Bug: Long node_modules plugin paths cannot be found on Windows

[karlhorky]

Environment

Node version: 20.9.0
npm version: 10.1.0
Local ESLint version: 8.53.0
Global ESLint version: --
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Server 2022 10.0.20348

What parser are you using?

Default (Espree)

What did you do?

Configuration (Flat Config)

import eslintImport from 'eslint-plugin-import';

const config = [
  {
    plugins: {
      import: eslintImport,
    },
    rules: {
      'no-unused-vars': 'warn',
    },
  },
];

export default config;

const a = 1;

What did you expect to happen?

ESLint should run, also when the paths are deep and long (over 260 character MAX_PATH limit on Windows)

What actually happened?

ESLint crashes on Windows when the paths are deep and long (over 260 character MAX_PATH limit on Windows)

$ npm install
$ npx eslint .  # In root, working
D:\a\eslint-max_path-windows-bug\eslint-max_path-windows-bug\index.js
Warning:   1:7  warning  'a' is assigned a value but never used  no-unused-vars

$ mkdir long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\
$ cp eslint.config.js long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\
$ cp index.js long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\
$ cp package.json long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\

$ cd long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\
$ npm install
$ npx eslint .

Oops! Something went wrong! :(

ESLint: 8.53.0

Error: Cannot find package 'D:\a\eslint-max_path-windows-bug\eslint-max_path-windows-bug\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\node_modules\eslint-plugin-import\package.json' imported from D:\a\eslint-max_path-windows-bug\eslint-max_path-windows-bug\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\eslint.config.js
Did you mean to import eslint-plugin-import/lib/index.js?
    at legacyMainResolve (node:internal/modules/esm/resolve:189:26)
    at packageResolve (node:internal/modules/esm/resolve:[7](https://github.com/karlhorky/eslint-max_path-windows-bug/actions/runs/6876786397/job/18703094495#step:9:8)76:14)
    at moduleResolve (node:internal/modules/esm/resolve:[8](https://github.com/karlhorky/eslint-max_path-windows-bug/actions/runs/6876786397/job/18703094495#step:9:9)38:20)
    at defaultResolve (node:internal/modules/esm/resolve:1043:11)
    at ModuleLoader.defaultResolve (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:383:12)
    at ModuleLoader.resolve (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:352:25)
    at ModuleLoader.getModuleJob (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:228:38)
    at ModuleWrap.<anonymous> (node:internal/modules/esm/module_job:85:3[9](https://github.com/karlhorky/eslint-max_path-windows-bug/actions/runs/6876786397/job/18703094495#step:9:10))
    at link (node:internal/modules/esm/module_job:84:36)

The D:\a\eslint-max_path-windows-bug\eslint-max_path-windows-bug\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\node_modules\eslint-plugin-import\package.json path is 277 characters long.

Alternatives Considered

I was first thinking this may be a Windows configuration problem or a Node.js path resolution bug, but apparently both of these support 260+ character paths:

• Windows Server on GitHub Actions has long paths over 260 characters enabled MAX_PATH lengths on Windows environment actions/runner-images#1052 (comment)
• "Node uses file namespace paths for file access. We do that so we do not get hit by the 260 path limit," writeFile creates OS inaccessible file nodejs/node#33829 (comment)

Link to Minimal Reproducible Example

https://github.com/karlhorky/eslint-max_path-windows-bug

Participation

• I am willing to submit a pull request for this issue.

Additional comments

This is a contrived example, but this can happen easily in normal projects with tools like pnpm, which creates long file paths:

• Flattening feature creates lengthy folder structures pnpm/pnpm#6830

[mdjermanovic]

I can reproduce this locally. However, it doesn't look like a problem in ESLint, but rather in Node.js, and I'm not sure if there's anything we could do in ESLint to avoid this.

The error message says:

Cannot find package ...\node_modules\eslint-plugin-import\package.json imported from ...\eslint.config.js.

ESLint just calls import() with the path of the eslint.config.js file, which seems to be resolved successfully as it executes. ESLint doesn't resolve any paths inside eslint.config.js, it's Node.js that loads and executes it and resolves its imports. I'm getting the same error when I run the module directly (node eslint.config.js).

[karlhorky]

Interesting, so maybe the comment by @bzoz that Node.js is not affected by the 260 character path limit on Windows doesn't apply here or is outdated somehow - maybe Node.js has a limitation here...

Maybe time to open a Node.js bug.

[karlhorky]

I opened a first issue to revisit Microsoft's MAX_PATH explanation and workarounds guide in case anything has changed with Node.js support for long 260+ character paths on Windows, also in light of LongPathsEnabled:

• Update MAX_PATH guidance for LongPathsEnabled? microsoft/nodejs-guidelines#108

[karlhorky]

And I also opened an issue in Node.js:

• Long node_modules paths cannot be found on Windows when LongPathsEnabled enabled nodejs/node#50753

[nzakas]

To echo @mdjermanovic, this is an issue with Node.js rather than with ESLint, so closing.

[karlhorky]

These file/folder structures that have long paths are commonly created by pnpm as well - if you're running into "Cannot find file" with ESLint and pnpm on Windows and are looking for a workaround, here's what I'm currently using:

• Long node_modules paths cannot be found on Windows when LongPathsEnabled enabled nodejs/node#50753 (comment)

This is just a temporary workaround until the Node.js PR fixing long paths on Windows is merged:

• module,win: fix long path resolve nodejs/node#51097