ReferenceError: Cannot access 'isBrowser' before initialization

[clacladev]

What is the current behavior?

I am trying to use the JS sdk in a Next.js 15 App Router api route. So executed on the server.

I am instantiating Deepgram as per instructions here with

const deepgram = createClient(process.env.DEEPGRAM_API_KEY);

but I get the following error:

⨯ ReferenceError: Cannot access 'isBrowser' before initialization
    at Module.isBrowser
    ...
  page: '/api/audio/text-to-speech'
}
 POST /api/audio/text-to-speech 500 in 50ms

Steps to reproduce

• Create a Next.js 15 App router codebase
• create an api route
• in the same file add const deepgram = createClient(process.env.DEEPGRAM_API_KEY);
• call the route
• error will be thrown in the app console

Expected behavior

To just be able to use the sdk in an api route

Please tell us about your environment

We want to make sure the problem isn't specific to your operating system or programming language.

• Operating System/Version: macOS
• Language: TypeScript
• Browser: Chrome
• Next.js: 15.0.1
• @deepgram/sdk: 3.9.0

Other information

This is the stack trace:

⨯ ReferenceError: Cannot access 'isBrowser' before initialization
    at Module.isBrowser (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/node_modules_@deepgram_sdk_dist_module_6533bc._.js:147:23)
    at [project]/node_modules/@deepgram/sdk/dist/module/lib/constants.js [app-route] (ecmascript) (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/node_modules_@deepgram_sdk_dist_module_6533bc._.js:99:211)
    at instantiateModule (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:589:23)
    at getOrInstantiateModuleFromParent (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:644:12)
    at esmImport (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:132:20)
    at [project]/node_modules/@deepgram/sdk/dist/module/lib/helpers.js [app-route] (ecmascript) (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/node_modules_@deepgram_sdk_dist_module_6533bc._.js:160:177)
    at instantiateModule (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:589:23)
    at getOrInstantiateModuleFromParent (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:644:12)
    at esmImport (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:132:20)
    at [project]/node_modules/@deepgram/sdk/dist/module/packages/ListenRestClient.js [app-route] (ecmascript) (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/node_modules_@deepgram_sdk_dist_module_6533bc._.js:676:175)
    at instantiateModule (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:589:23)
    at getOrInstantiateModuleFromParent (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:644:12)
    at esmImport (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:132:20)
    at [project]/node_modules/@deepgram/sdk/dist/module/packages/ListenClient.js [app-route] (ecmascript) (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/node_modules_@deepgram_sdk_dist_module_6533bc._.js:1269:189)
    at instantiateModule (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:589:23)
    at getOrInstantiateModuleFromParent (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:644:12)
    at esmImport (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:132:20)
    at [project]/node_modules/@deepgram/sdk/dist/module/DeepgramClient.js [app-route] (ecmascript) (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/node_modules_@deepgram_sdk_dist_module_6533bc._.js:2909:185)
    at instantiateModule (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:589:23)
    at getOrInstantiateModuleFromParent (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:644:12)
    at esmImport (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:132:20)
    at [project]/node_modules/@deepgram/sdk/dist/module/index.js [app-route] (ecmascript) <locals> (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/node_modules_@deepgram_sdk_dist_module_6533bc._.js:3030:175)
    at instantiateModule (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:589:23)
    at getOrInstantiateModuleFromParent (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:644:12)
    at esmImport (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:132:20)
    at [project]/libs/deepgram/speech.ts [app-route] (ecmascript) (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[root of the server]__c97bc6._.js:107:182)
    at instantiateModule (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:589:23)
    at getOrInstantiateModuleFromParent (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:644:12)
    at esmImport (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:132:20)
    at [project]/app/api/audio/text-to-speech/route.ts [app-route] (ecmascript) (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[root of the server]__c97bc6._.js:490:132)
    at instantiateModule (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:589:23)
    at getOrInstantiateModuleFromParent (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:644:12)
    at esmImport (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:132:20)
    at [project]/node_modules/next/dist/esm/build/templates/app-route.js { INNER_APP_ROUTE => "[project]/app/api/audio/text-to-speech/route.ts [app-route] (ecmascript)" } [app-route] (ecmascript) (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/_5829b8._.js:47:158)
    at instantiateModule (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:589:23)
    at instantiateRuntimeModule (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:652:12)
    at Object.getOrInstantiateRuntimeModule (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/chunks/[turbopack]_runtime.js:668:12)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/.next/server/app/api/audio/text-to-speech/route.js:13:26)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1469:14)
    at Module._extensions..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1548:10)
    at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1288:32)
    at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1104:12)
    at Module.require (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1311:19)
    at mod.require (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/node_modules/next/dist/server/require-hook.js:65:28)
    at require (node:internal/modules/helpers:179:18)
    at requirePage (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/node_modules/next/dist/server/require.js:103:84)
    at loadComponentsImpl (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/node_modules/next/dist/server/load-components.js:99:57)
    at async DevServer.findPageComponentsImpl (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/node_modules/next/dist/server/next-server.js:732:36)
    at async DevServer.findPageComponents (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/node_modules/next/dist/server/dev/next-dev-server.js:611:20)
    at async DevServer.renderPageComponent (/Users/claudio/Dev/web/cuecard/node_modules/next/dist/server/base-server.js:2279:24) {
  page: '/api/audio/text-to-speech'
}
 POST /api/audio/text-to-speech 500 in 50ms

[VGraupera]

Having the same issue using Next 15.1.2

[lukeocodes]

The SDK remains untested and (it looks) incompatible with some new features of Next.js 15. For now, you can downgrade to Next.js 14, or you can connect to Deepgram via a pages/api express-like proxy instead of using the SDK in Next.js specifically

[VGraupera]

thanks, how do you "connect to Deepgram via a pages/api express-like proxy instead of using the SDK in Next.js specifically" ? is there an example of that?

[nicolello-dev]

Following this. I have, for now, delegated the work to a Python lambda and called the lambda within my Next API route. Alternatively, one may call the backend API directly (cURL). I believe it is also related to webpack, see webpack/webpack#12724.

To confirm, could you share your Next config file and tsconfig files?

I'm also experiencing the same issue, here are mine:

// next.config.js
/** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
const nextConfig = {
  reactStrictMode: true,
  eslint: {
    ignoreDuringBuilds: true,
  },
  typescript: {
    ignoreBuildErrors: true,
  },
  images: {
    remotePatterns: [
      {
        hostname: "https://s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com",
      },
      {
        hostname: "localhost",
      },
    ],
  },
};

const withPWA = require("next-pwa")({
  dest: "/public",
  scope: "/src/app",
  disable: process.env.VERCEL_ENV == "development",
  register: true,
  skipWaiting: true,
});

module.exports = withPWA(nextConfig);

And

// tsconfig.json
{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "es6",
    "lib": ["dom", "dom.iterable", "esnext"],
    "allowJs": true,
    "skipLibCheck": true,
    "strict": true,
    "noEmit": true,
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "module": "esnext",
    "moduleResolution": "bundler",
    "resolveJsonModule": true,
    "isolatedModules": true,
    "jsx": "preserve",
    "incremental": true,
    "plugins": [
      {
        "name": "next"
      }
    ],
    "paths": {
      "@/*": ["./src/*"]
    }
  },
  "include": ["next-env.d.ts", "**/*.ts", "**/*.tsx", ".next/types/**/*.ts"],
  "exclude": ["node_modules"]
}

[Pablo4Coding]

Any updates on this?

[malakhov-dmitrii]

Any updates on this?

As they replied in related issue, current SDK is not compatible with Next.js 15 and offer to downgrade