failed to load config from vite.config.js error [Solved]

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# failed to load config from vite.config.js error [Solved]

Here is the complete error message.

shell

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vite build

failed to load config from /Users/BobbyHadz/project/vite.config.js
error during build:
500 in endpoint /previews/start:
import { defineConfig } from "vite";
Error: Cannot find module 'node:path'

# Having an outdated Node.js version

The error "failed to load config from vite.config.js" most commonly occurs when you have an old Node.js version.

Open your terminal and run the following command to check your version of Node.js.

shell

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node -v

# or
node --version

check node js version

You should use the long-term supported version of Node.js

You can view the LTS version by clicking on the following link.

view lts node js version

If your Node.js version is outdated (e.g. 14 or 16), you can download and install the LTS version from the official Node.js website.

Alternatively, you can use the NVM (node version manager) package, which is a utility used to manage your Node.js versions:

You can click on the NVM link that relates to you and follow the step-by-step instructions.

Once you install the long-term supported Node.js version:

Check your Node.js version again.

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node -v

check node js version again

Try to issue the npm run build or npm run dev command from the root directory of your Vite project.

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npm run build

npm run dev

The issue should be resolved once you update your Node.js version.

# Try to Update the version of your `vite` package

If the error persists, open your terminal in your project's root directory (where your package.json file is) and update the version of your vite package.

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# with NPM
npm install vite@latest --save-dev

# or with YARN
yarn add vite@latest --dev

update vite version

Try to issue the npm run build or npm run dev command once vite is updated.

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npm run build

npm run dev

If the issue persists, try to pin the version of vite to 4.2.2.

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# with NPM
npm install vite@4.2.2 --save-dev

# or with YARN
yarn add vite@4.2.2 --dev

pin vite version to 4 2 2

Open your package.json file and verify that the vite package has a version of 4.2.2.

Try to issue the npm run build or npm run dev command after making the change.

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npm run build

npm run dev

# Try to run the `npm update` command

If the error persists, open your terminal in your project's root directory and run the npm update command.

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npm update

The npm update command respects semver. It updates the packages with a fuzzy version to the latest version and installs missing dependencies.

If you use yarn, use the yarn upgrade command instead.

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yarn upgrade

run npm update command

# Delete your node_modules folder and reinstall your dependencies

If the issue persists, try to delete your node_modules folder and reinstall your dependencies.

Open your terminal in your project's root directory (where your package.json file is).

If you are on macOS or Linux, issue the following commands in bash or zsh.

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#  for macOS and Linux
rm -rf node_modules
rm -f package-lock.json
rm -f yarn.lock

# 👇️ clean npm cache
npm cache clean --force

# 👇️ install packages
npm install

If you are on Windows, issue the following commands in CMD.

cmd

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# for Windows
rd /s /q "node_modules"
del package-lock.json
del -f yarn.lock

# 👇️ clean npm cache
npm cache clean --force

# 👇️ install packages
npm install

Try to restart your Vite development server after reinstalling your node_modules.

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npm run dev

If the issue persists, try to run the following commands.

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npm install --include=dev

npm install inluding dev dependencies

The command makes sure that your development dependencies are also installed.

# Make sure you don't have any syntactical errors in your `vite.config.js` file

Make sure you don't have any syntactical errors in your vite.config.js file and you aren't trying to use JavaScript features that are not supported by your Node.js version.

The contents of your vite.config.js file will differ depending on whether you use React.js, Vue.js, etc.

Here is my vite.config.js file for a React.js project.

vite.config.js

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import {defineConfig} from 'vite';
import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react';

// https://vitejs.dev/config/
export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [react()],

  server: {
    port: 5000,
  },

  preview: {
    port: 5678,
  },
});

For a Vue.js project, your vite.config.js file will look something like this.

vite.config.js

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import { fileURLToPath, URL } from 'node:url'

import { defineConfig } from 'vite'
import vue from '@vitejs/plugin-vue'

// https://vitejs.dev/config/
export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [vue()],
  resolve: {
    alias: {
      '@': fileURLToPath(new URL('./src', import.meta.url))
    }
  }
})

# Try using the `.mjs` extension for `vite.config.js`

If the issue persists, try to rename your vite.config.js file to vite.config.mjs.

rename vite config js to-mjs

Notice that the extension of the file is now .mjs.

The .mjs extension is used to specify that the file is a JavaScript module.

This way Node will treat your vite.config file as an ECMAScript module.

This enables you to use the ES6 import/export syntax even if you haven't set type to module in your package.json file.

package.json

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{
  "type": "module",
  "dependencies": {},
  "devDependencies": {},
}

Make sure to not use the CommonJS require() syntax in your vite.config.mjs file.

Try to rerun your npm run dev or npm run build commands after making the change.

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npm run build

npm run dev

If the issue persists, try to set the type property to module in your package.json file.

package.json

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{
  "type": "module",
  "dependencies": {},
  "devDependencies": {},
}

# If you are on Windows, try using PowerShell

If you got the error on Windows when using CMD (Command Prompt), try to use PowerShell when issuing the npm run dev command.

The error might be caused by inconsistencies in the casing of filenames and PowerShell usually deals better with casing issues.

# Additional Resources

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failed to load config from vite.config.js error [Solved]

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