[email protected] - .env file breaks nestjs app build

[nhhockeyplayer]

Current Behavior

.env file when populated with the following:

TS_NODE_PROJECT=apps/admin-api

breaks build of api application constructed by Nx

Expected Behavior

build should remain unimpeded

nestjs app should be runnable and debuggable with ANY ide

GitHub Repo

https://github.com/nhhockeyplayer/meanstack

Steps to Reproduce

create-nx-workspace --typeset=angular

-- choose integrated, and normal options to sponsor full-stack scaffold

nx add @nx/nest

nx g @nx/nest:application --directory=apps/admin-api --linter=eslint --name=admin-api --e2eTestRunner=none --strict=true

-- add the following to root environment file .env

NODE_ENV=development
TS_NODE_PROJECT=apps/admin-api

-- build nestjs app

nx build admin-api

this is very quickly reproducible

hoping for fast turn around so I can have my backend @nestjs intrinsic database seeder up and running LIVE

Nx Report

meanstack02@admin 20.4.4 % nx report
Unable to find local plugin [] Map(0) {}
Unable to find local plugin [] Map(0) {}
Unable to find local plugin [] Map(0) {}

 NX   Report complete - copy this into the issue template

Node           : 22.0.0
OS             : darwin-x64
Native Target  : x86_64-macos
yarn           : 1.22.22

nx (global)            : 20.4.4
nx                     : 20.4.4
@nx/js                 : 20.4.4
@nx/jest               : 20.4.4
@nx/eslint             : 20.4.4
@nx/workspace          : 20.4.4
@nx/angular            : 20.4.4
@nx/cypress            : 20.4.4
@nx/devkit             : 20.4.4
@nx/esbuild            : 20.4.4
@nx/eslint-plugin      : 20.4.4
@nx/express            : 20.4.4
@nx/module-federation  : 20.4.4
@nx/nest               : 20.4.4
@nx/node               : 20.4.4
@nx/playwright         : 20.4.4
@nx/web                : 20.4.4
@nx/webpack            : 20.4.4
typescript             : 5.7.3
---------------------------------------
Registered Plugins:
@nx/eslint/plugin
@nx/webpack/plugin
@nx/cypress/plugin
@nx/eslint/plugin
@nx/webpack/plugin
---------------------------------------
Community plugins:
@compodoc/compodoc               : 1.1.26
@fortawesome/angular-fontawesome : 1.0.0
@ionic/angular                   : 8.4.3
@jsverse/transloco               : 7.5.1
@ngrx/component                  : 19.0.0
@ngrx/component-store            : 19.0.0
@ngrx/effects                    : 19.0.0
@ngrx/entity                     : 19.0.0
@ngrx/operators                  : 19.0.0
@ngrx/router-store               : 19.0.0
@ngrx/schematics                 : 19.0.1
@ngrx/store                      : 19.0.0
@ngrx/store-devtools             : 19.0.1
@nxext/capacitor                 : 20.1.0
@nxext/ionic-angular             : 20.0.5
angular-eslint                   : 19.1.0
apollo-angular                   : 8.0.2

Failure Logs

> nx run admin-api:build

> webpack-cli build --node-env=production

[webpack-cli] Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, lstat 'apps/admin-api'
    at Object.lstatSync (node:fs:1631:25)
    at resolveConfigPath (/Users/meanstack02/2025/20.4.4/node_modules/tsconfig-paths/lib/tsconfig-loader.js:51:31)
    at loadSyncDefault (/Users/meanstack02/2025/20.4.4/node_modules/tsconfig-paths/lib/tsconfig-loader.js:33:22)
    at tsConfigLoader (/Users/meanstack02/2025/20.4.4/node_modules/tsconfig-paths/lib/tsconfig-loader.js:27:22)
    at configLoader (/Users/meanstack02/2025/20.4.4/node_modules/tsconfig-paths/lib/config-loader.js:28:22)
    at Object.loadConfig (/Users/meanstack02/2025/20.4.4/node_modules/tsconfig-paths/lib/config-loader.js:8:12)
    at new TsconfigPathsPlugin (/Users/meanstack02/2025/20.4.4/node_modules/tsconfig-paths-webpack-plugin/lib/plugin.js:33:40)
    at NxTsconfigPathsWebpackPlugin.apply (/Users/meanstack02/2025/20.4.4/node_modules/@nx/webpack/src/plugins/nx-typescript-webpack-plugin/nx-tsconfig-paths-webpack-plugin.js:26:47)
    at createCompiler (/Users/meanstack02/2025/20.4.4/node_modules/webpack/lib/webpack.js:81:12)
    at create (/Users/meanstack02/2025/20.4.4/node_modules/webpack/lib/webpack.js:154:16) {
  errno: -2,
  code: 'ENOENT',
  syscall: 'lstat',
  path: 'apps/admin-api'
}
Warning: command "webpack-cli build --node-env=production" exited with non-zero status code
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

 NX   Running target build for project admin-api failed

Failed tasks:

- admin-api:build

Hint: run the command with --verbose for more details.


 NX   Storing terminal outputs for admin-api:build with hash 2913687780444135944

View structured, searchable error logs at https://nx.app/runs/F0ut6DE95B

Package Manager Version

npm --version 10.5.1 yarn --version 1.22.22

Operating System

• macOS
• Linux
• Windows
• Other (Please specify)

Additional Information

main purpose to rig tsconfig-paths/ts-node was to create a debugger configuration runnable from npm script RUN-DEBUG

and tsconfig-paths is breaking internally when its .env var is used to target the nestjs app

• committer MUST secure the build
• committer MUST secure full back end debugging in all IDE

[nhhockeyplayer]

closing this due to changing build generator and serve executors across releases

cannot reproduce in latest 20.4.5