@react-pdf/font started to depend on pdfkit@0.20.1 and triggers a TypeError: Invalid URL #3532

Activity

1. Lucas-C

   changed the title [-]@react-pdf/font started to depend on pdfkit@0.20.1 and triggers a TypeError: Invalid URL for our use case[/-] [+]@react-pdf/font started to depend on pdfkit@0.20.1 and triggers a TypeError: Invalid URL[/+] on Aug 26, 2026
2. alainrk commented on Sep 10, 2026

   

   alainrk

   on Sep 10, 2026

   More actions

   We hit the same error after upgrading @react-pdf/renderer from 4.3.2 to 4.5.1.
   The failure is still there with the current pdfkit master (0.20.2), so newer renderer versions are affected too.

   Here is a minimal reproduction and some details that may help.

   Reproduction

   Two lines of code, bundled with esbuild for Node (CommonJS output, which is the default when format is not set):

   // entry.js
   import { renderToBuffer } from '@react-pdf/renderer';
   console.log('module loaded', typeof renderToBuffer);

   esbuild entry.js --bundle --platform=node --outfile=out.js
   node out.js

   Result: the bundle throws at module load, before any document is rendered.

   TypeError: Invalid URL
       at new URL (node:internal/url:828:25)
       at Object.<anonymous> (out.js:...)
   

   Versions: Node 24.13, esbuild 0.28.0 (also reproduced with 0.27.2), @react-pdf/renderer 4.5.1, @react-pdf/font 4.1.2, pdfkit 0.20.1.

   What happens

   @react-pdf/font imports pdfkit. Since pdfkit 0.20, the package resolves the import condition for Node to js/pdfkit.node.mjs. That file uses import.meta.url at the top level:

   // pdfkit/lib/mixins/pdfa.js
   export const ICC_PROFILE_PATH = new URL('./data/sRGB_IEC61966_2_1.icc', import.meta.url).href;

   When esbuild produces a CommonJS bundle, import.meta is replaced with an empty object, so the base URL is undefined and new URL() throws.

   There is a second top-level use in the same file, so fixing the ICC line alone is not enough. If the URL line is patched, the bundle then fails on:

   // pdfkit/lib/document.node.js
   const require$1 = createRequire(import.meta.url);

   TypeError [ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE]: The argument 'filename' must be a file URL object, file URL string, or absolute path string. Received undefined
   

   This is why the error shows up on the first request in AWS Lambda and similar setups, where the code is usually bundled to CommonJS with esbuild or webpack. @react-pdf/renderer 4.3.x did not have this problem because @react-pdf/font used the @react-pdf/pdfkit fork, which did not rely on import.meta.

   Possible directions

   • In pdfkit: compute ICC_PROFILE_PATH lazily inside _addColorOutputIntent (it is only needed for PDF/A output), and fall back to the ambient require when import.meta.url is undefined, instead of calling createRequire at module load. Both changes are small and keep the ESM build working as it is today.
   • In @react-pdf/font: import the CommonJS entry of pdfkit (pdfkit/js/pdfkit.js) or document that consumers must bundle as ESM.

   Workarounds we found for now: pin @react-pdf/renderer to 4.3.2, or bundle with --format=esm.

   Happy to open a PR on the pdfkit side if that approach is acceptable.

   👍React with 👍1Reacted by Lucas Cimon

   🚀React with 🚀1Reacted by Alessio Franceschi
3. wangzuo commented on Oct 16, 2026

   

   wangzuo

   on Oct 16, 2026

   More actions

   better to pin @react-pdf/font with 4.0