can't import jsonwebtoken in modern typescript esm app

we can’t properly import this library in a modern typescript project. here’s the problem:

• import * as jwt from "jsonwebtoken"
  • export default contains what i need, sign, verify, etc
  • however, the types won’t let me have it
• @types/jsonwebtoken
  • does not have any definition for a default export

as you can see there’s an incompatibility between what can actually be imported at runtime, versus what the @types typings allow us to import. on one hand, this could be seen as a deficiency in the community @types typings

on the other hand, a fundamental fix for this problem would be:

• upgrade jsonwebtoken for first-class esm support
• maintain official typings

related issue #655

in the meantime, here’s the hack i used to circumvent this problem

1. create a shim module badmodules/jsonwebtoken.ts

   import * as _jsonwebtoken from "jsonwebtoken"
   const jsonwebtoken = <any>_jsonwebtoken
   
   import {
     sign as signType,
     verify as verifyType,
     SignOptions,
     VerifyOptions,
     Algorithm,
   } from "jsonwebtoken"
   
   const sign: typeof signType = jsonwebtoken.default.sign
   const verify: typeof verifyType = jsonwebtoken.default.verify
   
   export {
     sign,
     verify,
     Algorithm,
     SignOptions,
     VerifyOptions,
   }
   

2. import the shim module instead

   import {sign, verify, SignOptions, VerifyOptions, Algorithm}
     from "./badmodules/jsonwebtoken.js"