Many demos fail to run on Node version 21 with "Function.prototype.apply was called on undefined" errors

[ddribin]

I am trying to use component/tex2svg and it fails with this error using Node v21.6.2. However it works with Node v20.11.1. I am on a macOS Sonoma 14.3 with both version of node installed via Homebrew. Also note that the demos in direct/ work on Node v21.6.2, but the ones in component/ and simple/ do not.

Here's the truncated error:

> /opt/homebrew/opt/node@21/bin/node -r esm ./tex2svg 'y = mx + b'
/Users/dave/src/MathJax-demos-node/node_modules/esm/esm.js:1
const __global__ = this; <... full-text-in-gist ... >


[/Users/dave/src/MathJax-demos-node/node_modules/cliui/build/index.cjs:1
TypeError: Function.prototype.apply was called on undefined, which is a undefined and not a function]

Node.js v21.6.2

The full error is big, so I put it in a Gist: https://gist.github.com/ddribin/8d1bf990f8edd87cdb14cf705b03b020

[ddribin]

Seems like this is maybe an issue with Node v21, itself. See:

• regression in 21.4.0 when using esm package nodejs/node#51081
• Revert "fs: remove workaround for esm package" nodejs/node#51356
• [v21.x] Revert "fs: remove workaround for esm package" nodejs/node#51390

[dpvc]

As you have determined, the issue is with the esm library, which is no longer being developed or supported. Fortunately, MathJax only needs it if you are running from the component source files. So if you use

/opt/homebrew/opt/node@21/bin/node tex2svg --dist 'y = mx + b'

that should work for you.

[dpvc]

PS, version 4 (now out in beta) does not have any dependency on esm, so in the future, this will not be a problem.

[ddribin]

Thanks for the response! Yes, --dist works, even with Node v21.6.2. And good news about v4.

[ddribin]

And thank you for MathJax! It is pretty great. ;-)

[dpvc]

Glad that worked, and thanks for the kind words!

[ddribin]

Quick followup here. Node v21.7.0 was just released and it fixes the issue.

> node --version
v21.7.0

Gonna close this, since it is no longer an issue. Thanks for the help!

[dpvc]

Thanks for the additional information. I ran into it in another situation myself, so glad to see that 21.7.0 resolves that.