How do I correctly require and declare node library typings in TypeScript?

Question

I am trying to write a package for node in TypeScript that uses standard node libraries, for example fs, path, stream, http, and so on.

When I try to import libraries in a .ts file, VS Code marks the corresponding line with an error:
[ts] Cannot find module 'fs'. This happens no matter how I try to import the library:

import * as fs from 'fs';    // [ts] Cannot find module 'fs'
import fs = require('fs');   // [ts] Cannot find module 'fs'
const fs = require('fs');    // [ts] Cannot find name 'require'

I (should) have the correct definitions installed with typings install --save --ambient node.

When I compile to JavaScript (using gulp and gulp-typescript, not tsc), the compliation works and the syntax highlighting shows no errors until I type in 1 character again:

How can I correctly define the node libraries for TypeScript?

---

I use VS Code for code highlighting and autocompletion, gulp & gulp-typescript to compile and typings for the typescript library declarations.

The project's directory structure:

├─ build/
│  └─ (output files)
├─ src/
│  └─ myfile.ts
├─ typings/
│  ├─ browser/
│  │  └─ ambient/
│  │     └─ node/
│  │        └─ index.d.ts
│  ├─ main/
│  │  └─ ambient/
│  │     └─ node/
│  │        └─ index.d.ts
│  ├─ browser.d.ts
│  └─ main.d.ts
├─ gulpfile.js
├─ package.json
├─ tsconfig.json
└─ typings.json

My tsconfig.json:

{
    "compileOnSave": false,
    "compilerOptions": {
        "declaration": true,
        "module": "system",
        "moduleResolution": "node",
        "noEmitOnError": true,
        "noImplicitAny": true,
        "target": "es5"
    },
    "exclude": [
        "node_modules",
        "typings/browser",
        "typings/browser.d.ts"
    ]
}

My typings.json:

{
  "ambientDependencies": {
    "node": "registry:dt/node#4.0.0+20160412142033"
  }
}

And my gulp task:

gulp.task('build-typescript', () => {
    const gulpts = require('gulp-typescript');
    const tsProject = gulpts.createProject('tsconfig.json', {
        typescript: require('typescript'),
        outFile: 'mylibrary.js',
        noLib: true
    });

    let tsstream = (
        gulp.src([
            'node_modules/typescript/lib/lib.es6.d.ts',
            'typings/main.d.ts',
            'src/sharpscript.ts'])
        .pipe(sourcemaps.init())
        .pipe(gulpts(tsProject))
    );

    return require('merge2')(
        tsstream.dts.pipe(gulp.dest('build')),
        tsstream.js
            .pipe(sourcemaps.write('.', { includeContent: true }))
            .pipe(gulp.dest('build'))
    );
});

In case anyone has experienced the same problem, I am thankful for any insights.

Answer 1

the installation of type declarations with 'typings install ...' is obsolete since a few months. The new way is to install it directly via npm and the @types namespace. to install the node type declarations just use npm install @types/node --save-dev.