How to configure build to not use node modules

[simod]

Dears,

I'm trying to bundle an app that includes a library which imports http, https, zlib and url from node.
In my previous setup (react-app-rewired) I used to have an override file with this configuration
module.exports = function override(config, env){
config.resolve.fallback = {
http: false,
https: false,
zlib: false,
url: false
}}

I've been experimenting quite a lot but can't figure out how to do it with ESBuild.
Would you have any hints?

[evanw]

“Not use node modules” could mean many things, and esbuild has many ways of altering things.

You’d have to be more specific for me to answer your question. A good start would be to follow the issue reporting instructions that you deleted when posting this issue:

When reporting a bug or requesting a feature, please do the following:

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

• Provide a way to reproduce the issue. The best way to do this is to demonstrate the issue on the playground (https://esbuild.github.io/try/) and paste the URL here. A link to a minimal code sample with instructions for how to reproduce the issue may also work. Issues without a way to reproduce them may be closed.

In addition, here are some documentation links you may find helpful:

• https://esbuild.github.io/getting-started/#bundling-for-the-browser
• https://esbuild.github.io/api/#external
• https://esbuild.github.io/api/#alias
• https://esbuild.github.io/content-types/#empty-file

[simod]

@evanw thanks for your answer.
Here some clarifications:
a library I use (Cesium) requires the mentioned modules. In the past method adding the setting I mentioned to the webpack.config override did the job. I'm now migrating to esbuild and I've been able to achieve a build using the following command:

esbuild src/index.js --outdir=public/static --bundle --sourcemap --servedir=public --loader:.js=jsx --external:https --external:http --external:zlib --external:url

However the error now pops up in another library (geotiff.js) "Uncaught Error: Dynamic require of "http" is not supported". It seems that this library is acting as it is in a node environment and not in a browser.

Since geotiff has the "browser:{http: false}" in the package.json, I'm wondering if this error could be due to esbuild or not.

Thanks

[evanw]

The geotiff package has its exports set up like this (in package.json):

  "exports": {
    ".": {
      "import": "./dist-module/geotiff.js",
      "require": "./dist-node/geotiff.js",
      "browser": "./dist-browser/geotiff.js"
    }
  },

That looks like a problem with that package to me. The browser condition will never match because in practice, every import of that library will either be an import or a require and the exports field works by going with the first entry that matches. I assume fixing the package to actually map to the browser build when targeting the browser will fix the problem of it trying to use node libraries.

This is a problem with that package, not with esbuild. The right issue to track that problem might be geotiffjs/geotiff.js#396.

[evanw]

I'm closing this issue because this is a problem in another package.