Cannot use import statement outside a module

In WebdriverIO, if you are using advanced Java script (ES6) features, you will see the following errors

0–0] import LoginPage from ‘../screenobjects/login.page’;
[0–0] ^^^^^^
[0–0]
[0–0] SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module

To fix the issue, use Babel to compile the JS files. Follow the steps below to configure Babel

STEP 1: Install Babel

Follow the steps in https://webdriver.io/docs/babel/ to install Babel node packages

STEP 2: Create ‘babel.config.js’

Once after you have installed the Babel node packages, create ‘babel.config.js’ file in your root directory with the following content

module.exports = {
    "presets": [
        [
            "@babel/preset-env",
            {
                "targets": {
                    "node": "14"
                }
            }
        ]
    ]
}

Once this is set up WebdriverIO will take care of the rest.

If you are using Jasmine framework, configure Jasmine options in WebdriverIO configuration file.

Go to your config file and update the Jasmine options

// Options to be passed to Jasmine.
jasmineOpts: {
    // Babel setup
    helpers: [require.resolve('@babel/register')]
},

Hope this helps