"Cannot find module 'esbuild'" error when installing `aws-nodejs-typescript` template

Are you certain it’s a bug?

• Yes, it looks like a bug

Is the issue caused by a plugin?

• It is not a plugin issue

Are you using the latest version?

• Yes, I’m using the latest version

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched existing issues, it hasn’t been reported yet

Issue description

When installing the aws-nodejs-typescript template, after running yarn sls deploy, I get the following error:

Cannot find module 'esbuild'

I simply fixed it by installing esbuild, but it hampers the dev experience.

Service configuration (serverless.yml) content

N/A

Command name and used flags

serverless deploy

Command output

N/A

Environment information

N/A

[ThomasAribart]

Yes I did use sls create but did run npm install as well 😃 I had to add esbuild to devDependencies to make the deploy work

[iaforek]

I can confirm same issue.

My environment:

  Your Environment Information ---------------------------
     Operating System:          darwin
     Node Version:              14.17.0
     Framework Version:         2.72.3 (local)
     Plugin Version:            5.5.4
     SDK Version:               4.3.2
     Components Version:        3.18.2

Steps to reproduce:

sls create -t aws-nodejs-typescript
npm install
sls deploy

GIves: Error: Cannot find module 'esbuild'

Additionally:

Note we no longer recommend sls create for new projects setup. Instead please use sls interactive setup,

Running just sls gives me following options (note no typescript in the list):

 What do you want to make? (Use arrow keys)
❯ AWS - Node.js - Starter 
  AWS - Node.js - HTTP API 
  AWS - Node.js - Scheduled Task 
  AWS - Node.js - SQS Worker 
  AWS - Node.js - Express API 
  AWS - Node.js - Express API with DynamoDB 
  AWS - Python - Starter 
  AWS - Python - HTTP API 
  AWS - Python - Scheduled Task 
  AWS - Python - SQS Worker 
  AWS - Python - Flask API 
  AWS - Python - Flask API with DynamoDB 
  Other

Interestingly, when selecting Other I get

Run “serverless create --help” to view available templates and create a new project from one of those templates.

Adding esbuild to package.json obviously fixed the issue.