swc-project/swc · error

file not found: {}

Error message

file not found: {}

What it means

NodeResolver::resolve_as_file bails with this error after every candidate for a path fails. Candidates are: the exact path if it already has an extension, `<path>.js`, the raw path itself, then every extension in EXTENSIONS, plus TypeScript-style substitution (.js/.jsx -> .ts/.tsx, .mjs -> .mts, .cjs -> .cts). So the specifier looked like a file but no file with any recognized extension exists at that location.

Source

Thrown at crates/swc_ecma_loader/src/resolvers/node.rs:230

                    // ".tsx" even if the original extension was ".jsx".
                    "js" => &["ts", "tsx"],
                    "jsx" => &["ts", "tsx"],
                    "mjs" => &["mts"],
                    "cjs" => &["cts"],
                    _ => &[],
                };

                for ext in extensions {
                    ext_path.set_extension(ext);

                    if ext_path.is_file() {
                        return Ok(Some(ext_path));
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        bail!("file not found: {}", path.display())
    }

    /// Resolve a path as a directory, using the "main" key from a package.json
    /// file if it exists, or resolving to the index.EXT file if it exists.
    fn resolve_as_directory(
        &self,
        path: &Path,
        allow_package_entry: bool,
    ) -> Result<Option<PathBuf>, Error> {
        #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
        let _tracing = if cfg!(debug_assertions) {
            Some(
                tracing::span!(
                    Level::TRACE,
                    "resolve_as_directory",
                    path = tracing::field::display(path.display())
                )
                .entered(),

View on GitHub (pinned to 5176682b65)

Solutions

1. Verify the exact file exists on disk (watch out for case sensitivity and stale builds); fix the import path or restore the file
2. For '.js' imports in TypeScript projects, confirm the corresponding '.ts'/'.tsx' file exists (the resolver only substitutes those)
3. If you need custom extensions, wire a custom resolver/transform in the loader pipeline instead of relying on NodeResolver defaults
4. Run git submodule update --init --recursive if the path lives in a submodule not checked out

Example fix

// before
import { x } from './util/helper'; // no helper.ts on disk

// after (file is helper/index.ts)
import { x } from './util/helper/index';
// or create the missing ./util/helper.ts

// Pre-check that some candidate file exists for a relative specifier
import { existsSync } from 'node:fs';
const EXTS = ['', '.js', '.ts', '.tsx', '.mjs', '.cjs', '.jsx', '.mts', '.cts'];
const resolvable = (p) => EXTS.some((e) => existsSync(p + e));

try {
  const resolved = resolver.resolve(base, spec);
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.startsWith('file not found')) throw new Error(`Cannot resolve '${spec}' from ${base}: check the path, extension, and case`);
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: An import (or require) of a relative/absolute specifier that does not exist on disk in any of the resolver's supported extensions, e.g. './missing-module', './config.json5' when the file is absent, or './foo.js' when only a sibling with an extension outside the substitution table exists.

Common situations: Typos in import paths after a rename/move refactor; case-sensitivity mismatches working on Windows then building on Linux; importing files with unsupported extensions (e.g. '.vue', '.svelte') through NodeResolver without a custom extension handling or plugin; missing files in a shallow git checkout/submodule.

Related errors

• index not found
• node-resolver supports only files
• `{module_specifier}` matched `{prefix}` (from tsconfig.paths
• The requested const_module `{:?}` does not provide an export
• The const_module namespace `{sym}` cannot be used without me

AI-assisted analysis of swc-project/swc@5176682b65 (2026-08-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bb4435a37cbc2dac. Report an issue: GitHub.