Assert#
Source Code: lib/assert.js
The node:assert
module provides a set of assertion functions for verifying
invariants.
Strict assertion mode#
In strict assertion mode, non-strict methods behave like their corresponding
strict methods. For example, assert.deepEqual()
will behave like
assert.deepStrictEqual()
.
In strict assertion mode, error messages for objects display a diff. In legacy
assertion mode, error messages for objects display the objects, often truncated.
To use strict assertion mode:
import { strict as assert } from 'node:assert';
const assert = require('node:assert').strict;
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
Example error diff:
import { strict as assert } from 'node:assert';
assert.deepEqual([[[1, 2, 3]], 4, 5], [[[1, 2, '3']], 4, 5]);
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
assert.deepEqual([[[1, 2, 3]], 4, 5], [[[1, 2, '3']], 4, 5]);
To deactivate the colors, use the NO_COLOR
or NODE_DISABLE_COLORS
environment variables. This will also deactivate the colors in the REPL. For
more on color support in terminal environments, read the tty
getColorDepth()
documentation.
Legacy assertion mode#
Legacy assertion mode uses the ==
operator in:
To use legacy assertion mode:
import assert from 'node:assert';
const assert = require('node:assert');
Legacy assertion mode may have surprising results, especially when using
assert.deepEqual()
:
assert.deepEqual(/a/gi, new Date());
Class: assert.AssertionError[src]#
Indicates the failure of an assertion. All errors thrown by the node:assert
module will be instances of the AssertionError
class.
new assert.AssertionError(options)
#
Added in: v0.1.21
options
<Object>
message
<string> If provided, the error message is set to this value.
actual
<any> The actual
property on the error instance.
expected
<any> The expected
property on the error instance.
operator
<string> The operator
property on the error instance.
stackStartFn
<Function> If provided, the generated stack trace omits
frames before this function.
A subclass of Error
that indicates the failure of an assertion.
All instances contain the built-in Error
properties (message
and name
)
and:
actual
<any> Set to the actual
argument for methods such as
assert.strictEqual()
.
expected
<any> Set to the expected
value for methods such as
assert.strictEqual()
.
generatedMessage
<boolean> Indicates if the message was auto-generated
(true
) or not.
code
<string> Value is always ERR_ASSERTION
to show that the error is an
assertion error.
operator
<string> Set to the passed in operator value.
import assert from 'node:assert';
const { message } = new assert.AssertionError({
actual: 1,
expected: 2,
operator: 'strictEqual'
});
try {
assert.strictEqual(1, 2);
} catch (err) {
assert(err instanceof assert.AssertionError);
assert.strictEqual(err.message, message);
assert.strictEqual(err.name, 'AssertionError');
assert.strictEqual(err.actual, 1);
assert.strictEqual(err.expected, 2);
assert.strictEqual(err.code, 'ERR_ASSERTION');
assert.strictEqual(err.operator, 'strictEqual');
assert.strictEqual(err.generatedMessage, true);
}
const assert = require('node:assert');
const { message } = new assert.AssertionError({
actual: 1,
expected: 2,
operator: 'strictEqual'
});
try {
assert.strictEqual(1, 2);
} catch (err) {
assert(err instanceof assert.AssertionError);
assert.strictEqual(err.message, message);
assert.strictEqual(err.name, 'AssertionError');
assert.strictEqual(err.actual, 1);
assert.strictEqual(err.expected, 2);
assert.strictEqual(err.code, 'ERR_ASSERTION');
assert.strictEqual(err.operator, 'strictEqual');
assert.strictEqual(err.generatedMessage, true);
}
Class: assert.CallTracker
#
Added in: v14.2.0, v12.19.0
This feature is currently experimental and behavior might still change.
new assert.CallTracker()
#
Added in: v14.2.0, v12.19.0
Creates a new CallTracker
object which can be used to track if functions
were called a specific number of times. The tracker.verify()
must be called
for the verification to take place. The usual pattern would be to call it in a
process.on('exit')
handler.
import assert from 'node:assert';
import process from 'node:process';
const tracker = new assert.CallTracker();
function func() {}
const callsfunc = tracker.calls(func, 1);
callsfunc();
process.on('exit', () => {
tracker.verify();
});
const assert = require('node:assert');
const tracker = new assert.CallTracker();
function func() {}
const callsfunc = tracker.calls(func, 1);
callsfunc();
process.on('exit', () => {
tracker.verify();
});
tracker.calls([fn][, exact])
#
Added in: v14.2.0, v12.19.0
The wrapper function is expected to be called exactly exact
times. If the
function has not been called exactly exact
times when
tracker.verify()
is called, then tracker.verify()
will throw an
error.
import assert from 'node:assert';
const tracker = new assert.CallTracker();
function func() {}
const callsfunc = tracker.calls(func);
const assert = require('node:assert');
const tracker = new assert.CallTracker();
function func() {}
const callsfunc = tracker.calls(func);
tracker.getCalls(fn)
#
Added in: v16.18.0
import assert from 'node:assert';
const tracker = new assert.CallTracker();
function func() {}
const callsfunc = tracker.calls(func);
callsfunc(1, 2, 3);
assert.deepStrictEqual(tracker.getCalls(callsfunc),
[{ thisArg: this, arguments: [1, 2, 3 ] }]);
const assert = require('node:assert');
const tracker = new assert.CallTracker();
function func() {}
const callsfunc = tracker.calls(func);
callsfunc(1, 2, 3);
assert.deepStrictEqual(tracker.getCalls(callsfunc),
[{ thisArg: this, arguments: [1, 2, 3 ] }]);
tracker.report()
#
Added in: v14.2.0, v12.19.0
- Returns: <Array> of objects containing information about the wrapper functions
returned by
tracker.calls()
.
- Object <Object>
message
<string>
actual
<number> The actual number of times the function was called.
expected
<number> The number of times the function was expected to be
called.
operator
<string> The name of the function that is wrapped.
stack
<Object> A stack trace of the function.
The arrays contains information about the expected and actual number of calls of
the functions that have not been called the expected number of times.
import assert from 'node:assert';
const tracker = new assert.CallTracker();
function func() {}
const callsfunc = tracker.calls(func, 2);
tracker.report();
const assert = require('node:assert');
const tracker = new assert.CallTracker();
function func() {}
const callsfunc = tracker.calls(func, 2);
tracker.report();
tracker.reset([fn])
#
Added in: v16.18.0
reset calls of the call tracker.
if a tracked function is passed as an argument, the calls will be reset for it.
if no arguments are passed, all tracked functions will be reset
import assert from 'node:assert';
const tracker = new assert.CallTracker();
function func() {}
const callsfunc = tracker.calls(func);
callsfunc();
tracker.getCalls(callsfunc).length === 1;
tracker.reset(callsfunc);
tracker.getCalls(callsfunc).length === 0;
const assert = require('node:assert');
function func() {}
const callsfunc = tracker.calls(func);
callsfunc();
tracker.getCalls(callsfunc).length === 1;
tracker.reset(callsfunc);
tracker.getCalls(callsfunc).length === 0;
tracker.verify()
#
Added in: v14.2.0, v12.19.0
Iterates through the list of functions passed to
tracker.calls()
and will throw an error for functions that
have not been called the expected number of times.
import assert from 'node:assert';
const tracker = new assert.CallTracker();
function func() {}
const callsfunc = tracker.calls(func, 2);
callsfunc();
tracker.verify();
const assert = require('node:assert');
const tracker = new assert.CallTracker();
function func() {}
const callsfunc = tracker.calls(func, 2);
callsfunc();
tracker.verify();
assert(value[, message])
#
Added in: v0.5.9
An alias of assert.ok()
.
assert.deepEqual(actual, expected[, message])
#
Strict assertion mode
An alias of assert.deepStrictEqual()
.
Legacy assertion mode
Tests for deep equality between the actual
and expected
parameters. Consider
using assert.deepStrictEqual()
instead. assert.deepEqual()
can have
surprising results.
Deep equality means that the enumerable "own" properties of child objects
are also recursively evaluated by the following rules.
Comparison details#
- Primitive values are compared with the
==
operator,
with the exception of NaN
. It is treated as being identical in case
both sides are NaN
.
- Type tags of objects should be the same.
- Only enumerable "own" properties are considered.
Error
names and messages are always compared, even if these are not
enumerable properties.
- Object wrappers are compared both as objects and unwrapped values.
Object
properties are compared unordered.
Map
keys and Set
items are compared unordered.
- Recursion stops when both sides differ or both sides encounter a circular
reference.
- Implementation does not test the
[[Prototype]]
of
objects.
Symbol
properties are not compared.
WeakMap
and WeakSet
comparison does not rely on their values.
The following example does not throw an AssertionError
because the
primitives are compared using the ==
operator.
import assert from 'node:assert';
assert.deepEqual('+00000000', false);
const assert = require('node:assert');
assert.deepEqual('+00000000', false);
"Deep" equality means that the enumerable "own" properties of child objects
are evaluated also:
import assert from 'node:assert';
const obj1 = {
a: {
b: 1
}
};
const obj2 = {
a: {
b: 2
}
};
const obj3 = {
a: {
b: 1
}
};
const obj4 = Object.create(obj1);
assert.deepEqual(obj1, obj1);
assert.deepEqual(obj1, obj2);
assert.deepEqual(obj1, obj3);
assert.deepEqual(obj1, obj4);
const assert = require('node:assert');
const obj1 = {
a: {
b: 1
}
};
const obj2 = {
a: {
b: 2
}
};
const obj3 = {
a: {
b: 1
}
};
const obj4 = Object.create(obj1);
assert.deepEqual(obj1, obj1);
assert.deepEqual(obj1, obj2);
assert.deepEqual(obj1, obj3);
assert.deepEqual(obj1, obj4);
If the values are not equal, an AssertionError
is thrown with a message
property set equal to the value of the message
parameter. If the message
parameter is undefined, a default error message is assigned. If the message
parameter is an instance of an Error
then it will be thrown instead of the
AssertionError
.
assert.deepStrictEqual(actual, expected[, message])
#
Tests for deep equality between the actual
and expected
parameters.
"Deep" equality means that the enumerable "own" properties of child objects
are recursively evaluated also by the following rules.
Comparison details#
- Primitive values are compared using
Object.is()
.
- Type tags of objects should be the same.
[[Prototype]]
of objects are compared using
the ===
operator.
- Only enumerable "own" properties are considered.
Error
names and messages are always compared, even if these are not
enumerable properties.
- Enumerable own
Symbol
properties are compared as well.
- Object wrappers are compared both as objects and unwrapped values.
Object
properties are compared unordered.
Map
keys and Set
items are compared unordered.
- Recursion stops when both sides differ or both sides encounter a circular
reference.
WeakMap
and WeakSet
comparison does not rely on their values. See
below for further details.
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
assert.deepStrictEqual({ a: 1 }, { a: '1' });
const date = new Date();
const object = {};
const fakeDate = {};
Object.setPrototypeOf(fakeDate, Date.prototype);
assert.deepStrictEqual(object, fakeDate);
assert.deepStrictEqual(date, fakeDate);
assert.deepStrictEqual(NaN, NaN);
assert.deepStrictEqual(new Number(1), new Number(2));
assert.deepStrictEqual(new String('foo'), Object('foo'));
assert.deepStrictEqual(-0, -0);
assert.deepStrictEqual(0, -0);
const symbol1 = Symbol();
const symbol2 = Symbol();
assert.deepStrictEqual({ [symbol1]: 1 }, { [symbol1]: 1 });
assert.deepStrictEqual({ [symbol1]: 1 }, { [symbol2]: 1 });
const weakMap1 = new WeakMap();
const weakMap2 = new WeakMap([[{}, {}]]);
const weakMap3 = new WeakMap();
weakMap3.unequal = true;
assert.deepStrictEqual(weakMap1, weakMap2);
assert.deepStrictEqual(weakMap1, weakMap3);
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
assert.deepStrictEqual({ a: 1 }, { a: '1' });
const date = new Date();
const object = {};
const fakeDate = {};
Object.setPrototypeOf(fakeDate, Date.prototype);
assert.deepStrictEqual(object, fakeDate);
assert.deepStrictEqual(date, fakeDate);
assert.deepStrictEqual(NaN, NaN);
assert.deepStrictEqual(new Number(1), new Number(2));
assert.deepStrictEqual(new String('foo'), Object('foo'));
assert.deepStrictEqual(-0, -0);
assert.deepStrictEqual(0, -0);
const symbol1 = Symbol();
const symbol2 = Symbol();
assert.deepStrictEqual({ [symbol1]: 1 }, { [symbol1]: 1 });
assert.deepStrictEqual({ [symbol1]: 1 }, { [symbol2]: 1 });
const weakMap1 = new WeakMap();
const weakMap2 = new WeakMap([[{}, {}]]);
const weakMap3 = new WeakMap();
weakMap3.unequal = true;
assert.deepStrictEqual(weakMap1, weakMap2);
assert.deepStrictEqual(weakMap1, weakMap3);
If the values are not equal, an AssertionError
is thrown with a message
property set equal to the value of the message
parameter. If the message
parameter is undefined, a default error message is assigned. If the message
parameter is an instance of an Error
then it will be thrown instead of the
AssertionError
.
assert.doesNotMatch(string, regexp[, message])
#
Expects the string
input not to match the regular expression.
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
assert.doesNotMatch('I will fail', /fail/);
assert.doesNotMatch(123, /pass/);
assert.doesNotMatch('I will pass', /different/);
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
assert.doesNotMatch('I will fail', /fail/);
assert.doesNotMatch(123, /pass/);
assert.doesNotMatch('I will pass', /different/);
If the values do match, or if the string
argument is of another type than
string
, an AssertionError
is thrown with a message
property set equal
to the value of the message
parameter. If the message
parameter is
undefined, a default error message is assigned. If the message
parameter is an
instance of an Error
then it will be thrown instead of the
AssertionError
.
assert.doesNotReject(asyncFn[, error][, message])
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Awaits the asyncFn
promise or, if asyncFn
is a function, immediately
calls the function and awaits the returned promise to complete. It will then
check that the promise is not rejected.
If asyncFn
is a function and it throws an error synchronously,
assert.doesNotReject()
will return a rejected Promise
with that error. If
the function does not return a promise, assert.doesNotReject()
will return a
rejected Promise
with an ERR_INVALID_RETURN_VALUE
error. In both cases
the error handler is skipped.
Using assert.doesNotReject()
is actually not useful because there is little
benefit in catching a rejection and then rejecting it again. Instead, consider
adding a comment next to the specific code path that should not reject and keep
error messages as expressive as possible.
If specified, error
can be a Class
, RegExp
, or a validation
function. See assert.throws()
for more details.
Besides the async nature to await the completion behaves identically to
assert.doesNotThrow()
.
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
await assert.doesNotReject(
async () => {
throw new TypeError('Wrong value');
},
SyntaxError
);
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
(async () => {
await assert.doesNotReject(
async () => {
throw new TypeError('Wrong value');
},
SyntaxError
);
})();
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
assert.doesNotReject(Promise.reject(new TypeError('Wrong value')))
.then(() => {
});
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
assert.doesNotReject(Promise.reject(new TypeError('Wrong value')))
.then(() => {
});
assert.doesNotThrow(fn[, error][, message])
#
Asserts that the function fn
does not throw an error.
Using assert.doesNotThrow()
is actually not useful because there
is no benefit in catching an error and then rethrowing it. Instead, consider
adding a comment next to the specific code path that should not throw and keep
error messages as expressive as possible.
When assert.doesNotThrow()
is called, it will immediately call the fn
function.
If an error is thrown and it is the same type as that specified by the error
parameter, then an AssertionError
is thrown. If the error is of a
different type, or if the error
parameter is undefined, the error is
propagated back to the caller.
If specified, error
can be a Class
, RegExp
, or a validation
function. See assert.throws()
for more details.
The following, for instance, will throw the TypeError
because there is no
matching error type in the assertion:
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
assert.doesNotThrow(
() => {
throw new TypeError('Wrong value');
},
SyntaxError
);
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
assert.doesNotThrow(
() => {
throw new TypeError('Wrong value');
},
SyntaxError
);
However, the following will result in an AssertionError
with the message
'Got unwanted exception...':
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
assert.doesNotThrow(
() => {
throw new TypeError('Wrong value');
},
TypeError
);
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
assert.doesNotThrow(
() => {
throw new TypeError('Wrong value');
},
TypeError
);
If an AssertionError
is thrown and a value is provided for the message
parameter, the value of message
will be appended to the AssertionError
message:
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
assert.doesNotThrow(
() => {
throw new TypeError('Wrong value');
},
/Wrong value/,
'Whoops'
);
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
assert.doesNotThrow(
() => {
throw new TypeError('Wrong value');
},
/Wrong value/,
'Whoops'
);
assert.equal(actual, expected[, message])
#
Strict assertion mode
An alias of assert.strictEqual()
.
Legacy assertion mode
Tests shallow, coercive equality between the actual
and expected
parameters
using the ==
operator. NaN
is specially handled
and treated as being identical if both sides are NaN
.
import assert from 'node:assert';
assert.equal(1, 1);
assert.equal(1, '1');
assert.equal(NaN, NaN);
assert.equal(1, 2);
assert.equal({ a: { b: 1 } }, { a: { b: 1 } });
const assert = require('node:assert');
assert.equal(1, 1);
assert.equal(1, '1');
assert.equal(NaN, NaN);
assert.equal(1, 2);
assert.equal({ a: { b: 1 } }, { a: { b: 1 } });
If the values are not equal, an AssertionError
is thrown with a message
property set equal to the value of the message
parameter. If the message
parameter is undefined, a default error message is assigned. If the message
parameter is an instance of an Error
then it will be thrown instead of the
AssertionError
.
assert.fail([message])
#
Added in: v0.1.21
Throws an AssertionError
with the provided error message or a default
error message. If the message
parameter is an instance of an Error
then
it will be thrown instead of the AssertionError
.
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
assert.fail();
assert.fail('boom');
assert.fail(new TypeError('need array'));
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
assert.fail();
assert.fail('boom');
assert.fail(new TypeError('need array'));
Using assert.fail()
with more than two arguments is possible but deprecated.
See below for further details.
assert.fail(actual, expected[, message[, operator[, stackStartFn]]])
#
Stability: 0 - Deprecated: Use
assert.fail([message])
or other assert
functions instead.
If message
is falsy, the error message is set as the values of actual
and
expected
separated by the provided operator
. If just the two actual
and
expected
arguments are provided, operator
will default to '!='
. If
message
is provided as third argument it will be used as the error message and
the other arguments will be stored as properties on the thrown object. If
stackStartFn
is provided, all stack frames above that function will be
removed from stacktrace (see Error.captureStackTrace
). If no arguments are
given, the default message Failed
will be used.
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
assert.fail('a', 'b');
assert.fail(1, 2, undefined, '>');
assert.fail(1, 2, 'fail');
assert.fail(1, 2, 'whoops', '>');
assert.fail(1, 2, new TypeError('need array'));
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
assert.fail('a', 'b');
assert.fail(1, 2, undefined, '>');
assert.fail(1, 2, 'fail');
assert.fail(1, 2, 'whoops', '>');
assert.fail(1, 2, new TypeError('need array'));
In the last three cases actual
, expected
, and operator
have no
influence on the error message.
Example use of stackStartFn
for truncating the exception's stacktrace:
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
function suppressFrame() {
assert.fail('a', 'b', undefined, '!==', suppressFrame);
}
suppressFrame();
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
function suppressFrame() {
assert.fail('a', 'b', undefined, '!==', suppressFrame);
}
suppressFrame();
assert.match(string, regexp[, message])
#
Expects the string
input to match the regular expression.
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
assert.match('I will fail', /pass/);
assert.match(123, /pass/);
assert.match('I will pass', /pass/);
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
assert.match('I will fail', /pass/);
assert.match(123, /pass/);
assert.match('I will pass', /pass/);
If the values do not match, or if the string
argument is of another type than
string
, an AssertionError
is thrown with a message
property set equal
to the value of the message
parameter. If the message
parameter is
undefined, a default error message is assigned. If the message
parameter is an
instance of an Error
then it will be thrown instead of the
AssertionError
.
assert.notDeepEqual(actual, expected[, message])
#
Strict assertion mode
An alias of assert.notDeepStrictEqual()
.
Legacy assertion mode
Tests for any deep inequality. Opposite of assert.deepEqual()
.
import assert from 'node:assert';
const obj1 = {
a: {
b: 1
}
};
const obj2 = {
a: {
b: 2
}
};
const obj3 = {
a: {
b: 1
}
};
const obj4 = Object.create(obj1);
assert.notDeepEqual(obj1, obj1);
assert.notDeepEqual(obj1, obj2);
assert.notDeepEqual(obj1, obj3);
assert.notDeepEqual(obj1, obj4);
const assert = require('node:assert');
const obj1 = {
a: {
b: 1
}
};
const obj2 = {
a: {
b: 2
}
};
const obj3 = {
a: {
b: 1
}
};
const obj4 = Object.create(obj1);
assert.notDeepEqual(obj1, obj1);
assert.notDeepEqual(obj1, obj2);
assert.notDeepEqual(obj1, obj3);
assert.notDeepEqual(obj1, obj4);
If the values are deeply equal, an AssertionError
is thrown with a
message
property set equal to the value of the message
parameter. If the
message
parameter is undefined, a default error message is assigned. If the
message
parameter is an instance of an Error
then it will be thrown
instead of the AssertionError
.
assert.notEqual(actual, expected[, message])
#
Strict assertion mode
An alias of assert.notStrictEqual()
.
Legacy assertion mode
Tests shallow, coercive inequality with the !=
operator. NaN
is
specially handled and treated as being identical if both sides are NaN
.
import assert from 'node:assert';
assert.notEqual(1, 2);
assert.notEqual(1, 1);
assert.notEqual(1, '1');
const assert = require('node:assert');
assert.notEqual(1, 2);
assert.notEqual(1, 1);
assert.notEqual(1, '1');
If the values are equal, an AssertionError
is thrown with a message
property set equal to the value of the message
parameter. If the message
parameter is undefined, a default error message is assigned. If the message
parameter is an instance of an Error
then it will be thrown instead of the
AssertionError
.
assert.notStrictEqual(actual, expected[, message])
#
Tests strict inequality between the actual
and expected
parameters as
determined by Object.is()
.
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
assert.notStrictEqual(1, 2);
assert.notStrictEqual(1, 1);
assert.notStrictEqual(1, '1');
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
assert.notStrictEqual(1, 2);
assert.notStrictEqual(1, 1);
assert.notStrictEqual(1, '1');
If the values are strictly equal, an AssertionError
is thrown with a
message
property set equal to the value of the message
parameter. If the
message
parameter is undefined, a default error message is assigned. If the
message
parameter is an instance of an Error
then it will be thrown
instead of the AssertionError
.
assert.rejects(asyncFn[, error][, message])
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Awaits the asyncFn
promise or, if asyncFn
is a function, immediately
calls the function and awaits the returned promise to complete. It will then
check that the promise is rejected.
If asyncFn
is a function and it throws an error synchronously,
assert.rejects()
will return a rejected Promise
with that error. If the
function does not return a promise, assert.rejects()
will return a rejected
Promise
with an ERR_INVALID_RETURN_VALUE
error. In both cases the error
handler is skipped.
Besides the async nature to await the completion behaves identically to
assert.throws()
.
If specified, error
can be a Class
, RegExp
, a validation function,
an object where each property will be tested for, or an instance of error where
each property will be tested for including the non-enumerable message
and
name
properties.
If specified, message
will be the message provided by the AssertionError
if the asyncFn
fails to reject.
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
await assert.rejects(
async () => {
throw new TypeError('Wrong value');
},
{
name: 'TypeError',
message: 'Wrong value'
}
);
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
(async () => {
await assert.rejects(
async () => {
throw new TypeError('Wrong value');
},
{
name: 'TypeError',
message: 'Wrong value'
}
);
})();
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
await assert.rejects(
async () => {
throw new TypeError('Wrong value');
},
(err) => {
assert.strictEqual(err.name, 'TypeError');
assert.strictEqual(err.message, 'Wrong value');
return true;
}
);
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
(async () => {
await assert.rejects(
async () => {
throw new TypeError('Wrong value');
},
(err) => {
assert.strictEqual(err.name, 'TypeError');
assert.strictEqual(err.message, 'Wrong value');
return true;
}
);
})();
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
assert.rejects(
Promise.reject(new Error('Wrong value')),
Error
).then(() => {
});
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
assert.rejects(
Promise.reject(new Error('Wrong value')),
Error
).then(() => {
});
error
cannot be a string. If a string is provided as the second
argument, then error
is assumed to be omitted and the string will be used for
message
instead. This can lead to easy-to-miss mistakes. Please read the
example in assert.throws()
carefully if using a string as the second
argument gets considered.
assert.strictEqual(actual, expected[, message])
#
Tests strict equality between the actual
and expected
parameters as
determined by Object.is()
.
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
assert.strictEqual(1, 2);
assert.strictEqual(1, 1);
assert.strictEqual('Hello foobar', 'Hello World!');
const apples = 1;
const oranges = 2;
assert.strictEqual(apples, oranges, `apples ${apples} !== oranges ${oranges}`);
assert.strictEqual(1, '1', new TypeError('Inputs are not identical'));
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
assert.strictEqual(1, 2);
assert.strictEqual(1, 1);
assert.strictEqual('Hello foobar', 'Hello World!');
const apples = 1;
const oranges = 2;
assert.strictEqual(apples, oranges, `apples ${apples} !== oranges ${oranges}`);
assert.strictEqual(1, '1', new TypeError('Inputs are not identical'));
If the values are not strictly equal, an AssertionError
is thrown with a
message
property set equal to the value of the message
parameter. If the
message
parameter is undefined, a default error message is assigned. If the
message
parameter is an instance of an Error
then it will be thrown
instead of the AssertionError
.
assert.throws(fn[, error][, message])
#
Expects the function fn
to throw an error.
If specified, error
can be a Class
, RegExp
, a validation function,
a validation object where each property will be tested for strict deep equality,
or an instance of error where each property will be tested for strict deep
equality including the non-enumerable message
and name
properties. When
using an object, it is also possible to use a regular expression, when
validating against a string property. See below for examples.
If specified, message
will be appended to the message provided by the
AssertionError
if the fn
call fails to throw or in case the error validation
fails.
Custom validation object/error instance:
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
const err = new TypeError('Wrong value');
err.code = 404;
err.foo = 'bar';
err.info = {
nested: true,
baz: 'text'
};
err.reg = /abc/i;
assert.throws(
() => {
throw err;
},
{
name: 'TypeError',
message: 'Wrong value',
info: {
nested: true,
baz: 'text'
}
}
);
assert.throws(
() => {
throw err;
},
{
name: /^TypeError$/,
message: /Wrong/,
foo: 'bar',
info: {
nested: true,
baz: 'text'
},
reg: /abc/i
}
);
assert.throws(
() => {
const otherErr = new Error('Not found');
for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(err)) {
otherErr[key] = value;
}
throw otherErr;
},
err
);
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
const err = new TypeError('Wrong value');
err.code = 404;
err.foo = 'bar';
err.info = {
nested: true,
baz: 'text'
};
err.reg = /abc/i;
assert.throws(
() => {
throw err;
},
{
name: 'TypeError',
message: 'Wrong value',
info: {
nested: true,
baz: 'text'
}
}
);
assert.throws(
() => {
throw err;
},
{
name: /^TypeError$/,
message: /Wrong/,
foo: 'bar',
info: {
nested: true,
baz: 'text'
},
reg: /abc/i
}
);
assert.throws(
() => {
const otherErr = new Error('Not found');
for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(err)) {
otherErr[key] = value;
}
throw otherErr;
},
err
);
Validate instanceof using constructor:
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
assert.throws(
() => {
throw new Error('Wrong value');
},
Error
);
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
assert.throws(
() => {
throw new Error('Wrong value');
},
Error
);
Validate error message using RegExp
:
Using a regular expression runs .toString
on the error object, and will
therefore also include the error name.
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
assert.throws(
() => {
throw new Error('Wrong value');
},
/^Error: Wrong value$/
);
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
assert.throws(
() => {
throw new Error('Wrong value');
},
/^Error: Wrong value$/
);
Custom error validation:
The function must return true
to indicate all internal validations passed.
It will otherwise fail with an AssertionError
.
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
assert.throws(
() => {
throw new Error('Wrong value');
},
(err) => {
assert(err instanceof Error);
assert(/value/.test(err));
return true;
},
'unexpected error'
);
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
assert.throws(
() => {
throw new Error('Wrong value');
},
(err) => {
assert(err instanceof Error);
assert(/value/.test(err));
return true;
},
'unexpected error'
);
error
cannot be a string. If a string is provided as the second
argument, then error
is assumed to be omitted and the string will be used for
message
instead. This can lead to easy-to-miss mistakes. Using the same
message as the thrown error message is going to result in an
ERR_AMBIGUOUS_ARGUMENT
error. Please read the example below carefully if using
a string as the second argument gets considered:
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
function throwingFirst() {
throw new Error('First');
}
function throwingSecond() {
throw new Error('Second');
}
function notThrowing() {}
assert.throws(throwingFirst, 'Second');
assert.throws(throwingSecond, 'Second');
assert.throws(notThrowing, 'Second');
assert.throws(throwingSecond, /Second$/);
assert.throws(throwingFirst, /Second$/);
const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
function throwingFirst() {
throw new Error('First');
}
function throwingSecond() {
throw new Error('Second');
}
function notThrowing() {}
assert.throws(throwingFirst, 'Second');
assert.throws(throwingSecond, 'Second');
assert.throws(notThrowing, 'Second');
assert.throws(throwingSecond, /Second$/);
assert.throws(throwingFirst, /Second$/);
Due to the confusing error-prone notation, avoid a string as the second
argument.
Buffer#
Source Code: lib/buffer.js
Buffer
objects are used to represent a fixed-length sequence of bytes. Many
Node.js APIs support Buffer
s.
The Buffer
class is a subclass of JavaScript's Uint8Array
class and
extends it with methods that cover additional use cases. Node.js APIs accept
plain Uint8Array
s wherever Buffer
s are supported as well.
While the Buffer
class is available within the global scope, it is still
recommended to explicitly reference it via an import or require statement.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf1 = Buffer.alloc(10);
const buf2 = Buffer.alloc(10, 1);
const buf3 = Buffer.allocUnsafe(10);
const buf4 = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3]);
const buf5 = Buffer.from([257, 257.5, -255, '1']);
const buf6 = Buffer.from('tést');
const buf7 = Buffer.from('tést', 'latin1');
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf1 = Buffer.alloc(10);
const buf2 = Buffer.alloc(10, 1);
const buf3 = Buffer.allocUnsafe(10);
const buf4 = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3]);
const buf5 = Buffer.from([257, 257.5, -255, '1']);
const buf6 = Buffer.from('tést');
const buf7 = Buffer.from('tést', 'latin1');
Buffers and character encodings#
When converting between Buffer
s and strings, a character encoding may be
specified. If no character encoding is specified, UTF-8 will be used as the
default.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from('hello world', 'utf8');
console.log(buf.toString('hex'));
console.log(buf.toString('base64'));
console.log(Buffer.from('fhqwhgads', 'utf8'));
console.log(Buffer.from('fhqwhgads', 'utf16le'));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from('hello world', 'utf8');
console.log(buf.toString('hex'));
console.log(buf.toString('base64'));
console.log(Buffer.from('fhqwhgads', 'utf8'));
console.log(Buffer.from('fhqwhgads', 'utf16le'));
Node.js buffers accept all case variations of encoding strings that they
receive. For example, UTF-8 can be specified as 'utf8'
, 'UTF8'
, or 'uTf8'
.
The character encodings currently supported by Node.js are the following:
-
'utf8'
(alias: 'utf-8'
): Multi-byte encoded Unicode characters. Many web
pages and other document formats use UTF-8. This is the default character
encoding. When decoding a Buffer
into a string that does not exclusively
contain valid UTF-8 data, the Unicode replacement character U+FFFD
� will be
used to represent those errors.
-
'utf16le'
(alias: 'utf-16le'
): Multi-byte encoded Unicode characters.
Unlike 'utf8'
, each character in the string will be encoded using either 2
or 4 bytes. Node.js only supports the little-endian variant of
UTF-16.
-
'latin1'
: Latin-1 stands for ISO-8859-1. This character encoding only
supports the Unicode characters from U+0000
to U+00FF
. Each character is
encoded using a single byte. Characters that do not fit into that range are
truncated and will be mapped to characters in that range.
Converting a Buffer
into a string using one of the above is referred to as
decoding, and converting a string into a Buffer
is referred to as encoding.
Node.js also supports the following binary-to-text encodings. For
binary-to-text encodings, the naming convention is reversed: Converting a
Buffer
into a string is typically referred to as encoding, and converting a
string into a Buffer
as decoding.
-
'base64'
: Base64 encoding. When creating a Buffer
from a string,
this encoding will also correctly accept "URL and Filename Safe Alphabet" as
specified in RFC 4648, Section 5. Whitespace characters such as spaces,
tabs, and new lines contained within the base64-encoded string are ignored.
-
'base64url'
: base64url encoding as specified in
RFC 4648, Section 5. When creating a Buffer
from a string, this
encoding will also correctly accept regular base64-encoded strings. When
encoding a Buffer
to a string, this encoding will omit padding.
-
'hex'
: Encode each byte as two hexadecimal characters. Data truncation
may occur when decoding strings that do not exclusively consist of an even
number of hexadecimal characters. See below for an example.
The following legacy character encodings are also supported:
-
'ascii'
: For 7-bit ASCII data only. When encoding a string into a
Buffer
, this is equivalent to using 'latin1'
. When decoding a Buffer
into a string, using this encoding will additionally unset the highest bit of
each byte before decoding as 'latin1'
.
Generally, there should be no reason to use this encoding, as 'utf8'
(or, if the data is known to always be ASCII-only, 'latin1'
) will be a
better choice when encoding or decoding ASCII-only text. It is only provided
for legacy compatibility.
-
'binary'
: Alias for 'latin1'
. See binary strings for more background
on this topic. The name of this encoding can be very misleading, as all of the
encodings listed here convert between strings and binary data. For converting
between strings and Buffer
s, typically 'utf8'
is the right choice.
-
'ucs2'
, 'ucs-2'
: Aliases of 'utf16le'
. UCS-2 used to refer to a variant
of UTF-16 that did not support characters that had code points larger than
U+FFFF. In Node.js, these code points are always supported.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
Buffer.from('1ag123', 'hex');
Buffer.from('1a7', 'hex');
Buffer.from('1634', 'hex');
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
Buffer.from('1ag123', 'hex');
Buffer.from('1a7', 'hex');
Buffer.from('1634', 'hex');
Modern Web browsers follow the WHATWG Encoding Standard which aliases
both 'latin1'
and 'ISO-8859-1'
to 'win-1252'
. This means that while doing
something like http.get()
, if the returned charset is one of those listed in
the WHATWG specification it is possible that the server actually returned
'win-1252'
-encoded data, and using 'latin1'
encoding may incorrectly decode
the characters.
Buffers and TypedArrays#
Buffer
instances are also JavaScript Uint8Array
and TypedArray
instances. All TypedArray
methods are available on Buffer
s. There are,
however, subtle incompatibilities between the Buffer
API and the
TypedArray
API.
In particular:
There are two ways to create new TypedArray
instances from a Buffer
:
- Passing a
Buffer
to a TypedArray
constructor will copy the Buffer
s
contents, interpreted as an array of integers, and not as a byte sequence
of the target type.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4]);
const uint32array = new Uint32Array(buf);
console.log(uint32array);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4]);
const uint32array = new Uint32Array(buf);
console.log(uint32array);
- Passing the
Buffer
s underlying ArrayBuffer
will create a
TypedArray
that shares its memory with the Buffer
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from('hello', 'utf16le');
const uint16array = new Uint16Array(
buf.buffer,
buf.byteOffset,
buf.length / Uint16Array.BYTES_PER_ELEMENT);
console.log(uint16array);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from('hello', 'utf16le');
const uint16array = new Uint16Array(
buf.buffer,
buf.byteOffset,
buf.length / Uint16Array.BYTES_PER_ELEMENT);
console.log(uint16array);
It is possible to create a new Buffer
that shares the same allocated
memory as a TypedArray
instance by using the TypedArray
object's
.buffer
property in the same way. Buffer.from()
behaves like new Uint8Array()
in this context.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const arr = new Uint16Array(2);
arr[0] = 5000;
arr[1] = 4000;
const buf1 = Buffer.from(arr);
const buf2 = Buffer.from(arr.buffer);
console.log(buf1);
console.log(buf2);
arr[1] = 6000;
console.log(buf1);
console.log(buf2);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const arr = new Uint16Array(2);
arr[0] = 5000;
arr[1] = 4000;
const buf1 = Buffer.from(arr);
const buf2 = Buffer.from(arr.buffer);
console.log(buf1);
console.log(buf2);
arr[1] = 6000;
console.log(buf1);
console.log(buf2);
When creating a Buffer
using a TypedArray
's .buffer
, it is
possible to use only a portion of the underlying ArrayBuffer
by passing in
byteOffset
and length
parameters.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const arr = new Uint16Array(20);
const buf = Buffer.from(arr.buffer, 0, 16);
console.log(buf.length);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const arr = new Uint16Array(20);
const buf = Buffer.from(arr.buffer, 0, 16);
console.log(buf.length);
The Buffer.from()
and TypedArray.from()
have different signatures and
implementations. Specifically, the TypedArray
variants accept a second
argument that is a mapping function that is invoked on every element of the
typed array:
TypedArray.from(source[, mapFn[, thisArg]])
The Buffer.from()
method, however, does not support the use of a mapping
function:
Class: Blob
#
A Blob
encapsulates immutable, raw data that can be safely shared across
multiple worker threads.
new buffer.Blob([sources[, options]])
#
Creates a new Blob
object containing a concatenation of the given sources.
<ArrayBuffer>, <TypedArray>, <DataView>, and <Buffer> sources are copied into
the 'Blob' and can therefore be safely modified after the 'Blob' is created.
String sources are encoded as UTF-8 byte sequences and copied into the Blob.
Unmatched surrogate pairs within each string part will be replaced by Unicode
U+FFFD replacement characters.
blob.arrayBuffer()
#
Added in: v15.7.0
Returns a promise that fulfills with an <ArrayBuffer> containing a copy of
the Blob
data.
blob.size
#
Added in: v15.7.0
The total size of the Blob
in bytes.
blob.slice([start[, end[, type]]])
#
Added in: v15.7.0
Creates and returns a new Blob
containing a subset of this Blob
objects
data. The original Blob
is not altered.
blob.stream()
#
Added in: v16.7.0
Returns a new ReadableStream
that allows the content of the Blob
to be read.
blob.text()
#
Added in: v15.7.0
Returns a promise that fulfills with the contents of the Blob
decoded as a
UTF-8 string.
blob.type
#
Added in: v15.7.0
The content-type of the Blob
.
