refactor: replace module-alias dependency with internal alias resolver (#3893)

- removes the external unmaintained `module-alias` dependency ->
reducing complexity and risk
- introduces a small internal alias mechanism for `logger` and
`node_helper`
- preserves backward compatibility for existing 3rd‑party modules
- should simplify a future ESM migration of MagicMirror

I'm confident that it shouldn't cause any problems, but we could also
consider including it in the release after next. What do you think?

This PR is inspired by PR #2934 - so thanks to @thesebas! 🙇 😃

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,11 +7,23 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ❤️ **Donate:** Enjoying MagicMirror²? [Please consider a donation!](https://magicmirror.builders/#donate) With your help we can continue to improve the MagicMirror².
 
-## [2.33.0] - unreleased
+## [2.34.0] - unreleased
 
-planned for 2025-10-01
+planned for 2026-01-01
 
-Thanks to: @dathbe.
+### Added
+
+### Changed
+
+- [core] refactor: replace `module-alias` dependency with internal alias resolver (#3893)
+
+### Fixed
+
+### Updated
+
+## [2.33.0] - 2025-10-01
+
+Thanks to: @Crazylegstoo, @dathbe, @m-idler, @plebcity, @khassel, @KristjanESPERANTO, @rejas and @sdetweil!
 
 > ⚠️ This release needs nodejs version `v22.18.0 or higher`
 
@@ -60,7 +72,7 @@ Thanks to: @dathbe.
 - [core] Fixed socket.io timeout when server is slow to send notification, notification lost at client (#3380)
 - [tests] refactor AnimateCSS tests after jsdom 27 upgrade (#3891)
 - [weather] Use `apparent_temperature` data from openmeteo's hourly weather for current feelsLikeTemp (#3868).
-- [weather] Updated envcanada Provider to use new database/URL schema for accessing weather data (#3822).
+- [weather] Updated envcanada Provider to use new database/URL schema for accessing weather data (#3878).
 
 ## [2.32.0] - 2025-07-01
 
@@ -1826,7 +1838,8 @@ It includes (but is not limited to) the following features:
 
 This was part of the blogpost: [https://michaelteeuw.nl/post/83916869600/magic-mirror-part-vi-production-of-the](https://michaelteeuw.nl/post/83916869600/magic-mirror-part-vi-production-of-the)
 
-[2.33.0]: https://github.com/MagicMirrorOrg/MagicMirror/compare/v2.32.0...develop
+[2.34.0]: https://github.com/MagicMirrorOrg/MagicMirror/compare/v2.33.0...develop
+[2.33.0]: https://github.com/MagicMirrorOrg/MagicMirror/compare/v2.32.0...v2.33.0
 [2.32.0]: https://github.com/MagicMirrorOrg/MagicMirror/compare/v2.31.0...v2.32.0
 [2.31.0]: https://github.com/MagicMirrorOrg/MagicMirror/compare/v2.30.0...v2.31.0
 [2.30.0]: https://github.com/MagicMirrorOrg/MagicMirror/compare/v2.29.0...v2.30.0

Collaboration.md

@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ Are done by
 - [ ] @rejas
 - [ ] @sdetweil
 - [ ] @khassel
+- [ ] @KristjanESPERANTO
 
 ### Pre-Deployment steps
 

LICENSE.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # The MIT License (MIT)
 
-Copyright © 2016-2025 Michael Teeuw
+Copyright © 2016-2026 Michael Teeuw
 
 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
 obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation

cspell.config.json

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 		"browserwindow",
 		"bryanzzhu",
 		"btoconnor",
+		"bughaver",
 		"bugsounet",
 		"buxxi",
 		"byday",
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@
 		"darksky",
 		"dateheader",
 		"dateheaders",
+		"dathbe",
 		"davide",
 		"DAYAFTERTOMORROW",
 		"DAYBEFOREYESTERDAY",
@@ -175,6 +177,7 @@
 		"oraclesean",
 		"oscarb",
 		"philnagel",
+		"plebcity",
 		"Português",
 		"PRECIP",
 		"Problema",
@@ -233,6 +236,7 @@
 		"Weatherflow",
 		"weatherforecast",
 		"weathergov",
+		"weathericon",
 		"weathericons",
 		"weatherobject",
 		"weatherutils",

jest.config.js

@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+const aliasMapper = {
+	logger: "<rootDir>/js/logger.js"
+};
+
 const config = {
 	verbose: true,
 	testTimeout: 20000,
@@ -6,21 +10,21 @@ const config = {
 		{
 			displayName: "unit",
 			globalSetup: "<rootDir>/tests/unit/helpers/global-setup.js",
-			moduleNameMapper: {
-				logger: "<rootDir>/js/logger.js"
-			},
+			moduleNameMapper: aliasMapper,
 			testMatch: ["**/tests/unit/**/*.[jt]s?(x)"],
 			testPathIgnorePatterns: ["<rootDir>/tests/unit/mocks", "<rootDir>/tests/unit/helpers"]
 		},
 		{
 			displayName: "electron",
 			testMatch: ["**/tests/electron/**/*.[jt]s?(x)"],
+			moduleNameMapper: aliasMapper,
 			testPathIgnorePatterns: ["<rootDir>/tests/electron/helpers"]
 		},
 		{
 			displayName: "e2e",
 			testMatch: ["**/tests/e2e/**/*.[jt]s?(x)"],
 			modulePaths: ["<rootDir>/js/"],
+			moduleNameMapper: aliasMapper,
 			testPathIgnorePatterns: ["<rootDir>/tests/e2e/helpers", "<rootDir>/tests/e2e/mocks"]
 		}
 	],

