Improving the log message of "Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'split')"

[mklueh]

Description

I'm again running into this issue after almost two years #13749

 NX   Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'split')

TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'split')
    at C:\Users\MyPc\Workspace\my-project\node_modules\nx\src\project-graph\utils\project-configuration-utils.js:256:58
    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:95:5)
    at async Promise.all (index 0)
    at async processFilesAndCreateAndSerializeProjectGraph (C:\Users\MyPc\Workspace\my-project\node_modules\nx\src\daemon\server\project-graph-incremental-recomputation.js:160:43)
    at async getCachedSerializedProjectGraphPromise (C:\Users\MyPc\Workspace\my-project\node_modules\nx\src\daemon\server\project-graph-incremental-recomputation.js:52:24)
    at async handleRequestProjectGraph (C:\Users\MyPc\Workspace\my-project\node_modules\nx\src\daemon\server\handle-request-project-graph.js:12:24)
    at async handleResult (C:\Users\MyPc\Workspace\my-project\node_modules\nx\src\daemon\server\server.js:172:16)
    at async handleMessage (C:\Users\MyPc\Workspace\my-project\node_modules\nx\src\daemon\server\server.js:107:9)
    at async C:\Users\MyPc\Workspace\my-project\node_modules\nx\src\daemon\server\server.js:72:9

I'm yet again stuck with no clear hints, and obviously its something different this time, and obviously nothing has changed regarding the clearness of the log message.

Motivation

If you search for this error in the issues, you'll find dozens of similar issues, and several with no answers.

I kindly like to ask if it would be possible, to implement a better log message so people can actually help themselves, which would at least include:

• affected plugins
• the affected file(s)
• the affected config type
• the affected config object (if possible)
• the affected line
• possibly a hint on how to solve it

Thanks in advance.

Edit

It turns out one of the root cause was eslint.config.js in one of my components

An error occurred while processing files for the @nx/eslint/plugin plugin.
  - components/node/crm/eslint.config.js: require is not defined in ES module scope, you can use import instead
This file is being treated as an ES module because it has a '.js' file extension and 'C:\Users\MyPC\Workspace\my-project\components\node\crm\package.json' contains "type": "module". To treat it as a CommonJS script, rename it to use the '.cjs' file extension.
    ReferenceError: require is not defined in ES module scope, you can use import instead
    This file is being treated as an ES module because it has a '.js' file extension and 'C:\Users\MyPC\Workspace\my-project\components\node\crm\package.json' contains "type": "module". To treat it as a CommonJS script, rename it to use the '.cjs' file extension.
        at file:///C:/Users/MyPC/Workspace/my-project/components/node/crm/eslint.config.js?mtime=1714306096744:1:24
        at ModuleJob.run (node:internal/modules/esm/module_job:222:25)
        at async ModuleLoader.import (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:323:24)
        at async loadFlatConfigFile (C:\Users\MyPC\Workspace\my-project\node_modules\eslint\lib\eslint\eslint.js:390:21)
        at async calculateConfigArray (C:\Users\MyPC\Workspace\my-project\node_modules\eslint\lib\eslint\eslint.js:473:28)
        at async ESLint.calculateConfigForFile (C:\Users\MyPC\Workspace\my-project\node_modules\eslint\lib\eslint\eslint.js:1274:25)
        at async ESLint.isPathIgnored (C:\Users\MyPC\Workspace\my-project\node_modules\eslint\lib\eslint\eslint.js:1298:24)
        at async C:\Users\MyPC\Workspace\my-project\node_modules\@nx\eslint\src\plugins\plugin.js:123:19
        at async Promise.all (index 0)
        at async internalCreateNodesV2 (C:\Users\MyPC\Workspace\my-project\node_modules\@nx\eslint\src\plugins\plugin.js:106:5)

For some reason, the actual error message was suppressed and only appeared after excluding one project after another with .nxignore

In another project, it was caused by

while in other projects this property does not cause any issues

However, after removing it AND adding it again it suddenly worked - so likely something is flaky here.
Oh and btw I ran yarn nx reset dozens of times.

For another module I still haven't figured it out yet, as this module has no related changes.

So overall, its pretty hard to work with that kind of error message and I'd highly appreciate any improvements

Edit 2:

"type": "module",

seems to be the main culprit, but only for two modules. The other modules flawlessly work with that property in place