Blob
objects and MessageChannel
#
Once a <Blob> object is created, it can be sent via MessagePort
to multiple
destinations without transferring or immediately copying the data. The data
contained by the Blob
is copied only when the arrayBuffer()
or text()
methods are called.
import { Blob, Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
import { setTimeout as delay } from 'node:timers/promises';
const blob = new Blob(['hello there']);
const mc1 = new MessageChannel();
const mc2 = new MessageChannel();
mc1.port1.onmessage = async ({ data }) => {
console.log(await data.arrayBuffer());
mc1.port1.close();
};
mc2.port1.onmessage = async ({ data }) => {
await delay(1000);
console.log(await data.arrayBuffer());
mc2.port1.close();
};
mc1.port2.postMessage(blob);
mc2.port2.postMessage(blob);
blob.text().then(console.log);
const { Blob, Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const { setTimeout: delay } = require('node:timers/promises');
const blob = new Blob(['hello there']);
const mc1 = new MessageChannel();
const mc2 = new MessageChannel();
mc1.port1.onmessage = async ({ data }) => {
console.log(await data.arrayBuffer());
mc1.port1.close();
};
mc2.port1.onmessage = async ({ data }) => {
await delay(1000);
console.log(await data.arrayBuffer());
mc2.port1.close();
};
mc1.port2.postMessage(blob);
mc2.port2.postMessage(blob);
blob.text().then(console.log);
Class: Buffer
#
The Buffer
class is a global type for dealing with binary data directly.
It can be constructed in a variety of ways.
Static method: Buffer.alloc(size[, fill[, encoding]])
#
Allocates a new Buffer
of size
bytes. If fill
is undefined
, the
Buffer
will be zero-filled.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.alloc(5);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.alloc(5);
console.log(buf);
If size
is larger than
buffer.constants.MAX_LENGTH
or smaller than 0, ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE
is thrown.
If fill
is specified, the allocated Buffer
will be initialized by calling
buf.fill(fill)
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.alloc(5, 'a');
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.alloc(5, 'a');
console.log(buf);
If both fill
and encoding
are specified, the allocated Buffer
will be
initialized by calling buf.fill(fill, encoding)
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.alloc(11, 'aGVsbG8gd29ybGQ=', 'base64');
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.alloc(11, 'aGVsbG8gd29ybGQ=', 'base64');
console.log(buf);
Calling Buffer.alloc()
can be measurably slower than the alternative
Buffer.allocUnsafe()
but ensures that the newly created Buffer
instance
contents will never contain sensitive data from previous allocations, including
data that might not have been allocated for Buffer
s.
A TypeError
will be thrown if size
is not a number.
Static method: Buffer.allocUnsafe(size)
#
size
<integer> The desired length of the new Buffer
.
Allocates a new Buffer
of size
bytes. If size
is larger than
buffer.constants.MAX_LENGTH
or smaller than 0, ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE
is thrown.
The underlying memory for Buffer
instances created in this way is not
initialized. The contents of the newly created Buffer
are unknown and
may contain sensitive data. Use Buffer.alloc()
instead to initialize
Buffer
instances with zeroes.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(10);
console.log(buf);
buf.fill(0);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(10);
console.log(buf);
buf.fill(0);
console.log(buf);
A TypeError
will be thrown if size
is not a number.
The Buffer
module pre-allocates an internal Buffer
instance of
size Buffer.poolSize
that is used as a pool for the fast allocation of new
Buffer
instances created using Buffer.allocUnsafe()
,
Buffer.from(array)
, Buffer.concat()
, and the deprecated
new Buffer(size)
constructor only when size
is less than or equal
to Buffer.poolSize >> 1
(floor of Buffer.poolSize
divided by two).
Use of this pre-allocated internal memory pool is a key difference between
calling Buffer.alloc(size, fill)
vs. Buffer.allocUnsafe(size).fill(fill)
.
Specifically, Buffer.alloc(size, fill)
will never use the internal Buffer
pool, while Buffer.allocUnsafe(size).fill(fill)
will use the internal
Buffer
pool if size
is less than or equal to half Buffer.poolSize
. The
difference is subtle but can be important when an application requires the
additional performance that Buffer.allocUnsafe()
provides.
Static method: Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow(size)
#
size
<integer> The desired length of the new Buffer
.
Allocates a new Buffer
of size
bytes. If size
is larger than
buffer.constants.MAX_LENGTH
or smaller than 0, ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE
is thrown. A zero-length Buffer
is created if size
is 0.
The underlying memory for Buffer
instances created in this way is not
initialized. The contents of the newly created Buffer
are unknown and
may contain sensitive data. Use buf.fill(0)
to initialize
such Buffer
instances with zeroes.
When using Buffer.allocUnsafe()
to allocate new Buffer
instances,
allocations under 4 KiB are sliced from a single pre-allocated Buffer
. This
allows applications to avoid the garbage collection overhead of creating many
individually allocated Buffer
instances. This approach improves both
performance and memory usage by eliminating the need to track and clean up as
many individual ArrayBuffer
objects.
However, in the case where a developer may need to retain a small chunk of
memory from a pool for an indeterminate amount of time, it may be appropriate
to create an un-pooled Buffer
instance using Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow()
and
then copying out the relevant bits.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const store = [];
socket.on('readable', () => {
let data;
while (null !== (data = readable.read())) {
const sb = Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow(10);
data.copy(sb, 0, 0, 10);
store.push(sb);
}
});
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const store = [];
socket.on('readable', () => {
let data;
while (null !== (data = readable.read())) {
const sb = Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow(10);
data.copy(sb, 0, 0, 10);
store.push(sb);
}
});
A TypeError
will be thrown if size
is not a number.
Static method: Buffer.byteLength(string[, encoding])
#
Returns the byte length of a string when encoded using encoding
.
This is not the same as String.prototype.length
, which does not account
for the encoding that is used to convert the string into bytes.
For 'base64'
, 'base64url'
, and 'hex'
, this function assumes valid input.
For strings that contain non-base64/hex-encoded data (e.g. whitespace), the
return value might be greater than the length of a Buffer
created from the
string.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const str = '\u00bd + \u00bc = \u00be';
console.log(`${str}: ${str.length} characters, ` +
`${Buffer.byteLength(str, 'utf8')} bytes`);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const str = '\u00bd + \u00bc = \u00be';
console.log(`${str}: ${str.length} characters, ` +
`${Buffer.byteLength(str, 'utf8')} bytes`);
When string
is a Buffer
/DataView
/TypedArray
/ArrayBuffer
/
SharedArrayBuffer
, the byte length as reported by .byteLength
is returned.
Static method: Buffer.compare(buf1, buf2)
#
Compares buf1
to buf2
, typically for the purpose of sorting arrays of
Buffer
instances. This is equivalent to calling
buf1.compare(buf2)
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf1 = Buffer.from('1234');
const buf2 = Buffer.from('0123');
const arr = [buf1, buf2];
console.log(arr.sort(Buffer.compare));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf1 = Buffer.from('1234');
const buf2 = Buffer.from('0123');
const arr = [buf1, buf2];
console.log(arr.sort(Buffer.compare));
Static method: Buffer.concat(list[, totalLength])
#
Returns a new Buffer
which is the result of concatenating all the Buffer
instances in the list
together.
If the list has no items, or if the totalLength
is 0, then a new zero-length
Buffer
is returned.
If totalLength
is not provided, it is calculated from the Buffer
instances
in list
by adding their lengths.
If totalLength
is provided, it is coerced to an unsigned integer. If the
combined length of the Buffer
s in list
exceeds totalLength
, the result is
truncated to totalLength
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf1 = Buffer.alloc(10);
const buf2 = Buffer.alloc(14);
const buf3 = Buffer.alloc(18);
const totalLength = buf1.length + buf2.length + buf3.length;
console.log(totalLength);
const bufA = Buffer.concat([buf1, buf2, buf3], totalLength);
console.log(bufA);
console.log(bufA.length);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf1 = Buffer.alloc(10);
const buf2 = Buffer.alloc(14);
const buf3 = Buffer.alloc(18);
const totalLength = buf1.length + buf2.length + buf3.length;
console.log(totalLength);
const bufA = Buffer.concat([buf1, buf2, buf3], totalLength);
console.log(bufA);
console.log(bufA.length);
Buffer.concat()
may also use the internal Buffer
pool like
Buffer.allocUnsafe()
does.
Static method: Buffer.from(array)
#
Added in: v5.10.0
Allocates a new Buffer
using an array
of bytes in the range 0
– 255
.
Array entries outside that range will be truncated to fit into it.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([0x62, 0x75, 0x66, 0x66, 0x65, 0x72]);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([0x62, 0x75, 0x66, 0x66, 0x65, 0x72]);
A TypeError
will be thrown if array
is not an Array
or another type
appropriate for Buffer.from()
variants.
Buffer.from(array)
and Buffer.from(string)
may also use the internal
Buffer
pool like Buffer.allocUnsafe()
does.
Static method: Buffer.from(arrayBuffer[, byteOffset[, length]])
#
Added in: v5.10.0
This creates a view of the ArrayBuffer
without copying the underlying
memory. For example, when passed a reference to the .buffer
property of a
TypedArray
instance, the newly created Buffer
will share the same
allocated memory as the TypedArray
's underlying ArrayBuffer
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const arr = new Uint16Array(2);
arr[0] = 5000;
arr[1] = 4000;
const buf = Buffer.from(arr.buffer);
console.log(buf);
arr[1] = 6000;
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const arr = new Uint16Array(2);
arr[0] = 5000;
arr[1] = 4000;
const buf = Buffer.from(arr.buffer);
console.log(buf);
arr[1] = 6000;
console.log(buf);
The optional byteOffset
and length
arguments specify a memory range within
the arrayBuffer
that will be shared by the Buffer
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const ab = new ArrayBuffer(10);
const buf = Buffer.from(ab, 0, 2);
console.log(buf.length);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const ab = new ArrayBuffer(10);
const buf = Buffer.from(ab, 0, 2);
console.log(buf.length);
A TypeError
will be thrown if arrayBuffer
is not an ArrayBuffer
or a
SharedArrayBuffer
or another type appropriate for Buffer.from()
variants.
It is important to remember that a backing ArrayBuffer
can cover a range
of memory that extends beyond the bounds of a TypedArray
view. A new
Buffer
created using the buffer
property of a TypedArray
may extend
beyond the range of the TypedArray
:
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const arrA = Uint8Array.from([0x63, 0x64, 0x65, 0x66]);
const arrB = new Uint8Array(arrA.buffer, 1, 2);
console.log(arrA.buffer === arrB.buffer);
const buf = Buffer.from(arrB.buffer);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const arrA = Uint8Array.from([0x63, 0x64, 0x65, 0x66]);
const arrB = new Uint8Array(arrA.buffer, 1, 2);
console.log(arrA.buffer === arrB.buffer);
const buf = Buffer.from(arrB.buffer);
console.log(buf);
Static method: Buffer.from(buffer)
#
Added in: v5.10.0
Copies the passed buffer
data onto a new Buffer
instance.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf1 = Buffer.from('buffer');
const buf2 = Buffer.from(buf1);
buf1[0] = 0x61;
console.log(buf1.toString());
console.log(buf2.toString());
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf1 = Buffer.from('buffer');
const buf2 = Buffer.from(buf1);
buf1[0] = 0x61;
console.log(buf1.toString());
console.log(buf2.toString());
A TypeError
will be thrown if buffer
is not a Buffer
or another type
appropriate for Buffer.from()
variants.
Static method: Buffer.from(object[, offsetOrEncoding[, length]])
#
Added in: v8.2.0
For objects whose valueOf()
function returns a value not strictly equal to
object
, returns Buffer.from(object.valueOf(), offsetOrEncoding, length)
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from(new String('this is a test'));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from(new String('this is a test'));
For objects that support Symbol.toPrimitive
, returns
Buffer.from(object[Symbol.toPrimitive]('string'), offsetOrEncoding)
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
class Foo {
[Symbol.toPrimitive]() {
return 'this is a test';
}
}
const buf = Buffer.from(new Foo(), 'utf8');
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
class Foo {
[Symbol.toPrimitive]() {
return 'this is a test';
}
}
const buf = Buffer.from(new Foo(), 'utf8');
A TypeError
will be thrown if object
does not have the mentioned methods or
is not of another type appropriate for Buffer.from()
variants.
Static method: Buffer.from(string[, encoding])
#
Added in: v5.10.0
string
<string> A string to encode.
encoding
<string> The encoding of string
. Default: 'utf8'
.
Creates a new Buffer
containing string
. The encoding
parameter identifies
the character encoding to be used when converting string
into bytes.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf1 = Buffer.from('this is a tést');
const buf2 = Buffer.from('7468697320697320612074c3a97374', 'hex');
console.log(buf1.toString());
console.log(buf2.toString());
console.log(buf1.toString('latin1'));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf1 = Buffer.from('this is a tést');
const buf2 = Buffer.from('7468697320697320612074c3a97374', 'hex');
console.log(buf1.toString());
console.log(buf2.toString());
console.log(buf1.toString('latin1'));
A TypeError
will be thrown if string
is not a string or another type
appropriate for Buffer.from()
variants.
Static method: Buffer.isBuffer(obj)
#
Added in: v0.1.101
Returns true
if obj
is a Buffer
, false
otherwise.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
Buffer.isBuffer(Buffer.alloc(10));
Buffer.isBuffer(Buffer.from('foo'));
Buffer.isBuffer('a string');
Buffer.isBuffer([]);
Buffer.isBuffer(new Uint8Array(1024));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
Buffer.isBuffer(Buffer.alloc(10));
Buffer.isBuffer(Buffer.from('foo'));
Buffer.isBuffer('a string');
Buffer.isBuffer([]);
Buffer.isBuffer(new Uint8Array(1024));
Static method: Buffer.isEncoding(encoding)
#
Added in: v0.9.1
Returns true
if encoding
is the name of a supported character encoding,
or false
otherwise.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
console.log(Buffer.isEncoding('utf8'));
console.log(Buffer.isEncoding('hex'));
console.log(Buffer.isEncoding('utf/8'));
console.log(Buffer.isEncoding(''));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
console.log(Buffer.isEncoding('utf8'));
console.log(Buffer.isEncoding('hex'));
console.log(Buffer.isEncoding('utf/8'));
console.log(Buffer.isEncoding(''));
Class property: Buffer.poolSize
#
Added in: v0.11.3
This is the size (in bytes) of pre-allocated internal Buffer
instances used
for pooling. This value may be modified.
buf[index]
#
The index operator [index]
can be used to get and set the octet at position
index
in buf
. The values refer to individual bytes, so the legal value
range is between 0x00
and 0xFF
(hex) or 0
and 255
(decimal).
This operator is inherited from Uint8Array
, so its behavior on out-of-bounds
access is the same as Uint8Array
. In other words, buf[index]
returns
undefined
when index
is negative or greater or equal to buf.length
, and
buf[index] = value
does not modify the buffer if index
is negative or
>= buf.length
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const str = 'Node.js';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(str.length);
for (let i = 0; i < str.length; i++) {
buf[i] = str.charCodeAt(i);
}
console.log(buf.toString('utf8'));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const str = 'Node.js';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(str.length);
for (let i = 0; i < str.length; i++) {
buf[i] = str.charCodeAt(i);
}
console.log(buf.toString('utf8'));
buf.buffer
#
- <ArrayBuffer> The underlying
ArrayBuffer
object based on which this Buffer
object is created.
This ArrayBuffer
is not guaranteed to correspond exactly to the original
Buffer
. See the notes on buf.byteOffset
for details.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const arrayBuffer = new ArrayBuffer(16);
const buffer = Buffer.from(arrayBuffer);
console.log(buffer.buffer === arrayBuffer);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const arrayBuffer = new ArrayBuffer(16);
const buffer = Buffer.from(arrayBuffer);
console.log(buffer.buffer === arrayBuffer);
buf.byteOffset
#
- <integer> The
byteOffset
of the Buffer
s underlying ArrayBuffer
object.
When setting byteOffset
in Buffer.from(ArrayBuffer, byteOffset, length)
,
or sometimes when allocating a Buffer
smaller than Buffer.poolSize
, the
buffer does not start from a zero offset on the underlying ArrayBuffer
.
This can cause problems when accessing the underlying ArrayBuffer
directly
using buf.buffer
, as other parts of the ArrayBuffer
may be unrelated
to the Buffer
object itself.
A common issue when creating a TypedArray
object that shares its memory with
a Buffer
is that in this case one needs to specify the byteOffset
correctly:
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const nodeBuffer = Buffer.from([0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]);
new Int8Array(nodeBuffer.buffer, nodeBuffer.byteOffset, nodeBuffer.length);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const nodeBuffer = Buffer.from([0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]);
new Int8Array(nodeBuffer.buffer, nodeBuffer.byteOffset, nodeBuffer.length);
buf.compare(target[, targetStart[, targetEnd[, sourceStart[, sourceEnd]]]])
#
target
<Buffer> | <Uint8Array> A Buffer
or Uint8Array
with which to
compare buf
.
targetStart
<integer> The offset within target
at which to begin
comparison. Default: 0
.
targetEnd
<integer> The offset within target
at which to end comparison
(not inclusive). Default: target.length
.
sourceStart
<integer> The offset within buf
at which to begin comparison.
Default: 0
.
sourceEnd
<integer> The offset within buf
at which to end comparison
(not inclusive). Default: buf.length
.
- Returns: <integer>
Compares buf
with target
and returns a number indicating whether buf
comes before, after, or is the same as target
in sort order.
Comparison is based on the actual sequence of bytes in each Buffer
.
0
is returned if target
is the same as buf
1
is returned if target
should come before buf
when sorted.
-1
is returned if target
should come after buf
when sorted.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf1 = Buffer.from('ABC');
const buf2 = Buffer.from('BCD');
const buf3 = Buffer.from('ABCD');
console.log(buf1.compare(buf1));
console.log(buf1.compare(buf2));
console.log(buf1.compare(buf3));
console.log(buf2.compare(buf1));
console.log(buf2.compare(buf3));
console.log([buf1, buf2, buf3].sort(Buffer.compare));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf1 = Buffer.from('ABC');
const buf2 = Buffer.from('BCD');
const buf3 = Buffer.from('ABCD');
console.log(buf1.compare(buf1));
console.log(buf1.compare(buf2));
console.log(buf1.compare(buf3));
console.log(buf2.compare(buf1));
console.log(buf2.compare(buf3));
console.log([buf1, buf2, buf3].sort(Buffer.compare));
The optional targetStart
, targetEnd
, sourceStart
, and sourceEnd
arguments can be used to limit the comparison to specific ranges within target
and buf
respectively.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf1 = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]);
const buf2 = Buffer.from([5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1, 2, 3, 4]);
console.log(buf1.compare(buf2, 5, 9, 0, 4));
console.log(buf1.compare(buf2, 0, 6, 4));
console.log(buf1.compare(buf2, 5, 6, 5));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf1 = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]);
const buf2 = Buffer.from([5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1, 2, 3, 4]);
console.log(buf1.compare(buf2, 5, 9, 0, 4));
console.log(buf1.compare(buf2, 0, 6, 4));
console.log(buf1.compare(buf2, 5, 6, 5));
ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE
is thrown if targetStart < 0
, sourceStart < 0
,
targetEnd > target.byteLength
, or sourceEnd > source.byteLength
.
buf.copy(target[, targetStart[, sourceStart[, sourceEnd]]])
#
Added in: v0.1.90
target
<Buffer> | <Uint8Array> A Buffer
or Uint8Array
to copy into.
targetStart
<integer> The offset within target
at which to begin
writing. Default: 0
.
sourceStart
<integer> The offset within buf
from which to begin copying.
Default: 0
.
sourceEnd
<integer> The offset within buf
at which to stop copying (not
inclusive). Default: buf.length
.
- Returns: <integer> The number of bytes copied.
Copies data from a region of buf
to a region in target
, even if the target
memory region overlaps with buf
.
TypedArray.prototype.set()
performs the same operation, and is available
for all TypedArrays, including Node.js Buffer
s, although it takes
different function arguments.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf1 = Buffer.allocUnsafe(26);
const buf2 = Buffer.allocUnsafe(26).fill('!');
for (let i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
buf1[i] = i + 97;
}
buf1.copy(buf2, 8, 16, 20);
console.log(buf2.toString('ascii', 0, 25));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf1 = Buffer.allocUnsafe(26);
const buf2 = Buffer.allocUnsafe(26).fill('!');
for (let i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
buf1[i] = i + 97;
}
buf1.copy(buf2, 8, 16, 20);
console.log(buf2.toString('ascii', 0, 25));
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(26);
for (let i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
buf[i] = i + 97;
}
buf.copy(buf, 0, 4, 10);
console.log(buf.toString());
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(26);
for (let i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
buf[i] = i + 97;
}
buf.copy(buf, 0, 4, 10);
console.log(buf.toString());
buf.entries()
#
Added in: v1.1.0
Creates and returns an iterator of [index, byte]
pairs from the contents
of buf
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from('buffer');
for (const pair of buf.entries()) {
console.log(pair);
}
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from('buffer');
for (const pair of buf.entries()) {
console.log(pair);
}
buf.equals(otherBuffer)
#
Returns true
if both buf
and otherBuffer
have exactly the same bytes,
false
otherwise. Equivalent to
buf.compare(otherBuffer) === 0
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf1 = Buffer.from('ABC');
const buf2 = Buffer.from('414243', 'hex');
const buf3 = Buffer.from('ABCD');
console.log(buf1.equals(buf2));
console.log(buf1.equals(buf3));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf1 = Buffer.from('ABC');
const buf2 = Buffer.from('414243', 'hex');
const buf3 = Buffer.from('ABCD');
console.log(buf1.equals(buf2));
console.log(buf1.equals(buf3));
buf.fill(value[, offset[, end]][, encoding])
#
Fills buf
with the specified value
. If the offset
and end
are not given,
the entire buf
will be filled:
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const b = Buffer.allocUnsafe(50).fill('h');
console.log(b.toString());
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const b = Buffer.allocUnsafe(50).fill('h');
console.log(b.toString());
value
is coerced to a uint32
value if it is not a string, Buffer
, or
integer. If the resulting integer is greater than 255
(decimal), buf
will be
filled with value & 255
.
If the final write of a fill()
operation falls on a multi-byte character,
then only the bytes of that character that fit into buf
are written:
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
console.log(Buffer.allocUnsafe(5).fill('\u0222'));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
console.log(Buffer.allocUnsafe(5).fill('\u0222'));
If value
contains invalid characters, it is truncated; if no valid
fill data remains, an exception is thrown:
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(5);
console.log(buf.fill('a'));
console.log(buf.fill('aazz', 'hex'));
console.log(buf.fill('zz', 'hex'));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(5);
console.log(buf.fill('a'));
console.log(buf.fill('aazz', 'hex'));
console.log(buf.fill('zz', 'hex'));
buf.includes(value[, byteOffset][, encoding])
#
Added in: v5.3.0
value
<string> | <Buffer> | <Uint8Array> | <integer> What to search for.
byteOffset
<integer> Where to begin searching in buf
. If negative, then
offset is calculated from the end of buf
. Default: 0
.
encoding
<string> If value
is a string, this is its encoding.
Default: 'utf8'
.
- Returns: <boolean>
true
if value
was found in buf
, false
otherwise.
Equivalent to buf.indexOf() !== -1
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from('this is a buffer');
console.log(buf.includes('this'));
console.log(buf.includes('is'));
console.log(buf.includes(Buffer.from('a buffer')));
console.log(buf.includes(97));
console.log(buf.includes(Buffer.from('a buffer example')));
console.log(buf.includes(Buffer.from('a buffer example').slice(0, 8)));
console.log(buf.includes('this', 4));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from('this is a buffer');
console.log(buf.includes('this'));
console.log(buf.includes('is'));
console.log(buf.includes(Buffer.from('a buffer')));
console.log(buf.includes(97));
console.log(buf.includes(Buffer.from('a buffer example')));
console.log(buf.includes(Buffer.from('a buffer example').slice(0, 8)));
console.log(buf.includes('this', 4));
buf.indexOf(value[, byteOffset][, encoding])
#
value
<string> | <Buffer> | <Uint8Array> | <integer> What to search for.
byteOffset
<integer> Where to begin searching in buf
. If negative, then
offset is calculated from the end of buf
. Default: 0
.
encoding
<string> If value
is a string, this is the encoding used to
determine the binary representation of the string that will be searched for in
buf
. Default: 'utf8'
.
- Returns: <integer> The index of the first occurrence of
value
in buf
, or
-1
if buf
does not contain value
.
If value
is:
- a string,
value
is interpreted according to the character encoding in
encoding
.
- a
Buffer
or Uint8Array
, value
will be used in its entirety.
To compare a partial Buffer
, use buf.subarray
.
- a number,
value
will be interpreted as an unsigned 8-bit integer
value between 0
and 255
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from('this is a buffer');
console.log(buf.indexOf('this'));
console.log(buf.indexOf('is'));
console.log(buf.indexOf(Buffer.from('a buffer')));
console.log(buf.indexOf(97));
console.log(buf.indexOf(Buffer.from('a buffer example')));
console.log(buf.indexOf(Buffer.from('a buffer example').slice(0, 8)));
const utf16Buffer = Buffer.from('\u039a\u0391\u03a3\u03a3\u0395', 'utf16le');
console.log(utf16Buffer.indexOf('\u03a3', 0, 'utf16le'));
console.log(utf16Buffer.indexOf('\u03a3', -4, 'utf16le'));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from('this is a buffer');
console.log(buf.indexOf('this'));
console.log(buf.indexOf('is'));
console.log(buf.indexOf(Buffer.from('a buffer')));
console.log(buf.indexOf(97));
console.log(buf.indexOf(Buffer.from('a buffer example')));
console.log(buf.indexOf(Buffer.from('a buffer example').slice(0, 8)));
const utf16Buffer = Buffer.from('\u039a\u0391\u03a3\u03a3\u0395', 'utf16le');
console.log(utf16Buffer.indexOf('\u03a3', 0, 'utf16le'));
console.log(utf16Buffer.indexOf('\u03a3', -4, 'utf16le'));
If value
is not a string, number, or Buffer
, this method will throw a
TypeError
. If value
is a number, it will be coerced to a valid byte value,
an integer between 0 and 255.
If byteOffset
is not a number, it will be coerced to a number. If the result
of coercion is NaN
or 0
, then the entire buffer will be searched. This
behavior matches String.prototype.indexOf()
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const b = Buffer.from('abcdef');
console.log(b.indexOf(99.9));
console.log(b.indexOf(256 + 99));
console.log(b.indexOf('b', undefined));
console.log(b.indexOf('b', {}));
console.log(b.indexOf('b', null));
console.log(b.indexOf('b', []));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const b = Buffer.from('abcdef');
console.log(b.indexOf(99.9));
console.log(b.indexOf(256 + 99));
console.log(b.indexOf('b', undefined));
console.log(b.indexOf('b', {}));
console.log(b.indexOf('b', null));
console.log(b.indexOf('b', []));
If value
is an empty string or empty Buffer
and byteOffset
is less
than buf.length
, byteOffset
will be returned. If value
is empty and
byteOffset
is at least buf.length
, buf.length
will be returned.
buf.keys()
#
Added in: v1.1.0
Creates and returns an iterator of buf
keys (indices).
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from('buffer');
for (const key of buf.keys()) {
console.log(key);
}
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from('buffer');
for (const key of buf.keys()) {
console.log(key);
}
buf.lastIndexOf(value[, byteOffset][, encoding])
#
value
<string> | <Buffer> | <Uint8Array> | <integer> What to search for.
byteOffset
<integer> Where to begin searching in buf
. If negative, then
offset is calculated from the end of buf
. Default:
buf.length - 1
.
encoding
<string> If value
is a string, this is the encoding used to
determine the binary representation of the string that will be searched for in
buf
. Default: 'utf8'
.
- Returns: <integer> The index of the last occurrence of
value
in buf
, or
-1
if buf
does not contain value
.
Identical to buf.indexOf()
, except the last occurrence of value
is found
rather than the first occurrence.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from('this buffer is a buffer');
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf('this'));
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf('buffer'));
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf(Buffer.from('buffer')));
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf(97));
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf(Buffer.from('yolo')));
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf('buffer', 5));
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf('buffer', 4));
const utf16Buffer = Buffer.from('\u039a\u0391\u03a3\u03a3\u0395', 'utf16le');
console.log(utf16Buffer.lastIndexOf('\u03a3', undefined, 'utf16le'));
console.log(utf16Buffer.lastIndexOf('\u03a3', -5, 'utf16le'));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from('this buffer is a buffer');
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf('this'));
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf('buffer'));
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf(Buffer.from('buffer')));
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf(97));
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf(Buffer.from('yolo')));
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf('buffer', 5));
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf('buffer', 4));
const utf16Buffer = Buffer.from('\u039a\u0391\u03a3\u03a3\u0395', 'utf16le');
console.log(utf16Buffer.lastIndexOf('\u03a3', undefined, 'utf16le'));
console.log(utf16Buffer.lastIndexOf('\u03a3', -5, 'utf16le'));
If value
is not a string, number, or Buffer
, this method will throw a
TypeError
. If value
is a number, it will be coerced to a valid byte value,
an integer between 0 and 255.
If byteOffset
is not a number, it will be coerced to a number. Any arguments
that coerce to NaN
, like {}
or undefined
, will search the whole buffer.
This behavior matches String.prototype.lastIndexOf()
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const b = Buffer.from('abcdef');
console.log(b.lastIndexOf(99.9));
console.log(b.lastIndexOf(256 + 99));
console.log(b.lastIndexOf('b', undefined));
console.log(b.lastIndexOf('b', {}));
console.log(b.lastIndexOf('b', null));
console.log(b.lastIndexOf('b', []));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const b = Buffer.from('abcdef');
console.log(b.lastIndexOf(99.9));
console.log(b.lastIndexOf(256 + 99));
console.log(b.lastIndexOf('b', undefined));
console.log(b.lastIndexOf('b', {}));
console.log(b.lastIndexOf('b', null));
console.log(b.lastIndexOf('b', []));
If value
is an empty string or empty Buffer
, byteOffset
will be returned.
buf.length
#
Added in: v0.1.90
Returns the number of bytes in buf
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.alloc(1234);
console.log(buf.length);
buf.write('some string', 0, 'utf8');
console.log(buf.length);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.alloc(1234);
console.log(buf.length);
buf.write('some string', 0, 'utf8');
console.log(buf.length);
buf.parent
#
Deprecated since: v8.0.0
The buf.parent
property is a deprecated alias for buf.buffer
.
buf.readBigInt64BE([offset])
#
Added in: v12.0.0, v10.20.0
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy: 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 8
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <bigint>
Reads a signed, big-endian 64-bit integer from buf
at the specified offset
.
Integers read from a Buffer
are interpreted as two's complement signed
values.
buf.readBigInt64LE([offset])
#
Added in: v12.0.0, v10.20.0
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy: 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 8
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <bigint>
Reads a signed, little-endian 64-bit integer from buf
at the specified
offset
.
Integers read from a Buffer
are interpreted as two's complement signed
values.
buf.readBigUInt64BE([offset])
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy: 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 8
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <bigint>
Reads an unsigned, big-endian 64-bit integer from buf
at the specified
offset
.
This function is also available under the readBigUint64BE
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff]);
console.log(buf.readBigUInt64BE(0));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff]);
console.log(buf.readBigUInt64BE(0));
buf.readBigUInt64LE([offset])
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy: 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 8
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <bigint>
Reads an unsigned, little-endian 64-bit integer from buf
at the specified
offset
.
This function is also available under the readBigUint64LE
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff]);
console.log(buf.readBigUInt64LE(0));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff]);
console.log(buf.readBigUInt64LE(0));
buf.readDoubleBE([offset])
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 8
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <number>
Reads a 64-bit, big-endian double from buf
at the specified offset
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]);
console.log(buf.readDoubleBE(0));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]);
console.log(buf.readDoubleBE(0));
buf.readDoubleLE([offset])
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 8
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <number>
Reads a 64-bit, little-endian double from buf
at the specified offset
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]);
console.log(buf.readDoubleLE(0));
console.log(buf.readDoubleLE(1));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]);
console.log(buf.readDoubleLE(0));
console.log(buf.readDoubleLE(1));
buf.readFloatBE([offset])
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 4
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <number>
Reads a 32-bit, big-endian float from buf
at the specified offset
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4]);
console.log(buf.readFloatBE(0));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4]);
console.log(buf.readFloatBE(0));
buf.readFloatLE([offset])
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 4
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <number>
Reads a 32-bit, little-endian float from buf
at the specified offset
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4]);
console.log(buf.readFloatLE(0));
console.log(buf.readFloatLE(1));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4]);
console.log(buf.readFloatLE(0));
console.log(buf.readFloatLE(1));
buf.readInt8([offset])
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 1
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
Reads a signed 8-bit integer from buf
at the specified offset
.
Integers read from a Buffer
are interpreted as two's complement signed values.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([-1, 5]);
console.log(buf.readInt8(0));
console.log(buf.readInt8(1));
console.log(buf.readInt8(2));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([-1, 5]);
console.log(buf.readInt8(0));
console.log(buf.readInt8(1));
console.log(buf.readInt8(2));
buf.readInt16BE([offset])
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 2
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
Reads a signed, big-endian 16-bit integer from buf
at the specified offset
.
Integers read from a Buffer
are interpreted as two's complement signed values.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([0, 5]);
console.log(buf.readInt16BE(0));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([0, 5]);
console.log(buf.readInt16BE(0));
buf.readInt16LE([offset])
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 2
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
Reads a signed, little-endian 16-bit integer from buf
at the specified
offset
.
Integers read from a Buffer
are interpreted as two's complement signed values.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([0, 5]);
console.log(buf.readInt16LE(0));
console.log(buf.readInt16LE(1));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([0, 5]);
console.log(buf.readInt16LE(0));
console.log(buf.readInt16LE(1));
buf.readInt32BE([offset])
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 4
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
Reads a signed, big-endian 32-bit integer from buf
at the specified offset
.
Integers read from a Buffer
are interpreted as two's complement signed values.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([0, 0, 0, 5]);
console.log(buf.readInt32BE(0));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([0, 0, 0, 5]);
console.log(buf.readInt32BE(0));
buf.readInt32LE([offset])
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 4
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
Reads a signed, little-endian 32-bit integer from buf
at the specified
offset
.
Integers read from a Buffer
are interpreted as two's complement signed values.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([0, 0, 0, 5]);
console.log(buf.readInt32LE(0));
console.log(buf.readInt32LE(1));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([0, 0, 0, 5]);
console.log(buf.readInt32LE(0));
console.log(buf.readInt32LE(1));
buf.readIntBE(offset, byteLength)
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - byteLength
.
byteLength
<integer> Number of bytes to read. Must satisfy
0 < byteLength <= 6
.
- Returns: <integer>
Reads byteLength
number of bytes from buf
at the specified offset
and interprets the result as a big-endian, two's complement signed value
supporting up to 48 bits of accuracy.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78, 0x90, 0xab]);
console.log(buf.readIntBE(0, 6).toString(16));
console.log(buf.readIntBE(1, 6).toString(16));
console.log(buf.readIntBE(1, 0).toString(16));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78, 0x90, 0xab]);
console.log(buf.readIntBE(0, 6).toString(16));
console.log(buf.readIntBE(1, 6).toString(16));
console.log(buf.readIntBE(1, 0).toString(16));
buf.readIntLE(offset, byteLength)
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - byteLength
.
byteLength
<integer> Number of bytes to read. Must satisfy
0 < byteLength <= 6
.
- Returns: <integer>
Reads byteLength
number of bytes from buf
at the specified offset
and interprets the result as a little-endian, two's complement signed value
supporting up to 48 bits of accuracy.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78, 0x90, 0xab]);
console.log(buf.readIntLE(0, 6).toString(16));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78, 0x90, 0xab]);
console.log(buf.readIntLE(0, 6).toString(16));
buf.readUInt8([offset])
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 1
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
Reads an unsigned 8-bit integer from buf
at the specified offset
.
This function is also available under the readUint8
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([1, -2]);
console.log(buf.readUInt8(0));
console.log(buf.readUInt8(1));
console.log(buf.readUInt8(2));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([1, -2]);
console.log(buf.readUInt8(0));
console.log(buf.readUInt8(1));
console.log(buf.readUInt8(2));
buf.readUInt16BE([offset])
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 2
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
Reads an unsigned, big-endian 16-bit integer from buf
at the specified
offset
.
This function is also available under the readUint16BE
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56]);
console.log(buf.readUInt16BE(0).toString(16));
console.log(buf.readUInt16BE(1).toString(16));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56]);
console.log(buf.readUInt16BE(0).toString(16));
console.log(buf.readUInt16BE(1).toString(16));
buf.readUInt16LE([offset])
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 2
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
Reads an unsigned, little-endian 16-bit integer from buf
at the specified
offset
.
This function is also available under the readUint16LE
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56]);
console.log(buf.readUInt16LE(0).toString(16));
console.log(buf.readUInt16LE(1).toString(16));
console.log(buf.readUInt16LE(2).toString(16));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56]);
console.log(buf.readUInt16LE(0).toString(16));
console.log(buf.readUInt16LE(1).toString(16));
console.log(buf.readUInt16LE(2).toString(16));
buf.readUInt32BE([offset])
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 4
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
Reads an unsigned, big-endian 32-bit integer from buf
at the specified
offset
.
This function is also available under the readUint32BE
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78]);
console.log(buf.readUInt32BE(0).toString(16));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78]);
console.log(buf.readUInt32BE(0).toString(16));
buf.readUInt32LE([offset])
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 4
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
Reads an unsigned, little-endian 32-bit integer from buf
at the specified
offset
.
This function is also available under the readUint32LE
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78]);
console.log(buf.readUInt32LE(0).toString(16));
console.log(buf.readUInt32LE(1).toString(16));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78]);
console.log(buf.readUInt32LE(0).toString(16));
console.log(buf.readUInt32LE(1).toString(16));
buf.readUIntBE(offset, byteLength)
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - byteLength
.
byteLength
<integer> Number of bytes to read. Must satisfy
0 < byteLength <= 6
.
- Returns: <integer>
Reads byteLength
number of bytes from buf
at the specified offset
and interprets the result as an unsigned big-endian integer supporting
up to 48 bits of accuracy.
This function is also available under the readUintBE
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78, 0x90, 0xab]);
console.log(buf.readUIntBE(0, 6).toString(16));
console.log(buf.readUIntBE(1, 6).toString(16));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78, 0x90, 0xab]);
console.log(buf.readUIntBE(0, 6).toString(16));
console.log(buf.readUIntBE(1, 6).toString(16));
buf.readUIntLE(offset, byteLength)
#
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to read. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - byteLength
.
byteLength
<integer> Number of bytes to read. Must satisfy
0 < byteLength <= 6
.
- Returns: <integer>
Reads byteLength
number of bytes from buf
at the specified offset
and interprets the result as an unsigned, little-endian integer supporting
up to 48 bits of accuracy.
This function is also available under the readUintLE
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78, 0x90, 0xab]);
console.log(buf.readUIntLE(0, 6).toString(16));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78, 0x90, 0xab]);
console.log(buf.readUIntLE(0, 6).toString(16));
buf.subarray([start[, end]])
#
Added in: v3.0.0
Returns a new Buffer
that references the same memory as the original, but
offset and cropped by the start
and end
indices.
Specifying end
greater than buf.length
will return the same result as
that of end
equal to buf.length
.
This method is inherited from TypedArray.prototype.subarray()
.
