TypeScript typings give me "index.d.ts is not a module"

Question

I am getting File node_modules/@types/webrtc/index.d.ts is not a module with this code:

import * as webrtc from "webrtc"; const peerConnection1 = new RTCPeerConnection(); 

I have installed the typings using npm i @types/webrtc --save-dev. Hovering over RTCPeerConnection in const peerConnection1 = new RTCPeerConnection(); display type annotations in Visual Studio Code so at least the code editor sees the types. Running tsc (or webpack with ts-loader) fails with the error.

I have tried npm i webrtc --save in a misguided attempt for solving this, but it did not change anything and I really only want the typings anyway, WebRTC is right there in the browser, I don't need a package for that. (Support aside.)

The index.d.ts file indeed is not a module, it just references two other files with interfaces in them. So I thought to remove import * as webrtc from "webrtc"; hoping the typings will still be visible by tsc somehow. (But that's impossible since I exclude node_modules in TypeScript config file.) When I do that RTCPeerConnection is no longer recognized.

Adding /// <reference src="node_modules/@types/webrtc/" /> did not help, tsc says Invalid reference directive syntax.

You can view a repository with minimal repro here on GitLab. I am not too well versed in TypeScript typings acquisition so please forgive my ignorance if I'm going about this all wrong.

Answer 1

webrtc is part of the browser; you're trying to import a module. Simply import the (typings) library:

import "webrtc"; 

you may need to use "moduleResolution": "node" in the compiler options.

Alternatively use the "types": ["webrtc"] compiler option and the compiler will automatically load those types up for you.