vitejs/vite · critical · TypeError

Cannot use "sourcemapInterceptor: 'node'" because "process.s

Error message

Cannot use "sourcemapInterceptor: 'node'" because "process.setSourceMapsEnabled" function is not available. Please use Node >= 16.6.0.

What it means

Thrown by Vite's module-runner sourcemap support in enableSourceMapSupport() when runner.options.sourcemapInterceptor is set to 'node' but process.setSourceMapsEnabled is not a function. The 'node' interceptor delegates to Node's native source-map support (process.setSourceMapsEnabled), which was only added in Node 16.6.0. Without that API Vite cannot wire stack traces to source maps via Node's built-in mechanism.

Source

Thrown at packages/vite/src/module-runner/sourcemap/index.ts:13

import type { ModuleRunner } from '../runner'
import { interceptStackTrace } from './interceptor'

export function enableSourceMapSupport(runner: ModuleRunner): () => void {
  if (runner.options.sourcemapInterceptor === 'node') {
    if (typeof process === 'undefined') {
      throw new TypeError(
        `Cannot use "sourcemapInterceptor: 'node'" because global "process" variable is not available.`,
      )
    }
    /* eslint-disable n/no-unsupported-features/node-builtins -- process.setSourceMapsEnabled and process.sourceMapsEnabled */
    if (typeof process.setSourceMapsEnabled !== 'function') {
      throw new TypeError(
        `Cannot use "sourcemapInterceptor: 'node'" because "process.setSourceMapsEnabled" function is not available. Please use Node >= 16.6.0.`,
      )
    }
    const isEnabledAlready = process.sourceMapsEnabled ?? false
    process.setSourceMapsEnabled(true)
    return () => !isEnabledAlready && process.setSourceMapsEnabled(false)
    /* eslint-enable n/no-unsupported-features/node-builtins */
  }
  return interceptStackTrace(
    runner,
    typeof runner.options.sourcemapInterceptor === 'object'
      ? runner.options.sourcemapInterceptor
      : undefined,
  )
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 89620f09af)

Solutions

Upgrade Node.js to >= 16.6.0 (prefer a current LTS such as 20 or 22).
If you cannot upgrade, remove sourcemapInterceptor: 'node' or replace it with a custom interceptor object / leave it undefined to use Vite's default interceptor.
Verify the runtime exposes the API before configuring it: use typeof process.setSourceMapsEnabled === 'function'.

Example fix

// before
createServer({ server: { sourcemapInterceptor: 'node' } })
// after (Node >= 16.6.0 already, or fall back)
createServer({ server: { sourcemapInterceptor: typeof process?.setSourceMapsEnabled === 'function' ? 'node' : undefined } })

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Before configuring the runner
const nodeSourcemapSupported =
  typeof process !== 'undefined' &&
  typeof process.setSourceMapsEnabled === 'function'
const sourcemapInterceptor = nodeSourcemapSupported ? 'node' : undefined

Type guard

function supportsNodeSourcemap(): boolean {
  return typeof process !== 'undefined' &&
    typeof process.setSourceMapsEnabled === 'function'
}

Prevention

Pin your project's Node engines field to >= 16.6.0 and enforce it in CI.
Only set sourcemapInterceptor: 'node' after confirming the runtime supports process.setSourceMapsEnabled.
In serverless/edge runtimes, default to Vite's built-in interceptor instead of 'node'.

When it happens

Trigger: Starting a ModuleRunner (or SSR/dev environment that creates one) configured with { sourcemapInterceptor: 'node' } on a Node.js version older than 16.6.0, or on a non-Node runtime where process exists but process.setSourceMapsEnabled is absent.

Common situations: CI pipelines or Docker images pinned to an old Node LTS; edge/serverless runtimes that polyfill a minimal process object; upgrading Vite but forgetting to bump the Node version requirement.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of vitejs/vite@89620f09af (2026-08-03). Data as JSON: /data/errors/be1e3228e20b9361.json. Report an issue: GitHub.