node.js - Jest gives `Cannot find module` when importing components with absolute paths

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Find centralized, trusted content and collaborate around the technologies you use most.
Learn more about Collectives
Teams
Q&A for work
Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.
Learn more about Teams
Receiving the following error when running Jest
Cannot find module 'src/views/app' from 'index.jsx'
  at Resolver.resolveModule (node_modules/jest-resolve/build/index.js:179:17)
  at Object.<anonymous> (src/index.jsx:4:12)
index.jsx 
import AppContainer from 'src/views/app';
package.json
  "jest": {
    "collectCoverageFrom": [
      "src/**/*.{js,jsx,mjs}"
    "setupFiles": [
      "<rootDir>/config/polyfills.js"
    "testMatch": [
      "<rootDir>/src/**/__tests__/**/*.{js,jsx,mjs}",
      "<rootDir>/src/**/?(*.)(spec|test).{js,jsx,mjs}"
    "testEnvironment": "node",
    "testURL": "http://localhost",
    "transform": {
      "^.+\\.(js|jsx|mjs)$": "<rootDir>/node_modules/babel-jest",
      "^.+\\.css$": "<rootDir>/config/jest/cssTransform.js",
      "^(?!.*\\.(js|jsx|mjs|css|json)$)": "<rootDir>/config/jest/fileTransform.js"
    "transformIgnorePatterns": [
      "[/\\\\]node_modules[/\\\\].+\\.(js|jsx|mjs)$"
    "moduleDirectories": [
        "node_modules",
        "src"
    "moduleNameMapper": {
      "^react-native$": "react-native-web"
    "moduleFileExtensions": [
      "web.js",
      "js",
      "json",
      "web.jsx",
      "jsx",
      "node",
      "mjs"
My tests that run files that only contain relative paths in the tree run correctly.
To Clarify, I'm looking for how to configure Jest to not fail on absolute paths.
                I need to know how to run absolute paths so I don't have to back step multiple directories on imports or update as many files if I move files
– Seth McClaine
                Jun 14, 2018 at 18:03
                Important to mention that here the jest config is in the package.json. But I could also be on a jest.config.json or other file.
– oskrgg
                Jun 23 at 20:12
I think you're looking for: roots or modulePaths and moduleDirectories
You can add both relative and absolute paths.
I would make sure to include <rootDir> in the roots array, <rootDir> in the modulePaths array, and node_modules in the moduleDirectories array, unless you've got a good reason to exclude them.
"jest": {
  "roots": [
    "<rootDir>",
    "/home/some/path/"
  "modulePaths": [
    "<rootDir>",
    "/home/some/other/path"
  "moduleDirectories": [
    "node_modules"
                This helped me solved my issue in Angular. My error was Cannot find module 'src/app/core/services/seo.service' from 'src/app/blog/blog-list/blog-list.component.ts' and it happened after importing routerTestingModule in my spec file which was to solve an error of NG0304: 'router-outlet' is not a known element:  In my jest.config.js ` module.exports = {     preset: "jest-preset-angular",     setupFilesAfterEnv: ["<rootDir>/setup-jest.ts"],     globalSetup: "jest-preset-angular/global-setup",     modulePaths: ["<rootDir>"], // <-- adding this solved it   };`
– BrunoElo
                Feb 25, 2022 at 9:53
Which says that each module you import will be looked into node_modules first and if not found will be looked into src directory.
Since it's looking into src directory you should use:
import AppContainer from 'views/app';
Please note that this path is absolute to the src directory, you do not have to navigate to locate it as relative path.
OR you can configure your root directory in moduleDirectories inside your pakcage.json so that all your components could be imported as you want it.
                In my case, moduleNameMapper was the way to go, considering we had @ pointing to some specific root directories.
– giovannipds
                Dec 10, 2021 at 16:25
should work if you have Jest's config in your package.json file.
If you have a jest.config.js file, you should add it there, otherwise package.json will be overriden (and ignored) by this config file. So in your jest.config.js file:
module.exports = {
// ... lots of props
  moduleDirectories: ["node_modules", "src"],
// ...
