ReferenceError: Cannot access 'private_env' before initialization when importing `$env/dynamic/private`

[DarthGigi]

Describe the bug

As of @sveltejs/kit 2.43.7, accessing the env object from $env/dynamic/private seems to cause a ReferenceError: Cannot access 'private_env' before initialization during the build process's analysis phase.

Downgrading to 2.43.6 fixes this.

I believe this is because of #14571

The error occurs in this file:
src/lib/server/db/index.ts:

import { env } from "$env/dynamic/private";
import { drizzle } from "drizzle-orm/postgres-js";
import postgres from "postgres";
import * as schema from "./schema";

const { DATABASE_URL } = env;

const client = postgres(DATABASE_URL);

export const db = drizzle(client, { schema });
export type DB = typeof db;

Error trace:

node:internal/event_target:1101
  process.nextTick(() => { throw err; });
                           ^
ReferenceError [Error]: Cannot access 'private_env' before initialization
    at file:///website/.svelte-kit/output/server/chunks/chunk-2.js:5:26
    at ModuleJob.run (node:internal/modules/esm/module_job:345:25)
    at async onImport.tracePromise.__proto__ (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:665:26)
    at async analyse (file:///website/node_modules/.pnpm/@sveltejs+kit@2.43.7_@sveltejs+vite-plugin-svelte@6.2.1_svelte@5.39.8_vite@7.1.8_@types_7425f1e03e58a0dfb323af8897124f46/node_modules/@sveltejs/kit/src/core/postbuild/analyse.js:51:19)
    at async MessagePort.<anonymous> (file:////website/node_modules/.pnpm/@sveltejs+kit@2.43.7_@sveltejs+vite-plugin-svelte@6.2.1_svelte@5.39.8_vite@7.1.8_@types_7425f1e03e58a0dfb323af8897124f46/node_modules/@sveltejs/kit/src/utils/fork.js:23:16)

Reproduction

https://github.com/DarthGigi/sveltekit-mvce-env-vars

Please note that the exact error is hard to reproduce as I believe it's a chunking issue as stated above.

Wether you get Error: DATABASE_URL is not set or the private_env error, both are the cause of the same problem.

Logs

System Info

System:
    OS: macOS 26.0.1
    CPU: (14) arm64 Apple M4 Pro
    Memory: 1.33 GB / 48.00 GB
    Shell: 5.9 - /bin/zsh
  Binaries:
    Node: 22.20.0 - /opt/homebrew/opt/node@22/bin/node
    npm: 10.9.3 - /opt/homebrew/opt/node@22/bin/npm
    pnpm: 10.17.1 - ~/Library/pnpm/pnpm
    bun: 1.2.23 - /opt/homebrew/bin/bun
  Browsers:
    Brave Browser: 141.1.83.108
    Chrome: 141.0.7390.55
    Safari: 26.0.1
  npmPackages:
    @sveltejs/adapter-node: ^5.3.3 => 5.3.3 
    @sveltejs/enhanced-img: ^0.8.3 => 0.8.3 
    @sveltejs/kit: ^2.43.7 => 2.43.7 
    @sveltejs/vite-plugin-svelte: ^6.2.1 => 6.2.1 
    svelte: ^5.39.8 => 5.39.8 
    vite: ^7.1.8 => 7.1.8

Severity

blocking an upgrade

Additional Information

No response

[AndreasHald]

I think we're experiencing this issue as well and we're also using drizzle. If we upgrade sveltejs/kit to latest we get

node:internal/event_target:1101
  process.nextTick(() => { throw err; });
                           ^
ReferenceError [Error]: Cannot access 'customColumnSchema' before initialization
    at file:///Users/hald/Documents/edy2/eddystone/.svelte-kit/output/server/chunks/chunk-2.js:150:26
    at ModuleJob.run (node:internal/modules/esm/module_job:271:25)
    at async onImport.tracePromise.__proto__ (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:547:26)
    at async analyse (file:///Users/hald/Documents/edy2/eddystone/node_modules/@sveltejs/kit/src/core/postbuild/analyse.js:51:19)
    at async MessagePort.<anonymous> (file:///Users/hald/Documents/edy2/eddystone/node_modules/@sveltejs/kit/src/utils/fork.js:23:16)

It's very tricky to track down exactly what causes it to break, if I inspect the chunk remove the utilisation of the schema in that file I can get the build to proceed past this point, but it then just breaks in a subsequent place. I can't really tell what's causing these specific issues.

At a very high level what we are doing is

// some-query.ts
export const columns  = {
   name: {
      cell: () => SomeSvelteCellComponent,
      ....
   },
   age: {
      cell: () => SomeSvelteCellComponent,
      ...
   }
};

export const schema = inferSchemaFromColumns(columns) // constructs a zod schema from the object

// some-query.remote.ts
import { schema } from './some-query.ts'
export const queryData = query(schema, () => ....)

