_ENV is undefined

[PointSingularity]

Current Behavior

Creating a new standalone Node application with NX 16.1.0 and console logging process.env.NODE_ENV gives back undefined,
even though it was always defined in versions 15 anb below.

Using --prod during build also doesn't change anything.

Expected Behavior

process.env.NODE_ENV='development' during development.
process.env.NODE_ENV='production' after using build to do a production build.

GitHub Repo

No response

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a standalone Node application with 16.1.0
2. Put console.log(process.env.NODE_ENV) in main.ts and run it
3. Additionally build the application and run the main.js from the dist folder.

Nx Report

Node   : 18.15.0
   OS     : win32 x64
   npm    : 9.6.3
   Hasher : Native

   nx                 : 16.1.0
   @nx/js             : 16.1.0
   @nx/jest           : 16.1.0
   @nx/linter         : 16.1.0
   @nx/workspace      : 16.1.0
   @nx/devkit         : 16.1.0
   @nx/esbuild        : 16.1.0
   @nx/eslint-plugin  : 16.1.0
   @nx/node           : 16.1.0
   @nrwl/tao          : 16.1.0
   typescript         : 5.0.4

### Failure Logs

_No response_

### Operating System

- [ ] macOS
- [ ] Linux
- [X] Windows
- [ ] Other (Please specify)

### Additional Information

_No response_

[renambot]

same problem. (macOS or Linux docker)

[oben01]

same problem also

[cuddlecake]

Other executors set NODE_ENV, e.g.

nx/packages/webpack/src/executors/webpack/webpack.impl.ts

Lines 99 to 101 in 25328b3

	(process.env as any).NODE_ENV ||= isScriptOptimizeOn
	? 'production'
	: 'development';

but the node executor does not, as far as I can see:
https://github.com/nrwl/nx/blob/master/packages/js/src/executors/node/node.impl.ts

[janeklb]

temp workaround

// in your webpack.config.ts

// workaround for undefined NODE_ENV
const withFixedNodeEnv: () => NxWebpackPlugin =
  () =>
  (config, { context }) => {
    if (config.mode && config.mode !== 'none') {
      return config;
    }
    if (context.configurationName === 'production') {
      config.mode = 'production';
    } else {
      config.mode = 'development';
    }
    return config;
  };

export default composePlugins(withNx(), withFixedNodeEnv(), (config) => {
  // Update the webpack config as needed here.
  // e.g. config.plugins.push(new MyPlugin())
  // For more information on webpack config and Nx see:
  // https://nx.dev/packages/webpack/documents/webpack-config-setup
  return config;
});

(which requires that you have a configuration named production for your build task... or just repurpose the above with whatever works for you)

[PointSingularity]

@ndcunningham Thank you for fixing this for esbuild! Sadly, this is also present for webpack too, so I don't think it's fully resolved yet.

[bojanbass]

I'm not sure the fix that was merged has anything to do with @nx/js:node serve and @nx/webpack:webpack executors, as one of those is causing this error. I think this bug report has to bug reopened.

[bojanbass]

A temporary workaround from @janeklb does not work in my case. I have managed to run it properly using .env configs per target and configuration:

• .env.serve.development (NODE_ENV=development)
• .env.serve.production (NODE_ENV=production)

This way, serving the app with the --prod flag or without loads the correct .env file. But still, this is quite a hack and a proper solution should be implemented.

I did some debugging and my closest bet is that this PR broke the previously working functionality: dc71229

I suppose executing a buildTarget with npx nx run command looses process.env.NODE_ENV value. Another strange thing is that when triggering the serve target and inspecting the build target which uses @nx/webpack:webpack under the hood it does not output any console.log statement. Still, if I trigger the build target directly, it does. In previous NX versions, this was also working correctly.

@jaysoo any idea on that one?

[github-actions]

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