Modifying the new Buffer
slice will modify the memory in the original Buffer
because the allocated memory of the two objects overlap.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf1 = Buffer.allocUnsafe(26);
for (let i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
buf1[i] = i + 97;
}
const buf2 = buf1.subarray(0, 3);
console.log(buf2.toString('ascii', 0, buf2.length));
buf1[0] = 33;
console.log(buf2.toString('ascii', 0, buf2.length));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf1 = Buffer.allocUnsafe(26);
for (let i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
buf1[i] = i + 97;
}
const buf2 = buf1.subarray(0, 3);
console.log(buf2.toString('ascii', 0, buf2.length));
buf1[0] = 33;
console.log(buf2.toString('ascii', 0, buf2.length));
Specifying negative indexes causes the slice to be generated relative to the
end of buf
rather than the beginning.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from('buffer');
console.log(buf.subarray(-6, -1).toString());
console.log(buf.subarray(-6, -2).toString());
console.log(buf.subarray(-5, -2).toString());
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from('buffer');
console.log(buf.subarray(-6, -1).toString());
console.log(buf.subarray(-6, -2).toString());
console.log(buf.subarray(-5, -2).toString());
buf.slice([start[, end]])
#
Returns a new Buffer
that references the same memory as the original, but
offset and cropped by the start
and end
indices.
This method is not compatible with the Uint8Array.prototype.slice()
,
which is a superclass of Buffer
. To copy the slice, use
Uint8Array.prototype.slice()
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from('buffer');
const copiedBuf = Uint8Array.prototype.slice.call(buf);
copiedBuf[0]++;
console.log(copiedBuf.toString());
console.log(buf.toString());
const notReallyCopiedBuf = buf.slice();
notReallyCopiedBuf[0]++;
console.log(notReallyCopiedBuf.toString());
console.log(buf.toString());
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from('buffer');
const copiedBuf = Uint8Array.prototype.slice.call(buf);
copiedBuf[0]++;
console.log(copiedBuf.toString());
console.log(buf.toString());
const notReallyCopiedBuf = buf.slice();
notReallyCopiedBuf[0]++;
console.log(notReallyCopiedBuf.toString());
console.log(buf.toString());
buf.swap16()
#
Added in: v5.10.0
Interprets buf
as an array of unsigned 16-bit integers and swaps the
byte order in-place. Throws ERR_INVALID_BUFFER_SIZE
if buf.length
is not a multiple of 2.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf1 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3, 0x4, 0x5, 0x6, 0x7, 0x8]);
console.log(buf1);
buf1.swap16();
console.log(buf1);
const buf2 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3]);
buf2.swap16();
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf1 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3, 0x4, 0x5, 0x6, 0x7, 0x8]);
console.log(buf1);
buf1.swap16();
console.log(buf1);
const buf2 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3]);
buf2.swap16();
One convenient use of buf.swap16()
is to perform a fast in-place conversion
between UTF-16 little-endian and UTF-16 big-endian:
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from('This is little-endian UTF-16', 'utf16le');
buf.swap16();
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from('This is little-endian UTF-16', 'utf16le');
buf.swap16();
buf.swap32()
#
Added in: v5.10.0
Interprets buf
as an array of unsigned 32-bit integers and swaps the
byte order in-place. Throws ERR_INVALID_BUFFER_SIZE
if buf.length
is not a multiple of 4.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf1 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3, 0x4, 0x5, 0x6, 0x7, 0x8]);
console.log(buf1);
buf1.swap32();
console.log(buf1);
const buf2 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3]);
buf2.swap32();
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf1 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3, 0x4, 0x5, 0x6, 0x7, 0x8]);
console.log(buf1);
buf1.swap32();
console.log(buf1);
const buf2 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3]);
buf2.swap32();
buf.swap64()
#
Added in: v6.3.0
Interprets buf
as an array of 64-bit numbers and swaps byte order in-place.
Throws ERR_INVALID_BUFFER_SIZE
if buf.length
is not a multiple of 8.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf1 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3, 0x4, 0x5, 0x6, 0x7, 0x8]);
console.log(buf1);
buf1.swap64();
console.log(buf1);
const buf2 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3]);
buf2.swap64();
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf1 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3, 0x4, 0x5, 0x6, 0x7, 0x8]);
console.log(buf1);
buf1.swap64();
console.log(buf1);
const buf2 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3]);
buf2.swap64();
buf.toJSON()
#
Added in: v0.9.2
Returns a JSON representation of buf
. JSON.stringify()
implicitly calls
this function when stringifying a Buffer
instance.
Buffer.from()
accepts objects in the format returned from this method.
In particular, Buffer.from(buf.toJSON())
works like Buffer.from(buf)
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3, 0x4, 0x5]);
const json = JSON.stringify(buf);
console.log(json);
const copy = JSON.parse(json, (key, value) => {
return value && value.type === 'Buffer' ?
Buffer.from(value) :
value;
});
console.log(copy);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3, 0x4, 0x5]);
const json = JSON.stringify(buf);
console.log(json);
const copy = JSON.parse(json, (key, value) => {
return value && value.type === 'Buffer' ?
Buffer.from(value) :
value;
});
console.log(copy);
buf.toString([encoding[, start[, end]]])
#
Added in: v0.1.90
encoding
<string> The character encoding to use. Default: 'utf8'
.
start
<integer> The byte offset to start decoding at. Default: 0
.
end
<integer> The byte offset to stop decoding at (not inclusive).
Default: buf.length
.
- Returns: <string>
Decodes buf
to a string according to the specified character encoding in
encoding
. start
and end
may be passed to decode only a subset of buf
.
If encoding
is 'utf8'
and a byte sequence in the input is not valid UTF-8,
then each invalid byte is replaced with the replacement character U+FFFD
.
The maximum length of a string instance (in UTF-16 code units) is available
as buffer.constants.MAX_STRING_LENGTH
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf1 = Buffer.allocUnsafe(26);
for (let i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
buf1[i] = i + 97;
}
console.log(buf1.toString('utf8'));
console.log(buf1.toString('utf8', 0, 5));
const buf2 = Buffer.from('tést');
console.log(buf2.toString('hex'));
console.log(buf2.toString('utf8', 0, 3));
console.log(buf2.toString(undefined, 0, 3));
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf1 = Buffer.allocUnsafe(26);
for (let i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
buf1[i] = i + 97;
}
console.log(buf1.toString('utf8'));
console.log(buf1.toString('utf8', 0, 5));
const buf2 = Buffer.from('tést');
console.log(buf2.toString('hex'));
console.log(buf2.toString('utf8', 0, 3));
console.log(buf2.toString(undefined, 0, 3));
buf.values()
#
Added in: v1.1.0
Creates and returns an iterator for buf
values (bytes). This function is
called automatically when a Buffer
is used in a for..of
statement.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.from('buffer');
for (const value of buf.values()) {
console.log(value);
}
for (const value of buf) {
console.log(value);
}
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.from('buffer');
for (const value of buf.values()) {
console.log(value);
}
for (const value of buf) {
console.log(value);
}
buf.write(string[, offset[, length]][, encoding])
#
Added in: v0.1.90
string
<string> String to write to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write string
.
Default: 0
.
length
<integer> Maximum number of bytes to write (written bytes will not
exceed buf.length - offset
). Default: buf.length - offset
.
encoding
<string> The character encoding of string
. Default: 'utf8'
.
- Returns: <integer> Number of bytes written.
Writes string
to buf
at offset
according to the character encoding in
encoding
. The length
parameter is the number of bytes to write. If buf
did
not contain enough space to fit the entire string, only part of string
will be
written. However, partially encoded characters will not be written.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.alloc(256);
const len = buf.write('\u00bd + \u00bc = \u00be', 0);
console.log(`${len} bytes: ${buf.toString('utf8', 0, len)}`);
const buffer = Buffer.alloc(10);
const length = buffer.write('abcd', 8);
console.log(`${length} bytes: ${buffer.toString('utf8', 8, 10)}`);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.alloc(256);
const len = buf.write('\u00bd + \u00bc = \u00be', 0);
console.log(`${len} bytes: ${buf.toString('utf8', 0, len)}`);
const buffer = Buffer.alloc(10);
const length = buffer.write('abcd', 8);
console.log(`${length} bytes: ${buffer.toString('utf8', 8, 10)}`);
buf.writeBigInt64BE(value[, offset])
#
Added in: v12.0.0, v10.20.0
value
<bigint> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy: 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 8
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
as big-endian.
value
is interpreted and written as a two's complement signed integer.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);
buf.writeBigInt64BE(0x0102030405060708n, 0);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);
buf.writeBigInt64BE(0x0102030405060708n, 0);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeBigInt64LE(value[, offset])
#
Added in: v12.0.0, v10.20.0
value
<bigint> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy: 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 8
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
as little-endian.
value
is interpreted and written as a two's complement signed integer.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);
buf.writeBigInt64LE(0x0102030405060708n, 0);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);
buf.writeBigInt64LE(0x0102030405060708n, 0);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeBigUInt64BE(value[, offset])
#
value
<bigint> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy: 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 8
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
as big-endian.
This function is also available under the writeBigUint64BE
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);
buf.writeBigUInt64BE(0xdecafafecacefaden, 0);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);
buf.writeBigUInt64BE(0xdecafafecacefaden, 0);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeBigUInt64LE(value[, offset])
#
value
<bigint> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy: 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 8
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
as little-endian
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);
buf.writeBigUInt64LE(0xdecafafecacefaden, 0);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);
buf.writeBigUInt64LE(0xdecafafecacefaden, 0);
console.log(buf);
This function is also available under the writeBigUint64LE
alias.
buf.writeDoubleBE(value[, offset])
#
value
<number> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 8
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
as big-endian. The value
must be a JavaScript number. Behavior is undefined when value
is anything
other than a JavaScript number.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);
buf.writeDoubleBE(123.456, 0);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);
buf.writeDoubleBE(123.456, 0);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeDoubleLE(value[, offset])
#
value
<number> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 8
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
as little-endian. The value
must be a JavaScript number. Behavior is undefined when value
is anything
other than a JavaScript number.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);
buf.writeDoubleLE(123.456, 0);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);
buf.writeDoubleLE(123.456, 0);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeFloatBE(value[, offset])
#
value
<number> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 4
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
as big-endian. Behavior is
undefined when value
is anything other than a JavaScript number.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeFloatBE(0xcafebabe, 0);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeFloatBE(0xcafebabe, 0);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeFloatLE(value[, offset])
#
value
<number> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 4
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
as little-endian. Behavior is
undefined when value
is anything other than a JavaScript number.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeFloatLE(0xcafebabe, 0);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeFloatLE(0xcafebabe, 0);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeInt8(value[, offset])
#
value
<integer> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 1
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
. value
must be a valid
signed 8-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value
is anything other than
a signed 8-bit integer.
value
is interpreted and written as a two's complement signed integer.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(2);
buf.writeInt8(2, 0);
buf.writeInt8(-2, 1);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(2);
buf.writeInt8(2, 0);
buf.writeInt8(-2, 1);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeInt16BE(value[, offset])
#
value
<integer> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 2
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
as big-endian. The value
must be a valid signed 16-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value
is
anything other than a signed 16-bit integer.
The value
is interpreted and written as a two's complement signed integer.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(2);
buf.writeInt16BE(0x0102, 0);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(2);
buf.writeInt16BE(0x0102, 0);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeInt16LE(value[, offset])
#
value
<integer> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 2
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
as little-endian. The value
must be a valid signed 16-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value
is
anything other than a signed 16-bit integer.
The value
is interpreted and written as a two's complement signed integer.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(2);
buf.writeInt16LE(0x0304, 0);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(2);
buf.writeInt16LE(0x0304, 0);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeInt32BE(value[, offset])
#
value
<integer> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 4
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
as big-endian. The value
must be a valid signed 32-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value
is
anything other than a signed 32-bit integer.
The value
is interpreted and written as a two's complement signed integer.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeInt32BE(0x01020304, 0);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeInt32BE(0x01020304, 0);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeInt32LE(value[, offset])
#
value
<integer> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 4
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
as little-endian. The value
must be a valid signed 32-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value
is
anything other than a signed 32-bit integer.
The value
is interpreted and written as a two's complement signed integer.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeInt32LE(0x05060708, 0);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeInt32LE(0x05060708, 0);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeIntBE(value, offset, byteLength)
#
value
<integer> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - byteLength
.
byteLength
<integer> Number of bytes to write. Must satisfy
0 < byteLength <= 6
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes byteLength
bytes of value
to buf
at the specified offset
as big-endian. Supports up to 48 bits of accuracy. Behavior is undefined when
value
is anything other than a signed integer.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(6);
buf.writeIntBE(0x1234567890ab, 0, 6);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(6);
buf.writeIntBE(0x1234567890ab, 0, 6);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeIntLE(value, offset, byteLength)
#
value
<integer> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - byteLength
.
byteLength
<integer> Number of bytes to write. Must satisfy
0 < byteLength <= 6
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes byteLength
bytes of value
to buf
at the specified offset
as little-endian. Supports up to 48 bits of accuracy. Behavior is undefined
when value
is anything other than a signed integer.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(6);
buf.writeIntLE(0x1234567890ab, 0, 6);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(6);
buf.writeIntLE(0x1234567890ab, 0, 6);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeUInt8(value[, offset])
#
value
<integer> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 1
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
. value
must be a
valid unsigned 8-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value
is anything
other than an unsigned 8-bit integer.
This function is also available under the writeUint8
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeUInt8(0x3, 0);
buf.writeUInt8(0x4, 1);
buf.writeUInt8(0x23, 2);
buf.writeUInt8(0x42, 3);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeUInt8(0x3, 0);
buf.writeUInt8(0x4, 1);
buf.writeUInt8(0x23, 2);
buf.writeUInt8(0x42, 3);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeUInt16BE(value[, offset])
#
value
<integer> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 2
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
as big-endian. The value
must be a valid unsigned 16-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value
is anything other than an unsigned 16-bit integer.
This function is also available under the writeUint16BE
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeUInt16BE(0xdead, 0);
buf.writeUInt16BE(0xbeef, 2);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeUInt16BE(0xdead, 0);
buf.writeUInt16BE(0xbeef, 2);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeUInt16LE(value[, offset])
#
value
<integer> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 2
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
as little-endian. The value
must be a valid unsigned 16-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value
is
anything other than an unsigned 16-bit integer.
This function is also available under the writeUint16LE
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeUInt16LE(0xdead, 0);
buf.writeUInt16LE(0xbeef, 2);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeUInt16LE(0xdead, 0);
buf.writeUInt16LE(0xbeef, 2);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeUInt32BE(value[, offset])
#
value
<integer> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 4
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
as big-endian. The value
must be a valid unsigned 32-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value
is anything other than an unsigned 32-bit integer.
This function is also available under the writeUint32BE
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeUInt32BE(0xfeedface, 0);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeUInt32BE(0xfeedface, 0);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeUInt32LE(value[, offset])
#
value
<integer> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - 4
. Default: 0
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes value
to buf
at the specified offset
as little-endian. The value
must be a valid unsigned 32-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value
is
anything other than an unsigned 32-bit integer.
This function is also available under the writeUint32LE
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeUInt32LE(0xfeedface, 0);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buf.writeUInt32LE(0xfeedface, 0);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeUIntBE(value, offset, byteLength)
#
value
<integer> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - byteLength
.
byteLength
<integer> Number of bytes to write. Must satisfy
0 < byteLength <= 6
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes byteLength
bytes of value
to buf
at the specified offset
as big-endian. Supports up to 48 bits of accuracy. Behavior is undefined
when value
is anything other than an unsigned integer.
This function is also available under the writeUintBE
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(6);
buf.writeUIntBE(0x1234567890ab, 0, 6);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(6);
buf.writeUIntBE(0x1234567890ab, 0, 6);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeUIntLE(value, offset, byteLength)
#
value
<integer> Number to be written to buf
.
offset
<integer> Number of bytes to skip before starting to write. Must
satisfy 0 <= offset <= buf.length - byteLength
.
byteLength
<integer> Number of bytes to write. Must satisfy
0 < byteLength <= 6
.
- Returns: <integer>
offset
plus the number of bytes written.
Writes byteLength
bytes of value
to buf
at the specified offset
as little-endian. Supports up to 48 bits of accuracy. Behavior is undefined
when value
is anything other than an unsigned integer.
This function is also available under the writeUintLE
alias.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(6);
buf.writeUIntLE(0x1234567890ab, 0, 6);
console.log(buf);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(6);
buf.writeUIntLE(0x1234567890ab, 0, 6);
console.log(buf);
new Buffer(array)
#
See Buffer.from(array)
.
new Buffer(arrayBuffer[, byteOffset[, length]])
#
See
Buffer.from(arrayBuffer[, byteOffset[, length]])
.
new Buffer(buffer)
#
See Buffer.from(buffer)
.
new Buffer(size)
#
size
<integer> The desired length of the new Buffer
.
See Buffer.alloc()
and Buffer.allocUnsafe()
. This variant of the
constructor is equivalent to Buffer.alloc()
.
new Buffer(string[, encoding])
#
string
<string> String to encode.
encoding
<string> The encoding of string
. Default: 'utf8'
.
See Buffer.from(string[, encoding])
.
node:buffer
module APIs#
While, the Buffer
object is available as a global, there are additional
Buffer
-related APIs that are available only via the node:buffer
module
accessed using require('node:buffer')
.
buffer.atob(data)
#
Added in: v15.13.0
Stability: 3 - Legacy. Use
Buffer.from(data, 'base64')
instead.
data
<any> The Base64-encoded input string.
Decodes a string of Base64-encoded data into bytes, and encodes those bytes
into a string using Latin-1 (ISO-8859-1).
The data
may be any JavaScript-value that can be coerced into a string.
This function is only provided for compatibility with legacy web platform APIs
and should never be used in new code, because they use strings to represent
binary data and predate the introduction of typed arrays in JavaScript.
For code running using Node.js APIs, converting between base64-encoded strings
and binary data should be performed using Buffer.from(str, 'base64')
and
buf.toString('base64')
.
buffer.btoa(data)
#
Added in: v15.13.0
data
<any> An ASCII (Latin1) string.
Decodes a string into bytes using Latin-1 (ISO-8859), and encodes those bytes
into a string using Base64.
The data
may be any JavaScript-value that can be coerced into a string.
This function is only provided for compatibility with legacy web platform APIs
and should never be used in new code, because they use strings to represent
binary data and predate the introduction of typed arrays in JavaScript.
For code running using Node.js APIs, converting between base64-encoded strings
and binary data should be performed using Buffer.from(str, 'base64')
and
buf.toString('base64')
.
buffer.INSPECT_MAX_BYTES
#
Added in: v0.5.4
Returns the maximum number of bytes that will be returned when
buf.inspect()
is called. This can be overridden by user modules. See
util.inspect()
for more details on buf.inspect()
behavior.
buffer.kMaxLength
#
Added in: v3.0.0
- <integer> The largest size allowed for a single
Buffer
instance.
An alias for buffer.constants.MAX_LENGTH
.
buffer.kStringMaxLength
#
Added in: v3.0.0
- <integer> The largest length allowed for a single
string
instance.
An alias for buffer.constants.MAX_STRING_LENGTH
.
buffer.resolveObjectURL(id)
#
Added in: v16.7.0
id
<string> A 'blob:nodedata:...
URL string returned by a prior call to
URL.createObjectURL()
.
- Returns: <Blob>
Resolves a 'blob:nodedata:...'
an associated <Blob> object registered using
a prior call to URL.createObjectURL()
.
buffer.transcode(source, fromEnc, toEnc)
#
Re-encodes the given Buffer
or Uint8Array
instance from one character
encoding to another. Returns a new Buffer
instance.
Throws if the fromEnc
or toEnc
specify invalid character encodings or if
conversion from fromEnc
to toEnc
is not permitted.
Encodings supported by buffer.transcode()
are: 'ascii'
, 'utf8'
,
'utf16le'
, 'ucs2'
, 'latin1'
, and 'binary'
.
The transcoding process will use substitution characters if a given byte
sequence cannot be adequately represented in the target encoding. For instance:
import { Buffer, transcode } from 'node:buffer';
const newBuf = transcode(Buffer.from('€'), 'utf8', 'ascii');
console.log(newBuf.toString('ascii'));
const { Buffer, transcode } = require('node:buffer');
const newBuf = transcode(Buffer.from('€'), 'utf8', 'ascii');
console.log(newBuf.toString('ascii'));
Because the Euro (€
) sign is not representable in US-ASCII, it is replaced
with ?
in the transcoded Buffer
.
Class: SlowBuffer
#
Deprecated since: v6.0.0
See Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow()
. This was never a class in the sense that
the constructor always returned a Buffer
instance, rather than a SlowBuffer
instance.
new SlowBuffer(size)
#
Deprecated since: v6.0.0
size
<integer> The desired length of the new SlowBuffer
.
See Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow()
.
Buffer constants#
Added in: v8.2.0
buffer.constants.MAX_LENGTH
#
- <integer> The largest size allowed for a single
Buffer
instance.
On 32-bit architectures, this value currently is 230 - 1 (about 1
GiB).
On 64-bit architectures, this value currently is 232 (about 4 GiB).
It reflects v8::TypedArray::kMaxLength
under the hood.
This value is also available as buffer.kMaxLength
.
buffer.constants.MAX_STRING_LENGTH
#
Added in: v8.2.0
- <integer> The largest length allowed for a single
string
instance.
Represents the largest length
that a string
primitive can have, counted
in UTF-16 code units.
This value may depend on the JS engine that is being used.
Buffer.from()
, Buffer.alloc()
, and Buffer.allocUnsafe()
#
In versions of Node.js prior to 6.0.0, Buffer
instances were created using the
Buffer
constructor function, which allocates the returned Buffer
differently based on what arguments are provided:
- Passing a number as the first argument to
Buffer()
(e.g. new Buffer(10)
)
allocates a new Buffer
object of the specified size. Prior to Node.js 8.0.0,
the memory allocated for such Buffer
instances is not initialized and
can contain sensitive data. Such Buffer
instances must be subsequently
initialized by using either buf.fill(0)
or by writing to the
entire Buffer
before reading data from the Buffer
.
While this behavior is intentional to improve performance,
development experience has demonstrated that a more explicit distinction is
required between creating a fast-but-uninitialized Buffer
versus creating a
slower-but-safer Buffer
. Since Node.js 8.0.0, Buffer(num)
and new Buffer(num)
return a Buffer
with initialized memory.
- Passing a string, array, or
Buffer
as the first argument copies the
passed object's data into the Buffer
.
- Passing an
ArrayBuffer
or a SharedArrayBuffer
returns a Buffer
that shares allocated memory with the given array buffer.
Because the behavior of new Buffer()
is different depending on the type of the
first argument, security and reliability issues can be inadvertently introduced
into applications when argument validation or Buffer
initialization is not
performed.
For example, if an attacker can cause an application to receive a number where
a string is expected, the application may call new Buffer(100)
instead of new Buffer("100")
, leading it to allocate a 100 byte buffer instead
of allocating a 3 byte buffer with content "100"
. This is commonly possible
using JSON API calls. Since JSON distinguishes between numeric and string types,
it allows injection of numbers where a naively written application that does not
validate its input sufficiently might expect to always receive a string.
Before Node.js 8.0.0, the 100 byte buffer might contain
arbitrary pre-existing in-memory data, so may be used to expose in-memory
secrets to a remote attacker. Since Node.js 8.0.0, exposure of memory cannot
occur because the data is zero-filled. However, other attacks are still
possible, such as causing very large buffers to be allocated by the server,
leading to performance degradation or crashing on memory exhaustion.
To make the creation of Buffer
instances more reliable and less error-prone,
the various forms of the new Buffer()
constructor have been deprecated
and replaced by separate Buffer.from()
, Buffer.alloc()
, and
Buffer.allocUnsafe()
methods.
Developers should migrate all existing uses of the new Buffer()
constructors
to one of these new APIs.
Buffer
instances returned by Buffer.allocUnsafe()
and
Buffer.from(array)
may be allocated off a shared internal memory pool
if size
is less than or equal to half Buffer.poolSize
. Instances
returned by Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow()
never use the shared internal
memory pool.
The --zero-fill-buffers
command-line option#
Added in: v5.10.0
Node.js can be started using the --zero-fill-buffers
command-line option to
cause all newly-allocated Buffer
instances to be zero-filled upon creation by
default. Without the option, buffers created with Buffer.allocUnsafe()
,
Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow()
, and new SlowBuffer(size)
are not zero-filled.
Use of this flag can have a measurable negative impact on performance. Use the
--zero-fill-buffers
option only when necessary to enforce that newly allocated
Buffer
instances cannot contain old data that is potentially sensitive.
$ node --zero-fill-buffers
> Buffer.allocUnsafe(5);
<Buffer 00 00 00 00 00>
What makes Buffer.allocUnsafe()
and Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow()
"unsafe"?#
When calling Buffer.allocUnsafe()
and Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow()
, the
segment of allocated memory is uninitialized (it is not zeroed-out). While
this design makes the allocation of memory quite fast, the allocated segment of
memory might contain old data that is potentially sensitive. Using a Buffer
created by Buffer.allocUnsafe()
without completely overwriting the
memory can allow this old data to be leaked when the Buffer
memory is read.
While there are clear performance advantages to using
Buffer.allocUnsafe()
, extra care must be taken in order to avoid
introducing security vulnerabilities into an application.
Node-API#
Node-API (formerly N-API) is an API for building native Addons. It is
independent from the underlying JavaScript runtime (for example, V8) and is
maintained as part of Node.js itself. This API will be Application Binary
Interface (ABI) stable across versions of Node.js. It is intended to insulate
addons from changes in the underlying JavaScript engine and allow modules
compiled for one major version to run on later major versions of Node.js without
recompilation. The ABI Stability guide provides a more in-depth explanation.
Addons are built/packaged with the same approach/tools outlined in the section
titled C++ Addons. The only difference is the set of APIs that are used by
the native code. Instead of using the V8 or Native Abstractions for Node.js
APIs, the functions available in Node-API are used.
APIs exposed by Node-API are generally used to create and manipulate
JavaScript values. Concepts and operations generally map to ideas specified
in the ECMA-262 Language Specification. The APIs have the following
properties:
- All Node-API calls return a status code of type
napi_status
. This
status indicates whether the API call succeeded or failed.
- The API's return value is passed via an out parameter.
- All JavaScript values are abstracted behind an opaque type named
napi_value
.
- In case of an error status code, additional information can be obtained
using
napi_get_last_error_info
. More information can be found in the error
handling section Error handling.
Node-API is a C API that ensures ABI stability across Node.js versions
and different compiler levels. A C++ API can be easier to use.
To support using C++, the project maintains a
C++ wrapper module called node-addon-api
.
This wrapper provides an inlineable C++ API. Binaries built
with node-addon-api
will depend on the symbols for the Node-API C-based
functions exported by Node.js. node-addon-api
is a more
efficient way to write code that calls Node-API. Take, for example, the
following node-addon-api
code. The first section shows the
node-addon-api
code and the second section shows what actually gets
used in the addon.
Object obj = Object::New(env);
obj["foo"] = String::New(env, "bar");
napi_status status;
napi_value object, string;
status = napi_create_object(env, &object);
if (status != napi_ok) {
napi_throw_error(env, ...);
return;
}
status = napi_create_string_utf8(env, "bar", NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH, &string);
if (status != napi_ok) {
napi_throw_error(env, ...);
return;
}
status = napi_set_named_property(env, object, "foo", string);
if (status != napi_ok) {
napi_throw_error(env, ...);
return;
}
The end result is that the addon only uses the exported C APIs. As a result,
it still gets the benefits of the ABI stability provided by the C API.
When using node-addon-api
instead of the C APIs, start with the API docs
for node-addon-api
.
The Node-API Resource offers
an excellent orientation and tips for developers just getting started with
Node-API and node-addon-api
.
Implications of ABI stability#
Although Node-API provides an ABI stability guarantee, other parts of Node.js do
not, and any external libraries used from the addon may not. In particular,
none of the following APIs provide an ABI stability guarantee across major
versions:
-
the Node.js C++ APIs available via any of
#include <node.h>
#include <node_buffer.h>
#include <node_version.h>
#include <node_object_wrap.h>
-
the libuv APIs which are also included with Node.js and available via
#include <uv.h>
-
the V8 API available via
#include <v8.h>
Thus, for an addon to remain ABI-compatible across Node.js major versions, it
must use Node-API exclusively by restricting itself to using
#include <node_api.h>
and by checking, for all external libraries that it uses, that the external
library makes ABI stability guarantees similar to Node-API.
Building#
Unlike modules written in JavaScript, developing and deploying Node.js
native addons using Node-API requires an additional set of tools. Besides the
basic tools required to develop for Node.js, the native addon developer
requires a toolchain that can compile C and C++ code into a binary. In
addition, depending upon how the native addon is deployed, the user of
the native addon will also need to have a C/C++ toolchain installed.
For Linux developers, the necessary C/C++ toolchain packages are readily
available. GCC is widely used in the Node.js community to build and
test across a variety of platforms. For many developers, the LLVM
compiler infrastructure is also a good choice.
For Mac developers, Xcode offers all the required compiler tools.
However, it is not necessary to install the entire Xcode IDE. The following
command installs the necessary toolchain:
xcode-select --install
For Windows developers, Visual Studio offers all the required compiler
tools. However, it is not necessary to install the entire Visual Studio
IDE. The following command installs the necessary toolchain:
npm install --global windows-build-tools
The sections below describe the additional tools available for developing
and deploying Node.js native addons.
Build tools#
Both the tools listed here require that users of the native
addon have a C/C++ toolchain installed in order to successfully install
the native addon.
node-gyp#
node-gyp is a build system based on the gyp-next fork of
Google's GYP tool and comes bundled with npm. GYP, and therefore node-gyp,
requires that Python be installed.
Historically, node-gyp has been the tool of choice for building native
addons. It has widespread adoption and documentation. However, some
developers have run into limitations in node-gyp.
CMake.js#
CMake.js is an alternative build system based on CMake.
CMake.js is a good choice for projects that already use CMake or for
developers affected by limitations in node-gyp.
Uploading precompiled binaries#
The three tools listed here permit native addon developers and maintainers
to create and upload binaries to public or private servers. These tools are
typically integrated with CI/CD build systems like Travis CI and
AppVeyor to build and upload binaries for a variety of platforms and
architectures. These binaries are then available for download by users who
do not need to have a C/C++ toolchain installed.
node-pre-gyp#
node-pre-gyp is a tool based on node-gyp that adds the ability to
upload binaries to a server of the developer's choice. node-pre-gyp has
particularly good support for uploading binaries to Amazon S3.
prebuild#
prebuild is a tool that supports builds using either node-gyp or
CMake.js. Unlike node-pre-gyp which supports a variety of servers, prebuild
uploads binaries only to GitHub releases. prebuild is a good choice for
GitHub projects using CMake.js.
prebuildify#
prebuildify is a tool based on node-gyp. The advantage of prebuildify is
that the built binaries are bundled with the native addon when it's
uploaded to npm. The binaries are downloaded from npm and are immediately
available to the module user when the native addon is installed.
Usage#
In order to use the Node-API functions, include the file node_api.h
which
is located in the src directory in the node development tree:
#include <node_api.h>
This will opt into the default NAPI_VERSION
for the given release of Node.js.
In order to ensure compatibility with specific versions of Node-API, the version
can be specified explicitly when including the header:
#define NAPI_VERSION 3
#include <node_api.h>
This restricts the Node-API surface to just the functionality that was available
in the specified (and earlier) versions.
Some of the Node-API surface is experimental and requires explicit opt-in:
#define NAPI_EXPERIMENTAL
#include <node_api.h>
In this case the entire API surface, including any experimental APIs, will be
available to the module code.
Node-API version matrix#
Node-API versions are additive and versioned independently from Node.js.
Version 4 is an extension to version 3 in that it has all of the APIs
from version 3 with some additions. This means that it is not necessary
to recompile for new versions of Node.js which are
listed as supporting a later version.
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
v6.x |
|
|
v6.14.2* |
v8.x |
v8.6.0** |
v8.10.0* |
v8.11.2 |
v9.x |
v9.0.0* |
v9.3.0* |
v9.11.0* |
≥ v10.x |
all releases |
all releases |
all releases |
|
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
v10.x |
v10.16.0 |
v10.17.0 |
v10.20.0 |
v10.23.0 |
|
v11.x |
v11.8.0 |
|
|
|
|
v12.x |
v12.0.0 |
v12.11.0 |
v12.17.0 |
v12.19.0 |
v12.22.0 |
v13.x |
v13.0.0 |
v13.0.0 |
|
|
|
v14.x |
v14.0.0 |
v14.0.0 |
v14.0.0 |
v14.12.0 |
v14.17.0 |
v15.x |
v15.0.0 |
v15.0.0 |
v15.0.0 |
v15.0.0 |
v15.12.0 |
v16.x |
v16.0.0 |
v16.0.0 |
v16.0.0 |
v16.0.0 |
v16.0.0 |
* Node-API was experimental.
** Node.js 8.0.0 included Node-API as experimental. It was released as
Node-API version 1 but continued to evolve until Node.js 8.6.0. The API is
different in versions prior to Node.js 8.6.0. We recommend Node-API version 3 or
later.
Each API documented for Node-API will have a header named added in:
, and APIs
which are stable will have the additional header Node-API version:
.
APIs are directly usable when using a Node.js version which supports
the Node-API version shown in Node-API version:
or higher.
When using a Node.js version that does not support the
Node-API version:
listed or if there is no Node-API version:
listed,
then the API will only be available if
#define NAPI_EXPERIMENTAL
precedes the inclusion of node_api.h
or js_native_api.h
. If an API appears not to be available on
a version of Node.js which is later than the one shown in added in:
then
this is most likely the reason for the apparent absence.
The Node-APIs associated strictly with accessing ECMAScript features from native
code can be found separately in js_native_api.h
and js_native_api_types.h
.
The APIs defined in these headers are included in node_api.h
and
node_api_types.h
. The headers are structured in this way in order to allow
implementations of Node-API outside of Node.js. For those implementations the
Node.js specific APIs may not be applicable.
The Node.js-specific parts of an addon can be separated from the code that
exposes the actual functionality to the JavaScript environment so that the
latter may be used with multiple implementations of Node-API. In the example
below, addon.c
and addon.h
refer only to js_native_api.h
. This ensures
that addon.c
can be reused to compile against either the Node.js
implementation of Node-API or any implementation of Node-API outside of Node.js.
addon_node.c
is a separate file that contains the Node.js specific entry point
to the addon and which instantiates the addon by calling into addon.c
when the
addon is loaded into a Node.js environment.
#ifndef _ADDON_H_
#define _ADDON_H_
#include <js_native_api.h>
napi_value create_addon(napi_env env);
#endif
#include "addon.h"
#define NAPI_CALL(env, call) \
do { \
napi_status status = (call); \
if (status != napi_ok) { \
const napi_extended_error_info* error_info = NULL; \
napi_get_last_error_info((env), &error_info); \
const char* err_message = error_info->error_message; \
bool is_pending; \
napi_is_exception_pending((env), &is_pending); \
if (!is_pending) { \
const char* message = (err_message == NULL) \
? "empty error message" \
: err_message; \
napi_throw_error((env), NULL, message); \
return NULL; \
} \
} \
} while(0)
static napi_value
DoSomethingUseful(napi_env env, napi_callback_info info) {
return NULL;
}
napi_value create_addon(napi_env env) {
napi_value result;
NAPI_CALL(env, napi_create_object(env, &result));
napi_value exported_function;
NAPI_CALL(env, napi_create_function(env,
"doSomethingUseful",
NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH,
DoSomethingUseful,
NULL,
&exported_function));
NAPI_CALL(env, napi_set_named_property(env,
result,
"doSomethingUseful",
exported_function));
return result;
}
#include <node_api.h>
#include "addon.h"
NAPI_MODULE_INIT() {
return create_addon(env);
}
Environment life cycle APIs#
Section 8.7 of the ECMAScript Language Specification defines the concept
of an "Agent" as a self-contained environment in which JavaScript code runs.
Multiple such Agents may be started and terminated either concurrently or in
sequence by the process.
A Node.js environment corresponds to an ECMAScript Agent. In the main process,
an environment is created at startup, and additional environments can be created
on separate threads to serve as worker threads. When Node.js is embedded in
another application, the main thread of the application may also construct and
destroy a Node.js environment multiple times during the life cycle of the
application process such that each Node.js environment created by the
application may, in turn, during its life cycle create and destroy additional
environments as worker threads.
From the perspective of a native addon this means that the bindings it provides
may be called multiple times, from multiple contexts, and even concurrently from
multiple threads.
Native addons may need to allocate global state which they use during
their entire life cycle such that the state must be unique to each instance of
the addon.
To this end, Node-API provides a way to allocate data such that its life cycle
is tied to the life cycle of the Agent.
napi_set_instance_data
#
Added in: v12.8.0, v10.20.0
N-API version: 6
napi_status napi_set_instance_data(napi_env env,
void* data,
napi_finalize finalize_cb,
void* finalize_hint);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] data
: The data item to make available to bindings of this instance.
[in] finalize_cb
: The function to call when the environment is being torn
down. The function receives data
so that it might free it.
napi_finalize
provides more details.
[in] finalize_hint
: Optional hint to pass to the finalize callback during
collection.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API associates data
with the currently running Agent. data
can later
be retrieved using napi_get_instance_data()
. Any existing data associated with
the currently running Agent which was set by means of a previous call to
napi_set_instance_data()
will be overwritten. If a finalize_cb
was provided
by the previous call, it will not be called.
napi_get_instance_data
#
Added in: v12.8.0, v10.20.0
N-API version: 6
napi_status napi_get_instance_data(napi_env env,
void** data);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[out] data
: The data item that was previously associated with the currently
running Agent by a call to napi_set_instance_data()
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API retrieves data that was previously associated with the currently
running Agent via napi_set_instance_data()
. If no data is set, the call will
succeed and data
will be set to NULL
.
Basic Node-API data types#
Node-API exposes the following fundamental datatypes as abstractions that are
consumed by the various APIs. These APIs should be treated as opaque,
introspectable only with other Node-API calls.
napi_status
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
Integral status code indicating the success or failure of a Node-API call.
Currently, the following status codes are supported.
typedef enum {
napi_ok,
napi_invalid_arg,
napi_object_expected,
napi_string_expected,
napi_name_expected,
napi_function_expected,
napi_number_expected,
napi_boolean_expected,
napi_array_expected,
napi_generic_failure,
napi_pending_exception,
napi_cancelled,
napi_escape_called_twice,
napi_handle_scope_mismatch,
napi_callback_scope_mismatch,
napi_queue_full,
napi_closing,
napi_bigint_expected,
napi_date_expected,
napi_arraybuffer_expected,
napi_detachable_arraybuffer_expected,
napi_would_deadlock,
napi_no_external_buffers_allowed
} napi_status;
If additional information is required upon an API returning a failed status,
it can be obtained by calling napi_get_last_error_info
.
napi_extended_error_info
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
typedef struct {
const char* error_message;
void* engine_reserved;
uint32_t engine_error_code;
napi_status error_code;
} napi_extended_error_info;
error_message
: UTF8-encoded string containing a VM-neutral description of
the error.
engine_reserved
: Reserved for VM-specific error details. This is currently
not implemented for any VM.
engine_error_code
: VM-specific error code. This is currently
not implemented for any VM.
error_code
: The Node-API status code that originated with the last error.
