How to fix Wildcard import from a module which exports no wildcard member in TypeScript

The most comprehensive fix is to enable the esModuleInterop compiler option, which adds helper functions to make ES module syntax compatible with CommonJS modules.

Open your tsconfig.json and add or modify the compiler options:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "allowSyntheticDefaultImports": true
  }
}

Note that esModuleInterop automatically enables allowSyntheticDefaultImports, so you can omit the second option if preferred. After making this change, recompile your project:

npx tsc --build --force

This flag modifies both the type checking behavior and the emitted JavaScript to properly handle the mismatch between import styles.

If the module exports a default export, change from namespace import to default import syntax.

Before:

import * as moment from 'moment';

After:

import moment from 'moment';

This works when the module has a default export and you've enabled esModuleInterop or allowSyntheticDefaultImports. Use your editor's auto-import feature (Ctrl/Cmd + Space in most editors) to verify the correct import style for the module.

If the module exports specific named members, import only what you need instead of using a namespace import.

Before:

import * as utils from './utils';
utils.formatDate();

After:

import { formatDate } from './utils';
formatDate();

This approach is more explicit and works with any module that properly exports named members. To discover available exports, place your cursor inside the curly braces and trigger autocomplete (Ctrl + Space).

Check if the module has correct type definitions. For third-party packages, ensure you have the corresponding @types package installed:

npm install --save-dev @types/package-name

If the types are outdated or incorrect, you may need to update them:

npm update @types/package-name

You can also inspect the type definitions to understand the export structure:

# Navigate to the type definition file
code node_modules/@types/package-name/index.d.ts

Look for export default, export =, or named export statements to determine the correct import syntax.

If you cannot modify TypeScript configuration and need to import a CommonJS module, you can use require with proper typing:

const moment = require('moment');
// or with typing
import moment = require('moment');

However, this approach ties your code to CommonJS and may cause issues with ES module bundlers. Only use this as a temporary workaround when other solutions aren't viable.

Note: If using "module": "esnext" or similar in tsconfig.json, import = syntax may not be allowed. In that case, stick with enabling esModuleInterop instead.