[BUG] [v0.0.7] `cortex plugin new --typescript` package.json missing `"type": "module"` while tsconfig.json emits ESNext modules — generated dist/index.js fails to load in Node

[AnticsDecoded]

Project

ide

Description

The TypeScript plugin scaffolder produces an inconsistent module system configuration that breaks the generated build at runtime.

The generated tsconfig.json sets:

{
    "compilerOptions": {
        "target": "ES2020",
        "module": "ESNext",
        "moduleResolution": "node",
        ...
        "outDir": "./dist"
    }
}

The generated src/index.ts uses ES module syntax throughout: export const PLUGIN_ID = "...", export function init(): number {...}, export function shutdown(): number {...}, export function cmd_example(args: string[]): number {...}.

The generated package.json does NOT contain "type": "module":

{
    "name": "my-ts-plugin",
    "version": "0.1.0",
    "description": "...",
    "main": "dist/index.js",
    "scripts": {
        "build": "tsc",
        "watch": "tsc --watch"
    },
    "devDependencies": {
        "typescript": "^5.0.0"
    }
}

When npm run build runs, tsc honours "module": "ESNext" and emits dist/index.js containing real export statements. But because package.json lacks "type": "module", Node interprets the .js extension as CommonJS and the very first export token throws SyntaxError: Unexpected token 'export' whenever the host tries to load the plugin. The scaffolded TypeScript plugin is not actually loadable as-is.

Error Message

$ node dist/index.js
file:///.../my-ts-plugin/dist/index.js:2
export const PLUGIN_ID = "my-ts-plugin";
^^^^^^

SyntaxError: Unexpected token 'export'

Debug Logs

System Information

Windows 11, cortex v0.0.7, Node.js v20.x

Screenshots

Steps to Reproduce

1. cortex plugin new my-ts-plugin --typescript
2. cd my-ts-plugin && npm install && npm run build
3. node dist/index.js (or any host that loads dist/index.js) → SyntaxError: Unexpected token 'export'
4. Inspect the three files: tsconfig.json says "module": "ESNext", src/index.ts uses ESM export syntax, package.json has no "type" key

Expected Behavior

The generated package.json should include "type": "module" so that the ESM-syntax dist/index.js produced by tsc is correctly treated as a Node ES module. Alternatively, tsconfig.json should set "module": "CommonJS" to match the implicit Node interpretation. Either choice is fine, but the three files must agree.

Actual Behavior

tsconfig.json and src/index.ts agree on ES modules; package.json does not. tsc produces ESM-syntax JavaScript that Node refuses to execute. The scaffolded TypeScript plugin is broken out of the box and cannot be loaded by any standard Node-based plugin host.

Additional Context

This is a functional bug: the scaffold does not just have cosmetic issues — it produces a build artifact that fails at the very first load attempt. Two trivial fixes exist (add "type": "module" to package.json, OR change tsconfig.json "module" from "ESNext" to "CommonJS"); the scaffolder picks neither and ships an inconsistent template.

[echobt]

The issue reports that cortex plugin new --typescript generates an inconsistent module configuration: tsconfig.json specifies ESNext and src/index.ts uses ESM syntax, but package.json is missing "type": "module". This causes Node.js to fail to load the generated plugin with a SyntaxError: Unexpected token 'export'.

I verified the codebase in src/cortex-cli/src/plugin_cmd.rs. The scaffold_advanced_plugin function generates the TypeScript plugin files:

1. tsconfig.json is generated using TSCONFIG_TEMPLATE which sets "module": "ESNext":

const TSCONFIG_TEMPLATE: &str = r#"{
    "compilerOptions": {
        "target": "ES2020",
        "module": "ESNext",
        ...

2. package.json is generated without "type": "module":

        let package_json = format!(
            r#"{{
    "name": "{}",
    "version": "0.1.0",
    "description": "{}",
    "main": "dist/index.js",
    "scripts": {{
        "build": "tsc",
        "watch": "tsc --watch"
    }},
    "devDependencies": {{
        "typescript": "^5.0.0"
    }}
}}"#,
            plugin_id, description
        );

The code perfectly matches the bug description. The generated package.json lacks the "type": "module" field, which is required for Node.js to interpret the .js files emitted by tsc (configured with ESNext) as ES modules. This is a valid bug that breaks the scaffolded TypeScript plugin out of the box. No duplicates were found.

graph TD
    A[User runs cortex plugin new --typescript] --> B[Scaffolder generates plugin files]
    B --> C[User runs npm run build]
    C --> D[tsc emits dist/index.js with ESM syntax]
    D --> E[User runs node dist/index.js]
    E --> F[Node expects CommonJS because package.json lacks type: module]
    F --> G[SyntaxError: Unexpected token 'export']
    E -.-> H[Expected: Node treats file as ESM and loads successfully]
    style G fill:#ff6b6b

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