commonjs unused module.exports detected vs exports not detected

[hugomallet]

Hi,

Unused commonjs exports are not detected when they are exported using the exports alias.

For example, this unused export would be detected :

module.exports.add = () => {};

while this one won't be :

exports.add = () => {};

Thanks

[webpro]

That's correct, also see https://knip.dev/guides/commonjs for recommendations.

This is another subtle caveat with the dynamic nature of CommonJS. Using module.exports is generally preferred over exports (also see e.g. https://www.hacksparrow.com/nodejs/exports-vs-module-exports.html).

Not sure if Knip should still try to support this, but at least we can update the docs.

[hugomallet]

Thanks for the link. The best is to avoid reassigning module.exports as much as possible, because anyway any previous export will be lost.

That would be great if Knip could support this. It would avoid refactoring every exports of big codebases before cleaning up unused one :)

[webpro]

🚀 This issue has been resolved in v5.8.0. See Release 5.8.0 for release notes.

Using Knip in a commercial project? Please consider sponsoring me.

[webpro]

Alright then :)