js/alias-resolver.js

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+// Internal alias mapping for default and 3rd party modules.
+// Provides short require identifiers: "logger" and "node_helper".
+// For a future ESM migration, replace this with a public export/import surface.
+
+const path = require("node:path");
+const Module = require("module");
+
+const root = path.join(__dirname, "..");
+
+// Keep this list minimal; do not add new aliases without architectural review.
+const ALIASES = {
+	logger: "js/logger.js",
+	node_helper: "js/node_helper.js"
+};
+
+// Resolve to absolute paths now.
+const resolved = Object.fromEntries(
+	Object.entries(ALIASES).map(([k, rel]) => [k, path.join(root, rel)])
+);
+
+// Prevent multiple patching if this file is required more than once.
+if (!Module._mmAliasPatched) {
+	const origResolveFilename = Module._resolveFilename;
+	Module._resolveFilename = function (request, parent, isMain, options) {
+		if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(resolved, request)) {
+			return resolved[request];
+		}
+		return origResolveFilename.call(this, request, parent, isMain, options);
+	};
+	Module._mmAliasPatched = true; // non-enumerable marker would be overkill here
+}

js/app.js

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-// Alias modules mentioned in package.js under _moduleAliases.
-require("module-alias/register");
+// Load lightweight internal alias resolver
+require("./alias-resolver");
 
 const fs = require("node:fs");
 const path = require("node:path");

js/check_config.js

@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
+// Ensure internal require aliases (e.g., "logger") resolve when this file is run as a standalone script
+require("./alias-resolver");
+
 const path = require("node:path");
 const fs = require("node:fs");
 const { styleText } = require("node:util");
 const Ajv = require("ajv");
 const globals = require("globals");
 const { Linter } = require("eslint");
+const Log = require("logger");
 
 const rootPath = path.resolve(`${__dirname}/../`);
-const Log = require(`${rootPath}/js/logger.js`);
 const Utils = require(`${rootPath}/js/utils.js`);
 
 const linter = new Linter({ configType: "flat" });

js/utils.js

@@ -1,10 +1,7 @@
-const path = require("node:path");
-
-const rootPath = path.resolve(`${__dirname}/../`);
-const Log = require(`${rootPath}/js/logger.js`);
 const os = require("node:os");
 const fs = require("node:fs");
 const si = require("systeminformation");
+const Log = require("logger");
 
 const modulePositions = []; // will get list from index.html
 const regionRegEx = /"region ([^"]*)/i;

modules/default/calendar/debug.js

@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
  * use this script with `node debug.js` to test the fetcher without the need
  * of starting the MagicMirror² core. Adjust the values below to your desire.
  */
-// Alias modules mentioned in package.js under _moduleAliases.
-require("module-alias/register");
+// Load internal alias resolver
+require("../../../js/alias-resolver");
 const Log = require("logger");
 
 const CalendarFetcher = require("./calendarfetcher");

package-lock.json

@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
 	"name": "magicmirror",
-	"version": "2.33.0-develop",
+	"version": "2.34.0-develop",
 	"lockfileVersion": 3,
 	"requires": true,
 	"packages": {
 		"": {
 			"name": "magicmirror",
-			"version": "2.33.0-develop",
+			"version": "2.34.0-develop",
 			"hasInstallScript": true,
 			"license": "MIT",
 			"dependencies": {
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@
 				"helmet": "^8.1.0",
 				"html-to-text": "^9.0.5",
 				"iconv-lite": "^0.7.0",
-				"module-alias": "^2.2.3",
 				"moment": "^2.30.1",
 				"moment-timezone": "^0.6.0",
 				"node-ical": "^0.21.0",
@@ -10448,12 +10447,6 @@
 				"node": ">=10"
 			}
 		},
-		"node_modules/module-alias": {
-			"version": "2.2.3",
-			"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/module-alias/-/module-alias-2.2.3.tgz",
-			"integrity": "sha512-23g5BFj4zdQL/b6tor7Ji+QY4pEfNH784BMslY9Qb0UnJWRAt+lQGLYmRaM0KDBwIG23ffEBELhZDP2rhi9f/Q==",
-			"license": "MIT"
-		},
 		"node_modules/module-details-from-path": {
 			"version": "1.0.4",
 			"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/module-details-from-path/-/module-details-from-path-1.0.4.tgz",

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
 	"name": "magicmirror",
-	"version": "2.33.0-develop",
+	"version": "2.34.0-develop",
 	"description": "The open source modular smart mirror platform.",
 	"keywords": [
 		"magic mirror",
@@ -84,7 +84,6 @@
 		"helmet": "^8.1.0",
 		"html-to-text": "^9.0.5",
 		"iconv-lite": "^0.7.0",
-		"module-alias": "^2.2.3",
 		"moment": "^2.30.1",
 		"moment-timezone": "^0.6.0",
 		"node-ical": "^0.21.0",
@@ -121,9 +120,5 @@
 	},
 	"engines": {
 		"node": ">=22.18.0"
-	},
-	"_moduleAliases": {
-		"node_helper": "js/node_helper.js",
-		"logger": "js/logger.js"
 	}
 }