TS1192: Module has no default export - in CI

By Kaveh Alemi·Latchkey

You used a default import on a module that exports only named members (or a CommonJS module without interop).

What this error means

Type-checking fails with TS1192 naming the module that lacks a default export.

src/app.ts(1,8): error TS1192: Module '"./helpers"' has no default export.

Diagnose it: which tsconfig and which compiler?

A TypeScript error that appears only in CI usually means the runner is compiling with a different config or a different compiler version than your editor. Your editor uses the workspace TypeScript and the nearest tsconfig.json; CI uses whatever the lockfile resolved and whatever config the build script names.

# what CI will actually use
npx tsc --version
npx tsc --showConfig | head -40

# which files are in the program (a missing include is a common cause)
npx tsc --listFiles | wc -l

# type-check only, no emit, same as most CI gates
npx tsc --noEmit

Common causes

How to fix it

Use a named import

1. Import the named member instead of a default

import { helper } from './helpers'

Enable esModuleInterop for CJS defaults

1. Turn on esModuleInterop so synthetic default imports work for CommonJS

{
  "compilerOptions": { "esModuleInterop": true }
}

Pin the compiler so unrelated updates cannot break the gate

TypeScript adds errors in minor releases. An unpinned compiler turns a routine dependency update into a red build on code nobody touched, which is the most common false alarm in a TypeScript CI pipeline.

// package.json
{
  "devDependencies": {
    "typescript": "5.6.3"   // exact, not ^5.6.3
  }
}

How to prevent it

• Match import style to the module shape and enable esModuleInterop when consuming CommonJS.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

References

• Node.js documentation
• npm CLI documentation
• GitHub Actions documentation