INCIDENT RUNBOOK

Fix: Top Level Await Unsupported in Nuxt on AWS Lambda

Comprehensive architectural post-mortem and verified configuration patch for nuxt deployed in aws lambda production environments.

Automated Remediation ProtocolUpdated for 2026 Production

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● Observed Terminal Error / Stack Trace

Error [ERR_SYNTAX]: await is only valid in async functions and the top level of modules.
    at file:///var/task/node_modules/nuxt/dist/nuxt.js:1:1
    at ModuleJob.run (node:internal/modules/esm/module_job:81:37)
    at async ESMLoader.import (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:531:26)
    at async loadESM (node:internal/process/esm_loader:81:5)
    at async handleMainPromise (node:internal/process/esm_loader:60:12)

Root Cause Analysis

The error occurs due to a runtime incompatibility between Nuxt and AWS Lambda. Nuxt uses top-level await, which is not supported by the Node.js runtime used by AWS Lambda. This incompatibility arises from the fact that top-level await is a feature of ECMAScript modules (ESM), which are not enabled by default in the Node.js runtime used by AWS Lambda. As a result, when Nuxt attempts to use top-level await, it encounters an error because the runtime does not support this feature.

● Configuration & Code Resolution

To fix the issue, update the `package.json` file to include the `type` field set to `module`, and modify the `nuxt.config.js` file to use CommonJS syntax instead of ES modules. Here is the diff:
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
  "name": "my-nuxt-app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "type": "module",
+  "main": "nuxt.js",
--- a/nuxt.config.js
+++ b/nuxt.config.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-module.exports = {
+const { defineNuxtConfig } = require('nuxt/compat');
  // ... rest of the configuration ...

Verification & Build Command

Run `npm run build` and `npm run start` to verify that the application builds and starts without errors. Then, deploy the application to AWS Lambda and test it using a tool like `aws lambda invoke` to verify that the issue is resolved.