See the Error handling section for additional information.
napi_env
#
napi_env
is used to represent a context that the underlying Node-API
implementation can use to persist VM-specific state. This structure is passed
to native functions when they're invoked, and it must be passed back when
making Node-API calls. Specifically, the same napi_env
that was passed in when
the initial native function was called must be passed to any subsequent
nested Node-API calls. Caching the napi_env
for the purpose of general reuse,
and passing the napi_env
between instances of the same addon running on
different Worker
threads is not allowed. The napi_env
becomes invalid
when an instance of a native addon is unloaded. Notification of this event is
delivered through the callbacks given to napi_add_env_cleanup_hook
and
napi_set_instance_data
.
napi_value
#
This is an opaque pointer that is used to represent a JavaScript value.
napi_threadsafe_function
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
This is an opaque pointer that represents a JavaScript function which can be
called asynchronously from multiple threads via
napi_call_threadsafe_function()
.
napi_threadsafe_function_release_mode
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
A value to be given to napi_release_threadsafe_function()
to indicate whether
the thread-safe function is to be closed immediately (napi_tsfn_abort
) or
merely released (napi_tsfn_release
) and thus available for subsequent use via
napi_acquire_threadsafe_function()
and napi_call_threadsafe_function()
.
typedef enum {
napi_tsfn_release,
napi_tsfn_abort
} napi_threadsafe_function_release_mode;
napi_threadsafe_function_call_mode
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
A value to be given to napi_call_threadsafe_function()
to indicate whether
the call should block whenever the queue associated with the thread-safe
function is full.
typedef enum {
napi_tsfn_nonblocking,
napi_tsfn_blocking
} napi_threadsafe_function_call_mode;
Node-API memory management types#
napi_handle_scope
#
This is an abstraction used to control and modify the lifetime of objects
created within a particular scope. In general, Node-API values are created
within the context of a handle scope. When a native method is called from
JavaScript, a default handle scope will exist. If the user does not explicitly
create a new handle scope, Node-API values will be created in the default handle
scope. For any invocations of code outside the execution of a native method
(for instance, during a libuv callback invocation), the module is required to
create a scope before invoking any functions that can result in the creation
of JavaScript values.
Handle scopes are created using napi_open_handle_scope
and are destroyed
using napi_close_handle_scope
. Closing the scope can indicate to the GC
that all napi_value
s created during the lifetime of the handle scope are no
longer referenced from the current stack frame.
For more details, review the Object lifetime management.
napi_escapable_handle_scope
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
Escapable handle scopes are a special type of handle scope to return values
created within a particular handle scope to a parent scope.
napi_ref
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
This is the abstraction to use to reference a napi_value
. This allows for
users to manage the lifetimes of JavaScript values, including defining their
minimum lifetimes explicitly.
For more details, review the Object lifetime management.
napi_type_tag
#
Added in: v14.8.0, v12.19.0
N-API version: 8
A 128-bit value stored as two unsigned 64-bit integers. It serves as a UUID
with which JavaScript objects can be "tagged" in order to ensure that they are
of a certain type. This is a stronger check than napi_instanceof
, because
the latter can report a false positive if the object's prototype has been
manipulated. Type-tagging is most useful in conjunction with napi_wrap
because it ensures that the pointer retrieved from a wrapped object can be
safely cast to the native type corresponding to the type tag that had been
previously applied to the JavaScript object.
typedef struct {
uint64_t lower;
uint64_t upper;
} napi_type_tag;
napi_async_cleanup_hook_handle
#
Added in: v14.10.0, v12.19.0
An opaque value returned by napi_add_async_cleanup_hook
. It must be passed
to napi_remove_async_cleanup_hook
when the chain of asynchronous cleanup
events completes.
Node-API callback types#
napi_callback_info
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
Opaque datatype that is passed to a callback function. It can be used for
getting additional information about the context in which the callback was
invoked.
napi_callback
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
Function pointer type for user-provided native functions which are to be
exposed to JavaScript via Node-API. Callback functions should satisfy the
following signature:
typedef napi_value (*napi_callback)(napi_env, napi_callback_info);
Unless for reasons discussed in Object Lifetime Management, creating a
handle and/or callback scope inside a napi_callback
is not necessary.
napi_finalize
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
Function pointer type for add-on provided functions that allow the user to be
notified when externally-owned data is ready to be cleaned up because the
object with which it was associated with, has been garbage-collected. The user
must provide a function satisfying the following signature which would get
called upon the object's collection. Currently, napi_finalize
can be used for
finding out when objects that have external data are collected.
typedef void (*napi_finalize)(napi_env env,
void* finalize_data,
void* finalize_hint);
Unless for reasons discussed in Object Lifetime Management, creating a
handle and/or callback scope inside the function body is not necessary.
napi_async_execute_callback
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
Function pointer used with functions that support asynchronous
operations. Callback functions must satisfy the following signature:
typedef void (*napi_async_execute_callback)(napi_env env, void* data);
Implementations of this function must avoid making Node-API calls that execute
JavaScript or interact with JavaScript objects. Node-API calls should be in the
napi_async_complete_callback
instead. Do not use the napi_env
parameter as
it will likely result in execution of JavaScript.
napi_async_complete_callback
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
Function pointer used with functions that support asynchronous
operations. Callback functions must satisfy the following signature:
typedef void (*napi_async_complete_callback)(napi_env env,
napi_status status,
void* data);
Unless for reasons discussed in Object Lifetime Management, creating a
handle and/or callback scope inside the function body is not necessary.
napi_threadsafe_function_call_js
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
Function pointer used with asynchronous thread-safe function calls. The callback
will be called on the main thread. Its purpose is to use a data item arriving
via the queue from one of the secondary threads to construct the parameters
necessary for a call into JavaScript, usually via napi_call_function
, and then
make the call into JavaScript.
The data arriving from the secondary thread via the queue is given in the data
parameter and the JavaScript function to call is given in the js_callback
parameter.
Node-API sets up the environment prior to calling this callback, so it is
sufficient to call the JavaScript function via napi_call_function
rather than
via napi_make_callback
.
Callback functions must satisfy the following signature:
typedef void (*napi_threadsafe_function_call_js)(napi_env env,
napi_value js_callback,
void* context,
void* data);
[in] env
: The environment to use for API calls, or NULL
if the thread-safe
function is being torn down and data
may need to be freed.
[in] js_callback
: The JavaScript function to call, or NULL
if the
thread-safe function is being torn down and data
may need to be freed. It
may also be NULL
if the thread-safe function was created without
js_callback
.
[in] context
: The optional data with which the thread-safe function was
created.
[in] data
: Data created by the secondary thread. It is the responsibility of
the callback to convert this native data to JavaScript values (with Node-API
functions) that can be passed as parameters when js_callback
is invoked.
This pointer is managed entirely by the threads and this callback. Thus this
callback should free the data.
Unless for reasons discussed in Object Lifetime Management, creating a
handle and/or callback scope inside the function body is not necessary.
napi_async_cleanup_hook
#
Added in: v14.10.0, v12.19.0
Function pointer used with napi_add_async_cleanup_hook
. It will be called
when the environment is being torn down.
Callback functions must satisfy the following signature:
typedef void (*napi_async_cleanup_hook)(napi_async_cleanup_hook_handle handle,
void* data);
The body of the function should initiate the asynchronous cleanup actions at the
end of which handle
must be passed in a call to
napi_remove_async_cleanup_hook
.
Error handling#
Node-API uses both return values and JavaScript exceptions for error handling.
The following sections explain the approach for each case.
Return values#
All of the Node-API functions share the same error handling pattern. The
return type of all API functions is napi_status
.
The return value will be napi_ok
if the request was successful and
no uncaught JavaScript exception was thrown. If an error occurred AND
an exception was thrown, the napi_status
value for the error
will be returned. If an exception was thrown, and no error occurred,
napi_pending_exception
will be returned.
In cases where a return value other than napi_ok
or
napi_pending_exception
is returned, napi_is_exception_pending
must be called to check if an exception is pending.
See the section on exceptions for more details.
The full set of possible napi_status
values is defined
in napi_api_types.h
.
The napi_status
return value provides a VM-independent representation of
the error which occurred. In some cases it is useful to be able to get
more detailed information, including a string representing the error as well as
VM (engine)-specific information.
In order to retrieve this information napi_get_last_error_info
is provided which returns a napi_extended_error_info
structure.
The format of the napi_extended_error_info
structure is as follows:
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
typedef struct napi_extended_error_info {
const char* error_message;
void* engine_reserved;
uint32_t engine_error_code;
napi_status error_code;
};
error_message
: Textual representation of the error that occurred.
engine_reserved
: Opaque handle reserved for engine use only.
engine_error_code
: VM specific error code.
error_code
: Node-API status code for the last error.
napi_get_last_error_info
returns the information for the last
Node-API call that was made.
Do not rely on the content or format of any of the extended information as it
is not subject to SemVer and may change at any time. It is intended only for
logging purposes.
napi_get_last_error_info
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status
napi_get_last_error_info(napi_env env,
const napi_extended_error_info** result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: The napi_extended_error_info
structure with more
information about the error.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API retrieves a napi_extended_error_info
structure with information
about the last error that occurred.
The content of the napi_extended_error_info
returned is only valid up until
a Node-API function is called on the same env
. This includes a call to
napi_is_exception_pending
so it may often be necessary to make a copy
of the information so that it can be used later. The pointer returned
in error_message
points to a statically-defined string so it is safe to use
that pointer if you have copied it out of the error_message
field (which will
be overwritten) before another Node-API function was called.
Do not rely on the content or format of any of the extended information as it
is not subject to SemVer and may change at any time. It is intended only for
logging purposes.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
Exceptions#
Any Node-API function call may result in a pending JavaScript exception. This is
the case for any of the API functions, even those that may not cause the
execution of JavaScript.
If the napi_status
returned by a function is napi_ok
then no
exception is pending and no additional action is required. If the
napi_status
returned is anything other than napi_ok
or
napi_pending_exception
, in order to try to recover and continue
instead of simply returning immediately, napi_is_exception_pending
must be called in order to determine if an exception is pending or not.
In many cases when a Node-API function is called and an exception is
already pending, the function will return immediately with a
napi_status
of napi_pending_exception
. However, this is not the case
for all functions. Node-API allows a subset of the functions to be
called to allow for some minimal cleanup before returning to JavaScript.
In that case, napi_status
will reflect the status for the function. It
will not reflect previous pending exceptions. To avoid confusion, check
the error status after every function call.
When an exception is pending one of two approaches can be employed.
The first approach is to do any appropriate cleanup and then return so that
execution will return to JavaScript. As part of the transition back to
JavaScript, the exception will be thrown at the point in the JavaScript
code where the native method was invoked. The behavior of most Node-API calls
is unspecified while an exception is pending, and many will simply return
napi_pending_exception
, so do as little as possible and then return to
JavaScript where the exception can be handled.
The second approach is to try to handle the exception. There will be cases
where the native code can catch the exception, take the appropriate action,
and then continue. This is only recommended in specific cases
where it is known that the exception can be safely handled. In these
cases napi_get_and_clear_last_exception
can be used to get and
clear the exception. On success, result will contain the handle to
the last JavaScript Object
thrown. If it is determined, after
retrieving the exception, the exception cannot be handled after all
it can be re-thrown it with napi_throw
where error is the
JavaScript value to be thrown.
The following utility functions are also available in case native code
needs to throw an exception or determine if a napi_value
is an instance
of a JavaScript Error
object: napi_throw_error
,
napi_throw_type_error
, napi_throw_range_error
, node_api_throw_syntax_error
and napi_is_error
.
The following utility functions are also available in case native
code needs to create an Error
object: napi_create_error
,
napi_create_type_error
, napi_create_range_error
and node_api_create_syntax_error
,
where result is the napi_value
that refers to the newly created
JavaScript Error
object.
The Node.js project is adding error codes to all of the errors
generated internally. The goal is for applications to use these
error codes for all error checking. The associated error messages
will remain, but will only be meant to be used for logging and
display with the expectation that the message can change without
SemVer applying. In order to support this model with Node-API, both
in internal functionality and for module specific functionality
(as its good practice), the throw_
and create_
functions
take an optional code parameter which is the string for the code
to be added to the error object. If the optional parameter is NULL
then no code will be associated with the error. If a code is provided,
the name associated with the error is also updated to be:
originalName [code]
where originalName
is the original name associated with the error
and code
is the code that was provided. For example, if the code
is 'ERR_ERROR_1'
and a TypeError
is being created the name will be:
TypeError [ERR_ERROR_1]
napi_throw
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_throw(napi_env env, napi_value error);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] error
: The JavaScript value to be thrown.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API throws the JavaScript value provided.
napi_throw_error
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_throw_error(napi_env env,
const char* code,
const char* msg);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] code
: Optional error code to be set on the error.
[in] msg
: C string representing the text to be associated with the error.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API throws a JavaScript Error
with the text provided.
napi_throw_type_error
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_throw_type_error(napi_env env,
const char* code,
const char* msg);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] code
: Optional error code to be set on the error.
[in] msg
: C string representing the text to be associated with the error.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API throws a JavaScript TypeError
with the text provided.
napi_throw_range_error
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_throw_range_error(napi_env env,
const char* code,
const char* msg);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] code
: Optional error code to be set on the error.
[in] msg
: C string representing the text to be associated with the error.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API throws a JavaScript RangeError
with the text provided.
node_api_throw_syntax_error
#
Added in: v16.14.0
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status node_api_throw_syntax_error(napi_env env,
const char* code,
const char* msg);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] code
: Optional error code to be set on the error.
[in] msg
: C string representing the text to be associated with the error.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API throws a JavaScript SyntaxError
with the text provided.
napi_is_error
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_is_error(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The napi_value
to be checked.
[out] result
: Boolean value that is set to true if napi_value
represents
an error, false otherwise.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API queries a napi_value
to check if it represents an error object.
napi_create_error
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_create_error(napi_env env,
napi_value code,
napi_value msg,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] code
: Optional napi_value
with the string for the error code to be
associated with the error.
[in] msg
: napi_value
that references a JavaScript string
to be used as
the message for the Error
.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the error created.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns a JavaScript Error
with the text provided.
napi_create_type_error
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_create_type_error(napi_env env,
napi_value code,
napi_value msg,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] code
: Optional napi_value
with the string for the error code to be
associated with the error.
[in] msg
: napi_value
that references a JavaScript string
to be used as
the message for the Error
.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the error created.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns a JavaScript TypeError
with the text provided.
napi_create_range_error
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_create_range_error(napi_env env,
napi_value code,
napi_value msg,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] code
: Optional napi_value
with the string for the error code to be
associated with the error.
[in] msg
: napi_value
that references a JavaScript string
to be used as
the message for the Error
.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the error created.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns a JavaScript RangeError
with the text provided.
node_api_create_syntax_error
#
Added in: v16.14.0
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status node_api_create_syntax_error(napi_env env,
napi_value code,
napi_value msg,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] code
: Optional napi_value
with the string for the error code to be
associated with the error.
[in] msg
: napi_value
that references a JavaScript string
to be used as
the message for the Error
.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the error created.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns a JavaScript SyntaxError
with the text provided.
napi_get_and_clear_last_exception
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_and_clear_last_exception(napi_env env,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: The exception if one is pending, NULL
otherwise.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
napi_is_exception_pending
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_is_exception_pending(napi_env env, bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: Boolean value that is set to true if an exception is pending.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
napi_fatal_exception
#
Added in: v9.10.0
N-API version: 3
napi_status napi_fatal_exception(napi_env env, napi_value err);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] err
: The error that is passed to 'uncaughtException'
.
Trigger an 'uncaughtException'
in JavaScript. Useful if an async
callback throws an exception with no way to recover.
Fatal errors#
In the event of an unrecoverable error in a native addon, a fatal error can be
thrown to immediately terminate the process.
napi_fatal_error
#
Added in: v8.2.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_NO_RETURN void napi_fatal_error(const char* location,
size_t location_len,
const char* message,
size_t message_len);
[in] location
: Optional location at which the error occurred.
[in] location_len
: The length of the location in bytes, or
NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH
if it is null-terminated.
[in] message
: The message associated with the error.
[in] message_len
: The length of the message in bytes, or NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH
if it is null-terminated.
The function call does not return, the process will be terminated.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
Object lifetime management#
As Node-API calls are made, handles to objects in the heap for the underlying
VM may be returned as napi_values
. These handles must hold the
objects 'live' until they are no longer required by the native code,
otherwise the objects could be collected before the native code was
finished using them.
As object handles are returned they are associated with a
'scope'. The lifespan for the default scope is tied to the lifespan
of the native method call. The result is that, by default, handles
remain valid and the objects associated with these handles will be
held live for the lifespan of the native method call.
In many cases, however, it is necessary that the handles remain valid for
either a shorter or longer lifespan than that of the native method.
The sections which follow describe the Node-API functions that can be used
to change the handle lifespan from the default.
Making handle lifespan shorter than that of the native method#
It is often necessary to make the lifespan of handles shorter than
the lifespan of a native method. For example, consider a native method
that has a loop which iterates through the elements in a large array:
for (int i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) {
napi_value result;
napi_status status = napi_get_element(env, object, i, &result);
if (status != napi_ok) {
break;
}
}
This would result in a large number of handles being created, consuming
substantial resources. In addition, even though the native code could only
use the most recent handle, all of the associated objects would also be
kept alive since they all share the same scope.
To handle this case, Node-API provides the ability to establish a new 'scope' to
which newly created handles will be associated. Once those handles
are no longer required, the scope can be 'closed' and any handles associated
with the scope are invalidated. The methods available to open/close scopes are
napi_open_handle_scope
and napi_close_handle_scope
.
Node-API only supports a single nested hierarchy of scopes. There is only one
active scope at any time, and all new handles will be associated with that
scope while it is active. Scopes must be closed in the reverse order from
which they are opened. In addition, all scopes created within a native method
must be closed before returning from that method.
Taking the earlier example, adding calls to napi_open_handle_scope
and
napi_close_handle_scope
would ensure that at most a single handle
is valid throughout the execution of the loop:
for (int i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) {
napi_handle_scope scope;
napi_status status = napi_open_handle_scope(env, &scope);
if (status != napi_ok) {
break;
}
napi_value result;
status = napi_get_element(env, object, i, &result);
if (status != napi_ok) {
break;
}
status = napi_close_handle_scope(env, scope);
if (status != napi_ok) {
break;
}
}
When nesting scopes, there are cases where a handle from an
inner scope needs to live beyond the lifespan of that scope. Node-API supports
an 'escapable scope' in order to support this case. An escapable scope
allows one handle to be 'promoted' so that it 'escapes' the
current scope and the lifespan of the handle changes from the current
scope to that of the outer scope.
The methods available to open/close escapable scopes are
napi_open_escapable_handle_scope
and
napi_close_escapable_handle_scope
.
The request to promote a handle is made through napi_escape_handle
which
can only be called once.
napi_open_handle_scope
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_open_handle_scope(napi_env env,
napi_handle_scope* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the new scope.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API opens a new scope.
napi_close_handle_scope
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_close_handle_scope(napi_env env,
napi_handle_scope scope);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] scope
: napi_value
representing the scope to be closed.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API closes the scope passed in. Scopes must be closed in the
reverse order from which they were created.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
napi_open_escapable_handle_scope
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_open_escapable_handle_scope(napi_env env,
napi_handle_scope* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the new scope.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API opens a new scope from which one object can be promoted
to the outer scope.
napi_close_escapable_handle_scope
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_close_escapable_handle_scope(napi_env env,
napi_handle_scope scope);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] scope
: napi_value
representing the scope to be closed.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API closes the scope passed in. Scopes must be closed in the
reverse order from which they were created.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
napi_escape_handle
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_escape_handle(napi_env env,
napi_escapable_handle_scope scope,
napi_value escapee,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] scope
: napi_value
representing the current scope.
[in] escapee
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript Object
to be
escaped.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the handle to the escaped Object
in the outer scope.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API promotes the handle to the JavaScript object so that it is valid
for the lifetime of the outer scope. It can only be called once per scope.
If it is called more than once an error will be returned.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
References to objects with a lifespan longer than that of the native method#
In some cases an addon will need to be able to create and reference objects
with a lifespan longer than that of a single native method invocation. For
example, to create a constructor and later use that constructor
in a request to creates instances, it must be possible to reference
the constructor object across many different instance creation requests. This
would not be possible with a normal handle returned as a napi_value
as
described in the earlier section. The lifespan of a normal handle is
managed by scopes and all scopes must be closed before the end of a native
method.
Node-API provides methods to create persistent references to an object.
Each persistent reference has an associated count with a value of 0
or higher. The count determines if the reference will keep
the corresponding object live. References with a count of 0 do not
prevent the object from being collected and are often called 'weak'
references. Any count greater than 0 will prevent the object
from being collected.
References can be created with an initial reference count. The count can
then be modified through napi_reference_ref
and
napi_reference_unref
. If an object is collected while the count
for a reference is 0, all subsequent calls to
get the object associated with the reference napi_get_reference_value
will return NULL
for the returned napi_value
. An attempt to call
napi_reference_ref
for a reference whose object has been collected
results in an error.
References must be deleted once they are no longer required by the addon. When
a reference is deleted, it will no longer prevent the corresponding object from
being collected. Failure to delete a persistent reference results in
a 'memory leak' with both the native memory for the persistent reference and
the corresponding object on the heap being retained forever.
There can be multiple persistent references created which refer to the same
object, each of which will either keep the object live or not based on its
individual count. Multiple persistent references to the same object
can result in unexpectedly keeping alive native memory. The native structures
for a persistent reference must be kept alive until finalizers for the
referenced object are executed. If a new persistent reference is created
for the same object, the finalizers for that object will not be
run and the native memory pointed by the earlier persistent reference
will not be freed. This can be avoided by calling
napi_delete_reference
in addition to napi_reference_unref
when possible.
napi_create_reference
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_create_reference(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
uint32_t initial_refcount,
napi_ref* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing the Object
to which we want a
reference.
[in] initial_refcount
: Initial reference count for the new reference.
[out] result
: napi_ref
pointing to the new reference.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API creates a new reference with the specified reference count
to the Object
passed in.
napi_delete_reference
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_delete_reference(napi_env env, napi_ref ref);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] ref
: napi_ref
to be deleted.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API deletes the reference passed in.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
napi_reference_ref
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_reference_ref(napi_env env,
napi_ref ref,
uint32_t* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] ref
: napi_ref
for which the reference count will be incremented.
[out] result
: The new reference count.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API increments the reference count for the reference
passed in and returns the resulting reference count.
napi_reference_unref
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_reference_unref(napi_env env,
napi_ref ref,
uint32_t* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] ref
: napi_ref
for which the reference count will be decremented.
[out] result
: The new reference count.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API decrements the reference count for the reference
passed in and returns the resulting reference count.
napi_get_reference_value
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_get_reference_value(napi_env env,
napi_ref ref,
napi_value* result);
the napi_value passed
in or out of these methods is a handle to the
object to which the reference is related.
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] ref
: napi_ref
for which we requesting the corresponding Object
.
[out] result
: The napi_value
for the Object
referenced by the
napi_ref
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
If still valid, this API returns the napi_value
representing the
JavaScript Object
associated with the napi_ref
. Otherwise, result
will be NULL
.
Cleanup on exit of the current Node.js instance#
While a Node.js process typically releases all its resources when exiting,
embedders of Node.js, or future Worker support, may require addons to register
clean-up hooks that will be run once the current Node.js instance exits.
Node-API provides functions for registering and un-registering such callbacks.
When those callbacks are run, all resources that are being held by the addon
should be freed up.
napi_add_env_cleanup_hook
#
Added in: v10.2.0
N-API version: 3
NODE_EXTERN napi_status napi_add_env_cleanup_hook(napi_env env,
void (*fun)(void* arg),
void* arg);
Registers fun
as a function to be run with the arg
parameter once the
current Node.js environment exits.
A function can safely be specified multiple times with different
arg
values. In that case, it will be called multiple times as well.
Providing the same fun
and arg
values multiple times is not allowed
and will lead the process to abort.
The hooks will be called in reverse order, i.e. the most recently added one
will be called first.
Removing this hook can be done by using napi_remove_env_cleanup_hook
.
Typically, that happens when the resource for which this hook was added
is being torn down anyway.
For asynchronous cleanup, napi_add_async_cleanup_hook
is available.
napi_remove_env_cleanup_hook
#
Added in: v10.2.0
N-API version: 3
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_remove_env_cleanup_hook(napi_env env,
void (*fun)(void* arg),
void* arg);
Unregisters fun
as a function to be run with the arg
parameter once the
current Node.js environment exits. Both the argument and the function value
need to be exact matches.
The function must have originally been registered
with napi_add_env_cleanup_hook
, otherwise the process will abort.
napi_add_async_cleanup_hook
#
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_add_async_cleanup_hook(
napi_env env,
napi_async_cleanup_hook hook,
void* arg,
napi_async_cleanup_hook_handle* remove_handle);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] hook
: The function pointer to call at environment teardown.
[in] arg
: The pointer to pass to hook
when it gets called.
[out] remove_handle
: Optional handle that refers to the asynchronous cleanup
hook.
Registers hook
, which is a function of type napi_async_cleanup_hook
, as
a function to be run with the remove_handle
and arg
parameters once the
current Node.js environment exits.
Unlike napi_add_env_cleanup_hook
, the hook is allowed to be asynchronous.
Otherwise, behavior generally matches that of napi_add_env_cleanup_hook
.
If remove_handle
is not NULL
, an opaque value will be stored in it
that must later be passed to napi_remove_async_cleanup_hook
,
regardless of whether the hook has already been invoked.
Typically, that happens when the resource for which this hook was added
is being torn down anyway.
napi_remove_async_cleanup_hook
#
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_remove_async_cleanup_hook(
napi_async_cleanup_hook_handle remove_handle);
Unregisters the cleanup hook corresponding to remove_handle
. This will prevent
the hook from being executed, unless it has already started executing.
This must be called on any napi_async_cleanup_hook_handle
value obtained
from napi_add_async_cleanup_hook
.
Module registration#
Node-API modules are registered in a manner similar to other modules
except that instead of using the NODE_MODULE
macro the following
is used:
NAPI_MODULE(NODE_GYP_MODULE_NAME, Init)
The next difference is the signature for the Init
method. For a Node-API
module it is as follows:
napi_value Init(napi_env env, napi_value exports);
The return value from Init
is treated as the exports
object for the module.
The Init
method is passed an empty object via the exports
parameter as a
convenience. If Init
returns NULL
, the parameter passed as exports
is
exported by the module. Node-API modules cannot modify the module
object but
can specify anything as the exports
property of the module.
To add the method hello
as a function so that it can be called as a method
provided by the addon:
napi_value Init(napi_env env, napi_value exports) {
napi_status status;
napi_property_descriptor desc = {
"hello",
NULL,
Method,
NULL,
NULL,
NULL,
napi_writable | napi_enumerable | napi_configurable,
NULL
};
status = napi_define_properties(env, exports, 1, &desc);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
return exports;
}
To set a function to be returned by the require()
for the addon:
napi_value Init(napi_env env, napi_value exports) {
napi_value method;
napi_status status;
status = napi_create_function(env, "exports", NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH, Method, NULL, &method);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
return method;
}
To define a class so that new instances can be created (often used with
Object wrap):
napi_value Init(napi_env env, napi_value exports) {
napi_status status;
napi_property_descriptor properties[] = {
{ "value", NULL, NULL, GetValue, SetValue, NULL, napi_writable | napi_configurable, NULL },
DECLARE_NAPI_METHOD("plusOne", PlusOne),
DECLARE_NAPI_METHOD("multiply", Multiply),
};
napi_value cons;
status =
napi_define_class(env, "MyObject", New, NULL, 3, properties, &cons);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
status = napi_create_reference(env, cons, 1, &constructor);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
status = napi_set_named_property(env, exports, "MyObject", cons);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
return exports;
}
You can also use the NAPI_MODULE_INIT
macro, which acts as a shorthand
for NAPI_MODULE
and defining an Init
function:
NAPI_MODULE_INIT() {
napi_value answer;
napi_status result;
status = napi_create_int64(env, 42, &answer);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
status = napi_set_named_property(env, exports, "answer", answer);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
return exports;
}
All Node-API addons are context-aware, meaning they may be loaded multiple
times. There are a few design considerations when declaring such a module.
The documentation on context-aware addons provides more details.
The variables env
and exports
will be available inside the function body
following the macro invocation.
For more details on setting properties on objects, see the section on
Working with JavaScript properties.
For more details on building addon modules in general, refer to the existing
API.
Working with JavaScript values#
Node-API exposes a set of APIs to create all types of JavaScript values.
Some of these types are documented under Section 6
of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
Fundamentally, these APIs are used to do one of the following:
- Create a new JavaScript object
- Convert from a primitive C type to a Node-API value
- Convert from Node-API value to a primitive C type
- Get global instances including
undefined
and null
Node-API values are represented by the type napi_value
.
Any Node-API call that requires a JavaScript value takes in a napi_value
.
In some cases, the API does check the type of the napi_value
up-front.
However, for better performance, it's better for the caller to make sure that
the napi_value
in question is of the JavaScript type expected by the API.
Enum types#
napi_key_collection_mode
#
Added in: v13.7.0, v12.17.0, v10.20.0
N-API version: 6
typedef enum {
napi_key_include_prototypes,
napi_key_own_only
} napi_key_collection_mode;
Describes the Keys/Properties
filter enums:
napi_key_collection_mode
limits the range of collected properties.
napi_key_own_only
limits the collected properties to the given
object only. napi_key_include_prototypes
will include all keys
of the objects's prototype chain as well.
napi_key_filter
#
Added in: v13.7.0, v12.17.0, v10.20.0
N-API version: 6
typedef enum {
napi_key_all_properties = 0,
napi_key_writable = 1,
napi_key_enumerable = 1 << 1,
napi_key_configurable = 1 << 2,
napi_key_skip_strings = 1 << 3,
napi_key_skip_symbols = 1 << 4
} napi_key_filter;
Property filter bits. They can be or'ed to build a composite filter.
napi_key_conversion
#
Added in: v13.7.0, v12.17.0, v10.20.0
N-API version: 6
typedef enum {
napi_key_keep_numbers,
napi_key_numbers_to_strings
} napi_key_conversion;
napi_key_numbers_to_strings
will convert integer indices to
strings. napi_key_keep_numbers
will return numbers for integer
indices.
napi_valuetype
#
typedef enum {
napi_undefined,
napi_null,
napi_boolean,
napi_number,
napi_string,
napi_symbol,
napi_object,
napi_function,
napi_external,
napi_bigint,
} napi_valuetype;
Describes the type of a napi_value
. This generally corresponds to the types
described in Section 6.1 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
In addition to types in that section, napi_valuetype
can also represent
Function
s and Object
s with external data.
A JavaScript value of type napi_external
appears in JavaScript as a plain
object such that no properties can be set on it, and no prototype.
napi_typedarray_type
#
typedef enum {
napi_int8_array,
napi_uint8_array,
napi_uint8_clamped_array,
napi_int16_array,
napi_uint16_array,
napi_int32_array,
napi_uint32_array,
napi_float32_array,
napi_float64_array,
napi_bigint64_array,
napi_biguint64_array,
} napi_typedarray_type;
This represents the underlying binary scalar datatype of the TypedArray
.
Elements of this enum correspond to
Section 22.2 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
Object creation functions#
napi_create_array
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_array(napi_env env, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript Array
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns a Node-API value corresponding to a JavaScript Array
type.
JavaScript arrays are described in
Section 22.1 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_array_with_length
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_array_with_length(napi_env env,
size_t length,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] length
: The initial length of the Array
.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript Array
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns a Node-API value corresponding to a JavaScript Array
type.
The Array
's length property is set to the passed-in length parameter.
However, the underlying buffer is not guaranteed to be pre-allocated by the VM
when the array is created. That behavior is left to the underlying VM
implementation. If the buffer must be a contiguous block of memory that can be
directly read and/or written via C, consider using
napi_create_external_arraybuffer
.
JavaScript arrays are described in
Section 22.1 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_arraybuffer
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_arraybuffer(napi_env env,
size_t byte_length,
void** data,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] length
: The length in bytes of the array buffer to create.
[out] data
: Pointer to the underlying byte buffer of the ArrayBuffer
.
data
can optionally be ignored by passing NULL
.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript ArrayBuffer
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns a Node-API value corresponding to a JavaScript ArrayBuffer
.
ArrayBuffer
s are used to represent fixed-length binary data buffers. They are
normally used as a backing-buffer for TypedArray
objects.
The ArrayBuffer
allocated will have an underlying byte buffer whose size is
determined by the length
parameter that's passed in.
The underlying buffer is optionally returned back to the caller in case the
caller wants to directly manipulate the buffer. This buffer can only be
written to directly from native code. To write to this buffer from JavaScript,
a typed array or DataView
object would need to be created.
JavaScript ArrayBuffer
objects are described in
Section 24.1 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_buffer
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_buffer(napi_env env,
size_t size,
void** data,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] size
: Size in bytes of the underlying buffer.
[out] data
: Raw pointer to the underlying buffer.
data
can optionally be ignored by passing NULL
.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a node::Buffer
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API allocates a node::Buffer
object. While this is still a
fully-supported data structure, in most cases using a TypedArray
will suffice.
napi_create_buffer_copy
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_buffer_copy(napi_env env,
size_t length,
const void* data,
void** result_data,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] size
: Size in bytes of the input buffer (should be the same as the size
of the new buffer).
[in] data
: Raw pointer to the underlying buffer to copy from.
[out] result_data
: Pointer to the new Buffer
's underlying data buffer.
result_data
can optionally be ignored by passing NULL
.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a node::Buffer
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API allocates a node::Buffer
object and initializes it with data copied
from the passed-in buffer. While this is still a fully-supported data
structure, in most cases using a TypedArray
will suffice.
napi_create_date
#
Added in: v11.11.0, v10.17.0
N-API version: 5
napi_status napi_create_date(napi_env env,
double time,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] time
: ECMAScript time value in milliseconds since 01 January, 1970 UTC.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript Date
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API does not observe leap seconds; they are ignored, as
ECMAScript aligns with POSIX time specification.
This API allocates a JavaScript Date
object.
JavaScript Date
objects are described in
Section 20.3 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_external
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_external(napi_env env,
void* data,
napi_finalize finalize_cb,
void* finalize_hint,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] data
: Raw pointer to the external data.
[in] finalize_cb
: Optional callback to call when the external value is being
collected. napi_finalize
provides more details.
[in] finalize_hint
: Optional hint to pass to the finalize callback during
collection.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing an external value.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API allocates a JavaScript value with external data attached to it. This
is used to pass external data through JavaScript code, so it can be retrieved
later by native code using napi_get_value_external
.
The API adds a napi_finalize
callback which will be called when the JavaScript
object just created is ready for garbage collection. It is similar to
napi_wrap()
except that:
- the native data cannot be retrieved later using
napi_unwrap()
,
- nor can it be removed later using
napi_remove_wrap()
, and
- the object created by the API can be used with
napi_wrap()
.
The created value is not an object, and therefore does not support additional
properties. It is considered a distinct value type: calling napi_typeof()
with
an external value yields napi_external
.
napi_create_external_arraybuffer
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status
napi_create_external_arraybuffer(napi_env env,
void* external_data,
size_t byte_length,
napi_finalize finalize_cb,
void* finalize_hint,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] external_data
: Pointer to the underlying byte buffer of the
ArrayBuffer
.
[in] byte_length
: The length in bytes of the underlying buffer.
[in] finalize_cb
: Optional callback to call when the ArrayBuffer
is being
collected. napi_finalize
provides more details.
[in] finalize_hint
: Optional hint to pass to the finalize callback during
collection.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript ArrayBuffer
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Some runtimes other than Node.js have dropped support for external buffers.
On runtimes other than Node.js this method may return
napi_no_external_buffers_allowed
to indicate that external
buffers are not supported. One such runtime is Electron as
described in this issue
electron/issues/35801.
In order to maintain broadest compatibility with all runtimes
you may define NODE_API_NO_EXTERNAL_BUFFERS_ALLOWED
in your addon before
includes for the node-api headers. Doing so will hide the 2 functions
that create external buffers. This will ensure a compilation error
occurs if you accidentally use one of these methods.
This API returns a Node-API value corresponding to a JavaScript ArrayBuffer
.
The underlying byte buffer of the ArrayBuffer
is externally allocated and
managed. The caller must ensure that the byte buffer remains valid until the
finalize callback is called.
The API adds a napi_finalize
callback which will be called when the JavaScript
object just created is ready for garbage collection. It is similar to
napi_wrap()
except that:
- the native data cannot be retrieved later using
napi_unwrap()
,
- nor can it be removed later using
napi_remove_wrap()
, and
- the object created by the API can be used with
napi_wrap()
.
JavaScript ArrayBuffer
s are described in
Section 24.1 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_external_buffer
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_external_buffer(napi_env env,
size_t length,
void* data,
napi_finalize finalize_cb,
void* finalize_hint,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] length
: Size in bytes of the input buffer (should be the same as the
size of the new buffer).
[in] data
: Raw pointer to the underlying buffer to expose to JavaScript.
[in] finalize_cb
: Optional callback to call when the ArrayBuffer
is being
collected. napi_finalize
provides more details.
[in] finalize_hint
: Optional hint to pass to the finalize callback during
collection.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a node::Buffer
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Some runtimes other than Node.js have dropped support for external buffers.
On runtimes other than Node.js this method may return
napi_no_external_buffers_allowed
to indicate that external
buffers are not supported. One such runtime is Electron as
described in this issue
electron/issues/35801.
In order to maintain broadest compatibility with all runtimes
you may define NODE_API_NO_EXTERNAL_BUFFERS_ALLOWED
in your addon before
includes for the node-api headers. Doing so will hide the 2 functions
that create external buffers. This will ensure a compilation error
occurs if you accidentally use one of these methods.
This API allocates a node::Buffer
object and initializes it with data
backed by the passed in buffer. While this is still a fully-supported data
structure, in most cases using a TypedArray
will suffice.
The API adds a napi_finalize
callback which will be called when the JavaScript
object just created is ready for garbage collection. It is similar to
napi_wrap()
except that:
- the native data cannot be retrieved later using
napi_unwrap()
,
- nor can it be removed later using
napi_remove_wrap()
, and
- the object created by the API can be used with
napi_wrap()
.
For Node.js >=4 Buffers
are Uint8Array
s.
napi_create_object
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_object(napi_env env, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript Object
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API allocates a default JavaScript Object
.
It is the equivalent of doing new Object()
in JavaScript.
The JavaScript Object
type is described in Section 6.1.7 of the
ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_symbol
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_symbol(napi_env env,
napi_value description,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] description
: Optional napi_value
which refers to a JavaScript
string
to be set as the description for the symbol.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript symbol
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API creates a JavaScript symbol
value from a UTF8-encoded C string.
The JavaScript symbol
type is described in Section 19.4
of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
node_api_symbol_for
#
Added in: v16.15.0
napi_status node_api_symbol_for(napi_env env,
const char* utf8description,
size_t length,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] utf8description
: UTF-8 C string representing the text to be used as the
description for the symbol.
[in] length
: The length of the description string in bytes, or
NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH
if it is null-terminated.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript symbol
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API searches in the global registry for an existing symbol with the given
description. If the symbol already exists it will be returned, otherwise a new
symbol will be created in the registry.
