Bug: eslint-plugin-react-hooks@6.1.1 TypeError: Converting circular structure to JSON

[mikaelbalin]

After updating eslint-plugin-react-hooks to version 6.1.1, running eslint . throws an error caused by a circular reference inside the configuration object.

React version: 19.2.0

Steps To Reproduce

1. git clone https://github.com/mikaelbalin/mikaelbalin.github.io
2. cd mikaelbalin.github.io
3. pnpm i
4. pnpm lint

Link to code example: https://github.com/mikaelbalin/mikaelbalin.github.io

The current behavior

Running eslint . fails with the following error:

TypeError: Converting circular structure to JSON
    --> starting at object with constructor 'Object'
    |     property 'configs' -> object with constructor 'Object'
    |     property 'flat/recommended' -> object with constructor 'Array'
    |     ...
    |     property 'plugins' -> object with constructor 'Object'
    --- property 'react-hooks' closes the circle

The expected behavior

ESLint should run normally and display linting warnings/errors without crashing. Including or extending the react-hooks plugin or its recommended config should not introduce a circular reference in the ESLint configuration object.

[poteto]

thanks for reporting, would you mind making a smaller repro?

[pan93412]

I also reproduced this in my Next.js project:

Oops! Something went wrong! :(

ESLint: 9.37.0

TypeError: Converting circular structure to JSON
    --> starting at object with constructor 'Object'
    |     property 'configs' -> object with constructor 'Object'
    |     property 'flat/recommended' -> object with constructor 'Array'
    |     ...
    |     property 'plugins' -> object with constructor 'Object'
    --- property 'react-hooks' closes the circle
Referenced from: /Volumes/Dev/database-playground/admin/node_modules/.pnpm/eslint-config-next@15.6.0-canary.42_eslint@9.37.0_jiti@2.6.1__typescript@5.9.3/node_modules/eslint-config-next/index.js
    at JSON.stringify (<anonymous>)
    at file:///Volumes/Dev/database-playground/admin/node_modules/.pnpm/@eslint+eslintrc@3.3.1/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/lib/shared/config-validator.js:308:45
    at Array.map (<anonymous>)
    at ConfigValidator.formatErrors (file:///Volumes/Dev/database-playground/admin/node_modules/.pnpm/@eslint+eslintrc@3.3.1/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/lib/shared/config-validator.js:299:23)
    at ConfigValidator.validateConfigSchema (file:///Volumes/Dev/database-playground/admin/node_modules/.pnpm/@eslint+eslintrc@3.3.1/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/lib/shared/config-validator.js:330:84)
    at ConfigArrayFactory._normalizeConfigData (file:///Volumes/Dev/database-playground/admin/node_modules/.pnpm/@eslint+eslintrc@3.3.1/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/lib/config-array-factory.js:676:19)
    at ConfigArrayFactory._loadExtendedPluginConfig (file:///Volumes/Dev/database-playground/admin/node_modules/.pnpm/@eslint+eslintrc@3.3.1/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/lib/config-array-factory.js:899:25)
    at ConfigArrayFactory._loadExtends (file:///Volumes/Dev/database-playground/admin/node_modules/.pnpm/@eslint+eslintrc@3.3.1/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/lib/config-array-factory.js:812:29)
    at ConfigArrayFactory._normalizeObjectConfigDataBody (file:///Volumes/Dev/database-playground/admin/node_modules/.pnpm/@eslint+eslintrc@3.3.1/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/lib/config-array-factory.js:752:25)
    at _normalizeObjectConfigDataBody.next (<anonymous>)
 ELIFECYCLE  Command failed with exit code 2.

[pan93412]

I have resolved this issue by removing eslint-plugin-react-hooks and using the dependent version from eslint-config-next:

$ pnpm why eslint-plugin-react-hooks
Legend: production dependency, optional only, dev only

admin@0.1.0 /Volumes/Dev/database-playground/admin (PRIVATE)

devDependencies:
eslint-config-next 15.6.0-canary.42
└── eslint-plugin-react-hooks 5.2.0

It seems that locking eslint-plugin-react-hooks to 5.2.0 can also resolve this issue. I think it will be fixed when the Next.js team upgrades their eslint-config-react-hooks to 5.2.1.

[totus]

Same happens for me in 2 projects using ESLint 8.57.1 and React version 18:

