ts-node doesn't recognise .ts file extension if es modules are used

[Konstei]

I have been trying for the last couple of days to get functions and classes from other .ts files to be used in other files, but nothing seems to work, and if i change the "type" property in package.json to "module", the ts-node command doesn't work at all:

(TypeError [ERR_UNKNOWN_FILE_EXTENSION]: Unknown file extension ".ts" for D:\path\to\project\index.ts)

I have tried numerous solutions but nothing worked, not even ts-node-esm ./index.ts, ts-node --esm ./index.ts, both cases in which i got 2 different errors depending on the ide:

• Visual Studio Code

      const { moduleType } =
              ^
TypeError: Cannot destructure property 'moduleType' of 'tsNodeService.moduleTypeClassifier.classifyModuleByModuleTypeOverrides(...)'  as it is undefined.
    at getFormat (C:\Users\$USER\Downloads\node-v16.15.0-win-x64\node-v16.15.0-win-x64\node_modules\ts-node\src\esm.ts:360:15)
    at async C:\Users\$USER\Downloads\node-v16.15.0-win-x64\node-v16.15.0-win-x64\node_modules\ts-node\src\esm.ts:245:11
    at async addShortCircuitFlag (C:\Users\$USER\Downloads\node-v16.15.0-win-x64\node-v16.15.0-win-x64\node_modules\ts-node\src\esm.ts:409:15)
    at async ESMLoader.load (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:407:20)
    at async ESMLoader.moduleProvider (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:326:11)
    at async link (node:internal/modules/esm/module_job:70:21)

• Stackblitz

TypeError: r.init is not a function
    at BrotliCompress.Brotli (https://node-mjzpbf.w.staticblitz.com/blitz.826366eca74be9b4f32118f15e112b857146d440.js:6:1726757)
    at new BrotliCompress (https://node-mjzpbf.w.staticblitz.com/blitz.826366eca74be9b4f32118f15e112b857146d440.js:6:1726932)
    at https://node-mjzpbf.w.staticblitz.com/blitz.826366eca74be9b4f32118f15e112b857146d440.js:6:1725350
    at compress (/home/projects/node-mjzpbf/node_modules/ts-node/dist/child/argv-payload.js:9:42)
    at callInChild (/home/projects/node-mjzpbf/node_modules/ts-node/dist/child/spawn-child.js:25:67)
    at bootstrap (/home/projects/node-mjzpbf/node_modules/ts-node/dist/bin.js:42:50)
    at main (/home/projects/node-mjzpbf/node_modules/ts-node/dist/bin.js:32:12)
    at Object.eval (/home/projects/node-mjzpbf/node_modules/ts-node/dist/bin.js:578:5)
    at Object.function (https://node-mjzpbf.w.staticblitz.com/blitz.826366eca74be9b4f32118f15e112b857146d440.js:15:140644)
    at Module._compile (https://node-mjzpbf.w.staticblitz.com/blitz.826366eca74be9b4f32118f15e112b857146d440.js:6:219079)

This is the filesystem:

- project
   |-- interpreter
        |---- types.ts
   |-- index.ts
   |-- package-lock.json
   |-- package.json
   |-- tsconfig.json

package.json

{
    "name": "node-starter",
    "version": "0.0.0",
    "type": "module",
    "scripts": {},
    "dependencies": {
      "@types/node": "^18.7.14",
      "ts-node": "^10.9.1",
      "typescript": "^4.8.2"
    }
  }

tsconfig.json

{
    "compilerOptions": {
      "target": "es2022",
      "lib": ["es2022"],
      "module": "es2022",
      "rootDir": "./",
      "moduleResolution": "node",
      "resolveJsonModule": true,
      "allowJs": true,
      "sourceMap": true,
      "outDir": "build",
      "noEmit": true,
      "allowSyntheticDefaultImports": true,
      "esModuleInterop": true,
      "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true,
      "strict": true,
      "noImplicitAny": true,
      "skipLibCheck": true
    },
    "ts-node": {
      "moduleTypes": {
        "*": "es2022"
      }
    }
}

interpreter/types.ts

export module Types {
  export class Int {
    constructor() { ... }
    assign(): void { ... }
    increment(): void { ... }
    decrement(): void { ... }
    value: number = 0;
  }

  export class Float {
    constructor() { ... }
    assign(): void { ... }
    value: number = 0;
  }

  export class Bool {
    constructor() { ... }
    assign(): void { ... }
    toggle(): void { ... }
    value: boolean = false;
  }

  export class String {
    constructor() { ... }
    value: string = "";
    length: number = 0;
  }

  export class Any {
    constructor() { ... }
    assign(): void { ... }
    value: any;
  }
}
export default Types;

index.ts

import Types from "./interpreter/types"

let a: Types.Int = new Types.Int();
console.log(a.value);

(PS There seems to be a really big problem in both typescript and ts-node with imports/exports of any type, not just es modules but commonjs and /// <reference path="./interpreter/types.ts" />)

[jessecollier]

the issue is your moduleTypes, values can only be package, cjs or esm and you have es2020

[timowenz]

Since Node update 20.0.0 you have to use a workaround.

Just use tsc for typechecking your file because tsx does not have this built-in.
And then run tsx <file>

In your package.json you can run your app like so:

npm run dev: tsc <entryFile> && tsx <entryFile>

Hope this helps.