The JavaScript symbol
type is described in Section 19.4 of the ECMAScript
Language Specification.
napi_create_typedarray
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_typedarray(napi_env env,
napi_typedarray_type type,
size_t length,
napi_value arraybuffer,
size_t byte_offset,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] type
: Scalar datatype of the elements within the TypedArray
.
[in] length
: Number of elements in the TypedArray
.
[in] arraybuffer
: ArrayBuffer
underlying the typed array.
[in] byte_offset
: The byte offset within the ArrayBuffer
from which to
start projecting the TypedArray
.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript TypedArray
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API creates a JavaScript TypedArray
object over an existing
ArrayBuffer
. TypedArray
objects provide an array-like view over an
underlying data buffer where each element has the same underlying binary scalar
datatype.
It's required that (length * size_of_element) + byte_offset
should
be <= the size in bytes of the array passed in. If not, a RangeError
exception
is raised.
JavaScript TypedArray
objects are described in
Section 22.2 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_dataview
#
Added in: v8.3.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_dataview(napi_env env,
size_t byte_length,
napi_value arraybuffer,
size_t byte_offset,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] length
: Number of elements in the DataView
.
[in] arraybuffer
: ArrayBuffer
underlying the DataView
.
[in] byte_offset
: The byte offset within the ArrayBuffer
from which to
start projecting the DataView
.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript DataView
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API creates a JavaScript DataView
object over an existing ArrayBuffer
.
DataView
objects provide an array-like view over an underlying data buffer,
but one which allows items of different size and type in the ArrayBuffer
.
It is required that byte_length + byte_offset
is less than or equal to the
size in bytes of the array passed in. If not, a RangeError
exception is
raised.
JavaScript DataView
objects are described in
Section 24.3 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
Functions to convert from C types to Node-API#
napi_create_int32
#
Added in: v8.4.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_int32(napi_env env, int32_t value, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: Integer value to be represented in JavaScript.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript number
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API is used to convert from the C int32_t
type to the JavaScript
number
type.
The JavaScript number
type is described in
Section 6.1.6 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_uint32
#
Added in: v8.4.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_uint32(napi_env env, uint32_t value, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: Unsigned integer value to be represented in JavaScript.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript number
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API is used to convert from the C uint32_t
type to the JavaScript
number
type.
The JavaScript number
type is described in
Section 6.1.6 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_int64
#
Added in: v8.4.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_int64(napi_env env, int64_t value, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: Integer value to be represented in JavaScript.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript number
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API is used to convert from the C int64_t
type to the JavaScript
number
type.
The JavaScript number
type is described in Section 6.1.6
of the ECMAScript Language Specification. Note the complete range of int64_t
cannot be represented with full precision in JavaScript. Integer values
outside the range of Number.MIN_SAFE_INTEGER
-(2**53 - 1)
-
Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER
(2**53 - 1)
will lose precision.
napi_create_double
#
Added in: v8.4.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_double(napi_env env, double value, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: Double-precision value to be represented in JavaScript.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript number
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API is used to convert from the C double
type to the JavaScript
number
type.
The JavaScript number
type is described in
Section 6.1.6 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_bigint_int64
#
Added in: v10.7.0
N-API version: 6
napi_status napi_create_bigint_int64(napi_env env,
int64_t value,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: Integer value to be represented in JavaScript.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript BigInt
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API converts the C int64_t
type to the JavaScript BigInt
type.
napi_create_bigint_uint64
#
Added in: v10.7.0
N-API version: 6
napi_status napi_create_bigint_uint64(napi_env env,
uint64_t value,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: Unsigned integer value to be represented in JavaScript.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript BigInt
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API converts the C uint64_t
type to the JavaScript BigInt
type.
napi_create_bigint_words
#
Added in: v10.7.0
N-API version: 6
napi_status napi_create_bigint_words(napi_env env,
int sign_bit,
size_t word_count,
const uint64_t* words,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] sign_bit
: Determines if the resulting BigInt
will be positive or
negative.
[in] word_count
: The length of the words
array.
[in] words
: An array of uint64_t
little-endian 64-bit words.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript BigInt
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API converts an array of unsigned 64-bit words into a single BigInt
value.
The resulting BigInt
is calculated as: (–1)sign_bit
(words[0]
× (264)0 + words[1]
× (264)1 + …)
napi_create_string_latin1
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_string_latin1(napi_env env,
const char* str,
size_t length,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] str
: Character buffer representing an ISO-8859-1-encoded string.
[in] length
: The length of the string in bytes, or NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH
if it
is null-terminated.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript string
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API creates a JavaScript string
value from an ISO-8859-1-encoded C
string. The native string is copied.
The JavaScript string
type is described in
Section 6.1.4 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_string_utf16
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_string_utf16(napi_env env,
const char16_t* str,
size_t length,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] str
: Character buffer representing a UTF16-LE-encoded string.
[in] length
: The length of the string in two-byte code units, or
NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH
if it is null-terminated.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript string
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API creates a JavaScript string
value from a UTF16-LE-encoded C string.
The native string is copied.
The JavaScript string
type is described in
Section 6.1.4 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_string_utf8
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_string_utf8(napi_env env,
const char* str,
size_t length,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] str
: Character buffer representing a UTF8-encoded string.
[in] length
: The length of the string in bytes, or NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH
if it
is null-terminated.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript string
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API creates a JavaScript string
value from a UTF8-encoded C string.
The native string is copied.
The JavaScript string
type is described in
Section 6.1.4 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
Functions to convert from Node-API to C types#
napi_get_array_length
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_array_length(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
uint32_t* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript Array
whose length is
being queried.
[out] result
: uint32
representing length of the array.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns the length of an array.
Array
length is described in Section 22.1.4.1 of the ECMAScript Language
Specification.
napi_get_arraybuffer_info
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_arraybuffer_info(napi_env env,
napi_value arraybuffer,
void** data,
size_t* byte_length)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] arraybuffer
: napi_value
representing the ArrayBuffer
being queried.
[out] data
: The underlying data buffer of the ArrayBuffer
. If byte_length
is 0
, this may be NULL
or any other pointer value.
[out] byte_length
: Length in bytes of the underlying data buffer.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API is used to retrieve the underlying data buffer of an ArrayBuffer
and
its length.
WARNING: Use caution while using this API. The lifetime of the underlying data
buffer is managed by the ArrayBuffer
even after it's returned. A
possible safe way to use this API is in conjunction with
napi_create_reference
, which can be used to guarantee control over the
lifetime of the ArrayBuffer
. It's also safe to use the returned data buffer
within the same callback as long as there are no calls to other APIs that might
trigger a GC.
napi_get_buffer_info
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_buffer_info(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
void** data,
size_t* length)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing the node::Buffer
being queried.
[out] data
: The underlying data buffer of the node::Buffer
.
If length is 0
, this may be NULL
or any other pointer value.
[out] length
: Length in bytes of the underlying data buffer.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API is used to retrieve the underlying data buffer of a node::Buffer
and its length.
Warning: Use caution while using this API since the underlying data buffer's
lifetime is not guaranteed if it's managed by the VM.
napi_get_prototype
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_prototype(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] object
: napi_value
representing JavaScript Object
whose prototype
to return. This returns the equivalent of Object.getPrototypeOf
(which is
not the same as the function's prototype
property).
[out] result
: napi_value
representing prototype of the given object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
napi_get_typedarray_info
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_typedarray_info(napi_env env,
napi_value typedarray,
napi_typedarray_type* type,
size_t* length,
void** data,
napi_value* arraybuffer,
size_t* byte_offset)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] typedarray
: napi_value
representing the TypedArray
whose
properties to query.
[out] type
: Scalar datatype of the elements within the TypedArray
.
[out] length
: The number of elements in the TypedArray
.
[out] data
: The data buffer underlying the TypedArray
adjusted by
the byte_offset
value so that it points to the first element in the
TypedArray
. If the length of the array is 0
, this may be NULL
or
any other pointer value.
[out] arraybuffer
: The ArrayBuffer
underlying the TypedArray
.
[out] byte_offset
: The byte offset within the underlying native array
at which the first element of the arrays is located. The value for the data
parameter has already been adjusted so that data points to the first element
in the array. Therefore, the first byte of the native array would be at
data - byte_offset
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns various properties of a typed array.
Any of the out parameters may be NULL
if that property is unneeded.
Warning: Use caution while using this API since the underlying data buffer
is managed by the VM.
napi_get_dataview_info
#
Added in: v8.3.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_dataview_info(napi_env env,
napi_value dataview,
size_t* byte_length,
void** data,
napi_value* arraybuffer,
size_t* byte_offset)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] dataview
: napi_value
representing the DataView
whose
properties to query.
[out] byte_length
: Number of bytes in the DataView
.
[out] data
: The data buffer underlying the DataView
.
If byte_length is 0
, this may be NULL
or any other pointer value.
[out] arraybuffer
: ArrayBuffer
underlying the DataView
.
[out] byte_offset
: The byte offset within the data buffer from which
to start projecting the DataView
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Any of the out parameters may be NULL
if that property is unneeded.
This API returns various properties of a DataView
.
napi_get_date_value
#
Added in: v11.11.0, v10.17.0
N-API version: 5
napi_status napi_get_date_value(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
double* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing a JavaScript Date
.
[out] result
: Time value as a double
represented as milliseconds since
midnight at the beginning of 01 January, 1970 UTC.
This API does not observe leap seconds; they are ignored, as
ECMAScript aligns with POSIX time specification.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-date napi_value
is passed
in it returns napi_date_expected
.
This API returns the C double primitive of time value for the given JavaScript
Date
.
napi_get_value_bool
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_bool(napi_env env, napi_value value, bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript Boolean
.
[out] result
: C boolean primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
Boolean
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-boolean napi_value
is
passed in it returns napi_boolean_expected
.
This API returns the C boolean primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
Boolean
.
napi_get_value_double
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_double(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
double* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript number
.
[out] result
: C double primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
number
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-number napi_value
is passed
in it returns napi_number_expected
.
This API returns the C double primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
number
.
napi_get_value_bigint_int64
#
Added in: v10.7.0
N-API version: 6
napi_status napi_get_value_bigint_int64(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
int64_t* result,
bool* lossless);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript BigInt
.
[out] result
: C int64_t
primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
BigInt
.
[out] lossless
: Indicates whether the BigInt
value was converted
losslessly.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-BigInt
is passed in it
returns napi_bigint_expected
.
This API returns the C int64_t
primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
BigInt
. If needed it will truncate the value, setting lossless
to false
.
napi_get_value_bigint_uint64
#
Added in: v10.7.0
N-API version: 6
napi_status napi_get_value_bigint_uint64(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
uint64_t* result,
bool* lossless);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript BigInt
.
[out] result
: C uint64_t
primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
BigInt
.
[out] lossless
: Indicates whether the BigInt
value was converted
losslessly.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-BigInt
is passed in it
returns napi_bigint_expected
.
This API returns the C uint64_t
primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
BigInt
. If needed it will truncate the value, setting lossless
to false
.
napi_get_value_bigint_words
#
Added in: v10.7.0
N-API version: 6
napi_status napi_get_value_bigint_words(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
int* sign_bit,
size_t* word_count,
uint64_t* words);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript BigInt
.
[out] sign_bit
: Integer representing if the JavaScript BigInt
is positive
or negative.
[in/out] word_count
: Must be initialized to the length of the words
array. Upon return, it will be set to the actual number of words that
would be needed to store this BigInt
.
[out] words
: Pointer to a pre-allocated 64-bit word array.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API converts a single BigInt
value into a sign bit, 64-bit little-endian
array, and the number of elements in the array. sign_bit
and words
may be
both set to NULL
, in order to get only word_count
.
napi_get_value_external
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_external(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
void** result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript external value.
[out] result
: Pointer to the data wrapped by the JavaScript external value.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-external napi_value
is
passed in it returns napi_invalid_arg
.
This API retrieves the external data pointer that was previously passed to
napi_create_external()
.
napi_get_value_int32
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_int32(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
int32_t* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript number
.
[out] result
: C int32
primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
number
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-number napi_value
is passed in napi_number_expected
.
This API returns the C int32
primitive equivalent
of the given JavaScript number
.
If the number exceeds the range of the 32 bit integer, then the result is
truncated to the equivalent of the bottom 32 bits. This can result in a large
positive number becoming a negative number if the value is > 231 - 1.
Non-finite number values (NaN
, +Infinity
, or -Infinity
) set the
result to zero.
napi_get_value_int64
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_int64(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
int64_t* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript number
.
[out] result
: C int64
primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
number
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-number napi_value
is passed in it returns napi_number_expected
.
This API returns the C int64
primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
number
.
number
values outside the range of Number.MIN_SAFE_INTEGER
-(2**53 - 1)
- Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER
(2**53 - 1)
will lose
precision.
Non-finite number values (NaN
, +Infinity
, or -Infinity
) set the
result to zero.
napi_get_value_string_latin1
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_string_latin1(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
char* buf,
size_t bufsize,
size_t* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript string.
[in] buf
: Buffer to write the ISO-8859-1-encoded string into. If NULL
is
passed in, the length of the string in bytes and excluding the null terminator
is returned in result
.
[in] bufsize
: Size of the destination buffer. When this value is
insufficient, the returned string is truncated and null-terminated.
[out] result
: Number of bytes copied into the buffer, excluding the null
terminator.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-string
napi_value
is passed in it returns napi_string_expected
.
This API returns the ISO-8859-1-encoded string corresponding the value passed
in.
napi_get_value_string_utf8
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_string_utf8(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
char* buf,
size_t bufsize,
size_t* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript string.
[in] buf
: Buffer to write the UTF8-encoded string into. If NULL
is passed
in, the length of the string in bytes and excluding the null terminator is
returned in result
.
[in] bufsize
: Size of the destination buffer. When this value is
insufficient, the returned string is truncated and null-terminated.
[out] result
: Number of bytes copied into the buffer, excluding the null
terminator.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-string
napi_value
is passed in it returns napi_string_expected
.
This API returns the UTF8-encoded string corresponding the value passed in.
napi_get_value_string_utf16
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_string_utf16(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
char16_t* buf,
size_t bufsize,
size_t* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript string.
[in] buf
: Buffer to write the UTF16-LE-encoded string into. If NULL
is
passed in, the length of the string in 2-byte code units and excluding the
null terminator is returned.
[in] bufsize
: Size of the destination buffer. When this value is
insufficient, the returned string is truncated and null-terminated.
[out] result
: Number of 2-byte code units copied into the buffer, excluding
the null terminator.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-string
napi_value
is passed in it returns napi_string_expected
.
This API returns the UTF16-encoded string corresponding the value passed in.
napi_get_value_uint32
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_uint32(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
uint32_t* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript number
.
[out] result
: C primitive equivalent of the given napi_value
as a
uint32_t
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-number napi_value
is passed in it returns napi_number_expected
.
This API returns the C primitive equivalent of the given napi_value
as a
uint32_t
.
Functions to get global instances#
napi_get_boolean
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_boolean(napi_env env, bool value, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The value of the boolean to retrieve.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing JavaScript Boolean
singleton to
retrieve.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API is used to return the JavaScript singleton object that is used to
represent the given boolean value.
napi_get_global
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_global(napi_env env, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing JavaScript global
object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns the global
object.
napi_get_null
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_null(napi_env env, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing JavaScript null
object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns the null
object.
napi_get_undefined
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_undefined(napi_env env, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing JavaScript Undefined value.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns the Undefined object.
Working with JavaScript values and abstract operations#
Node-API exposes a set of APIs to perform some abstract operations on JavaScript
values. Some of these operations are documented under Section 7
of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
These APIs support doing one of the following:
- Coerce JavaScript values to specific JavaScript types (such as
number
or
string
).
- Check the type of a JavaScript value.
- Check for equality between two JavaScript values.
napi_coerce_to_bool
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_coerce_to_bool(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to coerce.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the coerced JavaScript Boolean
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API implements the abstract operation ToBoolean()
as defined in
Section 7.1.2 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_coerce_to_number
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_coerce_to_number(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to coerce.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the coerced JavaScript number
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API implements the abstract operation ToNumber()
as defined in
Section 7.1.3 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
This function potentially runs JS code if the passed-in value is an
object.
napi_coerce_to_object
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_coerce_to_object(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to coerce.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the coerced JavaScript Object
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API implements the abstract operation ToObject()
as defined in
Section 7.1.13 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_coerce_to_string
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_coerce_to_string(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to coerce.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the coerced JavaScript string
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API implements the abstract operation ToString()
as defined in
Section 7.1.13 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
This function potentially runs JS code if the passed-in value is an
object.
napi_typeof
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_typeof(napi_env env, napi_value value, napi_valuetype* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value whose type to query.
[out] result
: The type of the JavaScript value.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
napi_invalid_arg
if the type of value
is not a known ECMAScript type and
value
is not an External value.
This API represents behavior similar to invoking the typeof
Operator on
the object as defined in Section 12.5.5 of the ECMAScript Language
Specification. However, there are some differences:
- It has support for detecting an External value.
- It detects
null
as a separate type, while ECMAScript typeof
would detect
object
.
If value
has a type that is invalid, an error is returned.
napi_instanceof
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_instanceof(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_value constructor,
bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] object
: The JavaScript value to check.
[in] constructor
: The JavaScript function object of the constructor function
to check against.
[out] result
: Boolean that is set to true if object instanceof constructor
is true.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API represents invoking the instanceof
Operator on the object as
defined in Section 12.10.4 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_is_array
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_is_array(napi_env env, napi_value value, bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to check.
[out] result
: Whether the given object is an array.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API represents invoking the IsArray
operation on the object
as defined in Section 7.2.2 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_is_arraybuffer
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_is_arraybuffer(napi_env env, napi_value value, bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to check.
[out] result
: Whether the given object is an ArrayBuffer
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API checks if the Object
passed in is an array buffer.
napi_is_buffer
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_is_buffer(napi_env env, napi_value value, bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to check.
[out] result
: Whether the given napi_value
represents a node::Buffer
object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API checks if the Object
passed in is a buffer.
napi_is_date
#
Added in: v11.11.0, v10.17.0
N-API version: 5
napi_status napi_is_date(napi_env env, napi_value value, bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to check.
[out] result
: Whether the given napi_value
represents a JavaScript Date
object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API checks if the Object
passed in is a date.
napi_is_error
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_is_error(napi_env env, napi_value value, bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to check.
[out] result
: Whether the given napi_value
represents an Error
object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API checks if the Object
passed in is an Error
.
napi_is_typedarray
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_is_typedarray(napi_env env, napi_value value, bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to check.
[out] result
: Whether the given napi_value
represents a TypedArray
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API checks if the Object
passed in is a typed array.
napi_is_dataview
#
Added in: v8.3.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_is_dataview(napi_env env, napi_value value, bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to check.
[out] result
: Whether the given napi_value
represents a DataView
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API checks if the Object
passed in is a DataView
.
napi_strict_equals
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_strict_equals(napi_env env,
napi_value lhs,
napi_value rhs,
bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] lhs
: The JavaScript value to check.
[in] rhs
: The JavaScript value to check against.
[out] result
: Whether the two napi_value
objects are equal.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API represents the invocation of the Strict Equality algorithm as
defined in Section 7.2.14 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_detach_arraybuffer
#
Added in: v13.0.0, v12.16.0, v10.22.0
N-API version: 7
napi_status napi_detach_arraybuffer(napi_env env,
napi_value arraybuffer)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] arraybuffer
: The JavaScript ArrayBuffer
to be detached.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-detachable ArrayBuffer
is
passed in it returns napi_detachable_arraybuffer_expected
.
Generally, an ArrayBuffer
is non-detachable if it has been detached before.
The engine may impose additional conditions on whether an ArrayBuffer
is
detachable. For example, V8 requires that the ArrayBuffer
be external,
that is, created with napi_create_external_arraybuffer
.
This API represents the invocation of the ArrayBuffer
detach operation as
defined in Section 24.1.1.3 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_is_detached_arraybuffer
#
Added in: v13.3.0, v12.16.0, v10.22.0
N-API version: 7
napi_status napi_is_detached_arraybuffer(napi_env env,
napi_value arraybuffer,
bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] arraybuffer
: The JavaScript ArrayBuffer
to be checked.
[out] result
: Whether the arraybuffer
is detached.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
The ArrayBuffer
is considered detached if its internal data is null
.
This API represents the invocation of the ArrayBuffer
IsDetachedBuffer
operation as defined in Section 24.1.1.2 of the ECMAScript Language
Specification.
Working with JavaScript properties#
Node-API exposes a set of APIs to get and set properties on JavaScript
objects. Some of these types are documented under Section 7 of the
ECMAScript Language Specification.
Properties in JavaScript are represented as a tuple of a key and a value.
Fundamentally, all property keys in Node-API can be represented in one of the
following forms:
- Named: a simple UTF8-encoded string
- Integer-Indexed: an index value represented by
uint32_t
- JavaScript value: these are represented in Node-API by
napi_value
. This can
be a napi_value
representing a string
, number
, or symbol
.
Node-API values are represented by the type napi_value
.
Any Node-API call that requires a JavaScript value takes in a napi_value
.
However, it's the caller's responsibility to make sure that the
napi_value
in question is of the JavaScript type expected by the API.
The APIs documented in this section provide a simple interface to
get and set properties on arbitrary JavaScript objects represented by
napi_value
.
For instance, consider the following JavaScript code snippet:
const obj = {};
obj.myProp = 123;
The equivalent can be done using Node-API values with the following snippet:
napi_status status = napi_generic_failure;
napi_value obj, value;
status = napi_create_object(env, &obj);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
status = napi_create_int32(env, 123, &value);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
status = napi_set_named_property(env, obj, "myProp", value);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
Indexed properties can be set in a similar manner. Consider the following
JavaScript snippet:
const arr = [];
arr[123] = 'hello';
The equivalent can be done using Node-API values with the following snippet:
napi_status status = napi_generic_failure;
napi_value arr, value;
status = napi_create_array(env, &arr);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
status = napi_create_string_utf8(env, "hello", NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH, &value);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
status = napi_set_element(env, arr, 123, value);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
Properties can be retrieved using the APIs described in this section.
Consider the following JavaScript snippet:
const arr = [];
const value = arr[123];
The following is the approximate equivalent of the Node-API counterpart:
napi_status status = napi_generic_failure;
napi_value arr, value;
status = napi_create_array(env, &arr);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
status = napi_get_element(env, arr, 123, &value);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
Finally, multiple properties can also be defined on an object for performance
reasons. Consider the following JavaScript:
const obj = {};
Object.defineProperties(obj, {
'foo': { value: 123, writable: true, configurable: true, enumerable: true },
'bar': { value: 456, writable: true, configurable: true, enumerable: true }
});
The following is the approximate equivalent of the Node-API counterpart:
napi_status status = napi_status_generic_failure;
napi_value obj;
status = napi_create_object(env, &obj);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
napi_value fooValue, barValue;
status = napi_create_int32(env, 123, &fooValue);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
status = napi_create_int32(env, 456, &barValue);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
napi_property_descriptor descriptors[] = {
{ "foo", NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, fooValue, napi_writable | napi_configurable, NULL },
{ "bar", NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, barValue, napi_writable | napi_configurable, NULL }
}
status = napi_define_properties(env,
obj,
sizeof(descriptors) / sizeof(descriptors[0]),
descriptors);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
Structures#
napi_property_attributes
#
typedef enum {
napi_default = 0,
napi_writable = 1 << 0,
napi_enumerable = 1 << 1,
napi_configurable = 1 << 2,
napi_static = 1 << 10,
napi_default_method = napi_writable | napi_configurable,
napi_default_jsproperty = napi_writable |
napi_enumerable |
napi_configurable,
} napi_property_attributes;
napi_property_attributes
are flags used to control the behavior of properties
set on a JavaScript object. Other than napi_static
they correspond to the
attributes listed in Section 6.1.7.1
of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
They can be one or more of the following bitflags:
napi_default
: No explicit attributes are set on the property. By default, a
property is read only, not enumerable and not configurable.
napi_writable
: The property is writable.
napi_enumerable
: The property is enumerable.
napi_configurable
: The property is configurable as defined in
Section 6.1.7.1 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_static
: The property will be defined as a static property on a class as
opposed to an instance property, which is the default. This is used only by
napi_define_class
. It is ignored by napi_define_properties
.
napi_default_method
: Like a method in a JS class, the property is
configurable and writeable, but not enumerable.
napi_default_jsproperty
: Like a property set via assignment in JavaScript,
the property is writable, enumerable, and configurable.
napi_property_descriptor
#
typedef struct {
const char* utf8name;
napi_value name;
napi_callback method;
napi_callback getter;
napi_callback setter;
napi_value value;
napi_property_attributes attributes;
void* data;
} napi_property_descriptor;
utf8name
: Optional string describing the key for the property,
encoded as UTF8. One of utf8name
or name
must be provided for the
property.
name
: Optional napi_value
that points to a JavaScript string or symbol
to be used as the key for the property. One of utf8name
or name
must
be provided for the property.
value
: The value that's retrieved by a get access of the property if the
property is a data property. If this is passed in, set getter
, setter
,
method
and data
to NULL
(since these members won't be used).
getter
: A function to call when a get access of the property is performed.
If this is passed in, set value
and method
to NULL
(since these members
won't be used). The given function is called implicitly by the runtime when
the property is accessed from JavaScript code (or if a get on the property is
performed using a Node-API call). napi_callback
provides more details.
setter
: A function to call when a set access of the property is performed.
If this is passed in, set value
and method
to NULL
(since these members
won't be used). The given function is called implicitly by the runtime when
the property is set from JavaScript code (or if a set on the property is
performed using a Node-API call). napi_callback
provides more details.
method
: Set this to make the property descriptor object's value
property to be a JavaScript function represented by method
. If this is
passed in, set value
, getter
and setter
to NULL
(since these members
won't be used). napi_callback
provides more details.
attributes
: The attributes associated with the particular property. See
napi_property_attributes
.
data
: The callback data passed into method
, getter
and setter
if this
function is invoked.
Functions#
napi_get_property_names
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_property_names(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object from which to retrieve the properties.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing an array of JavaScript values
that represent the property names of the object. The API can be used to
iterate over result
using napi_get_array_length
and napi_get_element
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns the names of the enumerable properties of object
as an array
of strings. The properties of object
whose key is a symbol will not be
included.
napi_get_all_property_names
#
Added in: v13.7.0, v12.17.0, v10.20.0
N-API version: 6
napi_get_all_property_names(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_key_collection_mode key_mode,
napi_key_filter key_filter,
napi_key_conversion key_conversion,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object from which to retrieve the properties.
[in] key_mode
: Whether to retrieve prototype properties as well.
[in] key_filter
: Which properties to retrieve
(enumerable/readable/writable).
[in] key_conversion
: Whether to convert numbered property keys to strings.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing an array of JavaScript values
that represent the property names of the object. napi_get_array_length
and napi_get_element
can be used to iterate over result
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns an array containing the names of the available properties
of this object.
napi_set_property
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_set_property(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_value key,
napi_value value);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object on which to set the property.
[in] key
: The name of the property to set.
[in] value
: The property value.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API set a property on the Object
passed in.
napi_get_property
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_property(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_value key,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object from which to retrieve the property.
[in] key
: The name of the property to retrieve.
[out] result
: The value of the property.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API gets the requested property from the Object
passed in.
napi_has_property
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_has_property(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_value key,
bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object to query.
[in] key
: The name of the property whose existence to check.
[out] result
: Whether the property exists on the object or not.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API checks if the Object
passed in has the named property.
napi_delete_property
#
Added in: v8.2.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_delete_property(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_value key,
bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object to query.
[in] key
: The name of the property to delete.
[out] result
: Whether the property deletion succeeded or not. result
can
optionally be ignored by passing NULL
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API attempts to delete the key
own property from object
.
napi_has_own_property
#
Added in: v8.2.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_has_own_property(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_value key,
bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object to query.
[in] key
: The name of the own property whose existence to check.
[out] result
: Whether the own property exists on the object or not.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API checks if the Object
passed in has the named own property. key
must
be a string
or a symbol
, or an error will be thrown. Node-API will not
perform any conversion between data types.
napi_set_named_property
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_set_named_property(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
const char* utf8Name,
napi_value value);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object on which to set the property.
[in] utf8Name
: The name of the property to set.
[in] value
: The property value.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method is equivalent to calling napi_set_property
with a napi_value
created from the string passed in as utf8Name
.
napi_get_named_property
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_named_property(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
const char* utf8Name,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object from which to retrieve the property.
[in] utf8Name
: The name of the property to get.
[out] result
: The value of the property.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method is equivalent to calling napi_get_property
with a napi_value
created from the string passed in as utf8Name
.
napi_has_named_property
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_has_named_property(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
const char* utf8Name,
bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object to query.
[in] utf8Name
: The name of the property whose existence to check.
[out] result
: Whether the property exists on the object or not.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method is equivalent to calling napi_has_property
with a napi_value
created from the string passed in as utf8Name
.
napi_set_element
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_set_element(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
uint32_t index,
napi_value value);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object from which to set the properties.
[in] index
: The index of the property to set.
[in] value
: The property value.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API sets an element on the Object
passed in.
napi_get_element
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_element(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
uint32_t index,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object from which to retrieve the property.
[in] index
: The index of the property to get.
[out] result
: The value of the property.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API gets the element at the requested index.
napi_has_element
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_has_element(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
uint32_t index,
bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object to query.
[in] index
: The index of the property whose existence to check.
[out] result
: Whether the property exists on the object or not.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns if the Object
passed in has an element at the
requested index.
napi_delete_element
#
Added in: v8.2.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_delete_element(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
uint32_t index,
bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object to query.
[in] index
: The index of the property to delete.
[out] result
: Whether the element deletion succeeded or not. result
can
optionally be ignored by passing NULL
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API attempts to delete the specified index
from object
.
napi_define_properties
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_define_properties(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
size_t property_count,
const napi_property_descriptor* properties);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object from which to retrieve the properties.
[in] property_count
: The number of elements in the properties
array.
[in] properties
: The array of property descriptors.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method allows the efficient definition of multiple properties on a given
object. The properties are defined using property descriptors (see
napi_property_descriptor
). Given an array of such property descriptors,
this API will set the properties on the object one at a time, as defined by
DefineOwnProperty()
(described in Section 9.1.6 of the ECMA-262
specification).
napi_object_freeze
#
Added in: v14.14.0, v12.20.0
N-API version: 8
napi_status napi_object_freeze(napi_env env,
napi_value object);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object to freeze.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method freezes a given object. This prevents new properties from
being added to it, existing properties from being removed, prevents
changing the enumerability, configurability, or writability of existing
properties, and prevents the values of existing properties from being changed.
It also prevents the object's prototype from being changed. This is described
in Section 19.1.2.6 of the
ECMA-262 specification.
napi_object_seal
#
Added in: v14.14.0, v12.20.0
N-API version: 8
napi_status napi_object_seal(napi_env env,
napi_value object);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object to seal.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method seals a given object. This prevents new properties from being
added to it, as well as marking all existing properties as non-configurable.
This is described in Section 19.1.2.20
of the ECMA-262 specification.
Working with JavaScript functions#
Node-API provides a set of APIs that allow JavaScript code to
call back into native code. Node-APIs that support calling back
into native code take in a callback functions represented by
the napi_callback
type. When the JavaScript VM calls back to
native code, the napi_callback
function provided is invoked. The APIs
documented in this section allow the callback function to do the
following:
- Get information about the context in which the callback was invoked.
- Get the arguments passed into the callback.
- Return a
napi_value
back from the callback.
Additionally, Node-API provides a set of functions which allow calling
JavaScript functions from native code. One can either call a function
like a regular JavaScript function call, or as a constructor
function.
Any non-NULL
data which is passed to this API via the data
field of the
napi_property_descriptor
items can be associated with object
and freed
whenever object
is garbage-collected by passing both object
and the data to
napi_add_finalizer
.
napi_call_function
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_call_function(napi_env env,
napi_value recv,
napi_value func,
size_t argc,
const napi_value* argv,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] recv
: The this
value passed to the called function.
[in] func
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript function to be invoked.
[in] argc
: The count of elements in the argv
array.
[in] argv
: Array of napi_values
representing JavaScript values passed in
as arguments to the function.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript object returned.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method allows a JavaScript function object to be called from a native
add-on. This is the primary mechanism of calling back from the add-on's
native code into JavaScript. For the special case of calling into JavaScript
after an async operation, see napi_make_callback
.
A sample use case might look as follows. Consider the following JavaScript
snippet:
function AddTwo(num) {
return num + 2;
}
global.AddTwo = AddTwo;
Then, the above function can be invoked from a native add-on using the
following code:
napi_value global, add_two, arg;
napi_status status = napi_get_global(env, &global);
if (status != napi_ok) return;
status = napi_get_named_property(env, global, "AddTwo", &add_two);
if (status != napi_ok) return;
status = napi_create_int32(env, 1337, &arg);
if (status != napi_ok) return;
napi_value* argv = &arg;
size_t argc = 1;
napi_value return_val;
status = napi_call_function(env, global, add_two, argc, argv, &return_val);
if (status != napi_ok) return;
int32_t result;
status = napi_get_value_int32(env, return_val, &result);
if (status != napi_ok) return;
napi_create_function
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_function(napi_env env,
const char* utf8name,
size_t length,
napi_callback cb,
void* data,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] utf8Name
: Optional name of the function encoded as UTF8. This is
visible within JavaScript as the new function object's name
property.
[in] length
: The length of the utf8name
in bytes, or NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH
if
it is null-terminated.
[in] cb
: The native function which should be called when this function
object is invoked. napi_callback
provides more details.
[in] data
: User-provided data context. This will be passed back into the
function when invoked later.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript function object for
the newly created function.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API allows an add-on author to create a function object in native code.
This is the primary mechanism to allow calling into the add-on's native code
from JavaScript.
The newly created function is not automatically visible from script after this
call. Instead, a property must be explicitly set on any object that is visible
to JavaScript, in order for the function to be accessible from script.
In order to expose a function as part of the
add-on's module exports, set the newly created function on the exports
object. A sample module might look as follows:
napi_value SayHello(napi_env env, napi_callback_info info) {
printf("Hello\n");
return NULL;
}
napi_value Init(napi_env env, napi_value exports) {
napi_status status;
napi_value fn;
status = napi_create_function(env, NULL, 0, SayHello, NULL, &fn);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
status = napi_set_named_property(env, exports, "sayHello", fn);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
return exports;
}
NAPI_MODULE(NODE_GYP_MODULE_NAME, Init)
Given the above code, the add-on can be used from JavaScript as follows:
const myaddon = require('./addon');
myaddon.sayHello();
The string passed to require()
is the name of the target in binding.gyp
responsible for creating the .node
file.
Any non-NULL
data which is passed to this API via the data
parameter can
be associated with the resulting JavaScript function (which is returned in the
result
parameter) and freed whenever the function is garbage-collected by
passing both the JavaScript function and the data to napi_add_finalizer
.
JavaScript Function
s are described in Section 19.2 of the ECMAScript
Language Specification.
napi_get_cb_info
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_cb_info(napi_env env,
napi_callback_info cbinfo,
size_t* argc,
napi_value* argv,
napi_value* thisArg,
void** data)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] cbinfo
: The callback info passed into the callback function.
[in-out] argc
: Specifies the length of the provided argv
array and
receives the actual count of arguments. argc
can
optionally be ignored by passing NULL
.
[out] argv
: C array of napi_value
s to which the arguments will be
copied. If there are more arguments than the provided count, only the
requested number of arguments are copied. If there are fewer arguments
provided than claimed, the rest of argv
is filled with napi_value
values
that represent undefined
. argv
can optionally be ignored by
passing NULL
.
[out] thisArg
: Receives the JavaScript this
argument for the call.
thisArg
can optionally be ignored by passing NULL
.
[out] data
: Receives the data pointer for the callback. data
can
optionally be ignored by passing NULL
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method is used within a callback function to retrieve details about the
call like the arguments and the this
pointer from a given callback info.
napi_get_new_target
#
Added in: v8.6.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_new_target(napi_env env,
napi_callback_info cbinfo,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] cbinfo
: The callback info passed into the callback function.
[out] result
: The new.target
of the constructor call.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns the new.target
of the constructor call. If the current
callback is not a constructor call, the result is NULL
.
napi_new_instance
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_new_instance(napi_env env,
napi_value cons,
size_t argc,
napi_value* argv,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] cons
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript function to be invoked
as a constructor.
[in] argc
: The count of elements in the argv
array.
[in] argv
: Array of JavaScript values as napi_value
representing the
arguments to the constructor. If argc
is zero this parameter may be
omitted by passing in NULL
.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript object returned,
which in this case is the constructed object.
This method is used to instantiate a new JavaScript value using a given
napi_value
that represents the constructor for the object. For example,
consider the following snippet:
function MyObject(param) {
this.param = param;
}
const arg = 'hello';
const value = new MyObject(arg);
The following can be approximated in Node-API using the following snippet:
napi_value global, constructor, arg, value;
napi_status status = napi_get_global(env, &global);
if (status != napi_ok) return;
status = napi_get_named_property(env, global, "MyObject", &constructor);
if (status != napi_ok) return;
status = napi_create_string_utf8(env, "hello", NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH, &arg);
if (status != napi_ok) return;
napi_value* argv = &arg;
size_t argc = 1;
status = napi_new_instance(env, constructor, argc, argv, &value);
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Object wrap#
Node-API offers a way to "wrap" C++ classes and instances so that the class
constructor and methods can be called from JavaScript.
- The
napi_define_class
API defines a JavaScript class with constructor,
static properties and methods, and instance properties and methods that
correspond to the C++ class.
- When JavaScript code invokes the constructor, the constructor callback
uses
napi_wrap
to wrap a new C++ instance in a JavaScript object,
then returns the wrapper object.
- When JavaScript code invokes a method or property accessor on the class,
the corresponding
napi_callback
C++ function is invoked. For an instance
callback, napi_unwrap
obtains the C++ instance that is the target of
the call.
For wrapped objects it may be difficult to distinguish between a function
called on a class prototype and a function called on an instance of a class.
A common pattern used to address this problem is to save a persistent
reference to the class constructor for later instanceof
checks.
napi_value MyClass_constructor = NULL;
status = napi_get_reference_value(env, MyClass::es_constructor, &MyClass_constructor);
assert(napi_ok == status);
bool is_instance = false;
status = napi_instanceof(env, es_this, MyClass_constructor, &is_instance);
assert(napi_ok == status);
if (is_instance) {
} else {
}
The reference must be freed once it is no longer needed.
There are occasions where napi_instanceof()
is insufficient for ensuring that
a JavaScript object is a wrapper for a certain native type. This is the case
especially when wrapped JavaScript objects are passed back into the addon via
static methods rather than as the this
value of prototype methods. In such
cases there is a chance that they may be unwrapped incorrectly.
const myAddon = require('./build/Release/my_addon.node');
const dbHandle = myAddon.openDatabase();
const queryHandle = myAddon.query(dbHandle, 'Gimme ALL the things!');
while (myAddon.queryHasRecords(queryHandle, dbHandle)) {
}
In the above example myAddon.queryHasRecords()
is a method that accepts two
arguments. The first is a database handle and the second is a query handle.
