Syntax Error in Angular App: Unexpected token <

I have an Angular app which runs perfectly in my local and production environment.. After a tiny change I made, I ran the app locally and it works fine.. Then I built the project and copied the dist folder to the web server. The problem is when I try to access to the app I get the following error in the Chrome Inspector:

Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token < inline.1a152b6….bundle.js:1
Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token < polyfills.1553fdd….bundle.js:1
Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token < vendor.94d0113….bundle.js:1
Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token < main.d6f56a1….bundle.js:1

So, it seems like it is a misplaced character but in my local environment the app works fine I don't get any warning or error message on the console..


This is most likely the result of a 404 page or a redirect to a page that serves regular html instead of the expected JavaScript files. (A HTML page starts with <html> or a <!DOCTYPE...>)

Make sure that you have correctly uploaded the files and access the page correctly. You can verify by manually accessing the URL with the browser or look into the network tab of your browser development tools to inspect the response.


I had the same issue:

1) I ran the command

ng build --aot --prod

2) Everything compiled without an error

3) I deleted all the files on the server and copied it all across via FTP(FileZilla) to a windows Azure server

4) Sometimes I get the error

Unexpected token <

and other-times not

Yesterday I noticed that the main[hash].js was missing on the server and that Filezilla did not give me an error copying it.

I then tried copying only that file.It did not work. When I removed the hash part from the filename it copies without a problem.

Work-a-round

Run:

ng  build --aot --prod --output-hashing none

Which works every-time.

So either Filezilla or Windows Server does not allow filenames with a specific length or it does not like certain hashes.


Got this error as well using angular with express.

I guess when you build an angular project the project is stored in 'dist/the-app' not just 'dist' so this solved my problem on express.

// Point static path to dist
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'dist/the-app')));

for me, this error was due to not setting the proper path of the built application.