Use js packages in BigQuery UDF - google-bigquery

Question

I was trying to create a BigQuery UDF which requires an external npm package.
CREATE TEMPORARY FUNCTION tempfn(message STRING)
RETURNS STRING
LANGUAGE js AS """
var tesfn = require('js-123');
return tesfn(message)
""";
SELECT tempfn("Hello") as test;
It gives me an error
ReferenceError: require is not defined at tempfn(STRING) line 2,
columns 15-16
Is there a way that I can use these packages?

Answer 1

You can't load npm packages using require from JavaScript UDFs. You can, however, load external libraries from GCS, as outlined in the documentation. The example that the documentation gives is,
CREATE TEMP FUNCTION myFunc(a FLOAT64, b STRING)
RETURNS STRING
LANGUAGE js AS
"""
// Assumes 'doInterestingStuff' is defined in one of the library files.
return doInterestingStuff(a, b);
"""
OPTIONS (
library="gs://my-bucket/path/to/lib1.js",
library=["gs://my-bucket/path/to/lib2.js", "gs://my-bucket/path/to/lib3.js"]
);
SELECT myFunc(3.14, 'foo');
Here the assumption is that you have files with these names in Cloud Storage, and that one of them defines doInterestingStuff.