Internally, it unwraps the first argument and casts the resulting pointer to a
native database handle. It then unwraps the second argument and casts the
resulting pointer to a query handle. If the arguments are passed in the wrong
order, the casts will work, however, there is a good chance that the underlying
database operation will fail, or will even cause an invalid memory access.
To ensure that the pointer retrieved from the first argument is indeed a pointer
to a database handle and, similarly, that the pointer retrieved from the second
argument is indeed a pointer to a query handle, the implementation of
queryHasRecords()
has to perform a type validation. Retaining the JavaScript
class constructor from which the database handle was instantiated and the
constructor from which the query handle was instantiated in napi_ref
s can
help, because napi_instanceof()
can then be used to ensure that the instances
passed into queryHashRecords()
are indeed of the correct type.
Unfortunately, napi_instanceof()
does not protect against prototype
manipulation. For example, the prototype of the database handle instance can be
set to the prototype of the constructor for query handle instances. In this
case, the database handle instance can appear as a query handle instance, and it
will pass the napi_instanceof()
test for a query handle instance, while still
containing a pointer to a database handle.
To this end, Node-API provides type-tagging capabilities.
A type tag is a 128-bit integer unique to the addon. Node-API provides the
napi_type_tag
structure for storing a type tag. When such a value is passed
along with a JavaScript object stored in a napi_value
to
napi_type_tag_object()
, the JavaScript object will be "marked" with the
type tag. The "mark" is invisible on the JavaScript side. When a JavaScript
object arrives into a native binding, napi_check_object_type_tag()
can be used
along with the original type tag to determine whether the JavaScript object was
previously "marked" with the type tag. This creates a type-checking capability
of a higher fidelity than napi_instanceof()
can provide, because such type-
tagging survives prototype manipulation and addon unloading/reloading.
Continuing the above example, the following skeleton addon implementation
illustrates the use of napi_type_tag_object()
and
napi_check_object_type_tag()
.
static const napi_type_tag DatabaseHandleTypeTag = {
0x1edf75a38336451d, 0xa5ed9ce2e4c00c38
};
static const napi_type_tag QueryHandleTypeTag = {
0x9c73317f9fad44a3, 0x93c3920bf3b0ad6a
};
static napi_value
openDatabase(napi_env env, napi_callback_info info) {
napi_status status;
napi_value result;
DatabaseHandle* dbHandle = open_database();
status = napi_create_object(env, &result);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
status = napi_type_tag_object(env, result, &DatabaseHandleTypeTag);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
status = napi_wrap(env, result, dbHandle, NULL, NULL, NULL);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
return result;
}
static napi_value
query(napi_env env, napi_callback_info info) {
napi_status status;
size_t argc = 2;
napi_value argv[2];
bool is_db_handle;
status = napi_get_cb_info(env, info, &argc, argv, NULL, NULL);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
status = napi_check_object_type_tag(env,
argv[0],
&DatabaseHandleTypeTag,
&is_db_handle);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
if (!is_db_handle) {
return NULL;
}
}
napi_define_class
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_define_class(napi_env env,
const char* utf8name,
size_t length,
napi_callback constructor,
void* data,
size_t property_count,
const napi_property_descriptor* properties,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] utf8name
: Name of the JavaScript constructor function; When wrapping a
C++ class, we recommend for clarity that this name be the same as that of
the C++ class.
[in] length
: The length of the utf8name
in bytes, or NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH
if it is null-terminated.
[in] constructor
: Callback function that handles constructing instances
of the class. When wrapping a C++ class, this method must be a static member
with the napi_callback
signature. A C++ class constructor cannot be
used. napi_callback
provides more details.
[in] data
: Optional data to be passed to the constructor callback as
the data
property of the callback info.
[in] property_count
: Number of items in the properties
array argument.
[in] properties
: Array of property descriptors describing static and
instance data properties, accessors, and methods on the class
See napi_property_descriptor
.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing the constructor function for
the class.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Defines a JavaScript class, including:
- A JavaScript constructor function that has the class name. When wrapping a
corresponding C++ class, the callback passed via
constructor
can be used to
instantiate a new C++ class instance, which can then be placed inside the
JavaScript object instance being constructed using napi_wrap
.
- Properties on the constructor function whose implementation can call
corresponding static data properties, accessors, and methods of the C++
class (defined by property descriptors with the
napi_static
attribute).
- Properties on the constructor function's
prototype
object. When wrapping a
C++ class, non-static data properties, accessors, and methods of the C++
class can be called from the static functions given in the property
descriptors without the napi_static
attribute after retrieving the C++ class
instance placed inside the JavaScript object instance by using
napi_unwrap
.
When wrapping a C++ class, the C++ constructor callback passed via constructor
should be a static method on the class that calls the actual class constructor,
then wraps the new C++ instance in a JavaScript object, and returns the wrapper
object. See napi_wrap
for details.
The JavaScript constructor function returned from napi_define_class
is
often saved and used later to construct new instances of the class from native
code, and/or to check whether provided values are instances of the class. In
that case, to prevent the function value from being garbage-collected, a
strong persistent reference to it can be created using
napi_create_reference
, ensuring that the reference count is kept >= 1.
Any non-NULL
data which is passed to this API via the data
parameter or via
the data
field of the napi_property_descriptor
array items can be associated
with the resulting JavaScript constructor (which is returned in the result
parameter) and freed whenever the class is garbage-collected by passing both
the JavaScript function and the data to napi_add_finalizer
.
napi_wrap
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_wrap(napi_env env,
napi_value js_object,
void* native_object,
napi_finalize finalize_cb,
void* finalize_hint,
napi_ref* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] js_object
: The JavaScript object that will be the wrapper for the
native object.
[in] native_object
: The native instance that will be wrapped in the
JavaScript object.
[in] finalize_cb
: Optional native callback that can be used to free the
native instance when the JavaScript object is ready for garbage-collection.
napi_finalize
provides more details.
[in] finalize_hint
: Optional contextual hint that is passed to the
finalize callback.
[out] result
: Optional reference to the wrapped object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Wraps a native instance in a JavaScript object. The native instance can be
retrieved later using napi_unwrap()
.
When JavaScript code invokes a constructor for a class that was defined using
napi_define_class()
, the napi_callback
for the constructor is invoked.
After constructing an instance of the native class, the callback must then call
napi_wrap()
to wrap the newly constructed instance in the already-created
JavaScript object that is the this
argument to the constructor callback.
(That this
object was created from the constructor function's prototype
,
so it already has definitions of all the instance properties and methods.)
Typically when wrapping a class instance, a finalize callback should be
provided that simply deletes the native instance that is received as the data
argument to the finalize callback.
The optional returned reference is initially a weak reference, meaning it
has a reference count of 0. Typically this reference count would be incremented
temporarily during async operations that require the instance to remain valid.
Caution: The optional returned reference (if obtained) should be deleted via
napi_delete_reference
ONLY in response to the finalize callback
invocation. If it is deleted before then, then the finalize callback may never
be invoked. Therefore, when obtaining a reference a finalize callback is also
required in order to enable correct disposal of the reference.
Finalizer callbacks may be deferred, leaving a window where the object has
been garbage collected (and the weak reference is invalid) but the finalizer
hasn't been called yet. When using napi_get_reference_value()
on weak
references returned by napi_wrap()
, you should still handle an empty result.
Calling napi_wrap()
a second time on an object will return an error. To
associate another native instance with the object, use napi_remove_wrap()
first.
napi_unwrap
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_unwrap(napi_env env,
napi_value js_object,
void** result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] js_object
: The object associated with the native instance.
[out] result
: Pointer to the wrapped native instance.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Retrieves a native instance that was previously wrapped in a JavaScript
object using napi_wrap()
.
When JavaScript code invokes a method or property accessor on the class, the
corresponding napi_callback
is invoked. If the callback is for an instance
method or accessor, then the this
argument to the callback is the wrapper
object; the wrapped C++ instance that is the target of the call can be obtained
then by calling napi_unwrap()
on the wrapper object.
napi_remove_wrap
#
Added in: v8.5.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_remove_wrap(napi_env env,
napi_value js_object,
void** result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] js_object
: The object associated with the native instance.
[out] result
: Pointer to the wrapped native instance.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Retrieves a native instance that was previously wrapped in the JavaScript
object js_object
using napi_wrap()
and removes the wrapping. If a finalize
callback was associated with the wrapping, it will no longer be called when the
JavaScript object becomes garbage-collected.
napi_type_tag_object
#
Added in: v14.8.0, v12.19.0
N-API version: 8
napi_status napi_type_tag_object(napi_env env,
napi_value js_object,
const napi_type_tag* type_tag);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] js_object
: The JavaScript object to be marked.
[in] type_tag
: The tag with which the object is to be marked.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Associates the value of the type_tag
pointer with the JavaScript object.
napi_check_object_type_tag()
can then be used to compare the tag that was
attached to the object with one owned by the addon to ensure that the object
has the right type.
If the object already has an associated type tag, this API will return
napi_invalid_arg
.
napi_check_object_type_tag
#
Added in: v14.8.0, v12.19.0
N-API version: 8
napi_status napi_check_object_type_tag(napi_env env,
napi_value js_object,
const napi_type_tag* type_tag,
bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] js_object
: The JavaScript object whose type tag to examine.
[in] type_tag
: The tag with which to compare any tag found on the object.
[out] result
: Whether the type tag given matched the type tag on the
object. false
is also returned if no type tag was found on the object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Compares the pointer given as type_tag
with any that can be found on
js_object
. If no tag is found on js_object
or, if a tag is found but it does
not match type_tag
, then result
is set to false
. If a tag is found and it
matches type_tag
, then result
is set to true
.
napi_add_finalizer
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 5
napi_status napi_add_finalizer(napi_env env,
napi_value js_object,
void* native_object,
napi_finalize finalize_cb,
void* finalize_hint,
napi_ref* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] js_object
: The JavaScript object to which the native data will be
attached.
[in] native_object
: The native data that will be attached to the JavaScript
object.
[in] finalize_cb
: Native callback that will be used to free the
native data when the JavaScript object is ready for garbage-collection.
napi_finalize
provides more details.
[in] finalize_hint
: Optional contextual hint that is passed to the
finalize callback.
[out] result
: Optional reference to the JavaScript object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Adds a napi_finalize
callback which will be called when the JavaScript object
in js_object
is ready for garbage collection. This API is similar to
napi_wrap()
except that:
- the native data cannot be retrieved later using
napi_unwrap()
,
- nor can it be removed later using
napi_remove_wrap()
, and
- the API can be called multiple times with different data items in order to
attach each of them to the JavaScript object, and
- the object manipulated by the API can be used with
napi_wrap()
.
Caution: The optional returned reference (if obtained) should be deleted via
napi_delete_reference
ONLY in response to the finalize callback
invocation. If it is deleted before then, then the finalize callback may never
be invoked. Therefore, when obtaining a reference a finalize callback is also
required in order to enable correct disposal of the reference.
Simple asynchronous operations#
Addon modules often need to leverage async helpers from libuv as part of their
implementation. This allows them to schedule work to be executed asynchronously
so that their methods can return in advance of the work being completed. This
allows them to avoid blocking overall execution of the Node.js application.
Node-API provides an ABI-stable interface for these
supporting functions which covers the most common asynchronous use cases.
Node-API defines the napi_async_work
structure which is used to manage
asynchronous workers. Instances are created/deleted with
napi_create_async_work
and napi_delete_async_work
.
The execute
and complete
callbacks are functions that will be
invoked when the executor is ready to execute and when it completes its
task respectively.
The execute
function should avoid making any Node-API calls
that could result in the execution of JavaScript or interaction with
JavaScript objects. Most often, any code that needs to make Node-API
calls should be made in complete
callback instead.
Avoid using the napi_env
parameter in the execute callback as
it will likely execute JavaScript.
These functions implement the following interfaces:
typedef void (*napi_async_execute_callback)(napi_env env,
void* data);
typedef void (*napi_async_complete_callback)(napi_env env,
napi_status status,
void* data);
When these methods are invoked, the data
parameter passed will be the
addon-provided void*
data that was passed into the
napi_create_async_work
call.
Once created the async worker can be queued
for execution using the napi_queue_async_work
function:
napi_status napi_queue_async_work(napi_env env,
napi_async_work work);
napi_cancel_async_work
can be used if the work needs
to be cancelled before the work has started execution.
After calling napi_cancel_async_work
, the complete
callback
will be invoked with a status value of napi_cancelled
.
The work should not be deleted before the complete
callback invocation, even when it was cancelled.
napi_create_async_work
#
napi_status napi_create_async_work(napi_env env,
napi_value async_resource,
napi_value async_resource_name,
napi_async_execute_callback execute,
napi_async_complete_callback complete,
void* data,
napi_async_work* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] async_resource
: An optional object associated with the async work
that will be passed to possible async_hooks
init
hooks.
[in] async_resource_name
: Identifier for the kind of resource that is being
provided for diagnostic information exposed by the async_hooks
API.
[in] execute
: The native function which should be called to execute the
logic asynchronously. The given function is called from a worker pool thread
and can execute in parallel with the main event loop thread.
[in] complete
: The native function which will be called when the
asynchronous logic is completed or is cancelled. The given function is called
from the main event loop thread. napi_async_complete_callback
provides
more details.
[in] data
: User-provided data context. This will be passed back into the
execute and complete functions.
[out] result
: napi_async_work*
which is the handle to the newly created
async work.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API allocates a work object that is used to execute logic asynchronously.
It should be freed using napi_delete_async_work
once the work is no longer
required.
async_resource_name
should be a null-terminated, UTF-8-encoded string.
The async_resource_name
identifier is provided by the user and should be
representative of the type of async work being performed. It is also recommended
to apply namespacing to the identifier, e.g. by including the module name. See
the async_hooks
documentation for more information.
napi_delete_async_work
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_delete_async_work(napi_env env,
napi_async_work work);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] work
: The handle returned by the call to napi_create_async_work
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API frees a previously allocated work object.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
napi_queue_async_work
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_queue_async_work(napi_env env,
napi_async_work work);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] work
: The handle returned by the call to napi_create_async_work
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API requests that the previously allocated work be scheduled
for execution. Once it returns successfully, this API must not be called again
with the same napi_async_work
item or the result will be undefined.
napi_cancel_async_work
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_cancel_async_work(napi_env env,
napi_async_work work);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] work
: The handle returned by the call to napi_create_async_work
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API cancels queued work if it has not yet
been started. If it has already started executing, it cannot be
cancelled and napi_generic_failure
will be returned. If successful,
the complete
callback will be invoked with a status value of
napi_cancelled
. The work should not be deleted before the complete
callback invocation, even if it has been successfully cancelled.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
Custom asynchronous operations#
The simple asynchronous work APIs above may not be appropriate for every
scenario. When using any other asynchronous mechanism, the following APIs
are necessary to ensure an asynchronous operation is properly tracked by
the runtime.
napi_async_init
#
Added in: v8.6.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_async_init(napi_env env,
napi_value async_resource,
napi_value async_resource_name,
napi_async_context* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] async_resource
: Object associated with the async work
that will be passed to possible async_hooks
init
hooks and can be
accessed by async_hooks.executionAsyncResource()
.
[in] async_resource_name
: Identifier for the kind of resource that is being
provided for diagnostic information exposed by the async_hooks
API.
[out] result
: The initialized async context.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
The async_resource
object needs to be kept alive until
napi_async_destroy
to keep async_hooks
related API acts correctly. In
order to retain ABI compatibility with previous versions, napi_async_context
s
are not maintaining the strong reference to the async_resource
objects to
avoid introducing causing memory leaks. However, if the async_resource
is
garbage collected by JavaScript engine before the napi_async_context
was
destroyed by napi_async_destroy
, calling napi_async_context
related APIs
like napi_open_callback_scope
and napi_make_callback
can cause
problems like loss of async context when using the AsyncLocalStorage
API.
In order to retain ABI compatibility with previous versions, passing NULL
for async_resource
does not result in an error. However, this is not
recommended as this will result poor results with async_hooks
init
hooks and async_hooks.executionAsyncResource()
as the resource is
now required by the underlying async_hooks
implementation in order to provide
the linkage between async callbacks.
napi_async_destroy
#
Added in: v8.6.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_async_destroy(napi_env env,
napi_async_context async_context);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] async_context
: The async context to be destroyed.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
napi_make_callback
#
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_make_callback(napi_env env,
napi_async_context async_context,
napi_value recv,
napi_value func,
size_t argc,
const napi_value* argv,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] async_context
: Context for the async operation that is
invoking the callback. This should normally be a value previously
obtained from napi_async_init
.
In order to retain ABI compatibility with previous versions, passing NULL
for async_context
does not result in an error. However, this results
in incorrect operation of async hooks. Potential issues include loss of
async context when using the AsyncLocalStorage
API.
[in] recv
: The this
value passed to the called function.
[in] func
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript function to be invoked.
[in] argc
: The count of elements in the argv
array.
[in] argv
: Array of JavaScript values as napi_value
representing the
arguments to the function. If argc
is zero this parameter may be
omitted by passing in NULL
.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript object returned.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method allows a JavaScript function object to be called from a native
add-on. This API is similar to napi_call_function
. However, it is used to call
from native code back into JavaScript after returning from an async
operation (when there is no other script on the stack). It is a fairly simple
wrapper around node::MakeCallback
.
Note it is not necessary to use napi_make_callback
from within a
napi_async_complete_callback
; in that situation the callback's async
context has already been set up, so a direct call to napi_call_function
is sufficient and appropriate. Use of the napi_make_callback
function
may be required when implementing custom async behavior that does not use
napi_create_async_work
.
Any process.nextTick
s or Promises scheduled on the microtask queue by
JavaScript during the callback are ran before returning back to C/C++.
napi_open_callback_scope
#
Added in: v9.6.0
N-API version: 3
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_open_callback_scope(napi_env env,
napi_value resource_object,
napi_async_context context,
napi_callback_scope* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] resource_object
: An object associated with the async work
that will be passed to possible async_hooks
init
hooks. This
parameter has been deprecated and is ignored at runtime. Use the
async_resource
parameter in napi_async_init
instead.
[in] context
: Context for the async operation that is invoking the callback.
This should be a value previously obtained from napi_async_init
.
[out] result
: The newly created scope.
There are cases (for example, resolving promises) where it is
necessary to have the equivalent of the scope associated with a callback
in place when making certain Node-API calls. If there is no other script on
the stack the napi_open_callback_scope
and
napi_close_callback_scope
functions can be used to open/close
the required scope.
napi_close_callback_scope
#
Added in: v9.6.0
N-API version: 3
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_close_callback_scope(napi_env env,
napi_callback_scope scope)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] scope
: The scope to be closed.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
Version management#
napi_get_node_version
#
Added in: v8.4.0
N-API version: 1
typedef struct {
uint32_t major;
uint32_t minor;
uint32_t patch;
const char* release;
} napi_node_version;
napi_status napi_get_node_version(napi_env env,
const napi_node_version** version);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] version
: A pointer to version information for Node.js itself.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This function fills the version
struct with the major, minor, and patch
version of Node.js that is currently running, and the release
field with the
value of process.release.name
.
The returned buffer is statically allocated and does not need to be freed.
napi_get_version
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_version(napi_env env,
uint32_t* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: The highest version of Node-API supported.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns the highest Node-API version supported by the
Node.js runtime. Node-API is planned to be additive such that
newer releases of Node.js may support additional API functions.
In order to allow an addon to use a newer function when running with
versions of Node.js that support it, while providing
fallback behavior when running with Node.js versions that don't
support it:
- Call
napi_get_version()
to determine if the API is available.
- If available, dynamically load a pointer to the function using
uv_dlsym()
.
- Use the dynamically loaded pointer to invoke the function.
- If the function is not available, provide an alternate implementation
that does not use the function.
Memory management#
napi_adjust_external_memory
#
Added in: v8.5.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_adjust_external_memory(napi_env env,
int64_t change_in_bytes,
int64_t* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] change_in_bytes
: The change in externally allocated memory that is kept
alive by JavaScript objects.
[out] result
: The adjusted value
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This function gives V8 an indication of the amount of externally allocated
memory that is kept alive by JavaScript objects (i.e. a JavaScript object
that points to its own memory allocated by a native addon). Registering
externally allocated memory will trigger global garbage collections more
often than it would otherwise.
Promises#
Node-API provides facilities for creating Promise
objects as described in
Section 25.4 of the ECMA specification. It implements promises as a pair of
objects. When a promise is created by napi_create_promise()
, a "deferred"
object is created and returned alongside the Promise
. The deferred object is
bound to the created Promise
and is the only means to resolve or reject the
Promise
using napi_resolve_deferred()
or napi_reject_deferred()
. The
deferred object that is created by napi_create_promise()
is freed by
napi_resolve_deferred()
or napi_reject_deferred()
. The Promise
object may
be returned to JavaScript where it can be used in the usual fashion.
For example, to create a promise and pass it to an asynchronous worker:
napi_deferred deferred;
napi_value promise;
napi_status status;
status = napi_create_promise(env, &deferred, &promise);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
do_something_asynchronous(deferred);
return promise;
The above function do_something_asynchronous()
would perform its asynchronous
action and then it would resolve or reject the deferred, thereby concluding the
promise and freeing the deferred:
napi_deferred deferred;
napi_value undefined;
napi_status status;
status = napi_get_undefined(env, &undefined);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
if (asynchronous_action_succeeded) {
status = napi_resolve_deferred(env, deferred, undefined);
} else {
status = napi_reject_deferred(env, deferred, undefined);
}
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
deferred = NULL;
napi_create_promise
#
Added in: v8.5.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_promise(napi_env env,
napi_deferred* deferred,
napi_value* promise);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] deferred
: A newly created deferred object which can later be passed to
napi_resolve_deferred()
or napi_reject_deferred()
to resolve resp. reject
the associated promise.
[out] promise
: The JavaScript promise associated with the deferred object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API creates a deferred object and a JavaScript promise.
napi_resolve_deferred
#
Added in: v8.5.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_resolve_deferred(napi_env env,
napi_deferred deferred,
napi_value resolution);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] deferred
: The deferred object whose associated promise to resolve.
[in] resolution
: The value with which to resolve the promise.
This API resolves a JavaScript promise by way of the deferred object
with which it is associated. Thus, it can only be used to resolve JavaScript
promises for which the corresponding deferred object is available. This
effectively means that the promise must have been created using
napi_create_promise()
and the deferred object returned from that call must
have been retained in order to be passed to this API.
The deferred object is freed upon successful completion.
napi_reject_deferred
#
Added in: v8.5.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_reject_deferred(napi_env env,
napi_deferred deferred,
napi_value rejection);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] deferred
: The deferred object whose associated promise to resolve.
[in] rejection
: The value with which to reject the promise.
This API rejects a JavaScript promise by way of the deferred object
with which it is associated. Thus, it can only be used to reject JavaScript
promises for which the corresponding deferred object is available. This
effectively means that the promise must have been created using
napi_create_promise()
and the deferred object returned from that call must
have been retained in order to be passed to this API.
The deferred object is freed upon successful completion.
napi_is_promise
#
Added in: v8.5.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_is_promise(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
bool* is_promise);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The value to examine
[out] is_promise
: Flag indicating whether promise
is a native promise
object (that is, a promise object created by the underlying engine).
Script execution#
Node-API provides an API for executing a string containing JavaScript using the
underlying JavaScript engine.
napi_run_script
#
Added in: v8.5.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_run_script(napi_env env,
napi_value script,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] script
: A JavaScript string containing the script to execute.
[out] result
: The value resulting from having executed the script.
This function executes a string of JavaScript code and returns its result with
the following caveats:
- Unlike
eval
, this function does not allow the script to access the current
lexical scope, and therefore also does not allow to access the
module scope, meaning that pseudo-globals such as require
will not be
available.
- The script can access the global scope. Function and
var
declarations
in the script will be added to the global
object. Variable declarations
made using let
and const
will be visible globally, but will not be added
to the global
object.
- The value of
this
is global
within the script.
libuv event loop#
Node-API provides a function for getting the current event loop associated with
a specific napi_env
.
napi_get_uv_event_loop
#
Added in: v9.3.0, v8.10.0
N-API version: 2
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_get_uv_event_loop(napi_env env,
struct uv_loop_s** loop);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] loop
: The current libuv loop instance.
Asynchronous thread-safe function calls#
JavaScript functions can normally only be called from a native addon's main
thread. If an addon creates additional threads, then Node-API functions that
require a napi_env
, napi_value
, or napi_ref
must not be called from those
threads.
When an addon has additional threads and JavaScript functions need to be invoked
based on the processing completed by those threads, those threads must
communicate with the addon's main thread so that the main thread can invoke the
JavaScript function on their behalf. The thread-safe function APIs provide an
easy way to do this.
These APIs provide the type napi_threadsafe_function
as well as APIs to
create, destroy, and call objects of this type.
napi_create_threadsafe_function()
creates a persistent reference to a
napi_value
that holds a JavaScript function which can be called from multiple
threads. The calls happen asynchronously. This means that values with which the
JavaScript callback is to be called will be placed in a queue, and, for each
value in the queue, a call will eventually be made to the JavaScript function.
Upon creation of a napi_threadsafe_function
a napi_finalize
callback can be
provided. This callback will be invoked on the main thread when the thread-safe
function is about to be destroyed. It receives the context and the finalize data
given during construction, and provides an opportunity for cleaning up after the
threads e.g. by calling uv_thread_join()
. Aside from the main loop thread,
no threads should be using the thread-safe function after the finalize callback
completes.
The context
given during the call to napi_create_threadsafe_function()
can
be retrieved from any thread with a call to
napi_get_threadsafe_function_context()
.
Calling a thread-safe function#
napi_call_threadsafe_function()
can be used for initiating a call into
JavaScript. napi_call_threadsafe_function()
accepts a parameter which controls
whether the API behaves blockingly. If set to napi_tsfn_nonblocking
, the API
behaves non-blockingly, returning napi_queue_full
if the queue was full,
preventing data from being successfully added to the queue. If set to
napi_tsfn_blocking
, the API blocks until space becomes available in the queue.
napi_call_threadsafe_function()
never blocks if the thread-safe function was
created with a maximum queue size of 0.
napi_call_threadsafe_function()
should not be called with napi_tsfn_blocking
from a JavaScript thread, because, if the queue is full, it may cause the
JavaScript thread to deadlock.
The actual call into JavaScript is controlled by the callback given via the
call_js_cb
parameter. call_js_cb
is invoked on the main thread once for each
value that was placed into the queue by a successful call to
napi_call_threadsafe_function()
. If such a callback is not given, a default
callback will be used, and the resulting JavaScript call will have no arguments.
The call_js_cb
callback receives the JavaScript function to call as a
napi_value
in its parameters, as well as the void*
context pointer used when
creating the napi_threadsafe_function
, and the next data pointer that was
created by one of the secondary threads. The callback can then use an API such
as napi_call_function()
to call into JavaScript.
The callback may also be invoked with env
and call_js_cb
both set to NULL
to indicate that calls into JavaScript are no longer possible, while items
remain in the queue that may need to be freed. This normally occurs when the
Node.js process exits while there is a thread-safe function still active.
It is not necessary to call into JavaScript via napi_make_callback()
because
Node-API runs call_js_cb
in a context appropriate for callbacks.
Reference counting of thread-safe functions#
Threads can be added to and removed from a napi_threadsafe_function
object
during its existence. Thus, in addition to specifying an initial number of
threads upon creation, napi_acquire_threadsafe_function
can be called to
indicate that a new thread will start making use of the thread-safe function.
Similarly, napi_release_threadsafe_function
can be called to indicate that an
existing thread will stop making use of the thread-safe function.
napi_threadsafe_function
objects are destroyed when every thread which uses
the object has called napi_release_threadsafe_function()
or has received a
return status of napi_closing
in response to a call to
napi_call_threadsafe_function
. The queue is emptied before the
napi_threadsafe_function
is destroyed. napi_release_threadsafe_function()
should be the last API call made in conjunction with a given
napi_threadsafe_function
, because after the call completes, there is no
guarantee that the napi_threadsafe_function
is still allocated. For the same
reason, do not use a thread-safe function
after receiving a return value of napi_closing
in response to a call to
napi_call_threadsafe_function
. Data associated with the
napi_threadsafe_function
can be freed in its napi_finalize
callback which
was passed to napi_create_threadsafe_function()
. The parameter
initial_thread_count
of napi_create_threadsafe_function
marks the initial
number of acquisitions of the thread-safe functions, instead of calling
napi_acquire_threadsafe_function
multiple times at creation.
Once the number of threads making use of a napi_threadsafe_function
reaches
zero, no further threads can start making use of it by calling
napi_acquire_threadsafe_function()
. In fact, all subsequent API calls
associated with it, except napi_release_threadsafe_function()
, will return an
error value of napi_closing
.
The thread-safe function can be "aborted" by giving a value of napi_tsfn_abort
to napi_release_threadsafe_function()
. This will cause all subsequent APIs
associated with the thread-safe function except
napi_release_threadsafe_function()
to return napi_closing
even before its
reference count reaches zero. In particular, napi_call_threadsafe_function()
will return napi_closing
, thus informing the threads that it is no longer
possible to make asynchronous calls to the thread-safe function. This can be
used as a criterion for terminating the thread. Upon receiving a return value
of napi_closing
from napi_call_threadsafe_function()
a thread must not use
the thread-safe function anymore because it is no longer guaranteed to
be allocated.
Deciding whether to keep the process running#
Similarly to libuv handles, thread-safe functions can be "referenced" and
"unreferenced". A "referenced" thread-safe function will cause the event loop on
the thread on which it is created to remain alive until the thread-safe function
is destroyed. In contrast, an "unreferenced" thread-safe function will not
prevent the event loop from exiting. The APIs napi_ref_threadsafe_function
and
napi_unref_threadsafe_function
exist for this purpose.
Neither does napi_unref_threadsafe_function
mark the thread-safe functions as
able to be destroyed nor does napi_ref_threadsafe_function
prevent it from
being destroyed.
napi_create_threadsafe_function
#
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_create_threadsafe_function(napi_env env,
napi_value func,
napi_value async_resource,
napi_value async_resource_name,
size_t max_queue_size,
size_t initial_thread_count,
void* thread_finalize_data,
napi_finalize thread_finalize_cb,
void* context,
napi_threadsafe_function_call_js call_js_cb,
napi_threadsafe_function* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] func
: An optional JavaScript function to call from another thread. It
must be provided if NULL
is passed to call_js_cb
.
[in] async_resource
: An optional object associated with the async work that
will be passed to possible async_hooks
init
hooks.
[in] async_resource_name
: A JavaScript string to provide an identifier for
the kind of resource that is being provided for diagnostic information exposed
by the async_hooks
API.
[in] max_queue_size
: Maximum size of the queue. 0
for no limit.
[in] initial_thread_count
: The initial number of acquisitions, i.e. the
initial number of threads, including the main thread, which will be making use
of this function.
[in] thread_finalize_data
: Optional data to be passed to thread_finalize_cb
.
[in] thread_finalize_cb
: Optional function to call when the
napi_threadsafe_function
is being destroyed.
[in] context
: Optional data to attach to the resulting
napi_threadsafe_function
.
[in] call_js_cb
: Optional callback which calls the JavaScript function in
response to a call on a different thread. This callback will be called on the
main thread. If not given, the JavaScript function will be called with no
parameters and with undefined
as its this
value.
napi_threadsafe_function_call_js
provides more details.
[out] result
: The asynchronous thread-safe JavaScript function.
napi_get_threadsafe_function_context
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_get_threadsafe_function_context(napi_threadsafe_function func,
void** result);
[in] func
: The thread-safe function for which to retrieve the context.
[out] result
: The location where to store the context.
This API may be called from any thread which makes use of func
.
napi_call_threadsafe_function
#
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_call_threadsafe_function(napi_threadsafe_function func,
void* data,
napi_threadsafe_function_call_mode is_blocking);
[in] func
: The asynchronous thread-safe JavaScript function to invoke.
[in] data
: Data to send into JavaScript via the callback call_js_cb
provided during the creation of the thread-safe JavaScript function.
[in] is_blocking
: Flag whose value can be either napi_tsfn_blocking
to
indicate that the call should block if the queue is full or
napi_tsfn_nonblocking
to indicate that the call should return immediately
with a status of napi_queue_full
whenever the queue is full.
This API should not be called with napi_tsfn_blocking
from a JavaScript
thread, because, if the queue is full, it may cause the JavaScript thread to
deadlock.
This API will return napi_closing
if napi_release_threadsafe_function()
was
called with abort
set to napi_tsfn_abort
from any thread. The value is only
added to the queue if the API returns napi_ok
.
This API may be called from any thread which makes use of func
.
napi_acquire_threadsafe_function
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_acquire_threadsafe_function(napi_threadsafe_function func);
[in] func
: The asynchronous thread-safe JavaScript function to start making
use of.
A thread should call this API before passing func
to any other thread-safe
function APIs to indicate that it will be making use of func
. This prevents
func
from being destroyed when all other threads have stopped making use of
it.
This API may be called from any thread which will start making use of func
.
napi_release_threadsafe_function
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_release_threadsafe_function(napi_threadsafe_function func,
napi_threadsafe_function_release_mode mode);
[in] func
: The asynchronous thread-safe JavaScript function whose reference
count to decrement.
[in] mode
: Flag whose value can be either napi_tsfn_release
to indicate
that the current thread will make no further calls to the thread-safe
function, or napi_tsfn_abort
to indicate that in addition to the current
thread, no other thread should make any further calls to the thread-safe
function. If set to napi_tsfn_abort
, further calls to
napi_call_threadsafe_function()
will return napi_closing
, and no further
values will be placed in the queue.
A thread should call this API when it stops making use of func
. Passing func
to any thread-safe APIs after having called this API has undefined results, as
func
may have been destroyed.
This API may be called from any thread which will stop making use of func
.
napi_ref_threadsafe_function
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_ref_threadsafe_function(napi_env env, napi_threadsafe_function func);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] func
: The thread-safe function to reference.
This API is used to indicate that the event loop running on the main thread
should not exit until func
has been destroyed. Similar to uv_ref
it is
also idempotent.
Neither does napi_unref_threadsafe_function
mark the thread-safe functions as
able to be destroyed nor does napi_ref_threadsafe_function
prevent it from
being destroyed. napi_acquire_threadsafe_function
and
napi_release_threadsafe_function
are available for that purpose.
This API may only be called from the main thread.
napi_unref_threadsafe_function
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_unref_threadsafe_function(napi_env env, napi_threadsafe_function func);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] func
: The thread-safe function to unreference.
This API is used to indicate that the event loop running on the main thread
may exit before func
is destroyed. Similar to uv_unref
it is also
idempotent.
This API may only be called from the main thread.
Miscellaneous utilities#
node_api_get_module_file_name
#
Added in: v15.9.0, v12.22.0
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
node_api_get_module_file_name(napi_env env, const char** result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: A URL containing the absolute path of the
location from which the add-on was loaded. For a file on the local
file system it will start with file://
. The string is null-terminated and
owned by env
and must thus not be modified or freed.
result
may be an empty string if the add-on loading process fails to establish
the add-on's file name during loading.
Child process#
Source Code: lib/child_process.js
The node:child_process
module provides the ability to spawn subprocesses in
a manner that is similar, but not identical, to popen(3)
. This capability
is primarily provided by the child_process.spawn()
function:
const { spawn } = require('node:child_process');
const ls = spawn('ls', ['-lh', '/usr']);
ls.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
console.log(`stdout: ${data}`);
});
ls.stderr.on('data', (data) => {
console.error(`stderr: ${data}`);
});
ls.on('close', (code) => {
console.log(`child process exited with code ${code}`);
});
By default, pipes for stdin
, stdout
, and stderr
are established between
the parent Node.js process and the spawned subprocess. These pipes have
limited (and platform-specific) capacity. If the subprocess writes to
stdout in excess of that limit without the output being captured, the
subprocess blocks waiting for the pipe buffer to accept more data. This is
identical to the behavior of pipes in the shell. Use the { stdio: 'ignore' }
option if the output will not be consumed.
The command lookup is performed using the options.env.PATH
environment
variable if env
is in the options
object. Otherwise, process.env.PATH
is
used. If options.env
is set without PATH
, lookup on Unix is performed
on a default search path search of /usr/bin:/bin
(see your operating system's
manual for execvpe/execvp), on Windows the current processes environment
variable PATH
is used.
On Windows, environment variables are case-insensitive. Node.js
lexicographically sorts the env
keys and uses the first one that
case-insensitively matches. Only first (in lexicographic order) entry will be
passed to the subprocess. This might lead to issues on Windows when passing
objects to the env
option that have multiple variants of the same key, such as
PATH
and Path
.
The child_process.spawn()
method spawns the child process asynchronously,
without blocking the Node.js event loop. The child_process.spawnSync()
function provides equivalent functionality in a synchronous manner that blocks
the event loop until the spawned process either exits or is terminated.
For convenience, the node:child_process
module provides a handful of
synchronous and asynchronous alternatives to child_process.spawn()
and
child_process.spawnSync()
. Each of these alternatives are implemented on
top of child_process.spawn()
or child_process.spawnSync()
.
For certain use cases, such as automating shell scripts, the
synchronous counterparts may be more convenient. In many cases, however,
the synchronous methods can have significant impact on performance due to
stalling the event loop while spawned processes complete.
Asynchronous process creation#
The child_process.spawn()
, child_process.fork()
, child_process.exec()
,
and child_process.execFile()
methods all follow the idiomatic asynchronous
programming pattern typical of other Node.js APIs.
Each of the methods returns a ChildProcess
instance. These objects
implement the Node.js EventEmitter
API, allowing the parent process to
register listener functions that are called when certain events occur during
the life cycle of the child process.
The child_process.exec()
and child_process.execFile()
methods
additionally allow for an optional callback
function to be specified that is
invoked when the child process terminates.
Spawning .bat
and .cmd
files on Windows#
The importance of the distinction between child_process.exec()
and
child_process.execFile()
can vary based on platform. On Unix-type
operating systems (Unix, Linux, macOS) child_process.execFile()
can be
more efficient because it does not spawn a shell by default. On Windows,
however, .bat
and .cmd
files are not executable on their own without a
terminal, and therefore cannot be launched using child_process.execFile()
.
When running on Windows, .bat
and .cmd
files can be invoked using
child_process.spawn()
with the shell
option set, with
child_process.exec()
, or by spawning cmd.exe
and passing the .bat
or
.cmd
file as an argument (which is what the shell
option and
child_process.exec()
do). In any case, if the script filename contains
spaces it needs to be quoted.
const { spawn } = require('node:child_process');
const bat = spawn('cmd.exe', ['/c', 'my.bat']);
bat.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
console.log(data.toString());
});
bat.stderr.on('data', (data) => {
console.error(data.toString());
});
bat.on('exit', (code) => {
console.log(`Child exited with code ${code}`);
});
const { exec, spawn } = require('node:child_process');
exec('my.bat', (err, stdout, stderr) => {
if (err) {
console.error(err);
return;
}
console.log(stdout);
});
const bat = spawn('"my script.cmd"', ['a', 'b'], { shell: true });
exec('"my script.cmd" a b', (err, stdout, stderr) => {
});
child_process.exec(command[, options][, callback])
#
command
<string> The command to run, with space-separated arguments.
options
<Object>
cwd
<string> | <URL> Current working directory of the child process.
