Node.js v20.19.0 released!

[NewsBot]

Node.js v20.19.0 has been released.

Notable Changes

require(esm) is now enabled by default

Support for loading native ES modules using require() had been available on v20.x under the command line flag --experimental-require-module, and available by default on v22.x and v23.x. In this release, it is now no longer behind a flag on v20.x.

This feature has been tested on v23.x and v22.x, and we are looking for user feedback from v20.x to make more final tweaks before fully stabilizing it. When the Node.js instance encounters a native ES module in require() somewhere outside node_modules for the first time, it will emit an experimental warning unless require() comes from a path that contains node_modules. If there happens to be any regressions caused by this feature, users can report it to the Node.js issue tracker. Meanwhile this feature can also be disabled using --no-experimental-require-module as a workaround.

With this feature enabled, Node.js will no longer throw ERR_REQUIRE_ESM if `req…

Link: Release 2025-03-13, Version 20.19.0 'Iron' (LTS), @marco-ippolito · nodejs/node · GitHub