Problem with deployment on Heroku with 2 package.json files-CodePudding

I'm trying to deploy my app on Heroku, having 2 package.json files.

First is for the frontend:

{
  "name": "quiz",
  "version": "0.0.0",
  "scripts": {
    "ng": "ng",
    "start": "npm start --prefix server",
    "build": "ng build",
    "watch": "ng build --watch --configuration development",
    "test": "ng test",
    "heroku-postbuild": "npm run build --prefix server && ng build --prod"
  },
  "private": true,
  "dependencies": {
    "@angular/animations": "~12.0.2",
    "@angular/common": "~12.0.2",
    "@angular/compiler": "~12.0.2",
    "@angular/core": "~12.0.2",
    "@angular/forms": "~12.0.2",
    "@angular/platform-browser": "~12.0.2",
    "@angular/platform-browser-dynamic": "~12.0.2",
    "@angular/router": "~12.0.2",
    "rxjs": "~6.6.0",
    "tslib": "^2.1.0",
    "zone.js": "~0.11.4"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@types/express": "^4.17.13",
    "@angular-devkit/build-angular": "~12.0.2",
    "@angular/cli": "~12.0.2",
    "@angular/compiler-cli": "~12.0.2",
    "@types/jasmine": "~3.6.0",
    "@types/node": "^12.11.1",
    "jasmine-core": "~3.8.0",
    "karma": "~6.3.0",
    "karma-chrome-launcher": "~3.1.0",
    "karma-coverage": "~2.0.3",
    "karma-jasmine": "~4.0.0",
    "karma-jasmine-html-reporter": "^1.7.0",
    "typescript": "~4.2.3"
  },
  "engines": {
    "node": "16.x",
    "npm": "7.x"
  }
}

Second is for the backend:

{
  "name": "server",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "",
  "main": "dist/index",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node ./dist/server/index.js",
    "dev": "nodemon index.ts",
    "build": "tsc -p ."
  },
  "author": "",
  "license": "ISC",
  "devDependencies": {
    "@types/express": "^4.17.13",
    "@types/node": "^16.6.1",
    "nodemon": "^2.0.12",
    "ts-node": "^10.2.1",
    "typescript": "^4.3.5"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "express": "^4.17.1",
    "zone.js": "^0.11.4"
  },
  "engines": {
    "node": "16.x",
    "npm": "7.x"
  }
}

As my package.json starts first and triggers /server/package.json - first I try to build backend, using "heroku-postbuild" command in main package.json file and after that this command builds Angular app.

But after Heroku runs "start" command it shows such mistake:

Error: Cannot find module 'express'
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140193 00:00 app[web.1]: Require stack:
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140194 00:00 app[web.1]: - /app/server/dist/server/config/express.js
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140194 00:00 app[web.1]: - /app/server/dist/server/index.js
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140199 00:00 app[web.1]: at Function.Module._resolveFilename (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:933:15)
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140200 00:00 app[web.1]: at Function.Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:778:27)
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140200 00:00 app[web.1]: at Module.require (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1005:19)
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140200 00:00 app[web.1]: at require (node:internal/modules/cjs/helpers:94:18)
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140201 00:00 app[web.1]: at Object.<anonymous> (/app/server/dist/server/config/express.js:6:33)
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140201 00:00 app[web.1]: at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1101:14)
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140202 00:00 app[web.1]: at Object.Module._extensions..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1153:10)
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140202 00:00 app[web.1]: at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:981:32)
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140202 00:00 app[web.1]: at Function.Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:822:12)
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140202 00:00 app[web.1]: at Module.require (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1005:19) {
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140203 00:00 app[web.1]: code: 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND',
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140204 00:00 app[web.1]: requireStack: [
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140204 00:00 app[web.1]: '/app/server/dist/server/config/express.js',
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140204 00:00 app[web.1]: '/app/server/dist/server/index.js'
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140205 00:00 app[web.1]: ]
2021-09-18T17:16:28.140205 00:00 app[web.1]: }

When I run all those commands locally - it works.

I solved that problem by moving "express" into my main package.json file, but that's not what I'm trying to achieve. I want to have 2 separate json files so I can handle my installed modules for each backend and frontend easily.

What am I doing wrong?

CodePudding user response：

So the problem was actually that I needed to do npm install both in server and frontend folders.

Heroku has a special command 'heroku-prebuild' which helps to prepary every folder to be built after.

I created such commands:

 "heroku-prebuild": "npm install --prefix server && npm install",
 "heroku-postbuild": "npm run build --prefix server && ng build --prod"

Firstly, Heroku runs "heroku-prebuild", which installs all npm modules for both frontend and backend and, after that, it runs "heroku-postbuild", which again builds front and back using different package.json files.

After that it runs "start": "npm start --prefix server" and everything works.