Module declares 'MongoCLient' locally, but it is not exported

Question

I have an API that has imported the MongoClient module:

import { MongoClient } from 'mongodb';

but I am getting an error when I go to run the api saying Module '"../../node_modules/mongodb/mongodb.ts34"' declares 'MongoClient' locally, bit it is not exported.

I do not recall if I ever worked with the mongodb library, but I looked at their documentation on npm repo and I also thought perhaps I was missing an npm install, but I am still getting this error.

A type definition file does exist for it inside the MongoDB library and I do see export declare class MongoClient extends TypedEventEmitter<MongoClientEvents>, so I remain unclear as to where the error is indicated that this module is not being exported.

I think the mongodb library was added because someone was following the instructions here:

https://www.mongodb.com/docs/drivers/node/current/

Based on this documentation:

https://www.mongodb.com/compatibility/using-typescript-with-mongodb-tutorial

I changed the import statement to:

import * as mongoDB from 'mongodb';

The codebase itself looks like so:

import mongoose from 'mongoose'
// import { MongoClient } from 'mongodb'
import * as mongoDB from 'mongodb';
import fetch from 'isomorphic-fetch'
import {
  EmrPatient,
  EmrDoctor,
  EmrPatientModel,
  EmrDoctorModel,
} from '../models/Emr'
import { logger } from '../logger/winston-logger'

// Move this to config
const MONGO_ATLAS_HOST: string = 'spirit-dev-abcdefg.mongodb.net'
const MONGO_LOGIN: string = 'spirit-server'
const DB_NAME: string = 'dev'

const LOGIN_PATH: string = '/auth/login'
const ACCOUNT_PATH: string = '/api/v1/account/'
let gSpyrtHome: string | null = null
let gSpyrtJwt: string | null = null

let gMongoClient = null
let gDatabase: any = null

const {
  NODE_ENV,
  USE_MONGO_ATLAS,
  V3_MONGO_PASSWD,
  SPYRT_ADMIN_EMAIL,
  SPYRT_ADMIN_PASSWORD,
} = process.env

function mongoConnectionURI(): string {
  let mongoURI: string = ''
  if (NODE_ENV === 'local' && !USE_MONGO_ATLAS) {
    mongoURI = 'mongodb://' + 'localhost:21111' + '/' + DB_NAME
  } else {
    const mongoPassword: string | undefined = V3_MONGO_PASSWD
    mongoURI = `mongodb+srv://${MONGO_LOGIN}:${mongoPassword}@${MONGO_ATLAS_HOST}/${DB_NAME}?retryWrites=true&w=majority`
  }
  return mongoURI
}

function connectToMongo(): void {
  const mongoURI: string = mongoConnectionURI()

  const options = {}

  mongoose.connect(mongoURI, options).catch((err) => {
    logger.info('Mongo connection failed!', err)
  })

  mongoose.connection.on('error', (err) => {
    logger.info('Mongo error!', err)
  })

  mongoose.connection.once('open', () => {
    logger.info('Successfully connected to Mongo')
  })
}

async function connectToMongoDirect(): Promise<void> {
  const mongoURI: string = mongoConnectionURI()

  gMongoClient = new mongoDB.MongoClient(mongoURI)
  await gMongoClient.connect().catch((err) => {
    logger.info('Mongo Client connection error!', err)
  })
  gDatabase = await gMongoClient.db('dev')
  if (gDatabase != null) {
    logger.info('Successfully connected to Mongo Client')
  } else {
    logger.info('Cannot access Mongo Database dev!')
  }
}

Now it's complaining with the following:

Property 'MongoClient' does not exist on type 'typeof import'

gMongoClient = new mongoDB.MongoClient(mongoURI)