# Travis CI build failing after dependency updates for my website project **URL:** \ **Category:** Travis CI Discussions & Feedback\ **Created:** [October 31, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://travis-ci.community/t/travis-ci-build-failing-after-dependency-updates-for-my-website-project/14789 "2025-10-31T15:30:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![joedeen4](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/travis-ci.community/joedeen4/32/9160_2.png) [@joedeen4](https://travis-ci.community/u/joedeen4)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://travis-ci.community/t/travis-ci-build-failing-after-dependency-updates-for-my-website-project/14789/1 "2025-10-31T15:30:59Z")
Hi everyone, I maintain a small content-based website that focuses on restaurant reviews, menus, and deals — particularly for chains like Texas Roadhouse. The website is built using a static site generator and deployed automatically through Travis CI to my hosting server. Everything had been working smoothly for months, but recently, my Travis builds started failing out of nowhere right after I updated a few dependencies. I can’t figure out what’s causing it, since the same code builds fine locally on my machine. The project uses Node.js (v20) for generating the static site, with a few npm packages for templating and minification. Travis runs a standard `.travis.yml` config that installs dependencies, runs a `build` script, and then deploys the output folder to the server via SSH. After updating packages like `gulp`, `sass`, and `html-minifier`, my builds began failing at the “Build script” step with the error: `Error: Cannot find module ‘node:fs/promises’` This doesn’t make sense because my local environment handles the same modules perfectly fine. I even tried downgrading Node in Travis to v18 and v16, but then the build started failing due to incompatible dependencies. I’ve double-checked the `.travis.yml` setup, and it looks like this: ```auto language: node_js node_js: “20” cache: directories: node_modules script: npm install npm run build deploy: provider: script script: bash deploy.sh on: branch: main ``` Even after clearing the Travis cache multiple times, the same build error persists. I also tried adding `nvm install 20` in the `before_install` step to ensure a clean environment, but it didn’t help. Another issue I’ve noticed is that Travis seems to be using an outdated Linux image for my builds (`bionic`), and I wonder if that could be part of the problem. The logs show a few deprecation warnings related to Node’s built-in modules. I tried setting `dist: focal` and `dist: jammy`, but the builds either failed earlier or produced missing dependency errors. Maybe I need to upgrade the Travis environment entirely, but I’m not sure what the best practice is for Node-based sites now. Has anyone else encountered similar Node module resolution issues on Travis after updating dependencies? Should I be switching to the `npm ci` command or adjusting my build scripts to handle newer Node features differently? Any advice on keeping Travis builds stable across environment updates would be greatly appreciated — my restaurant website depends on automated builds for daily content updates, and right now I’m stuck manually deploying every change. ---
**Author:** ![joedeen4](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/travis-ci.community/joedeen4/32/9160_2.png) [@joedeen4](https://travis-ci.community/u/joedeen4)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2025, 2:54pm UTC](https://travis-ci.community/t/travis-ci-build-failing-after-dependency-updates-for-my-website-project/14789/2 "2025-11-03T14:54:15Z")
> [@joedeen4](#): > > I maintain a small content-based website that focuses on restaurant reviews, menus, and deals — particularly for chains like Texas Roadhouse. The website is built using a static site generator and deployed automatically through Travis CI to my hosting server. Everything had been working smoothly for months, but recently, my Travis builds started failing out of nowhere right after I updated a few dependencies. I can’t figure out what’s causing it, since the same code builds fine locally on my machine. > > The project uses Node.js (v20) for generating the static site, with a few npm packages for templating and minification. Travis runs a standard `.travis.yml` config that installs dependencies, runs a `build` script, and then deploys the output folder to the server via SSH. After updating packages like `gulp`, `sass`, and `html-minifier`, my builds began failing at the “Build script” step with the error: > > `Error: Cannot find module ‘node:fs/promises’` > > This doesn’t make sense because my local environment handles the same modules perfectly fine. I even tried downgrading Node in Travis to v18 and v16, but then the build started failing due to incompatible dependencies. Even after clearing the Travis cache multiple times, the same build error persists. I also tried adding nvm install 20 in the before\_install step to ensure a clean environment, but it didn’t help. You can visit [this website](https://thetexasroadhousemenu.com/). > > I’ve double-checked the `.travis.yml` setup, and it looks like this: > > ```auto > language: node_js > node_js: > > “20” > cache: > directories: > > node_modules > script: > > npm install > > npm run build > deploy: > provider: script > script: bash deploy.sh > on: > branch: main > > ``` > > Even after clearing the Travis cache multiple times, the same build error persists. I also tried adding `nvm install 20` in the `before_install` step to ensure a clean environment, but it didn’t help. > > Another issue I’ve noticed is that Travis seems to be using an outdated Linux image for my builds (`bionic`), and I wonder if that could be part of the problem. The logs show a few deprecation warnings related to Node’s built-in modules. I tried setting `dist: focal` and `dist: jammy`, but the builds either failed earlier or produced missing dependency errors. Maybe I need to upgrade the Travis environment entirely, but I’m not sure what the best practice is for Node-based sites now. > > Has anyone else encountered similar Node module resolution issues on Travis after updating dependencies? Should I be switching to the `npm ci` command or adjusting my build scripts to handle newer Node features differently? Any advice on keeping Travis builds stable across environment updates would be greatly appreciated — my restaurant website depends on automated builds for daily content updates, and right now I’m stuck manually deploying every change Is there anyone who can help me? ---
**Author:** ![Montana](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/travis-ci.community/montana/32/9566_2.png) [@Montana](https://travis-ci.community/u/Montana)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 5:33pm UTC](https://travis-ci.community/t/travis-ci-build-failing-after-dependency-updates-for-my-website-project/14789/3 "2025-11-06T17:33:09Z")
Hey @joedeen4, From reading the build logs, the `node:` protocol prefix for built-in modules (like `node:fs/promises` instead of just `fs/promises`) was introduced in Node.js v14.18.0 and v16.0.0, but it became more widely used and sometimes _required_ by newer npm packages. One of your updated dependencies (`gulp`, `sass`, or `html-minifier`, or one of _their_ dependencies) is now using this syntax. The problem is that while Node 20 supports this perfectly, Travis CI’s build environment might have issues with how modules are resolved. Try this `.travis.yml` and make sure `dist: jammy` is at the top: ```auto dist: jammy language: node_js node_js: - "20" cache: npm: true before_install: - node --version - npm --version install: - npm ci script: - npm run build deploy: provider: script script: bash deploy.sh skip_cleanup: true on: branch: main ``` I hope this helps. Michael “Montana” Mendy.