Desktop ESM Import Resolution Fix

Created: 2026-05-20 18:30 EDT · Branch: lavender/codex-login-management-electron

Summary

Fixed a desktop startup crash where Electron failed to load @islandflow/types with ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND for packages/types/src/events. The types package now uses explicit .ts relative imports, and desktop TypeScript build settings were updated to permit and rewrite those imports during emit.

Changes Made

• Updated all internal re-exports/imports in packages/types/src that pointed to sibling modules without file extensions to use explicit .ts extensions.
• Updated desktop TS compiler options in apps/desktop/tsconfig.json: allowImportingTsExtensions: true and rewriteRelativeImportExtensions: true.
• Created and tracked the bug in Beads as islandflow-64s.

Context

The desktop app launches via Electron (Node ESM behavior), while much of this monorepo is typically run through Bun. Bun accepts extensionless TypeScript relative imports that Node ESM does not. Since @islandflow/types exports source TS (./src/index.ts), Electron loaded those sources directly and failed on extensionless sibling imports.

Important Implementation Details

• The fix stays within current package structure; no new build pipeline was introduced for @islandflow/types.
• By enabling rewriteRelativeImportExtensions, desktop emit remains compatible even while accepting .ts specifiers during type-checking.
• This avoids adding runtime Node flags and keeps behavior explicit in source and compiler config.

Relevant Diff Snippets

Unified patch snippets below are diffs.com-compatible patch text format.

diff --git a/packages/types/src/index.ts b/packages/types/src/index.ts
-export * from "./events";
+export * from "./events.ts";
-export * from "./live";
+export * from "./live.ts";

...

diff --git a/apps/desktop/tsconfig.json b/apps/desktop/tsconfig.json
 "noEmit": false,
+"allowImportingTsExtensions": true,
+"rewriteRelativeImportExtensions": true,
 "sourceMap": true,

Expected Impact for End-Users

Desktop developers can run bun run dev:desktop without the startup crash. This unblocks local desktop testing and feature work without requiring manual runtime flags or ad hoc environment tweaks.

Validation

• Ran bun --cwd=apps/desktop run build successfully.
• Ran node -e "import('./packages/types/src/index.ts')" to confirm direct source import resolution works after the import updates.
• Ran bun run dev:desktop and confirmed Electron launched successfully past the previous module-resolution failure (manually interrupted afterward).

Issues, Limitations, and Mitigations

• This fix assumes Node/Electron TypeScript type-stripping support remains available for direct TS source loading.
• The plugin catalog 403 warnings observed during launch are unrelated to this module-resolution fix and remain unchanged.

Follow-up Work

• Evaluate whether @islandflow/types should eventually ship a dedicated built JS output for stricter runtime portability beyond Bun/Electron workflows.
• Add a lightweight desktop smoke check in CI for startup-path regressions around workspace package resolution.

Beads issue: islandflow-64s.