[vite] Internal server error: Unexpected string Plugin: vite:css

[mariusa]

Describe the bug

I get the same error by simply closing any of these 2 projects, run npm install and npm run dev:
https://github.com/martinussuherman/vue-template
https://github.com/matt-auckland/vite-vue2-starter

[vite] Internal server error: Unexpected string
  Plugin: vite:css
  File: /home/marius/work/vue-template/src/App.vue?vue&type=style&index=0&lang.scss
      at wrapSafe (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:979:16)
      at Module._compile (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:1027:27)
      at Object.Module._extensions..js (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:1092:10)
      at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:928:32)
      at Function.Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:769:14)
      at Module.require (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:952:19)
      at require (internal/modules/cjs/helpers.js:88:18)
      at importFresh (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:5931:47)
      at loadJs (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:15294:18)
      at Explorer.loadFileContent (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:15777:32)
      at Explorer.createCosmiconfigResult (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:15782:36)
      at Explorer.loadSearchPlace (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:15763:31)
      at async Explorer.searchDirectory (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:15748:27)
      at async run (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:15728:22)
      at async cacheWrapper (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:15580:18)
      at async cacheWrapper (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:15580:18)

Once I managed to get the error when removing depency @vue/cli-service (#2757). Adding it to those 2 projects doesn't get rid of the error though.

Reproduction

https://github.com/martinussuherman/vue-template

There must be something wrong with my setup, since these 2 projects work for others.
But vite doesn't make it clearer what that is.

System Info

vite 2.1.4

Output of npx envinfo --system --npmPackages vite,@vitejs/plugin-vue --binaries --browsers:

  System:
    OS: Linux 5.11 Fedora 34 (Workstation Edition Prerelease) 34 (Workstation Edition Prerelease)
    CPU: (8) x64 AMD Ryzen 7 4700U with Radeon Graphics
    Memory: 6.86 GB / 15.07 GB
    Container: Yes
    Shell: 5.1.0 - /bin/bash
  Binaries:
    Node: 14.15.4 - /usr/bin/node
    Yarn: 1.22.10 - /usr/local/bin/yarn
    npm: 6.14.10 - /usr/bin/npm
  Browsers:
    Chrome: 89.0.4389.90
    Firefox: 86.0
  npmPackages:
    vite: ^2.0.2 => 2.1.4 

Used package manager:
npm

I also have these installed

npm i -g @babel/core  @babel/eslint-parser cross-env eslint eslint-plugin-vue eslint-plugin-html foreman jsonpp nodemon serve @vue/cli webpack webpack-cli

Logs

[vite] Internal server error: Unexpected string
  Plugin: vite:css
  File: /home/marius/work/vue-template/src/App.vue?vue&type=style&index=0&lang.scss
      at wrapSafe (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:979:16)
      at Module._compile (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:1027:27)
      at Object.Module._extensions..js (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:1092:10)
      at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:928:32)
      at Function.Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:769:14)
      at Module.require (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:952:19)
      at require (internal/modules/cjs/helpers.js:88:18)
      at importFresh (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:5931:47)
      at loadJs (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:15294:18)
      at Explorer.loadFileContent (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:15777:32)
      at Explorer.createCosmiconfigResult (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:15782:36)
      at Explorer.loadSearchPlace (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:15763:31)
      at async Explorer.searchDirectory (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:15748:27)
      at async run (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:15728:22)
      at async cacheWrapper (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:15580:18)
      at async cacheWrapper (/home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/vite/dist/node/chunks/dep-6e02b235.js:15580:18)
  vite:time 61ms  /src/App.vue?vue&type=style&index=0&lang.scss +44ms
  vite:load 1ms   [fs] /src/views/Home.vue +48ms
  vite:resolve 0ms   vue-property-decorator -> /home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/.vite/vue-property-decorator.js?v=8019293c +164ms
  vite:resolve 0ms   /node_modules/.vite/vue-property-decorator.js?v=8019293c -> /home/marius/work/vue-template/node_modules/.vite/vue-property-decorator.js?v=8019293c +0ms
  vite:resolve 0ms   /src/views/Home.vue?vue&type=template&lang.js -> /home/marius/work/vue-template/src/views/Home.vue?vue&type=template&lang.js +1ms
  vite:hmr [self-accepts] src/views/Home.vue +202ms
  vite:transform 19ms  /src/views/Home.vue +66ms
  vite:time 21ms  /src/views/Home.vue +22ms
  vite:time 7ms   /favicon.ico +71ms

---

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[sodatea]

So the error trace shows that it's raised by comiconfig, which is in turn depended by postcss-load-config.

Please check your PostCSS config file in the upper-level directories of your cloned project.

[sodatea]

On the other side, though the vite:css error message helped me narrow down the problem, I think there's still room for improvement by catching config loading errors.

Contributions are welcome.

[mariusa]

Thank you! There was indeed a PostCSS config file in the upper-level directories -- removing that solved the error.
Per your last comment, I'll leave this issue open.

[github-actions]

Hello @mariusa. We like your proposal/feedback and would appreciate a contribution via a Pull Request by you or another community member. We thank you in advance for your contribution and are looking forward to reviewing it!