Webpacks

Handling Node Specific Modules in Web Bundles using Webpack

Modern JavaScript libraries often include conditional logic that references Node-specific modules—frequently using the node: prefix (for example, node:fs). Even if this code never executes in the browser, these references can break your Webpack build.

Fortunately, Webpack provides two main ways to handle these imports: rewriting module paths with NormalModuleReplacementPlugin or providing browser-safe replacements using fallback.

1. Rewriting Imports with NormalModuleReplacementPlugin

NormalModuleReplacementPlugin allows you to intercept module import requests and modify them during the build. For example, it can remove the node: prefix from imports: