rollup-plugin-node-globals

1.4.0 verified Mon Apr 27 auth: no javascript deprecated

A Rollup plugin (v1.4.0, last released in 2018) that injects Node.js global polyfills—process, global, Buffer, __dirname, __filename—into bundled code, mimicking browserify's global shimming. It optimizes process.nextTick and process.browser to only pull in required parts, and resolves __dirname/__filename to the file on disk. Useful for migrating CommonJS or Node-centric code to ES module bundles, but superseded by @rollup/plugin-inject or manual polyfills; unmaintained and incompatible with Rollup v2+.

Common errors

error Error: Cannot find module 'rollup-plugin-node-globals' ↓

cause Package not installed or not in node_modules.

fix

Run npm install rollup-plugin-node-globals --save-dev.

error Error: 'plugin' is not defined ↓

cause Invalid import syntax (e.g., using require in an ESM config).

fix

Use import globals from 'rollup-plugin-node-globals' in an ESM context.

error Error: Unexpected token: name (globals) ↓

cause Rollup plugin configuration object missing parentheses when calling globals as a function.

fix

Call globals() instead of just globals in the plugins array.

Warnings

deprecated Package is unmaintained and deprecated. Use @rollup/plugin-inject or manual polyfills instead. ↓

fix Replace with @rollup/plugin-inject and configure polyfills manually.

gotcha The plugin may not work with Rollup v2 or higher due to plugin API changes. ↓

fix Use @rollup/plugin-inject or fork/update the plugin.

gotcha __dirname and __filename are resolved to absolute paths on disk, not relative to the output bundle. ↓

fix Manually replace with dynamic paths if needed.

gotcha The plugin does not polyfill all Node.js globals (e.g., setImmediate, clearImmediate) unless they are used in a global context. ↓

fix Add individual polyfills for missing globals.

Install

npm install rollup-plugin-node-globals

yarn add rollup-plugin-node-globals

pnpm add rollup-plugin-node-globals

Imports

default

wrong

const globals = require('rollup-plugin-node-globals')

correct

import globals from 'rollup-plugin-node-globals'

ESM default export; CJS require() breaks in some bundler contexts.

plugin

wrong

export default { plugins: [require('rollup-plugin-node-globals')()] }

correct

import globals from 'rollup-plugin-node-globals'; export default { plugins: [globals()] }

Require() in a Rollup config may cause issues if the config is ESM.

options

wrong

globals({ process: true })

correct

globals({ process: false, global: false, buffer: false, dirname: false, filename: false, baseDir: '/some/path' })

Setting options to true is counterproductive; use false to disable, not enable. baseDir must be an absolute path.

Quickstart

Basic Rollup configuration using rollup-plugin-node-globals to polyfill process, global, Buffer, __dirname, and __filename.

import globals from 'rollup-plugin-node-globals';

export default {
  input: 'src/index.js',
  output: { file: 'dist/bundle.js', format: 'iife' },
  plugins: [
    globals({
      process: true,
      global: true,
      buffer: true,
      dirname: true,
      filename: true,
      baseDir: process.cwd()
    })
  ]
};