[jippi]

I'm having similar issue on 2.43.7 - this worked on all builds BEFORE 2.43.7 (2.43.6 and older)

I'm using vite 7

ReferenceError: Cannot access 'MBModel' before initialization
    at file:///Users/jippi/src/jippi/mangabaka-catalog/.svelte-kit/output/server/chunks/chunk-9.js:381:18
    at ModuleJob.run (node:internal/modules/esm/module_job:377:25)
    at async onImport.tracePromise.__proto__ (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:689:26)
    at async get_page_options (file:///Users/jippi/src/jippi/mangabaka-catalog/node_modules/@sveltejs/kit/src/exports/vite/static_analysis/index.js:224:19)
    at async get_page_options (file:///Users/jippi/src/jippi/mangabaka-catalog/node_modules/@sveltejs/kit/src/exports/vite/static_analysis/index.js:204:27)
    at async build_server_nodes (file:///Users/jippi/src/jippi/mangabaka-catalog/node_modules/@sveltejs/kit/src/exports/vite/build/build_server.js:98:25)
    at async analyse (file:///Users/jippi/src/jippi/mangabaka-catalog/node_modules/@sveltejs/kit/src/core/postbuild/analyse.js:72:2)
    at async MessagePort.<anonymous> (file:///Users/jippi/src/jippi/mangabaka-catalog/node_modules/@sveltejs/kit/src/utils/fork.js:23:16)

src/lib/server/models/SeriesView.model.ts imports src/lib/server/database/batch.ts that contain the MBModel class, using import { MBModel } from '../database/batch' (using import { MBModel } from '$lib/server/database/batch' also fail)

Seems likely to be caused by #14571

[MalabarFront]

I think we're experiencing this issue as well and we're also using drizzle. If we upgrade sveltejs/kit to latest we get

node:internal/event_target:1101
  process.nextTick(() => { throw err; });
                           ^
ReferenceError [Error]: Cannot access 'customColumnSchema' before initialization
    at file:///Users/hald/Documents/edy2/eddystone/.svelte-kit/output/server/chunks/chunk-2.js:150:26
    at ModuleJob.run (node:internal/modules/esm/module_job:271:25)
    at async onImport.tracePromise.__proto__ (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:547:26)
    at async analyse (file:///Users/hald/Documents/edy2/eddystone/node_modules/@sveltejs/kit/src/core/postbuild/analyse.js:51:19)
    at async MessagePort.<anonymous> (file:///Users/hald/Documents/edy2/eddystone/node_modules/@sveltejs/kit/src/utils/fork.js:23:16)

It's very tricky to track down exactly what causes it to break, if I inspect the chunk remove the utilisation of the schema in that file I can get the build to proceed past this point, but it then just breaks in a subsequent place. I can't really tell what's causing these specific issues.

At a very high level what we are doing is

// some-query.ts
export const columns = {
name: {
cell: () => SomeSvelteCellComponent,
....
},
age: {
cell: () => SomeSvelteCellComponent,
...
}
};

export const schema = inferSchemaFromColumns(columns) // constructs a zod schema from the object

// some-query.remote.ts
import { schema } from './some-query.ts'
export const queryData = query(schema, () => ....)

I'm also experiencing this, in pretty much the same scenario as you, where I'm abstracting the way I define tables in Drizzle, and now I get a app:build: ReferenceError [Error]: Cannot access 'columnsMap' before initialization build error after upgrading Sveltekit (I jumped from 2.43.5 to 2.44.0). So just adding another data point for you.

[bfovez]

Same issue here with Effect:

14:59:47.578 
starter:build: node:internal/event_target:1101
14:59:47.578 
starter:build:   process.nextTick(() => { throw err; });
14:59:47.578 
starter:build:                            ^
14:59:47.578 
starter:build: ReferenceError [Error]: Cannot access 'AppConfig' before initialization
14:59:47.578 
starter:build:     at file:///vercel/path0/apps/starter/.svelte-kit/output/server/chunks/chunk-5.js:92:18
14:59:47.578 
starter:build:     at ModuleJob.run (node:internal/modules/esm/module_job:345:25)
14:59:47.578 
starter:build:     at async onImport.tracePromise.__proto__ (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:665:26)
14:59:47.579 
starter:build:     at async analyse (file:///vercel/path0/node_modules/.pnpm/@sveltejs+kit@2.44.0_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@sveltejs+vite-plugin-svelte@6.2.1_svelte_09e140ac3e1ad92817409e005a454e22/node_modules/@sveltejs/kit/src/core/postbuild/analyse.js:51:19)
14:59:47.579 
starter:build:     at async MessagePort.<anonymous> (file:///vercel/path0/node_modules/.pnpm/@sveltejs+kit@2.44.0_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@sveltejs+vite-plugin-svelte@6.2.1_svelte_09e140ac3e1ad92817409e005a454e22/node_modules/@sveltejs/kit/src/utils/fork.js:23:16)
14:59:47.579 
starter:build: 
14:59:47.579 
starter:build: Node.js v22.20.0

[vipero07]

So... I think I understand the problem and why it disproportionately affects drizzle users. Apparently declaring a const and exporting it, and using it both in remote and non remote functions, gets it declared by the compiler as a var in one of the chunks. Basically it needs to be further hoisted into a separate chunk that both the remote functions and the non remote server functions could import. It affects drizzle users because the way the drizzle docs show how to use it, is by doing exactly that.

[DarthGigi]

@vipero07

and using it both in remote and non remote functions

I couldn't reproduce my private_env error in my mvce repo, if I didn't use it in RF. Can't speak for others and the other errors though.

[vipero07]

I'm going to try and make a minimum repo I've got a pretty large project that uses various drizzle functions throughout the app and in remote functions as I slowly migrate to remote functions.

[fehnomenal]

In the meantime, setting build.rollupOptions.output.onlyExplicitManualChunks: true seems to work after updating rollup (I used the (atm latest) version 4.52.4).