Default: process.cwd()
.
env
<Object> Environment key-value pairs. Default: process.env
.
encoding
<string> Default: 'utf8'
shell
<string> Shell to execute the command with. See
Shell requirements and Default Windows shell. Default:
'/bin/sh'
on Unix, process.env.ComSpec
on Windows.
signal
<AbortSignal> allows aborting the child process using an
AbortSignal.
timeout
<number> Default: 0
maxBuffer
<number> Largest amount of data in bytes allowed on stdout or
stderr. If exceeded, the child process is terminated and any output is
truncated. See caveat at maxBuffer
and Unicode.
Default: 1024 * 1024
.
killSignal
<string> | <integer> Default: 'SIGTERM'
uid
<number> Sets the user identity of the process (see setuid(2)
).
gid
<number> Sets the group identity of the process (see setgid(2)
).
windowsHide
<boolean> Hide the subprocess console window that would
normally be created on Windows systems. Default: false
.
callback
<Function> called with the output when process terminates.
- Returns: <ChildProcess>
Spawns a shell then executes the command
within that shell, buffering any
generated output. The command
string passed to the exec function is processed
directly by the shell and special characters (vary based on
shell)
need to be dealt with accordingly:
const { exec } = require('node:child_process');
exec('"/path/to/test file/test.sh" arg1 arg2');
exec('echo "The \\$HOME variable is $HOME"');
Never pass unsanitized user input to this function. Any input containing shell
metacharacters may be used to trigger arbitrary command execution.
If a callback
function is provided, it is called with the arguments
(error, stdout, stderr)
. On success, error
will be null
. On error,
error
will be an instance of Error
. The error.code
property will be
the exit code of the process. By convention, any exit code other than 0
indicates an error. error.signal
will be the signal that terminated the
process.
The stdout
and stderr
arguments passed to the callback will contain the
stdout and stderr output of the child process. By default, Node.js will decode
the output as UTF-8 and pass strings to the callback. The encoding
option
can be used to specify the character encoding used to decode the stdout and
stderr output. If encoding
is 'buffer'
, or an unrecognized character
encoding, Buffer
objects will be passed to the callback instead.
const { exec } = require('node:child_process');
exec('cat *.js missing_file | wc -l', (error, stdout, stderr) => {
if (error) {
console.error(`exec error: ${error}`);
return;
}
console.log(`stdout: ${stdout}`);
console.error(`stderr: ${stderr}`);
});
If timeout
is greater than 0
, the parent will send the signal
identified by the killSignal
property (the default is 'SIGTERM'
) if the
child runs longer than timeout
milliseconds.
Unlike the exec(3)
POSIX system call, child_process.exec()
does not replace
the existing process and uses a shell to execute the command.
If this method is invoked as its util.promisify()
ed version, it returns
a Promise
for an Object
with stdout
and stderr
properties. The returned
ChildProcess
instance is attached to the Promise
as a child
property. In
case of an error (including any error resulting in an exit code other than 0), a
rejected promise is returned, with the same error
object given in the
callback, but with two additional properties stdout
and stderr
.
const util = require('node:util');
const exec = util.promisify(require('node:child_process').exec);
async function lsExample() {
const { stdout, stderr } = await exec('ls');
console.log('stdout:', stdout);
console.error('stderr:', stderr);
}
lsExample();
If the signal
option is enabled, calling .abort()
on the corresponding
AbortController
is similar to calling .kill()
on the child process except
the error passed to the callback will be an AbortError
:
const { exec } = require('node:child_process');
const controller = new AbortController();
const { signal } = controller;
const child = exec('grep ssh', { signal }, (error) => {
console.log(error);
});
controller.abort();
child_process.execFile(file[, args][, options][, callback])
#
file
<string> The name or path of the executable file to run.
args
<string[]> List of string arguments.
options
<Object>
cwd
<string> | <URL> Current working directory of the child process.
env
<Object> Environment key-value pairs. Default: process.env
.
encoding
<string> Default: 'utf8'
timeout
<number> Default: 0
maxBuffer
<number> Largest amount of data in bytes allowed on stdout or
stderr. If exceeded, the child process is terminated and any output is
truncated. See caveat at maxBuffer
and Unicode.
Default: 1024 * 1024
.
killSignal
<string> | <integer> Default: 'SIGTERM'
uid
<number> Sets the user identity of the process (see setuid(2)
).
gid
<number> Sets the group identity of the process (see setgid(2)
).
windowsHide
<boolean> Hide the subprocess console window that would
normally be created on Windows systems. Default: false
.
windowsVerbatimArguments
<boolean> No quoting or escaping of arguments is
done on Windows. Ignored on Unix. Default: false
.
shell
<boolean> | <string> If true
, runs command
inside of a shell. Uses
'/bin/sh'
on Unix, and process.env.ComSpec
on Windows. A different
shell can be specified as a string. See Shell requirements and
Default Windows shell. Default: false
(no shell).
signal
<AbortSignal> allows aborting the child process using an
AbortSignal.
callback
<Function> Called with the output when process terminates.
- Returns: <ChildProcess>
The child_process.execFile()
function is similar to child_process.exec()
except that it does not spawn a shell by default. Rather, the specified
executable file
is spawned directly as a new process making it slightly more
efficient than child_process.exec()
.
The same options as child_process.exec()
are supported. Since a shell is
not spawned, behaviors such as I/O redirection and file globbing are not
supported.
const { execFile } = require('node:child_process');
const child = execFile('node', ['--version'], (error, stdout, stderr) => {
if (error) {
throw error;
}
console.log(stdout);
});
The stdout
and stderr
arguments passed to the callback will contain the
stdout and stderr output of the child process. By default, Node.js will decode
the output as UTF-8 and pass strings to the callback. The encoding
option
can be used to specify the character encoding used to decode the stdout and
stderr output. If encoding
is 'buffer'
, or an unrecognized character
encoding, Buffer
objects will be passed to the callback instead.
If this method is invoked as its util.promisify()
ed version, it returns
a Promise
for an Object
with stdout
and stderr
properties. The returned
ChildProcess
instance is attached to the Promise
as a child
property. In
case of an error (including any error resulting in an exit code other than 0), a
rejected promise is returned, with the same error
object given in the
callback, but with two additional properties stdout
and stderr
.
const util = require('node:util');
const execFile = util.promisify(require('node:child_process').execFile);
async function getVersion() {
const { stdout } = await execFile('node', ['--version']);
console.log(stdout);
}
getVersion();
If the shell
option is enabled, do not pass unsanitized user input to this
function. Any input containing shell metacharacters may be used to trigger
arbitrary command execution.
If the signal
option is enabled, calling .abort()
on the corresponding
AbortController
is similar to calling .kill()
on the child process except
the error passed to the callback will be an AbortError
:
const { execFile } = require('node:child_process');
const controller = new AbortController();
const { signal } = controller;
const child = execFile('node', ['--version'], { signal }, (error) => {
console.log(error);
});
controller.abort();
child_process.fork(modulePath[, args][, options])
#
modulePath
<string> | <URL> The module to run in the child.
args
<string[]> List of string arguments.
options
<Object>
cwd
<string> | <URL> Current working directory of the child process.
detached
<boolean> Prepare child to run independently of its parent
process. Specific behavior depends on the platform, see
options.detached
).
env
<Object> Environment key-value pairs. Default: process.env
.
execPath
<string> Executable used to create the child process.
execArgv
<string[]> List of string arguments passed to the executable.
Default: process.execArgv
.
gid
<number> Sets the group identity of the process (see setgid(2)
).
serialization
<string> Specify the kind of serialization used for sending
messages between processes. Possible values are 'json'
and 'advanced'
.
See Advanced serialization for more details. Default: 'json'
.
signal
<AbortSignal> Allows closing the child process using an
AbortSignal.
killSignal
<string> | <integer> The signal value to be used when the spawned
process will be killed by timeout or abort signal. Default: 'SIGTERM'
.
silent
<boolean> If true
, stdin, stdout, and stderr of the child will be
piped to the parent, otherwise they will be inherited from the parent, see
the 'pipe'
and 'inherit'
options for child_process.spawn()
's
stdio
for more details. Default: false
.
stdio
<Array> | <string> See child_process.spawn()
's stdio
.
When this option is provided, it overrides silent
. If the array variant
is used, it must contain exactly one item with value 'ipc'
or an error
will be thrown. For instance [0, 1, 2, 'ipc']
.
uid
<number> Sets the user identity of the process (see setuid(2)
).
windowsVerbatimArguments
<boolean> No quoting or escaping of arguments is
done on Windows. Ignored on Unix. Default: false
.
timeout
<number> In milliseconds the maximum amount of time the process
is allowed to run. Default: undefined
.
- Returns: <ChildProcess>
The child_process.fork()
method is a special case of
child_process.spawn()
used specifically to spawn new Node.js processes.
Like child_process.spawn()
, a ChildProcess
object is returned. The
returned ChildProcess
will have an additional communication channel
built-in that allows messages to be passed back and forth between the parent and
child. See subprocess.send()
for details.
Keep in mind that spawned Node.js child processes are
independent of the parent with exception of the IPC communication channel
that is established between the two. Each process has its own memory, with
their own V8 instances. Because of the additional resource allocations
required, spawning a large number of child Node.js processes is not
recommended.
By default, child_process.fork()
will spawn new Node.js instances using the
process.execPath
of the parent process. The execPath
property in the
options
object allows for an alternative execution path to be used.
Node.js processes launched with a custom execPath
will communicate with the
parent process using the file descriptor (fd) identified using the
environment variable NODE_CHANNEL_FD
on the child process.
Unlike the fork(2)
POSIX system call, child_process.fork()
does not clone the
current process.
The shell
option available in child_process.spawn()
is not supported by
child_process.fork()
and will be ignored if set.
If the signal
option is enabled, calling .abort()
on the corresponding
AbortController
is similar to calling .kill()
on the child process except
the error passed to the callback will be an AbortError
:
if (process.argv[2] === 'child') {
setTimeout(() => {
console.log(`Hello from ${process.argv[2]}!`);
}, 1_000);
} else {
const { fork } = require('node:child_process');
const controller = new AbortController();
const { signal } = controller;
const child = fork(__filename, ['child'], { signal });
child.on('error', (err) => {
});
controller.abort();
}
child_process.spawn(command[, args][, options])
#
command
<string> The command to run.
args
<string[]> List of string arguments.
options
<Object>
cwd
<string> | <URL> Current working directory of the child process.
env
<Object> Environment key-value pairs. Default: process.env
.
argv0
<string> Explicitly set the value of argv[0]
sent to the child
process. This will be set to command
if not specified.
stdio
<Array> | <string> Child's stdio configuration (see
options.stdio
).
detached
<boolean> Prepare child to run independently of its parent
process. Specific behavior depends on the platform, see
options.detached
).
uid
<number> Sets the user identity of the process (see setuid(2)
).
gid
<number> Sets the group identity of the process (see setgid(2)
).
serialization
<string> Specify the kind of serialization used for sending
messages between processes. Possible values are 'json'
and 'advanced'
.
See Advanced serialization for more details. Default: 'json'
.
shell
<boolean> | <string> If true
, runs command
inside of a shell. Uses
'/bin/sh'
on Unix, and process.env.ComSpec
on Windows. A different
shell can be specified as a string. See Shell requirements and
Default Windows shell. Default: false
(no shell).
windowsVerbatimArguments
<boolean> No quoting or escaping of arguments is
done on Windows. Ignored on Unix. This is set to true
automatically
when shell
is specified and is CMD. Default: false
.
windowsHide
<boolean> Hide the subprocess console window that would
normally be created on Windows systems. Default: false
.
signal
<AbortSignal> allows aborting the child process using an
AbortSignal.
timeout
<number> In milliseconds the maximum amount of time the process
is allowed to run. Default: undefined
.
killSignal
<string> | <integer> The signal value to be used when the spawned
process will be killed by timeout or abort signal. Default: 'SIGTERM'
.
- Returns: <ChildProcess>
The child_process.spawn()
method spawns a new process using the given
command
, with command-line arguments in args
. If omitted, args
defaults
to an empty array.
If the shell
option is enabled, do not pass unsanitized user input to this
function. Any input containing shell metacharacters may be used to trigger
arbitrary command execution.
A third argument may be used to specify additional options, with these defaults:
const defaults = {
cwd: undefined,
env: process.env
};
Use cwd
to specify the working directory from which the process is spawned.
If not given, the default is to inherit the current working directory. If given,
but the path does not exist, the child process emits an ENOENT
error
and exits immediately. ENOENT
is also emitted when the command
does not exist.
Use env
to specify environment variables that will be visible to the new
process, the default is process.env
.
undefined
values in env
will be ignored.
Example of running ls -lh /usr
, capturing stdout
, stderr
, and the
exit code:
const { spawn } = require('node:child_process');
const ls = spawn('ls', ['-lh', '/usr']);
ls.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
console.log(`stdout: ${data}`);
});
ls.stderr.on('data', (data) => {
console.error(`stderr: ${data}`);
});
ls.on('close', (code) => {
console.log(`child process exited with code ${code}`);
});
Example: A very elaborate way to run ps ax | grep ssh
const { spawn } = require('node:child_process');
const ps = spawn('ps', ['ax']);
const grep = spawn('grep', ['ssh']);
ps.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
grep.stdin.write(data);
});
ps.stderr.on('data', (data) => {
console.error(`ps stderr: ${data}`);
});
ps.on('close', (code) => {
if (code !== 0) {
console.log(`ps process exited with code ${code}`);
}
grep.stdin.end();
});
grep.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
console.log(data.toString());
});
grep.stderr.on('data', (data) => {
console.error(`grep stderr: ${data}`);
});
grep.on('close', (code) => {
if (code !== 0) {
console.log(`grep process exited with code ${code}`);
}
});
Example of checking for failed spawn
:
const { spawn } = require('node:child_process');
const subprocess = spawn('bad_command');
subprocess.on('error', (err) => {
console.error('Failed to start subprocess.');
});
Certain platforms (macOS, Linux) will use the value of argv[0]
for the process
title while others (Windows, SunOS) will use command
.
Node.js overwrites argv[0]
with process.execPath
on startup, so
process.argv[0]
in a Node.js child process will not match the argv0
parameter passed to spawn
from the parent. Retrieve it with the
process.argv0
property instead.
If the signal
option is enabled, calling .abort()
on the corresponding
AbortController
is similar to calling .kill()
on the child process except
the error passed to the callback will be an AbortError
:
const { spawn } = require('node:child_process');
const controller = new AbortController();
const { signal } = controller;
const grep = spawn('grep', ['ssh'], { signal });
grep.on('error', (err) => {
});
controller.abort();
options.detached
#
Added in: v0.7.10
On Windows, setting options.detached
to true
makes it possible for the
child process to continue running after the parent exits. The child will have
its own console window. Once enabled for a child process, it cannot be
disabled.
On non-Windows platforms, if options.detached
is set to true
, the child
process will be made the leader of a new process group and session. Child
processes may continue running after the parent exits regardless of whether
they are detached or not. See setsid(2)
for more information.
By default, the parent will wait for the detached child to exit. To prevent the
parent from waiting for a given subprocess
to exit, use the
subprocess.unref()
method. Doing so will cause the parent's event loop to not
include the child in its reference count, allowing the parent to exit
independently of the child, unless there is an established IPC channel between
the child and the parent.
When using the detached
option to start a long-running process, the process
will not stay running in the background after the parent exits unless it is
provided with a stdio
configuration that is not connected to the parent.
If the parent's stdio
is inherited, the child will remain attached to the
controlling terminal.
Example of a long-running process, by detaching and also ignoring its parent
stdio
file descriptors, in order to ignore the parent's termination:
const { spawn } = require('node:child_process');
const subprocess = spawn(process.argv[0], ['child_program.js'], {
detached: true,
stdio: 'ignore'
});
subprocess.unref();
Alternatively one can redirect the child process' output into files:
const fs = require('node:fs');
const { spawn } = require('node:child_process');
const out = fs.openSync('./out.log', 'a');
const err = fs.openSync('./out.log', 'a');
const subprocess = spawn('prg', [], {
detached: true,
stdio: [ 'ignore', out, err ]
});
subprocess.unref();
options.stdio
#
The options.stdio
option is used to configure the pipes that are established
between the parent and child process. By default, the child's stdin, stdout,
and stderr are redirected to corresponding subprocess.stdin
,
subprocess.stdout
, and subprocess.stderr
streams on the
ChildProcess
object. This is equivalent to setting the options.stdio
equal to ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe']
.
For convenience, options.stdio
may be one of the following strings:
'pipe'
: equivalent to ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe']
(the default)
'overlapped'
: equivalent to ['overlapped', 'overlapped', 'overlapped']
'ignore'
: equivalent to ['ignore', 'ignore', 'ignore']
'inherit'
: equivalent to ['inherit', 'inherit', 'inherit']
or [0, 1, 2]
Otherwise, the value of options.stdio
is an array where each index corresponds
to an fd in the child. The fds 0, 1, and 2 correspond to stdin, stdout,
and stderr, respectively. Additional fds can be specified to create additional
pipes between the parent and child. The value is one of the following:
-
'pipe'
: Create a pipe between the child process and the parent process.
The parent end of the pipe is exposed to the parent as a property on the
child_process
object as subprocess.stdio[fd]
. Pipes
created for fds 0, 1, and 2 are also available as subprocess.stdin
,
subprocess.stdout
and subprocess.stderr
, respectively.
These are not actual Unix pipes and therefore the child process
can not use them by their descriptor files,
e.g. /dev/fd/2
or /dev/stdout
.
-
'overlapped'
: Same as 'pipe'
except that the FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED
flag
is set on the handle. This is necessary for overlapped I/O on the child
process's stdio handles. See the
docs
for more details. This is exactly the same as 'pipe'
on non-Windows
systems.
-
'ipc'
: Create an IPC channel for passing messages/file descriptors
between parent and child. A ChildProcess
may have at most one IPC
stdio file descriptor. Setting this option enables the
subprocess.send()
method. If the child is a Node.js process, the
presence of an IPC channel will enable process.send()
and
process.disconnect()
methods, as well as 'disconnect'
and
'message'
events within the child.
Accessing the IPC channel fd in any way other than process.send()
or using the IPC channel with a child process that is not a Node.js instance
is not supported.
-
'ignore'
: Instructs Node.js to ignore the fd in the child. While Node.js
will always open fds 0, 1, and 2 for the processes it spawns, setting the fd
to 'ignore'
will cause Node.js to open /dev/null
and attach it to the
child's fd.
-
'inherit'
: Pass through the corresponding stdio stream to/from the
parent process. In the first three positions, this is equivalent to
process.stdin
, process.stdout
, and process.stderr
, respectively. In
any other position, equivalent to 'ignore'
.
-
<Stream> object: Share a readable or writable stream that refers to a tty,
file, socket, or a pipe with the child process. The stream's underlying
file descriptor is duplicated in the child process to the fd that
corresponds to the index in the stdio
array. The stream must have an
underlying descriptor (file streams do not until the 'open'
event has
occurred).
-
Positive integer: The integer value is interpreted as a file descriptor
that is open in the parent process. It is shared with the child
process, similar to how <Stream> objects can be shared. Passing sockets
is not supported on Windows.
-
null
, undefined
: Use default value. For stdio fds 0, 1, and 2 (in other
words, stdin, stdout, and stderr) a pipe is created. For fd 3 and up, the
default is 'ignore'
.
const { spawn } = require('node:child_process');
spawn('prg', [], { stdio: 'inherit' });
spawn('prg', [], { stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', process.stderr] });
spawn('prg', [], { stdio: ['pipe', null, null, null, 'pipe'] });
It is worth noting that when an IPC channel is established between the
parent and child processes, and the child is a Node.js process, the child
is launched with the IPC channel unreferenced (using unref()
) until the
child registers an event handler for the 'disconnect'
event
or the 'message'
event. This allows the child to exit
normally without the process being held open by the open IPC channel.
On Unix-like operating systems, the child_process.spawn()
method
performs memory operations synchronously before decoupling the event loop
from the child. Applications with a large memory footprint may find frequent
child_process.spawn()
calls to be a bottleneck. For more information,
see V8 issue 7381.
See also: child_process.exec()
and child_process.fork()
.
Synchronous process creation#
The child_process.spawnSync()
, child_process.execSync()
, and
child_process.execFileSync()
methods are synchronous and will block the
Node.js event loop, pausing execution of any additional code until the spawned
process exits.
Blocking calls like these are mostly useful for simplifying general-purpose
scripting tasks and for simplifying the loading/processing of application
configuration at startup.
child_process.execFileSync(file[, args][, options])
#
file
<string> The name or path of the executable file to run.
args
<string[]> List of string arguments.
options
<Object>
cwd
<string> | <URL> Current working directory of the child process.
input
<string> | <Buffer> | <TypedArray> | <DataView> The value which will be passed
as stdin to the spawned process. Supplying this value will override
stdio[0]
.
stdio
<string> | <Array> Child's stdio configuration. stderr
by default will
be output to the parent process' stderr unless stdio
is specified.
Default: 'pipe'
.
env
<Object> Environment key-value pairs. Default: process.env
.
uid
<number> Sets the user identity of the process (see setuid(2)
).
gid
<number> Sets the group identity of the process (see setgid(2)
).
timeout
<number> In milliseconds the maximum amount of time the process
is allowed to run. Default: undefined
.
killSignal
<string> | <integer> The signal value to be used when the spawned
process will be killed. Default: 'SIGTERM'
.
maxBuffer
<number> Largest amount of data in bytes allowed on stdout or
stderr. If exceeded, the child process is terminated. See caveat at
maxBuffer
and Unicode. Default: 1024 * 1024
.
encoding
<string> The encoding used for all stdio inputs and outputs.
Default: 'buffer'
.
windowsHide
<boolean> Hide the subprocess console window that would
normally be created on Windows systems. Default: false
.
shell
<boolean> | <string> If true
, runs command
inside of a shell. Uses
'/bin/sh'
on Unix, and process.env.ComSpec
on Windows. A different
shell can be specified as a string. See Shell requirements and
Default Windows shell. Default: false
(no shell).
- Returns: <Buffer> | <string> The stdout from the command.
The child_process.execFileSync()
method is generally identical to
child_process.execFile()
with the exception that the method will not
return until the child process has fully closed. When a timeout has been
encountered and killSignal
is sent, the method won't return until the process
has completely exited.
If the child process intercepts and handles the SIGTERM
signal and
does not exit, the parent process will still wait until the child process has
exited.
If the process times out or has a non-zero exit code, this method will throw an
Error
that will include the full result of the underlying
child_process.spawnSync()
.
If the shell
option is enabled, do not pass unsanitized user input to this
function. Any input containing shell metacharacters may be used to trigger
arbitrary command execution.
child_process.execSync(command[, options])
#
command
<string> The command to run.
options
<Object>
cwd
<string> | <URL> Current working directory of the child process.
input
<string> | <Buffer> | <TypedArray> | <DataView> The value which will be passed
as stdin to the spawned process. Supplying this value will override
stdio[0]
.
stdio
<string> | <Array> Child's stdio configuration. stderr
by default will
be output to the parent process' stderr unless stdio
is specified.
Default: 'pipe'
.
env
<Object> Environment key-value pairs. Default: process.env
.
shell
<string> Shell to execute the command with. See
Shell requirements and Default Windows shell. Default:
'/bin/sh'
on Unix, process.env.ComSpec
on Windows.
uid
<number> Sets the user identity of the process. (See setuid(2)
).
gid
<number> Sets the group identity of the process. (See setgid(2)
).
timeout
<number> In milliseconds the maximum amount of time the process
is allowed to run. Default: undefined
.
killSignal
<string> | <integer> The signal value to be used when the spawned
process will be killed. Default: 'SIGTERM'
.
maxBuffer
<number> Largest amount of data in bytes allowed on stdout or
stderr. If exceeded, the child process is terminated and any output is
truncated. See caveat at maxBuffer
and Unicode.
Default: 1024 * 1024
.
encoding
<string> The encoding used for all stdio inputs and outputs.
Default: 'buffer'
.
windowsHide
<boolean> Hide the subprocess console window that would
normally be created on Windows systems. Default: false
.
- Returns: <Buffer> | <string> The stdout from the command.
The child_process.execSync()
method is generally identical to
child_process.exec()
with the exception that the method will not return
until the child process has fully closed. When a timeout has been encountered
and killSignal
is sent, the method won't return until the process has
completely exited. If the child process intercepts and handles the SIGTERM
signal and doesn't exit, the parent process will wait until the child process
has exited.
If the process times out or has a non-zero exit code, this method will throw.
The Error
object will contain the entire result from
child_process.spawnSync()
.
Never pass unsanitized user input to this function. Any input containing shell
metacharacters may be used to trigger arbitrary command execution.
child_process.spawnSync(command[, args][, options])
#
command
<string> The command to run.
args
<string[]> List of string arguments.
options
<Object>
cwd
<string> | <URL> Current working directory of the child process.
input
<string> | <Buffer> | <TypedArray> | <DataView> The value which will be passed
as stdin to the spawned process. Supplying this value will override
stdio[0]
.
argv0
<string> Explicitly set the value of argv[0]
sent to the child
process. This will be set to command
if not specified.
stdio
<string> | <Array> Child's stdio configuration.
env
<Object> Environment key-value pairs. Default: process.env
.
uid
<number> Sets the user identity of the process (see setuid(2)
).
gid
<number> Sets the group identity of the process (see setgid(2)
).
timeout
<number> In milliseconds the maximum amount of time the process
is allowed to run. Default: undefined
.
killSignal
<string> | <integer> The signal value to be used when the spawned
process will be killed. Default: 'SIGTERM'
.
maxBuffer
<number> Largest amount of data in bytes allowed on stdout or
stderr. If exceeded, the child process is terminated and any output is
truncated. See caveat at maxBuffer
and Unicode.
Default: 1024 * 1024
.
encoding
<string> The encoding used for all stdio inputs and outputs.
Default: 'buffer'
.
shell
<boolean> | <string> If true
, runs command
inside of a shell. Uses
'/bin/sh'
on Unix, and process.env.ComSpec
on Windows. A different
shell can be specified as a string. See Shell requirements and
Default Windows shell. Default: false
(no shell).
windowsVerbatimArguments
<boolean> No quoting or escaping of arguments is
done on Windows. Ignored on Unix. This is set to true
automatically
when shell
is specified and is CMD. Default: false
.
windowsHide
<boolean> Hide the subprocess console window that would
normally be created on Windows systems. Default: false
.
- Returns: <Object>
pid
<number> Pid of the child process.
output
<Array> Array of results from stdio output.
stdout
<Buffer> | <string> The contents of output[1]
.
stderr
<Buffer> | <string> The contents of output[2]
.
status
<number> | <null> The exit code of the subprocess, or null
if the
subprocess terminated due to a signal.
signal
<string> | <null> The signal used to kill the subprocess, or null
if
the subprocess did not terminate due to a signal.
error
<Error> The error object if the child process failed or timed out.
The child_process.spawnSync()
method is generally identical to
child_process.spawn()
with the exception that the function will not return
until the child process has fully closed. When a timeout has been encountered
and killSignal
is sent, the method won't return until the process has
completely exited. If the process intercepts and handles the SIGTERM
signal
and doesn't exit, the parent process will wait until the child process has
exited.
If the shell
option is enabled, do not pass unsanitized user input to this
function. Any input containing shell metacharacters may be used to trigger
arbitrary command execution.
Class: ChildProcess
#
Added in: v2.2.0
Instances of the ChildProcess
represent spawned child processes.
Instances of ChildProcess
are not intended to be created directly. Rather,
use the child_process.spawn()
, child_process.exec()
,
child_process.execFile()
, or child_process.fork()
methods to create
instances of ChildProcess
.
Event: 'close'
#
Added in: v0.7.7
code
<number> The exit code if the child exited on its own.
signal
<string> The signal by which the child process was terminated.
The 'close'
event is emitted after a process has ended and the stdio
streams of a child process have been closed. This is distinct from the
'exit'
event, since multiple processes might share the same stdio
streams. The 'close'
event will always emit after 'exit'
was
already emitted, or 'error'
if the child failed to spawn.
const { spawn } = require('node:child_process');
const ls = spawn('ls', ['-lh', '/usr']);
ls.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
console.log(`stdout: ${data}`);
});
ls.on('close', (code) => {
console.log(`child process close all stdio with code ${code}`);
});
ls.on('exit', (code) => {
console.log(`child process exited with code ${code}`);
});
Event: 'disconnect'
#
Added in: v0.7.2
The 'disconnect'
event is emitted after calling the
subprocess.disconnect()
method in parent process or
process.disconnect()
in child process. After disconnecting it is no longer
possible to send or receive messages, and the subprocess.connected
property is false
.
Event: 'error'
#
The 'error'
event is emitted whenever:
- The process could not be spawned, or
- The process could not be killed, or
- Sending a message to the child process failed.
The 'exit'
event may or may not fire after an error has occurred. When
listening to both the 'exit'
and 'error'
events, guard
against accidentally invoking handler functions multiple times.
See also subprocess.kill()
and subprocess.send()
.
Event: 'exit'
#
Added in: v0.1.90
code
<number> The exit code if the child exited on its own.
signal
<string> The signal by which the child process was terminated.
The 'exit'
event is emitted after the child process ends. If the process
exited, code
is the final exit code of the process, otherwise null
. If the
process terminated due to receipt of a signal, signal
is the string name of
the signal, otherwise null
. One of the two will always be non-null
.
When the 'exit'
event is triggered, child process stdio streams might still be
open.
Node.js establishes signal handlers for SIGINT
and SIGTERM
and Node.js
processes will not terminate immediately due to receipt of those signals.
Rather, Node.js will perform a sequence of cleanup actions and then will
re-raise the handled signal.
See waitpid(2)
.
Event: 'message'
#
Added in: v0.5.9
The 'message'
event is triggered when a child process uses
process.send()
to send messages.
The message goes through serialization and parsing. The resulting
message might not be the same as what is originally sent.
If the serialization
option was set to 'advanced'
used when spawning the
child process, the message
argument can contain data that JSON is not able
to represent.
See Advanced serialization for more details.
Event: 'spawn'
#
Added in: v15.1.0
The 'spawn'
event is emitted once the child process has spawned successfully.
If the child process does not spawn successfully, the 'spawn'
event is not
emitted and the 'error'
event is emitted instead.
If emitted, the 'spawn'
event comes before all other events and before any
data is received via stdout
or stderr
.
The 'spawn'
event will fire regardless of whether an error occurs within
the spawned process. For example, if bash some-command
spawns successfully,
the 'spawn'
event will fire, though bash
may fail to spawn some-command
.
This caveat also applies when using { shell: true }
.
subprocess.channel
#
- <Object> A pipe representing the IPC channel to the child process.
The subprocess.channel
property is a reference to the child's IPC channel. If
no IPC channel exists, this property is undefined
.
subprocess.channel.ref()
#
Added in: v7.1.0
This method makes the IPC channel keep the event loop of the parent process
running if .unref()
has been called before.
subprocess.channel.unref()
#
Added in: v7.1.0
This method makes the IPC channel not keep the event loop of the parent process
running, and lets it finish even while the channel is open.
subprocess.connected
#
Added in: v0.7.2
- <boolean> Set to
false
after subprocess.disconnect()
is called.
The subprocess.connected
property indicates whether it is still possible to
send and receive messages from a child process. When subprocess.connected
is
false
, it is no longer possible to send or receive messages.
subprocess.disconnect()
#
Added in: v0.7.2
Closes the IPC channel between parent and child, allowing the child to exit
gracefully once there are no other connections keeping it alive. After calling
this method the subprocess.connected
and process.connected
properties in
both the parent and child (respectively) will be set to false
, and it will be
no longer possible to pass messages between the processes.
The 'disconnect'
event will be emitted when there are no messages in the
process of being received. This will most often be triggered immediately after
calling subprocess.disconnect()
.
When the child process is a Node.js instance (e.g. spawned using
child_process.fork()
), the process.disconnect()
method can be invoked
within the child process to close the IPC channel as well.
subprocess.exitCode
#
The subprocess.exitCode
property indicates the exit code of the child process.
If the child process is still running, the field will be null
.
subprocess.kill([signal])
#
Added in: v0.1.90
The subprocess.kill()
method sends a signal to the child process. If no
argument is given, the process will be sent the 'SIGTERM'
signal. See
signal(7)
for a list of available signals. This function returns true
if
kill(2)
succeeds, and false
otherwise.
const { spawn } = require('node:child_process');
const grep = spawn('grep', ['ssh']);
grep.on('close', (code, signal) => {
console.log(
`child process terminated due to receipt of signal ${signal}`);
});
grep.kill('SIGHUP');
The ChildProcess
object may emit an 'error'
event if the signal
cannot be delivered. Sending a signal to a child process that has already exited
is not an error but may have unforeseen consequences. Specifically, if the
process identifier (PID) has been reassigned to another process, the signal will
be delivered to that process instead which can have unexpected results.
While the function is called kill
, the signal delivered to the child process
may not actually terminate the process.
See kill(2)
for reference.
On Windows, where POSIX signals do not exist, the signal
argument will be
ignored, and the process will be killed forcefully and abruptly (similar to
'SIGKILL'
).
See Signal Events for more details.
On Linux, child processes of child processes will not be terminated
when attempting to kill their parent. This is likely to happen when running a
new process in a shell or with the use of the shell
option of ChildProcess
:
'use strict';
const { spawn } = require('node:child_process');
const subprocess = spawn(
'sh',
[
'-c',
`node -e "setInterval(() => {
console.log(process.pid, 'is alive')
}, 500);"`,
], {
stdio: ['inherit', 'inherit', 'inherit']
}
);
setTimeout(() => {
subprocess.kill();
}, 2000);
subprocess.killed
#
Added in: v0.5.10
- <boolean> Set to
true
after subprocess.kill()
is used to successfully
send a signal to the child process.
The subprocess.killed
property indicates whether the child process
successfully received a signal from subprocess.kill()
. The killed
property
does not indicate that the child process has been terminated.
subprocess.pid
#
Added in: v0.1.90
Returns the process identifier (PID) of the child process. If the child process
fails to spawn due to errors, then the value is undefined
and error
is
emitted.
const { spawn } = require('node:child_process');
const grep = spawn('grep', ['ssh']);
console.log(`Spawned child pid: ${grep.pid}`);
grep.stdin.end();
subprocess.ref()
#
Added in: v0.7.10
Calling subprocess.ref()
after making a call to subprocess.unref()
will
restore the removed reference count for the child process, forcing the parent
to wait for the child to exit before exiting itself.
const { spawn } = require('node:child_process');
const subprocess = spawn(process.argv[0], ['child_program.js'], {
detached: true,
stdio: 'ignore'
});
subprocess.unref();
subprocess.ref();
subprocess.send(message[, sendHandle[, options]][, callback])
#
message
<Object>
sendHandle
<Handle>
options
<Object> The options
argument, if present, is an object used to
parameterize the sending of certain types of handles. options
supports
the following properties:
keepOpen
<boolean> A value that can be used when passing instances of
net.Socket
. When true
, the socket is kept open in the sending process.
Default: false
.
callback
<Function>
- Returns: <boolean>
When an IPC channel has been established between the parent and child (
i.e. when using child_process.fork()
), the subprocess.send()
method can
be used to send messages to the child process. When the child process is a
Node.js instance, these messages can be received via the 'message'
event.
The message goes through serialization and parsing. The resulting
message might not be the same as what is originally sent.
For example, in the parent script:
const cp = require('node:child_process');
const n = cp.fork(`${__dirname}/sub.js`);
n.on('message', (m) => {
console.log('PARENT got message:', m);
});
n.send({ hello: 'world' });
And then the child script, 'sub.js'
might look like this:
process.on('message', (m) => {
console.log('CHILD got message:', m);
});
process.send({ foo: 'bar', baz: NaN });
Child Node.js processes will have a process.send()
method of their own
that allows the child to send messages back to the parent.
There is a special case when sending a {cmd: 'NODE_foo'}
message. Messages
containing a NODE_
prefix in the cmd
property are reserved for use within
Node.js core and will not be emitted in the child's 'message'
event. Rather, such messages are emitted using the
'internalMessage'
event and are consumed internally by Node.js.
Applications should avoid using such messages or listening for
'internalMessage'
events as it is subject to change without notice.
The optional sendHandle
argument that may be passed to subprocess.send()
is
for passing a TCP server or socket object to the child process. The child will
receive the object as the second argument passed to the callback function
registered on the 'message'
event. Any data that is received
and buffered in the socket will not be sent to the child.
The optional callback
is a function that is invoked after the message is
sent but before the child may have received it. The function is called with a
single argument: null
on success, or an Error
object on failure.
If no callback
function is provided and the message cannot be sent, an
'error'
event will be emitted by the ChildProcess
object. This can
happen, for instance, when the child process has already exited.
subprocess.send()
will return false
if the channel has closed or when the
backlog of unsent messages exceeds a threshold that makes it unwise to send
more. Otherwise, the method returns true
. The callback
function can be
used to implement flow control.
Example: sending a server object#
The sendHandle
argument can be used, for instance, to pass the handle of
a TCP server object to the child process as illustrated in the example below:
const subprocess = require('node:child_process').fork('subprocess.js');
const server = require('node:net').createServer();
server.on('connection', (socket) => {
socket.end('handled by parent');
});
server.listen(1337, () => {
subprocess.send('server', server);
});
The child would then receive the server object as:
process.on('message', (m, server) => {
if (m === 'server') {
server.on('connection', (socket) => {
socket.end('handled by child');
});
}
});
Once the server is now shared between the parent and child, some connections
can be handled by the parent and some by the child.
While the example above uses a server created using the node:net
module,
node:dgram
module servers use exactly the same workflow with the exceptions of
listening on a 'message'
event instead of 'connection'
and using
server.bind()
instead of server.listen()
. This is, however, only
supported on Unix platforms.
Example: sending a socket object#
Similarly, the sendHandler
argument can be used to pass the handle of a
socket to the child process. The example below spawns two children that each
handle connections with "normal" or "special" priority:
const { fork } = require('node:child_process');
const normal = fork('subprocess.js', ['normal']);
const special = fork('subprocess.js', ['special']);
const server = require('node:net').createServer({ pauseOnConnect: true });
server.on('connection', (socket) => {
if (socket.remoteAddress === '74.125.127.100') {
special.send('socket', socket);
return;
}
normal.send('socket', socket);
});
server.listen(1337);
The subprocess.js
would receive the socket handle as the second argument
passed to the event callback function:
process.on('message', (m, socket) => {
if (m === 'socket') {
if (socket) {
socket.end(`Request handled with ${process.argv[2]} priority`);
}
}
});
Do not use .maxConnections
on a socket that has been passed to a subprocess.
The parent cannot track when the socket is destroyed.
Any 'message'
handlers in the subprocess should verify that socket
exists,
as the connection may have been closed during the time it takes to send the
connection to the child.
subprocess.signalCode
#
The subprocess.signalCode
property indicates the signal received by
the child process if any, else null
.
subprocess.spawnargs
#
The subprocess.spawnargs
property represents the full list of command-line
arguments the child process was launched with.
subprocess.spawnfile
#
The subprocess.spawnfile
property indicates the executable file name of
the child process that is launched.
For child_process.fork()
, its value will be equal to
process.execPath
.
For child_process.spawn()
, its value will be the name of
the executable file.
For child_process.exec()
, its value will be the name of the shell
in which the child process is launched.
subprocess.stderr
#
Added in: v0.1.90
A Readable Stream
that represents the child process's stderr
.
