babel-plugin-import-recursive

1.1.3 verified Sat Apr 25 auth: no javascript

A Babel plugin (v1.1.3) that transforms wildcard import declarations into explicit import statements by scanning the filesystem at compile time. Supports single (*) and double (**) asterisk patterns, snake_case naming, and custom file extensions. Unlike dynamic require or Webpack require.context, this plugin produces static imports suitable for tree-shaking.

Common errors

error Error: Could not find module './actions' ↓

cause The import path points to a directory, but the plugin is not enabled in Babel configuration.

fix

Add 'import-recursive' to your Babel plugins list.

error SyntaxError: Unexpected token * ↓

cause Using wildcard import pattern without the plugin configured.

fix

Ensure babel-plugin-import-recursive is installed and included in Babel config.

Warnings

gotcha Plugin requires a filesystem scan at build time; does not work with dynamic paths or runtime resolution. ↓

fix Ensure the import path is a relative literal string, not a variable or computed expression.

gotcha File naming conventions matter: hyphens are converted to camelCase (e.g., 'action.a' becomes 'actionA'), and underscores are preserved unless snakeCase option is enabled. ↓

fix Use consistent file naming (no special characters) or adjust option to match your naming convention.

gotcha The plugin does not support default exports from the imported modules; it only imports the module object (import * as ...). ↓

fix If you need default exports, use a different pattern or manually re-export.

gotcha Only files with extensions listed in the 'exts' option (default: ["js", "mjs", "jsx"]) are included. TypeScript files are not included by default. ↓

fix Add 'ts' and 'tsx' to the 'exts' array if you use TypeScript.

Install

npm install babel-plugin-import-recursive

yarn add babel-plugin-import-recursive

pnpm add babel-plugin-import-recursive

Imports

plugin
wrong
```
module.exports = function(api, options) { ... }
```
correct
```
export default function plugin(api, options) { ... }
```
Babel plugins are CommonJS modules; this package exports a function via module.exports, not ES6 default export.

Quickstart

Shows basic usage with the double-asterisk pattern to import all files recursively from a directory.

// .babelrc
{
  "plugins": [
    ["import-recursive", { "exts": ["js", "jsx", "ts", "tsx"], "snakeCase": false, "nostrip": false }]
  ]
}

// src/index.js
import actions from './actions/**';

// Generated output:
import * as _actionA from "./actions/action.a";
import * as _actionB from "./actions/action_b";
import * as _actionC from "./actions/sub_dir/actionC";
const _dirImport = {};
_dirImport.actionA = _actionA;
_dirImport.actionB = _actionB;
_dirImport.actionC = _actionC;
const actions = _dirImport;