N Kaushik

Solved - SyntaxError Cannot use import statement outside a module

November 07, 2020

SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module

This is one of the most common issue if you are trying to use ES6 features in your JavaScript project.

For example, if I use the below statement in one of my npm project :

import fs from 'fs'

It will throw this error.

SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module 

import csv from "csv-parser"
^^^^^^

SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module
    at wrapSafe (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:1063:16)
    at Module._compile (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:1111:27)
    at Object.Module._extensions..js (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:1167:10)
    at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:996:32)
    at Function.Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:896:14)
    at Function.executeUserEntryPoint [as runMain] (internal/modules/run_main.js:71:12)
    at internal/main/run_main_module.js:17:47

It also shows one warning :

Warning: To load an ES module, set "type": "module" in the package.json or use the .mjs extension.

Solution :

In your package.json file, simply add “type”:“module” to fix this issue :

SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module

Or you can add the below line in your main entry JS file:

<script type="module" src="main.js"></script>

That’s it.

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