refactor: replace module-alias dependency with internal alias resolver

Author: KristjanESPERANTO

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ planned for 2026-01-01
 
 ### Changed
 
+- [core] refactor: replace `module-alias` dependency with internal alias resolver (#3893)
+
 ### Fixed
 
 ### Updated

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/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

@@ -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"
 	}
 }