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I was reading about
path-mapping
in file
tsconfig.json
, and I wanted to use it to avoid using the following ugly paths:
The project organization is a bit weird because we have a mono-repository that contains projects and libraries. The projects are grouped by company and by
browser / server / universal
.
How can I configure the paths in file
tsconfig.json
, so instead of:
import { Something } from "../../../../../lib/src/[browser/server/universal]/...";
I can use:
import { Something } from "lib/src/[browser/server/universal]/...";
Will something else be required in the Webpack configuration? Or is the tsconfig.json file enough?
This can be set up on your tsconfig.json file, as it is a TypeScript feature.
You can do like this:
"compilerOptions": {
"baseUrl": "src", // This must be specified if "paths" is.
"paths": {
"@app/*": ["app/*"],
"@config/*": ["app/_config/*"],
"@environment/*": ["environments/*"],
"@shared/*": ["app/_shared/*"],
"@helpers/*": ["helpers/*"]
Have in mind that the path, where you want to refer to, takes your baseUrl as the base of the route you are pointing to and it's mandatory as described on the documentation.
The character '@' is not mandatory.
After you set it up on that way, you can easily use it like this:
import { Yo } from '@config/index';
The only thing you might notice is that the intellisense does not work in the current latest version, so I would suggest to follow an index convention for importing/exporting files.
Reference: Module resolution
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You can use a combination of the baseUrl and paths documentation.
Assuming root is in the topmost src directory (and I read your image properly), use:
// tsconfig.json
"compilerOptions": {
"baseUrl": ".",
"paths": {
"lib/*": [
"src/org/global/lib/*"
For Webpack, you might also need to add a module resolution. For Webpack 2, this could look like:
// webpack.config.js
module.exports = {
resolve: {
modules: [
'./src/org/global'
–
ts-node -r tsconfig-paths/register <your-index-file>.ts
This loads all paths in tsconfig.json. A sample tsconfig.json:
"compilerOptions": {
"baseUrl": "./src",
"paths": {
"assets/*": [ "assets/*" ],
"styles/*": [ "styles/*" ]
Make sure you have both baseUrl and paths for this to work.
And then you can import like:
import {AlarmIcon} from 'assets/icons'
If you are looking for the most minimalist example for referencing your root folder with @, this would be it:
"compilerOptions": {
"baseUrl": "src",
"paths": {
"@/*": ["*"]
// Example usage: import * as logUtils from '@/utils/logUtils';
Or if you don't even have a src folder or would like to explicitly include it in the imports, this would also work:
"compilerOptions": {
"baseUrl": ".",
"paths": {
"@/*": ["*"]
// Example usage: import * as logUtils from '@/src/utils/logUtils';
–
If you are using paths, you will need to change back absolute paths to relative paths for it to work after compiling TypeScript code into plain JavaScript code using tsc.
Most popular solution for this has been tsconfig-paths so far.
I've tried it, but it did not work for me for my complicated setup.
Also, it resolves paths in run-time, meaning overhead in terms of your package size and resolve performance.
So, I wrote a solution myself, tscpaths.
I'd say it's better overall because it replaces paths at compile-time. It means there is no runtime dependency or any performance overhead. It's pretty simple to use. You just need to add a line to your build scripts in the package.json file.
The project is pretty young, so there could be some issues if your setup is very complicated.
It works flawlessly for my setup, though my setup is fairly complex.
–
If you are using tsconfig-paths and this does not work for you, try tsconfig.json:
// ...
"compilerOptions": {
"outDir": "dist",
"rootDir": "src",
"baseUrl": ".",
"paths": {
"@some-folder/*": ["./src/app/some-folder/*", "./dist/app/some-folder/*"],
// ...
// ...
If the compiler sees @some-folder/some-class, it is trying to find it in ./src... or in ./dist....
It’s kind of a relative path.
Instead of the below code
import { Something } from "../../../../../lib/src/[browser/server/universal]/...";
We can avoid the "../../../../../". It’s looking odd and is not readable either.
So the TypeScript configuration file have answer for the same.
Just specify the baseUrl, config will take care of your relative path.
Way to configuew: In the tsconfig.json file, add the below properties.
