Fix - node-fetch Error [ERR_REQUIRE_ESM]: not supported

Fix - node-fetch Error [ERR_REQUIRE_ESM]: not supported #

The node-fetch error "[ERR_REQUIRE_ESM]: require() not supported" occurs because the node-fetch package has been converted to be an ESM only package in version 3, which means that the package cannot be imported with require() anymore.

To solve the node-fetch error "[ERR_REQUIRE_ESM]: require() not supported", use a dynamic import to import the node-fetch package or downgrade the version of the package to 2.6.6, which is the last version that is built with CommonJS.

Here is how to import the node-fetch package using a dynamic import in JavaScript and TypeScript.

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// ✅ Do this if using JAVASCRIPT
const fetch = (...args) =>
  import('node-fetch').then(({ default: fetch }) => fetch(...args));

// ✅ Do this if using TYPESCRIPT
import { RequestInfo, RequestInit } from 'node-fetch';

const fetch = (url: RequestInfo, init?: RequestInit) =>
  import('node-fetch').then(({ default: fetch }) => fetch(url, init));

You can read more about the breaking changes in the node-fetch package in their GitHub upgrade guide.

If your environment supports ES Modules, you should try to convert the require() import to ESM.

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import fetch from 'fetch';

console.log(fetch)

But this might not work depending on your setup.

Alternatively, you can downgrade the node-fetch package to version 2.6.6 and still use the require syntax. Version 2 of the node-fetch package is built with CommonJS.

To downgrade to version 2.6.6, open your terminal in the root directory of your project and run the following commands.

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npm install node-fetch@2.6.6

# 👇️ NOTE: you only need this if using TypeScript
npm install --save-dev @types/node-fetch@2.x

Make sure to only install the type definitions if you're using TypeScript.

Now you can use the require() syntax to import the node-fetch package.

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const fetch = require('node-fetch');

console.log(fetch);