Error [ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND]: Cannot find module — how to fix

node:internal/errors:496
    ErrorCaptureStackTrace(err);
    ^

Error [ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND]: Cannot find module '/home/user/app/src/utils' imported from /home/user/app/src/index.js

Quick fix: Add the file extension to relative imports: import x from './utils.js', not './utils'. For package names, run npm install <package>.

What it means

You're using ES modules (import/export, with "type": "module" in package.json or a .mjs file). The ESM loader doesn't guess extensions or look for index.js in folders like require() does.

Fix 1: add the extension

// fails
import { helper } from './utils';
import config from './config';

// works
import { helper } from './utils.js';
import config from './config/index.js';

TypeScript: write .js in your imports even though the source file is .ts. TypeScript rewrites nothing; with "module": "NodeNext" it understands that ./utils.js refers to ./utils.ts.

Fix 2: install the package

If the message names a package (Cannot find package 'lodash'):

npm install lodash

Fix 3: run TypeScript directly

If the missing file is .ts, plain node can't load it on older versions. Use npx tsx src/index.ts, build first with tsc, or on Node 22.6+ try node --experimental-strip-types (on by default since Node 23.6).

Fix 4: you didn't mean to use ESM

Remove "type": "module" from package.json and use require(), or rename files to .cjs.

Last updated 2026-10-27.