That's because jest doesn't recognize relative imports like src/views/app
Add a rootDir and a modulePaths in package.json
"name": "my-app",
"jest": {
    "rootDir": "./",
    "modulePaths": [
      "<rootDir>"
In my case, I was running integration tests and all tests were in the same file with the path src/int-test.spec.ts in order to read paths I had to write:
Solution 1
"jest": {
    "moduleNameMapper": {
      "src/(.*)": "<rootDir>/$1"
Another way of doing this is to create jest.config.js file, The file will be discovered automatically, if it is named jest.config.js|ts|mjs|cjs|json.
And put this into it:
Solution 2
const path = require('path');
module.exports = {
  moduleFileExtensions: ['js', 'json', 'ts'],
  roots: ['src'],
  testRegex: '.*\\.spec\\.ts$',
  transform: {
    '^.+\\.(t|j)s$': 'ts-jest',
  collectCoverageFrom: ['**/*.(t|j)s'],
  coverageDirectory: '../coverage',
  testEnvironment: 'node',
  moduleDirectories: ['node_modules', 'src', __dirname],
                Additionally, if you're experiencing this issue with prefixed imports (like parcel likes to use), you can change the mapper to: "prefix:(.*)": "$1" and then mock the path without the prefix if needed.
– Lerk
                Jan 25 at 13:59
For those who are building something from scratch with Webpack and Babbel.
Try the following steps:
Delete the node_modules folder and install again. (This was something that solved my issue).
Here is a link with the necessary documentation to set up Webpack which in some cases will not be necessary. Jest Docs Webpack
Here is a link to the docs that explains how to set up Jest with React (Without using Create-React-App). Jest React Docs
4. Here is an example with a simple setup with Jest. You can set this up in package.json or the Jest configuration file.
Disclaimer: This does not answer the OP question. But most people will end up here for the keywords used for this issue.
  "jest": {
"moduleFileExtensions": ["js", "jsx"],
"moduleDirectories": ["node_modules"],
"moduleNameMapper": {
  "\\.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|eot|otf|webp|svg|ttf|woff|woff2|mp4|webm|wav|mp3|m4a|aac|oga)$": "<rootDir>/__mocks__/fileMock.js",
  "\\.(css|less)$": "<rootDir>/__mocks__/styleMock.js"
Adding __esModule:true fixed this issue for me.
jest.mock('module',()=>({
  __esModule: true,                    // this makes it work
  default: jest.fn()
Hope this helps somebody. Although this is not very specific to the question.
One of the modules I wanted to use has a .cjs extension.
Adding .cjs to moduleFileExtensions in jest.config.js fixed this problem for me.
My jest.config.js as example:
module.exports = {
    moduleNameMapper: {
        // see: https://github.com/kulshekhar/ts-jest/issues/414#issuecomment-517944368
        "^@/(.*)$": "<rootDir>/src/$1",
    preset: "ts-jest/presets/default-esm",
    globals: {
        "ts-jest": {
            useESM: true,
    testEnvironment: 'jsdom',
    transform: {
        '^.+\\.vue$': 'vue3-jest',
    moduleFileExtensions: ['json', 'js', 'jsx', 'ts', 'tsx', 'vue', "cjs"],
    moduleDirectories: ["node_modules"],
This can also be caused by absolute imports present in the globalSetup file (or any files it references).
It seems like moduleNameMappers do not get applied to globalSetup files. I fixed this by just switching to relative imports for those specific files.
This Workaround:
Using "moduleNameMapper" in your jest configuration will make test-resolve work as expected:
"jest": {
  "moduleNameMapper": {
    "#(.*)": "<rootDir>/node_modules/$1"
https://gist.github.com/lydell/d62ce96c95c035811133a5396195da14
                Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.
– Community
                Mar 29, 2022 at 3:03
I had jest-expo installed, but not jest. Probably related that I'm prebuild-ejected from Expo. I had to run yarn add jest-expo jest to install jest, and updated jest-expo. Now my tests run.
Depending on your setup it might be, npm i jest-expo jest or expo install jest-expo jest. ... Got the idea from their docs https://docs.expo.dev/guides/testing-with-jest/
        Thanks for contributing an answer to Stack Overflow!
Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.