mergeTypeDefs(allTypeDefs) does not recognize apollo federation directives @key @external

I have this combined typeDefs (allTypeDefs) file:

["@link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.3",
        import: ["@key","@external"])

scalar Date

type Name {
    first_name:  String!
    middle_name: String
    last_name:   String
  }

type Safe @key(fields: "safe_id"){
  safe_id: ID!
  owner: User!  # HAS_SAFE
  wallets: [Wallet!]!
}

type User  @key(fields: "user_id") {
  user_id:      ID! 
  email:        String!
  role:         String! 
  permissions:  [String!]!
  created_at:   Date!
  updated_at:   Date! 
  username:     String
  name:         Name
  safe:         Safe! 
}

input UpdateUserInput {
  username: String!
  email: String!
  name: Name!
  telephone: String!
  role: String!
  permissions: [String!]! 
}

type Query {
  getUser(username: String!): User!
  getUsers: [User!]! 
}

type Mutation {
  createUser(input: CreateUserInput!): User!
  updateUser(username: String!, input: UpdateUserInput!): User!
  deleteUser(username: String!): User!
  addRole(username: String!, role: String!): User!
  addPermission(username: String!, permission: String!): User!
  removeRole(username: String!, role: String!): User!
  removePermission(username: String!, permission: String!): User!

}","type ApiKey {
  api_name: String!
  api_key:  String!
}

type LoginResult {
  user:             User!
  isAuthenticated:  Boolean!
  access_token:     String
  refreshToken:     String
  challenge:        String
}

input ApiKeyInput {
  app_name: String!
}

input CreateUserInput {
  email:       String!
  username:    String
  password:    String
  name:        Name
  telephone:   String
  country:     String;    
}

input LoginUserInput {
   email:    String!
   username: String
   password: String
   token:    String
   pubkey:   String
}

input VerifyResponseInput {
  create_user_input: CreateUserInput!              
  response: String!
}

extend type Query {
  refreshToken: String!
}

extend type Mutation {
  createApiKey( input: ApiKeyInput!): ApiKey!
  login(input: LoginUserInput!): LoginResult!
  verifyResponse(input: VerifyResponseInput!): LoginResult!
  logout: Boolean!
}

"] 

when i try to merge them using

 mergeTypeDefs(allTypeDefs) 

I am getting this syntax error:

/Applications/flash/flash-gateway/node_modules/graphql/error/syntaxError.js:15
  return new _GraphQLError.GraphQLError(`Syntax Error: ${description}`, {
         ^
GraphQLError: Syntax Error: Unexpected "@".
    at syntaxError (/Applications/flash/flash-gateway/node_modules/graphql/error/syntaxError.js:15:10)
    at Parser.unexpected (/Applications/flash/flash-gateway/node_modules/graphql/language/parser.js:1458:41)
    at Parser.parseDefinition (/Applications/flash/flash-gateway/node_modules/graphql/language/parser.js:212:16)
    at Parser.many (/Applications/flash/flash-gateway/node_modules/graphql/language/parser.js:1511:26)
    at Parser.parseDocument (/Applications/flash/flash-gateway/node_modules/graphql/language/parser.js:122:25)
    at parse (/Applications/flash/flash-gateway/node_modules/graphql/language/parser.js:32:17)
    at visitTypeSources (/Applications/flash/flash-gateway/node_modules/@graphql-tools/merge/cjs/typedefs-mergers/merge-typedefs.js:48:54)
    at visitTypeSources (/Applications/flash/flash-gateway/node_modules/@graphql-tools/merge/cjs/typedefs-mergers/merge-typedefs.js:40:17)
    at mergeGraphQLTypes (/Applications/flash/flash-gateway/node_modules/@graphql-tools/merge/cjs/typedefs-mergers/merge-typedefs.js:70:41)
    at createTypeDefs (/Applications/flash/flash-gateway/dist/apps/auth/main.js:1907:42)

I am using @apollo/gateway 2.5.4 @apollo/server 4.9.3 and @apollo/subgraph 2.5.4 with Nestjs v9.4.2

my understanding is that mergeTypeDefs is compatible with these apollo directives. can anyone shed some light on this?