Oops! Something went wrong! :(

ESLint: 8.57.1

TypeError: Converting circular structure to JSON
    --> starting at object with constructor 'Object'
    |     property 'configs' -> object with constructor 'Object'
    |     property 'flat/recommended' -> object with constructor 'Array'
    |     ...
    |     property 'plugins' -> object with constructor 'Object'
    --- property 'react-hooks' closes the circle
Referenced from: /home/runner/work/srn/srn/.eslintrc.json
    at JSON.stringify (<anonymous>)
    at /home/runner/work/srn/srn/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/dist/eslintrc.cjs:2156:45
    at Array.map (<anonymous>)
    at ConfigValidator.formatErrors (/home/runner/work/srn/srn/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/dist/eslintrc.cjs:2147:23)
    at ConfigValidator.validateConfigSchema (/home/runner/work/srn/srn/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/dist/eslintrc.cjs:2177:84)
    at ConfigArrayFactory._normalizeConfigData (/home/runner/work/srn/srn/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/dist/eslintrc.cjs:3019:19)
    at ConfigArrayFactory._loadExtendedPluginConfig (/home/runner/work/srn/srn/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/dist/eslintrc.cjs:3239:25)
    at ConfigArrayFactory._loadExtends (/home/runner/work/srn/srn/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/dist/eslintrc.cjs:3154:29)
    at ConfigArrayFactory._normalizeObjectConfigDataBody (/home/runner/work/srn/srn/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/dist/eslintrc.cjs:3095:25)
    at _normalizeObjectConfigDataBody.next (<anonymous>)
error Command failed with exit code 2.

[eps1lon]

For non-flat configs e.g. .eslintrc.json you want to switch to /recommended-legacy instead of /recommended

[totus]

@eps1lon, I may want to switch to recommended-legacy, but is it expected for a patch update to break the compatibity?

[sonofjavascript]

@poteto to reproduce it (flat config):

import path from 'node:path'

import { FlatCompat } from '@eslint/eslintrc'
import js from '@eslint/js'

export const compat = new FlatCompat({
  baseDirectory: path.resolve(),
  resolvePluginsRelativeTo: path.resolve(),
  recommendedConfig: js.configs.recommended,
  allConfig: js.configs.all,
})

export const lintConfig = compat.config({
  extends: ['plugin:react/recommended', 'plugin:react-hooks/recommended'],
)}

[eps1lon]

@eps1lon, I may want to switch to recommended-legacy, but is it expected for a patch update to break the compatibity?

Yes. This was intended to be part of 6.1 (which is the actual 6.0 that is unavailable)

[Stanzilla]

Can confirm that a simple upgrade without a config change is still broken and that the docs are a bit confusing

[DangTinh040203]

import { dirname } from "path";
import { fileURLToPath } from "url";
import { FlatCompat } from "@eslint/eslintrc";

const __filename = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
const __dirname = dirname(__filename);

const compat = new FlatCompat({
baseDirectory: __dirname,
});

const eslintConfig = [
...compat.extends("next/core-web-vitals", "next/typescript"),
{
ignores: [
"node_modules/",
".next/",
"out/",
"build/",
"next-env.d.ts",
],
},
];

export default eslintConfig;

fe@0.1.0 lint /home/dangtinh/Documents/cv-builder/fe
eslint --fix

Oops! Something went wrong! :(

ESLint: 9.37.0

TypeError: Converting circular structure to JSON
--> starting at object with constructor 'Object'
| property 'configs' -> object with constructor 'Object'
| property 'flat/recommended' -> object with constructor 'Array'
| ...
| property 'plugins' -> object with constructor 'Object'
--- property 'react-hooks' closes the circle
Referenced from: /home/dangtinh/Documents/cv-builder/fe/node_modules/.pnpm/eslint-config-next@15.5.4_eslint@9.37.0_jiti@2.6.1__typescript@5.9.3/node_modules/eslint-config-next/index.js
at JSON.stringify ()
at file:///home/dangtinh/Documents/cv-builder/fe/node_modules/.pnpm/@eslint+eslintrc@3.3.1/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/lib/shared/config-validator.js:308:45
at Array.map ()
at ConfigValidator.formatErrors (file:///home/dangtinh/Documents/cv-builder/fe/node_modules/.pnpm/@eslint+eslintrc@3.3.1/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/lib/shared/config-validator.js:299:23)
at ConfigValidator.validateConfigSchema (file:///home/dangtinh/Documents/cv-builder/fe/node_modules/.pnpm/@eslint+eslintrc@3.3.1/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/lib/shared/config-validator.js:330:84)
at ConfigArrayFactory._normalizeConfigData (file:///home/dangtinh/Documents/cv-builder/fe/node_modules/.pnpm/@eslint+eslintrc@3.3.1/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/lib/config-array-factory.js:676:19)
at ConfigArrayFactory._loadExtendedPluginConfig (file:///home/dangtinh/Documents/cv-builder/fe/node_modules/.pnpm/@eslint+eslintrc@3.3.1/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/lib/config-array-factory.js:899:25)
at ConfigArrayFactory._loadExtends (file:///home/dangtinh/Documents/cv-builder/fe/node_modules/.pnpm/@eslint+eslintrc@3.3.1/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/lib/config-array-factory.js:812:29)
at ConfigArrayFactory._normalizeObjectConfigDataBody (file:///home/dangtinh/Documents/cv-builder/fe/node_modules/.pnpm/@eslint+eslintrc@3.3.1/node_modules/@eslint/eslintrc/lib/config-array-factory.js:752:25)
at _normalizeObjectConfigDataBody.next ()
 ELIFECYCLE  Command failed with exit code 2.

[poteto]

Can someone try 0.0.0-experimental-b65e6fc5-20251006 and see if the latest version fixes it?