Unable to write asset to disk: TypeError: chalk is not a function

[Izhaki]

• Operating System: OSX 10.12.6
• Node Version: 8.4.0
• NPM Version: 6.0.1
• webpack version: 4.8.1
• webpack-dev-middleware Version: 3.1.3

• This is a bug

This relates to #291

Code

const webpack = require('webpack');
const middleware = require('webpack-dev-middleware');
const webpackConfig = require('../build/webpack.dev');
const compiler = webpack(webpackConfig);

const app = express();

app.use(middleware(compiler, {
  publicPath: '/app/scripts_amd',
  stats: {
    cached: false,
  },
  writeToDisk: true
}));

Expected Behavior

Files being written to disk.

Actual Behavior

TypeError: chalk is not a function
✖ ｢wdm｣: Unable to write asset to disk:

How can we reproduce the behavior?

It seems you only need to install the versions described above, with the config above.

More details.

With 3.1.3:

This seems to be the result of this PR #293

/lib/fs.js:

const { chalk } = require('webpack-log');

package.json

"webpack-log": "^1.0.1"

But that version of webpack-log does not export chalk. Version 1.2.0 does.

Fix:

Upgrade webpack-log to 1.2.0.

[shellscape]

Thanks for the issue 🍺

The semver pattern ^1.0.1 matches 1.2.0 so this is probably an issue on your end. All tests pass and a fresh install (npm 6.x should respect package-lock).

[Izhaki]

Right then!

So there we have it... on a scale...

Option 1: ~45 minutes per person.

People like me, who are going to get a TypeError; have no idea how to solve it; spend time figuring out why that is; hit a few confounds; possibly hitting this issue to learn you need a fresh install despite the fact that their lock file (locked to 1.0.1) is valid.

All that time spent we could have done something better for others, whether our children or fellow developers.

Option 2: 5 minute.

You update your dependencies.

The fact that ^1.0.1 matches 1.2.0 is an argument loose as rabbit skin - your product doesn't work with 1.0.1 and you are leaving all of us in the mercy of utterly invisible logic and high-breakage potential.

---

So how is option 1 better than 2? @shellscape

[shellscape]

Yep, lockfiles can be tricky that's for sure. Fortunately you've gleaned a good deal of knowledge you can use in the future. I'm sorry you feel strongly about webpack-dev-middleware being broken and not working. Unfortunately the issue was hiding on your end.

The tone and timber in your last message has taken on a bit of a high tension direction, so I'm going to lock this one to contributors for a bit.