"baseUrl": "src",
"paths": {
"@app/*": [ "app/*" ],
"@env/*": [ "environments/*" ]
So finally it will look like below:
import { Something } from "@app/src/[browser/server/universal]/...";
It looks simple, awesome and more readable...
I'm not sure if we must define the paths. But after write baseUrl to src.
I can import all folders under the src folder like this:
import { Home } from "pages";
import { formatDate } from "utils";
import { Navbar } from "components";
Don't forget to restart your terminal after change the tsconfig.json.
If TypeScript + Webpack 2 + at-loader is being used, there is an additional step (mleko's solution was only partially working for me):
// tsconfig.json
"compilerOptions": {
"rootDir": ".",
"paths": {
"lib/*": [
"src/org/global/lib/*"
// webpack.config.js
const { TsConfigPathsPlugin } = require('awesome-typescript-loader');
resolve: {
plugins: [
new TsConfigPathsPlugin(/* { tsconfig, compiler } */)
Advanced path resolution in TypeScript 2.0
Solution for 2021.
Note: CRA. Initially the idea of using a third party library or ejecting app for alias seemed crazy to me. However, after 8 hours of searching (and trying variant with eject), it turned out that this option is the least painful.
Step 1.
yarn add --dev react-app-rewired react-app-rewire-alias
Step 2.
Create config-overrides.js file in your project's root and fill it with:
const {alias} = require('react-app-rewire-alias')
module.exports = function override(config) {
return alias({
assets: './src/assets',
'@components': './src/components',
})(config)
Step 3. Fix your package.json file:
"scripts": {
- "start": "react-scripts start",
+ "start": "react-app-rewired start",
- "build": "react-scripts build",
+ "build": "react-app-rewired build",
- "test": "react-scripts test",
+ "test": "react-app-rewired test",
"eject": "react-scripts eject"
If @declarations don't work, add them to the d.ts file.
For example:
'@constants': './src/constants', => add in react-app-env.d.ts declare module '@constants';
That is all. Now you can continue to use yarn or npm start/build/test commands as usual.
Full version in documentation.
Note: The Using with TypeScript / JavaScript configuration part in docs did not work for me. The error "aliased imports are not supported" when building the project remained. So I used an easier way. Luckily it works.
–
–
For a component library
If you are working on a library that returns UI components (like react-bootstrap or Ant Design) then this should work for you.
"compilerOptions": {
"rootDir": "src",
"baseUrl": ".",
"paths": {
"src/*": ["src/*"],
"components/*": ["src/components/*"],
It looks like there has been an update to React that doesn't allow you to set the "paths" in the tsconfig.json file any longer.
Nicely, React just outputs a warning:
The following changes are being made to your tsconfig.json file: \
compilerOptions.paths must not be set (aliased imports are not supported)
then updates your tsconfig.json and removes the entire "paths" section for you. There is a way to get around this run
npm run eject
This will eject all of the create-react-scripts settings by adding config and scripts directories and build/configuration files into your project. This also allows a lot more control over how everything is built, named, etc. by updating the {project}/config/* files.
Then update your tsconfig.json file:
"compilerOptions": {
"baseUrl": "./src",
"paths": {
"assets/*": [ "assets/*" ],
"styles/*": [ "styles/*" ]
–
Check out the compiler operation using this.
I have added baseUrl in the file for a project like below:
"baseUrl": "src"
It is working fine. So add your base directory for your project.
You can do this with just Node.js by using Subpath patterns.
For example, adding this to your package.json...
"imports": {
"#lib": "./build/path/to/lib",
"#lib/*": "./build/path/to/lib/*",
will let you import like so, avoiding relative paths.
import { something } from "#lib"
Note that they must start with a hash, and in package.json, they must point to your build so Node can recognize it.
Like others have said, you can add something like this to your tsconfig.json for TypeScript:
"compilerOptions": {
"baseUrl": ".",
"paths": {
"#lib": ["./src/path/to/lib"],
"#lib/*": ["./src/path/to/lib/*"],
For me, Visual Studio Code was not recognizing the path, but the project was building just fine. The issue was that I had the paths declaration in a second tsconfig.app.json file.
Moving the paths property from tsconfig.app.json into tsconfig.json fixed the issue.
Supposedly, this is because Visual Studio Code only checks the first tsconfig.json file found in the root directory of the project, although I haven't confirmed that for myself. Perhaps someone can provide a comment with more information.
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