latest @loopback/graphql ESM export compatibility error

[dineshkuncham7]

Describe the bug

I downloaded the code from loopback GraphQL example repository https://github.com/loopbackio/loopback-next/tree/master/examples/graphql , and after fixing some type errors, when I start the application using Node v24.12.0, I encounter the following error:

> @loopback/example-graphql@0.12.8 start
> node .

node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:686
      throw e;
      ^

Error [ERR_PACKAGE_PATH_NOT_EXPORTED]: Package subpath './dist/interfaces' is not defined by "exports" in /Users/dinesh/Documents/Projects/example-graphql/node_modules/type-graphql/package.json
    at exportsNotFound (node:internal/modules/esm/resolve:313:10)
    at packageExportsResolve (node:internal/modules/esm/resolve:661:9)
    at resolveExports (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:679:36)
    at Module._findPath (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:746:31)
    at Module._resolveFilename (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1406:27)
    at defaultResolveImpl (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1059:19)
    at resolveForCJSWithHooks (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1064:22)
    at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1227:37)
    at TracingChannel.traceSync (node:diagnostics_channel:328:14)
    at wrapModuleLoad (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:245:24)
    at Module.require (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1504:12)
    at require (node:internal/modules/helpers:152:16)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/Users/dinesh/Documents/Projects/example-graphql/node_modules/@loopback/graphql/dist/index.js:9:22)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1761:14)
    at Object..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1893:10)
    at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1481:32) {
  code: 'ERR_PACKAGE_PATH_NOT_EXPORTED'
}

Node.js v24.12.0

I think this behavior started with version 0.12.0

Expected Behavior:

The application should start without errors.

Actual Behavior:

The application fails to start with the error shown above.

Environment:
Node.js v24.12.0
npm 11.6.2
OS: MacOS 15.7.2 (M1 chip)

Additional information

No response

Reproduction

https://github.com/loopbackio/loopback-next/tree/master/examples/graphql

[dhmlau]

@dineshkuncham7, thanks for reporting this. Would you be interested in submitting a PR?

[joelle-a-dev]

@dhmlau I would like to work on this issue, can you please assign it to me?

[joelle-a-dev]

Looked into this — the specific crash here is already fixed upstream.

The stack trace points to dist/index.js:9:22 in the published @loopback/graphql@0.12.8, which contained:

tslib_1.__exportStar(require("type-graphql/dist/interfaces"), exports);

type-graphql@2.x's package.json only exports . and ./shim via its exports map, so that deep dist/interfaces require throws ERR_PACKAGE_PATH_NOT_EXPORTED under Node's strict resolution — matching the error in this issue exactly.

That line was removed from extensions/graphql/src/index.ts in d1a92a0 ("feat(graphql): migrate to apollo server 4"), and it's no longer present in the currently published @loopback/graphql@0.14.2 — I confirmed by diffing the published dist/index.js for 0.12.8 vs 0.14.2 directly from the npm registry. The examples/graphql package in the monorepo also already depends on "@loopback/graphql": "^0.14.2".

@dineshkuncham7, could you retry against @loopback/graphql@^0.14.2 (or latest) and confirm whether it resolves the crash for you? If so this can probably be closed.

(Side note for maintainers: two other spots — src/types.ts and src/graphql.server.ts — still import Middleware from the same unexported type-graphql/build/typings/typings/middleware path. It doesn't crash today only because that import is type-only and gets elided by tsc, but it's the same underlying anti-pattern. Happy to send a small PR to remove it if useful.)