If the child was spawned with stdio[2]
set to anything other than 'pipe'
,
then this will be null
.
subprocess.stderr
is an alias for subprocess.stdio[2]
. Both properties will
refer to the same value.
The subprocess.stderr
property can be null
or undefined
if the child process could not be successfully spawned.
subprocess.stdin
#
Added in: v0.1.90
A Writable Stream
that represents the child process's stdin
.
If a child process waits to read all of its input, the child will not continue
until this stream has been closed via end()
.
If the child was spawned with stdio[0]
set to anything other than 'pipe'
,
then this will be null
.
subprocess.stdin
is an alias for subprocess.stdio[0]
. Both properties will
refer to the same value.
The subprocess.stdin
property can be null
or undefined
if the child process could not be successfully spawned.
subprocess.stdio
#
Added in: v0.7.10
A sparse array of pipes to the child process, corresponding with positions in
the stdio
option passed to child_process.spawn()
that have been set
to the value 'pipe'
. subprocess.stdio[0]
, subprocess.stdio[1]
, and
subprocess.stdio[2]
are also available as subprocess.stdin
,
subprocess.stdout
, and subprocess.stderr
, respectively.
In the following example, only the child's fd 1
(stdout) is configured as a
pipe, so only the parent's subprocess.stdio[1]
is a stream, all other values
in the array are null
.
const assert = require('node:assert');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const child_process = require('node:child_process');
const subprocess = child_process.spawn('ls', {
stdio: [
0,
'pipe',
fs.openSync('err.out', 'w'),
]
});
assert.strictEqual(subprocess.stdio[0], null);
assert.strictEqual(subprocess.stdio[0], subprocess.stdin);
assert(subprocess.stdout);
assert.strictEqual(subprocess.stdio[1], subprocess.stdout);
assert.strictEqual(subprocess.stdio[2], null);
assert.strictEqual(subprocess.stdio[2], subprocess.stderr);
The subprocess.stdio
property can be undefined
if the child process could
not be successfully spawned.
subprocess.stdout
#
Added in: v0.1.90
A Readable Stream
that represents the child process's stdout
.
If the child was spawned with stdio[1]
set to anything other than 'pipe'
,
then this will be null
.
subprocess.stdout
is an alias for subprocess.stdio[1]
. Both properties will
refer to the same value.
const { spawn } = require('node:child_process');
const subprocess = spawn('ls');
subprocess.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
console.log(`Received chunk ${data}`);
});
The subprocess.stdout
property can be null
or undefined
if the child process could not be successfully spawned.
subprocess.unref()
#
Added in: v0.7.10
By default, the parent will wait for the detached child to exit. To prevent the
parent from waiting for a given subprocess
to exit, use the
subprocess.unref()
method. Doing so will cause the parent's event loop to not
include the child in its reference count, allowing the parent to exit
independently of the child, unless there is an established IPC channel between
the child and the parent.
const { spawn } = require('node:child_process');
const subprocess = spawn(process.argv[0], ['child_program.js'], {
detached: true,
stdio: 'ignore'
});
subprocess.unref();
maxBuffer
and Unicode#
The maxBuffer
option specifies the largest number of bytes allowed on stdout
or stderr
. If this value is exceeded, then the child process is terminated.
This impacts output that includes multibyte character encodings such as UTF-8 or
UTF-16. For instance, console.log('中文测试')
will send 13 UTF-8 encoded bytes
to stdout
although there are only 4 characters.
Shell requirements#
The shell should understand the -c
switch. If the shell is 'cmd.exe'
, it
should understand the /d /s /c
switches and command-line parsing should be
compatible.
Default Windows shell#
Although Microsoft specifies %COMSPEC%
must contain the path to
'cmd.exe'
in the root environment, child processes are not always subject to
the same requirement. Thus, in child_process
functions where a shell can be
spawned, 'cmd.exe'
is used as a fallback if process.env.ComSpec
is
unavailable.
Advanced serialization#
Added in: v13.2.0, v12.16.0
Child processes support a serialization mechanism for IPC that is based on the
serialization API of the node:v8
module, based on the
HTML structured clone algorithm. This is generally more powerful and
supports more built-in JavaScript object types, such as BigInt
, Map
and Set
, ArrayBuffer
and TypedArray
, Buffer
, Error
, RegExp
etc.
However, this format is not a full superset of JSON, and e.g. properties set on
objects of such built-in types will not be passed on through the serialization
step. Additionally, performance may not be equivalent to that of JSON, depending
on the structure of the passed data.
Therefore, this feature requires opting in by setting the
serialization
option to 'advanced'
when calling child_process.spawn()
or child_process.fork()
.
Command-line API#
Node.js comes with a variety of CLI options. These options expose built-in
debugging, multiple ways to execute scripts, and other helpful runtime options.
To view this documentation as a manual page in a terminal, run man node
.
Synopsis#
node [options] [V8 options] [<program-entry-point> | -e "script" | -] [--] [arguments]
node inspect [<program-entry-point> | -e "script" | <host>:<port>] …
node --v8-options
Execute without arguments to start the REPL.
For more info about node inspect
, see the debugger documentation.
Program entry point#
The program entry point is a specifier-like string. If the string is not an
absolute path, it's resolved as a relative path from the current working
directory. That path is then resolved by CommonJS module loader. If no
corresponding file is found, an error is thrown.
If a file is found, its path will be passed to the ECMAScript module loader
under any of the following conditions:
- The program was started with a command-line flag that forces the entry
point to be loaded with ECMAScript module loader.
- The file has an
.mjs
extension.
- The file does not have a
.cjs
extension, and the nearest parent
package.json
file contains a top-level "type"
field with a value of
"module"
.
Otherwise, the file is loaded using the CommonJS module loader. See
Modules loaders for more details.
ECMAScript modules loader entry point caveat#
When loading ECMAScript module loader loads the program entry point, the node
command will only accept as input only files with .js
, .mjs
, or .cjs
extensions; and with .wasm
extensions when
--experimental-wasm-modules
is enabled.
Options#
All options, including V8 options, allow words to be separated by both
dashes (-
) or underscores (_
). For example, --pending-deprecation
is
equivalent to --pending_deprecation
.
If an option that takes a single value (such as --max-http-header-size
) is
passed more than once, then the last passed value is used. Options from the
command line take precedence over options passed through the NODE_OPTIONS
environment variable.
Added in: v8.0.0
Alias for stdin. Analogous to the use of -
in other command-line utilities,
meaning that the script is read from stdin, and the rest of the options
are passed to that script.
Added in: v6.11.0
Indicate the end of node options. Pass the rest of the arguments to the script.
If no script filename or eval/print script is supplied prior to this, then
the next argument is used as a script filename.
--abort-on-uncaught-exception
#
Added in: v0.10.8
Aborting instead of exiting causes a core file to be generated for post-mortem
analysis using a debugger (such as lldb
, gdb
, and mdb
).
If this flag is passed, the behavior can still be set to not abort through
process.setUncaughtExceptionCaptureCallback()
(and through usage of the
node:domain
module that uses it).
--completion-bash
#
Added in: v10.12.0
Print source-able bash completion script for Node.js.
$ node --completion-bash > node_bash_completion
$ source node_bash_completion
-C=condition
, --conditions=condition
#
Added in: v14.9.0, v12.19.0
Enable experimental support for custom conditional exports resolution
conditions.
Any number of custom string condition names are permitted.
The default Node.js conditions of "node"
, "default"
, "import"
, and
"require"
will always apply as defined.
For example, to run a module with "development" resolutions:
$ node -C=development app.js
--cpu-prof
#
Added in: v12.0.0
Starts the V8 CPU profiler on start up, and writes the CPU profile to disk
before exit.
If --cpu-prof-dir
is not specified, the generated profile is placed
in the current working directory.
If --cpu-prof-name
is not specified, the generated profile is
named CPU.${yyyymmdd}.${hhmmss}.${pid}.${tid}.${seq}.cpuprofile
.
$ node --cpu-prof index.js
$ ls *.cpuprofile
CPU.20190409.202950.15293.0.0.cpuprofile
--cpu-prof-dir
#
Added in: v12.0.0
Specify the directory where the CPU profiles generated by --cpu-prof
will
be placed.
The default value is controlled by the
--diagnostic-dir
command-line option.
--cpu-prof-interval
#
Added in: v12.2.0
Specify the sampling interval in microseconds for the CPU profiles generated
by --cpu-prof
. The default is 1000 microseconds.
--cpu-prof-name
#
Added in: v12.0.0
Specify the file name of the CPU profile generated by --cpu-prof
.
--diagnostic-dir=directory
#
Set the directory to which all diagnostic output files are written.
Defaults to current working directory.
Affects the default output directory of:
--disable-proto=mode
#
Added in: v13.12.0, v12.17.0
Disable the Object.prototype.__proto__
property. If mode
is delete
, the
property is removed entirely. If mode
is throw
, accesses to the
property throw an exception with the code ERR_PROTO_ACCESS
.
--disallow-code-generation-from-strings
#
Added in: v9.8.0
Make built-in language features like eval
and new Function
that generate
code from strings throw an exception instead. This does not affect the Node.js
node:vm
module.
--dns-result-order=order
#
Added in: v16.4.0
Set the default value of verbatim
in dns.lookup()
and
dnsPromises.lookup()
. The value could be:
ipv4first
: sets default verbatim
false
.
verbatim
: sets default verbatim
true
.
The default is ipv4first
and dns.setDefaultResultOrder()
have higher
priority than --dns-result-order
.
--enable-fips
#
Added in: v6.0.0
Enable FIPS-compliant crypto at startup. (Requires Node.js to be built
against FIPS-compatible OpenSSL.)
--enable-source-maps
#
Enable Source Map v3 support for stack traces.
When using a transpiler, such as TypeScript, stack traces thrown by an
application reference the transpiled code, not the original source position.
--enable-source-maps
enables caching of Source Maps and makes a best
effort to report stack traces relative to the original source file.
Overriding Error.prepareStackTrace
prevents --enable-source-maps
from
modifying the stack trace.
Note, enabling source maps can introduce latency to your application
when Error.stack
is accessed. If you access Error.stack
frequently
in your application, take into account the performance implications
of --enable-source-maps
.
--experimental-fetch
#
Added in: v16.15.0
Enable experimental support for the Fetch API.
--experimental-global-customevent
#
Added in: v16.17.0
Expose the CustomEvent Web API on the global scope.
--experimental-global-webcrypto
#
Added in: v16.15.0
Expose the Web Crypto API on the global scope.
--experimental-import-meta-resolve
#
Added in: v13.9.0, v12.16.2
Enable experimental import.meta.resolve()
support.
--experimental-loader=module
#
Specify the module
of a custom experimental ECMAScript module loader.
module
may be any string accepted as an import
specifier.
--experimental-network-imports
#
Added in: v16.15.0
Enable experimental support for the https:
protocol in import
specifiers.
--experimental-policy
#
Added in: v11.8.0
Use the specified file as a security policy.
--no-experimental-repl-await
#
Added in: v16.6.0
Use this flag to disable top-level await in REPL.
--experimental-specifier-resolution=mode
#
Added in: v13.4.0, v12.16.0
Sets the resolution algorithm for resolving ES module specifiers. Valid options
are explicit
and node
.
The default is explicit
, which requires providing the full path to a
module. The node
mode enables support for optional file extensions and
the ability to import a directory that has an index file.
See customizing ESM specifier resolution for example usage.
--experimental-vm-modules
#
Added in: v9.6.0
Enable experimental ES Module support in the node:vm
module.
--experimental-wasi-unstable-preview1
#
Enable experimental WebAssembly System Interface (WASI) support.
--experimental-wasm-modules
#
Added in: v12.3.0
Enable experimental WebAssembly module support.
--force-context-aware
#
Added in: v12.12.0
Disable loading native addons that are not context-aware.
--force-fips
#
Added in: v6.0.0
Force FIPS-compliant crypto on startup. (Cannot be disabled from script code.)
(Same requirements as --enable-fips
.)
--frozen-intrinsics
#
Added in: v11.12.0
Enable experimental frozen intrinsics like Array
and Object
.
Only the root context is supported. There is no guarantee that
globalThis.Array
is indeed the default intrinsic reference. Code may break
under this flag.
To allow polyfills to be added, --require
runs before freezing intrinsics.
--force-node-api-uncaught-exceptions-policy
#
Added in: v16.17.0
Enforces uncaughtException
event on Node-API asynchronous callbacks.
To prevent from an existing add-on from crashing the process, this flag is not
enabled by default. In the future, this flag will be enabled by default to
enforce the correct behavior.
--heapsnapshot-near-heap-limit=max_count
#
Added in: v15.1.0
Writes a V8 heap snapshot to disk when the V8 heap usage is approaching the
heap limit. count
should be a non-negative integer (in which case
Node.js will write no more than max_count
snapshots to disk).
When generating snapshots, garbage collection may be triggered and bring
the heap usage down. Therefore multiple snapshots may be written to disk
before the Node.js instance finally runs out of memory. These heap snapshots
can be compared to determine what objects are being allocated during the
time consecutive snapshots are taken. It's not guaranteed that Node.js will
write exactly max_count
snapshots to disk, but it will try
its best to generate at least one and up to max_count
snapshots before the
Node.js instance runs out of memory when max_count
is greater than 0
.
Generating V8 snapshots takes time and memory (both memory managed by the
V8 heap and native memory outside the V8 heap). The bigger the heap is,
the more resources it needs. Node.js will adjust the V8 heap to accommodate
the additional V8 heap memory overhead, and try its best to avoid using up
all the memory available to the process. When the process uses
more memory than the system deems appropriate, the process may be terminated
abruptly by the system, depending on the system configuration.
$ node --max-old-space-size=100 --heapsnapshot-near-heap-limit=3 index.js
Wrote snapshot to Heap.20200430.100036.49580.0.001.heapsnapshot
Wrote snapshot to Heap.20200430.100037.49580.0.002.heapsnapshot
Wrote snapshot to Heap.20200430.100038.49580.0.003.heapsnapshot
<--- Last few GCs --->
[49580:0x110000000] 4826 ms: Mark-sweep 130.6 (147.8) -> 130.5 (147.8) MB, 27.4 / 0.0 ms (average mu = 0.126, current mu = 0.034) allocation failure scavenge might not succeed
[49580:0x110000000] 4845 ms: Mark-sweep 130.6 (147.8) -> 130.6 (147.8) MB, 18.8 / 0.0 ms (average mu = 0.088, current mu = 0.031) allocation failure scavenge might not succeed
<--- JS stacktrace --->
FATAL ERROR: Ineffective mark-compacts near heap limit Allocation failed - JavaScript heap out of memory
....
--heapsnapshot-signal=signal
#
Added in: v12.0.0
Enables a signal handler that causes the Node.js process to write a heap dump
when the specified signal is received. signal
must be a valid signal name.
Disabled by default.
$ node --heapsnapshot-signal=SIGUSR2 index.js &
$ ps aux
USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TTY STAT START TIME COMMAND
node 1 5.5 6.1 787252 247004 ? Ssl 16:43 0:02 node --heapsnapshot-signal=SIGUSR2 index.js
$ kill -USR2 1
$ ls
Heap.20190718.133405.15554.0.001.heapsnapshot
--heap-prof
#
Added in: v12.4.0
Starts the V8 heap profiler on start up, and writes the heap profile to disk
before exit.
If --heap-prof-dir
is not specified, the generated profile is placed
in the current working directory.
If --heap-prof-name
is not specified, the generated profile is
named Heap.${yyyymmdd}.${hhmmss}.${pid}.${tid}.${seq}.heapprofile
.
$ node --heap-prof index.js
$ ls *.heapprofile
Heap.20190409.202950.15293.0.001.heapprofile
--heap-prof-dir
#
Added in: v12.4.0
Specify the directory where the heap profiles generated by --heap-prof
will
be placed.
The default value is controlled by the
--diagnostic-dir
command-line option.
--heap-prof-interval
#
Added in: v12.4.0
Specify the average sampling interval in bytes for the heap profiles generated
by --heap-prof
. The default is 512 * 1024 bytes.
--heap-prof-name
#
Added in: v12.4.0
Specify the file name of the heap profile generated by --heap-prof
.
--icu-data-dir=file
#
Added in: v0.11.15
Specify ICU data load path. (Overrides NODE_ICU_DATA
.)
--input-type=type
#
Added in: v12.0.0
This configures Node.js to interpret string input as CommonJS or as an ES
module. String input is input via --eval
, --print
, or STDIN
.
Valid values are "commonjs"
and "module"
. The default is "commonjs"
.
The REPL does not support this option.
--inspect-brk[=[host:]port]
#
Added in: v7.6.0
Activate inspector on host:port
and break at start of user script.
Default host:port
is 127.0.0.1:9229
.
--inspect-port=[host:]port
#
Added in: v7.6.0
Set the host:port
to be used when the inspector is activated.
Useful when activating the inspector by sending the SIGUSR1
signal.
Default host is 127.0.0.1
.
See the security warning below regarding the host
parameter usage.
--inspect[=[host:]port]
#
Added in: v6.3.0
Activate inspector on host:port
. Default is 127.0.0.1:9229
.
V8 inspector integration allows tools such as Chrome DevTools and IDEs to debug
and profile Node.js instances. The tools attach to Node.js instances via a
tcp port and communicate using the Chrome DevTools Protocol.
Warning: binding inspector to a public IP:port combination is insecure#
Binding the inspector to a public IP (including 0.0.0.0
) with an open port is
insecure, as it allows external hosts to connect to the inspector and perform
a remote code execution attack.
If specifying a host, make sure that either:
- The host is not accessible from public networks.
- A firewall disallows unwanted connections on the port.
More specifically, --inspect=0.0.0.0
is insecure if the port (9229
by
default) is not firewall-protected.
See the debugging security implications section for more information.
--inspect-publish-uid=stderr,http
#
Specify ways of the inspector web socket url exposure.
By default inspector websocket url is available in stderr and under /json/list
endpoint on http://host:port/json/list
.
--insecure-http-parser
#
Added in: v13.4.0, v12.15.0, v10.19.0
Use an insecure HTTP parser that accepts invalid HTTP headers. This may allow
interoperability with non-conformant HTTP implementations. It may also allow
request smuggling and other HTTP attacks that rely on invalid headers being
accepted. Avoid using this option.
--jitless
#
Added in: v12.0.0
Disable runtime allocation of executable memory. This may be
required on some platforms for security reasons. It can also reduce attack
surface on other platforms, but the performance impact may be severe.
This flag is inherited from V8 and is subject to change upstream. It may
disappear in a non-semver-major release.
--max-http-header-size=size
Specify the maximum size, in bytes, of HTTP headers. Defaults to 16 KiB.
--napi-modules
#
Added in: v7.10.0
This option is a no-op. It is kept for compatibility.
--no-addons
#
Added in: v16.10.0
Disable the node-addons
exports condition as well as disable loading
native addons. When --no-addons
is specified, calling process.dlopen
or
requiring a native C++ addon will fail and throw an exception.
--no-deprecation
#
Added in: v0.8.0
Silence deprecation warnings.
--no-force-async-hooks-checks
#
Added in: v9.0.0
Disables runtime checks for async_hooks
. These will still be enabled
dynamically when async_hooks
is enabled.
--no-global-search-paths
#
Added in: v16.10.0
Do not search modules from global paths like $HOME/.node_modules
and
$NODE_PATH
.
--no-warnings
#
Added in: v6.0.0
Silence all process warnings (including deprecations).
--node-memory-debug
#
Added in: v15.0.0
Enable extra debug checks for memory leaks in Node.js internals. This is
usually only useful for developers debugging Node.js itself.
--openssl-config=file
#
Added in: v6.9.0
Load an OpenSSL configuration file on startup. Among other uses, this can be
used to enable FIPS-compliant crypto if Node.js is built
against FIPS-enabled OpenSSL.
--openssl-shared-config
#
Added in: v16.17.0
Enable OpenSSL default configuration section, openssl_conf
to be read from
the OpenSSL configuration file. The default configuration file is named
openssl.cnf
but this can be changed using the environment variable
OPENSSL_CONF
, or by using the command line option --openssl-config
.
The location of the default OpenSSL configuration file depends on how OpenSSL
is being linked to Node.js. Sharing the OpenSSL configuration may have unwanted
implications and it is recommended to use a configuration section specific to
Node.js which is nodejs_conf
and is default when this option is not used.
--openssl-legacy-provider
#
Added in: v16.17.0
Enable OpenSSL 3.0 legacy provider when dynamically linking to OpenSSL 3.x.
For more information please see OSSL_PROVIDER-legacy.
--pending-deprecation
#
Added in: v8.0.0
Emit pending deprecation warnings.
Pending deprecations are generally identical to a runtime deprecation with the
notable exception that they are turned off by default and will not be emitted
unless either the --pending-deprecation
command-line flag, or the
NODE_PENDING_DEPRECATION=1
environment variable, is set. Pending deprecations
are used to provide a kind of selective "early warning" mechanism that
developers may leverage to detect deprecated API usage.
--policy-integrity=sri
#
Added in: v12.7.0
Instructs Node.js to error prior to running any code if the policy does not have
the specified integrity. It expects a Subresource Integrity string as a
parameter.
--preserve-symlinks
#
Added in: v6.3.0
Instructs the module loader to preserve symbolic links when resolving and
caching modules.
By default, when Node.js loads a module from a path that is symbolically linked
to a different on-disk location, Node.js will dereference the link and use the
actual on-disk "real path" of the module as both an identifier and as a root
path to locate other dependency modules. In most cases, this default behavior
is acceptable. However, when using symbolically linked peer dependencies, as
illustrated in the example below, the default behavior causes an exception to
be thrown if moduleA
attempts to require moduleB
as a peer dependency:
{appDir}
├── app
│ ├── index.js
│ └── node_modules
│ ├── moduleA -> {appDir}/moduleA
│ └── moduleB
│ ├── index.js
│ └── package.json
└── moduleA
├── index.js
└── package.json
The --preserve-symlinks
command-line flag instructs Node.js to use the
symlink path for modules as opposed to the real path, allowing symbolically
linked peer dependencies to be found.
Note, however, that using --preserve-symlinks
can have other side effects.
Specifically, symbolically linked native modules can fail to load if those
are linked from more than one location in the dependency tree (Node.js would
see those as two separate modules and would attempt to load the module multiple
times, causing an exception to be thrown).
The --preserve-symlinks
flag does not apply to the main module, which allows
node --preserve-symlinks node_module/.bin/<foo>
to work. To apply the same
behavior for the main module, also use --preserve-symlinks-main
.
--preserve-symlinks-main
#
Added in: v10.2.0
Instructs the module loader to preserve symbolic links when resolving and
caching the main module (require.main
).
This flag exists so that the main module can be opted-in to the same behavior
that --preserve-symlinks
gives to all other imports; they are separate flags,
however, for backward compatibility with older Node.js versions.
--preserve-symlinks-main
does not imply --preserve-symlinks
; use
--preserve-symlinks-main
in addition to
--preserve-symlinks
when it is not desirable to follow symlinks before
resolving relative paths.
See --preserve-symlinks
for more information.
--prof
#
Added in: v2.0.0
Generate V8 profiler output.
--prof-process
#
Added in: v5.2.0
Process V8 profiler output generated using the V8 option --prof
.
--redirect-warnings=file
#
Added in: v8.0.0
Write process warnings to the given file instead of printing to stderr. The
file will be created if it does not exist, and will be appended to if it does.
If an error occurs while attempting to write the warning to the file, the
warning will be written to stderr instead.
The file
name may be an absolute path. If it is not, the default directory it
will be written to is controlled by the
--diagnostic-dir
command-line option.
--report-compact
#
Added in: v13.12.0, v12.17.0
Write reports in a compact format, single-line JSON, more easily consumable
by log processing systems than the default multi-line format designed for
human consumption.
--report-dir=directory
, report-directory=directory
#
Location at which the report will be generated.
--report-filename=filename
#
Name of the file to which the report will be written.
If the filename is set to 'stdout'
or 'stderr'
, the report is written to
the stdout or stderr of the process respectively.
--report-on-fatalerror
#
Enables the report to be triggered on fatal errors (internal errors within
the Node.js runtime such as out of memory) that lead to termination of the
application. Useful to inspect various diagnostic data elements such as heap,
stack, event loop state, resource consumption etc. to reason about the fatal
error.
--report-on-signal
#
Enables report to be generated upon receiving the specified (or predefined)
signal to the running Node.js process. The signal to trigger the report is
specified through --report-signal
.
--report-signal=signal
#
Sets or resets the signal for report generation (not supported on Windows).
Default signal is SIGUSR2
.
--report-uncaught-exception
#
Enables report to be generated when the process exits due to an uncaught
exception. Useful when inspecting the JavaScript stack in conjunction with
native stack and other runtime environment data.
--secure-heap=n
#
Added in: v15.6.0
Initializes an OpenSSL secure heap of n
bytes. When initialized, the
secure heap is used for selected types of allocations within OpenSSL
during key generation and other operations. This is useful, for instance,
to prevent sensitive information from leaking due to pointer overruns
or underruns.
The secure heap is a fixed size and cannot be resized at runtime so,
if used, it is important to select a large enough heap to cover all
application uses.
The heap size given must be a power of two. Any value less than 2
will disable the secure heap.
The secure heap is disabled by default.
The secure heap is not available on Windows.
See CRYPTO_secure_malloc_init
for more details.
--secure-heap-min=n
#
Added in: v15.6.0
When using --secure-heap
, the --secure-heap-min
flag specifies the
minimum allocation from the secure heap. The minimum value is 2
.
The maximum value is the lesser of --secure-heap
or 2147483647
.
The value given must be a power of two.
--test
#
Added in: v16.17.0
Starts the Node.js command line test runner. This flag cannot be combined with
--check
, --eval
, --interactive
, or the inspector. See the documentation
on running tests from the command line for more details.
--test-only
#
Added in: v16.17.0
Configures the test runner to only execute top level tests that have the only
option set.
--throw-deprecation
#
Added in: v0.11.14
Throw errors for deprecations.
--title=title
#
Added in: v10.7.0
Set process.title
on startup.
--tls-cipher-list=list
#
Added in: v4.0.0
Specify an alternative default TLS cipher list. Requires Node.js to be built
with crypto support (default).
--tls-keylog=file
#
Added in: v13.2.0, v12.16.0
Log TLS key material to a file. The key material is in NSS SSLKEYLOGFILE
format and can be used by software (such as Wireshark) to decrypt the TLS
traffic.
--tls-max-v1.2
#
Added in: v12.0.0, v10.20.0
Set tls.DEFAULT_MAX_VERSION
to 'TLSv1.2'. Use to disable support for
TLSv1.3.
--tls-max-v1.3
#
Added in: v12.0.0
Set default tls.DEFAULT_MAX_VERSION
to 'TLSv1.3'. Use to enable support
for TLSv1.3.
--tls-min-v1.0
#
Added in: v12.0.0, v10.20.0
Set default tls.DEFAULT_MIN_VERSION
to 'TLSv1'. Use for compatibility with
old TLS clients or servers.
--tls-min-v1.1
#
Added in: v12.0.0, v10.20.0
Set default tls.DEFAULT_MIN_VERSION
to 'TLSv1.1'. Use for compatibility
with old TLS clients or servers.
--tls-min-v1.2
#
Added in: v12.2.0, v10.20.0
Set default tls.DEFAULT_MIN_VERSION
to 'TLSv1.2'. This is the default for
12.x and later, but the option is supported for compatibility with older Node.js
versions.
--tls-min-v1.3
#
Added in: v12.0.0
Set default tls.DEFAULT_MIN_VERSION
to 'TLSv1.3'. Use to disable support
for TLSv1.2, which is not as secure as TLSv1.3.
--trace-atomics-wait
#
Added in: v14.3.0Deprecated since: v16.18.0
Print short summaries of calls to Atomics.wait()
to stderr.
The output could look like this:
(node:15701) [Thread 0] Atomics.wait(<address> + 0, 1, inf) started
(node:15701) [Thread 0] Atomics.wait(<address> + 0, 1, inf) did not wait because the values mismatched
(node:15701) [Thread 0] Atomics.wait(<address> + 0, 0, 10) started
(node:15701) [Thread 0] Atomics.wait(<address> + 0, 0, 10) timed out
(node:15701) [Thread 0] Atomics.wait(<address> + 4, 0, inf) started
(node:15701) [Thread 1] Atomics.wait(<address> + 4, -1, inf) started
(node:15701) [Thread 0] Atomics.wait(<address> + 4, 0, inf) was woken up by another thread
(node:15701) [Thread 1] Atomics.wait(<address> + 4, -1, inf) was woken up by another thread
The fields here correspond to:
- The thread id as given by
worker_threads.threadId
- The base address of the
SharedArrayBuffer
in question, as well as the
byte offset corresponding to the index passed to Atomics.wait()
- The expected value that was passed to
Atomics.wait()
- The timeout passed to
Atomics.wait
--trace-deprecation
#
Added in: v0.8.0
Print stack traces for deprecations.
--trace-event-categories
#
Added in: v7.7.0
A comma separated list of categories that should be traced when trace event
tracing is enabled using --trace-events-enabled
.
--trace-event-file-pattern
#
Added in: v9.8.0
Template string specifying the filepath for the trace event data, it
supports ${rotation}
and ${pid}
.
--trace-events-enabled
#
Added in: v7.7.0
Enables the collection of trace event tracing information.
--trace-exit
#
Added in: v13.5.0, v12.16.0
Prints a stack trace whenever an environment is exited proactively,
i.e. invoking process.exit()
.
--trace-sigint
#
Added in: v13.9.0, v12.17.0
Prints a stack trace on SIGINT.
--trace-sync-io
#
Added in: v2.1.0
Prints a stack trace whenever synchronous I/O is detected after the first turn
of the event loop.
--trace-tls
#
Added in: v12.2.0
Prints TLS packet trace information to stderr
. This can be used to debug TLS
connection problems.
--trace-uncaught
#
Added in: v13.1.0
Print stack traces for uncaught exceptions; usually, the stack trace associated
with the creation of an Error
is printed, whereas this makes Node.js also
print the stack trace associated with throwing the value (which does not need
to be an Error
instance).
Enabling this option may affect garbage collection behavior negatively.
--trace-warnings
#
Added in: v6.0.0
Print stack traces for process warnings (including deprecations).
--track-heap-objects
#
Added in: v2.4.0
Track heap object allocations for heap snapshots.
--unhandled-rejections=mode
#
Using this flag allows to change what should happen when an unhandled rejection
occurs. One of the following modes can be chosen:
throw
: Emit unhandledRejection
. If this hook is not set, raise the
unhandled rejection as an uncaught exception. This is the default.
strict
: Raise the unhandled rejection as an uncaught exception. If the
exception is handled, unhandledRejection
is emitted.
warn
: Always trigger a warning, no matter if the unhandledRejection
hook is set or not but do not print the deprecation warning.
warn-with-error-code
: Emit unhandledRejection
. If this hook is not
set, trigger a warning, and set the process exit code to 1.
none
: Silence all warnings.
If a rejection happens during the command line entry point's ES module static
loading phase, it will always raise it as an uncaught exception.
--use-bundled-ca
, --use-openssl-ca
#
Added in: v6.11.0
Use bundled Mozilla CA store as supplied by current Node.js version
or use OpenSSL's default CA store. The default store is selectable
at build-time.
The bundled CA store, as supplied by Node.js, is a snapshot of Mozilla CA store
that is fixed at release time. It is identical on all supported platforms.
Using OpenSSL store allows for external modifications of the store. For most
Linux and BSD distributions, this store is maintained by the distribution
maintainers and system administrators. OpenSSL CA store location is dependent on
configuration of the OpenSSL library but this can be altered at runtime using
environment variables.
See SSL_CERT_DIR
and SSL_CERT_FILE
.
--use-largepages=mode
#
Added in: v13.6.0, v12.17.0
Re-map the Node.js static code to large memory pages at startup. If supported on
the target system, this will cause the Node.js static code to be moved onto 2
MiB pages instead of 4 KiB pages.
The following values are valid for mode
:
off
: No mapping will be attempted. This is the default.
on
: If supported by the OS, mapping will be attempted. Failure to map will
be ignored and a message will be printed to standard error.
silent
: If supported by the OS, mapping will be attempted. Failure to map
will be ignored and will not be reported.
--v8-options
#
Added in: v0.1.3
Print V8 command-line options.
--v8-pool-size=num
#
Added in: v5.10.0
Set V8's thread pool size which will be used to allocate background jobs.
If set to 0
then V8 will choose an appropriate size of the thread pool based
on the number of online processors.
If the value provided is larger than V8's maximum, then the largest value
will be chosen.
--watch
#
Added in: v16.19.0
Starts Node.js in watch mode.
When in watch mode, changes in the watched files cause the Node.js process to
restart.
By default, watch mode will watch the entry point
and any required or imported module.
Use --watch-path
to specify what paths to watch.
This flag cannot be combined with
--check
, --eval
, --interactive
, or the REPL.
$ node --watch index.js
--watch-path
#
Added in: v16.19.0
Starts Node.js in watch mode and specifies what paths to watch.
When in watch mode, changes in the watched paths cause the Node.js process to
restart.
This will turn off watching of required or imported modules, even when used in
combination with --watch
.
This flag cannot be combined with
--check
, --eval
, --interactive
, or the REPL.
$ node --watch-path=./src --watch-path=./tests index.js
This option is only supported on macOS and Windows.
An ERR_FEATURE_UNAVAILABLE_ON_PLATFORM
exception will be thrown
when the option is used on a platform that does not support it.
--zero-fill-buffers
#
Added in: v6.0.0
Automatically zero-fills all newly allocated Buffer
and SlowBuffer
instances.
-c
, --check
#
Syntax check the script without executing.
-e
, --eval "script"
#
Evaluate the following argument as JavaScript. The modules which are
predefined in the REPL can also be used in script
.
On Windows, using cmd.exe
a single quote will not work correctly because it
only recognizes double "
for quoting. In Powershell or Git bash, both '
and "
are usable.
-h
, --help
#
Added in: v0.1.3
Print node command-line options.
The output of this option is less detailed than this document.
-i
, --interactive
#
Added in: v0.7.7
Opens the REPL even if stdin does not appear to be a terminal.
-p
, --print "script"
#
Identical to -e
but prints the result.
-r
, --require module
#
Added in: v1.6.0
Preload the specified module at startup.
Follows require()
's module resolution
rules. module
may be either a path to a file, or a node module name.
Only CommonJS modules are supported. Attempting to preload a
ES6 Module using --require
will fail with an error.
-v
, --version
#
Added in: v0.1.3
Print node's version.
Environment variables#
FORCE_COLOR=[1, 2, 3]
#
The FORCE_COLOR
environment variable is used to
enable ANSI colorized output. The value may be:
1
, true
, or the empty string ''
indicate 16-color support,
2
to indicate 256-color support, or
3
to indicate 16 million-color support.
When FORCE_COLOR
is used and set to a supported value, both the NO_COLOR
,
and NODE_DISABLE_COLORS
environment variables are ignored.
Any other value will result in colorized output being disabled.
NODE_DEBUG=module[,…]
#
Added in: v0.1.32
','
-separated list of core modules that should print debug information.
NODE_DEBUG_NATIVE=module[,…]
#
','
-separated list of core C++ modules that should print debug information.
NODE_DISABLE_COLORS=1
#
Added in: v0.3.0
When set, colors will not be used in the REPL.
NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS=file
Added in: v7.3.0
When set, the well known "root" CAs (like VeriSign) will be extended with the
extra certificates in file
. The file should consist of one or more trusted
certificates in PEM format. A message will be emitted (once) with
process.emitWarning()
if the file is missing or
malformed, but any errors are otherwise ignored.
Neither the well known nor extra certificates are used when the ca
options property is explicitly specified for a TLS or HTTPS client or server.
This environment variable is ignored when node
runs as setuid root or
has Linux file capabilities set.
The NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS
environment variable is only read when the Node.js
process is first launched. Changing the value at runtime using
process.env.NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS
has no effect on the current process.
NODE_ICU_DATA=file
#
Added in: v0.11.15
Data path for ICU (Intl
object) data. Will extend linked-in data when compiled
with small-icu support.
NODE_NO_WARNINGS=1
#
Added in: v6.11.0
When set to 1
, process warnings are silenced.
NODE_OPTIONS=options...
#
Added in: v8.0.0
A space-separated list of command-line options. options...
are interpreted
before command-line options, so command-line options will override or
compound after anything in options...
. Node.js will exit with an error if
an option that is not allowed in the environment is used, such as -p
or a
script file.
If an option value contains a space, it can be escaped using double quotes:
NODE_OPTIONS='--require "./my path/file.js"'
A singleton flag passed as a command-line option will override the same flag
passed into NODE_OPTIONS
:
NODE_OPTIONS='--inspect=localhost:4444' node --inspect=localhost:5555
A flag that can be passed multiple times will be treated as if its
NODE_OPTIONS
instances were passed first, and then its command-line
instances afterwards:
NODE_OPTIONS='--require "./a.js"' node --require "./b.js"
node --require "./a.js" --require "./b.js"
Node.js options that are allowed are:
--conditions
, -C
--diagnostic-dir
--disable-proto
--dns-result-order
--enable-fips
--enable-source-maps
--experimental-abortcontroller
--experimental-fetch
--experimental-global-customevent
--experimental-global-webcrypto
--experimental-import-meta-resolve
--experimental-json-modules
--experimental-loader
--experimental-modules
--experimental-network-imports
--experimental-policy
--experimental-specifier-resolution
--experimental-top-level-await
--experimental-vm-modules
--experimental-wasi-unstable-preview1
--experimental-wasm-modules
--force-context-aware
--force-fips
--force-node-api-uncaught-exceptions-policy
--frozen-intrinsics
--heapsnapshot-near-heap-limit
--heapsnapshot-signal
--http-parser
--icu-data-dir
--input-type
--insecure-http-parser
--inspect-brk
--inspect-port
, --debug-port
--inspect-publish-uid
--inspect
--max-http-header-size
--napi-modules
--no-addons
--no-deprecation
--no-experimental-repl-await
--no-force-async-hooks-checks
--no-global-search-paths
--no-warnings
--node-memory-debug
--openssl-config
--openssl-legacy-provider
--openssl-shared-config
--pending-deprecation
--policy-integrity
--preserve-symlinks-main
--preserve-symlinks
--prof-process
--redirect-warnings
--report-compact
--report-dir
, --report-directory
--report-filename
--report-on-fatalerror
--report-on-signal
--report-signal
--report-uncaught-exception
--require
, -r
--secure-heap-min
--secure-heap
--test-only
--throw-deprecation
--title
--tls-cipher-list
--tls-keylog
--tls-max-v1.2
--tls-max-v1.3
--tls-min-v1.0
--tls-min-v1.1
--tls-min-v1.2
--tls-min-v1.3
--trace-atomics-wait
--trace-deprecation
--trace-event-categories
--trace-event-file-pattern
--trace-events-enabled
--trace-exit
--trace-sigint
--trace-sync-io
--trace-tls
--trace-uncaught
--trace-warnings
--track-heap-objects
--unhandled-rejections
--use-bundled-ca
--use-largepages
--use-openssl-ca
--v8-pool-size
--watch-path
--watch
--zero-fill-buffers
V8 options that are allowed are:
--abort-on-uncaught-exception
--disallow-code-generation-from-strings
--huge-max-old-generation-size
--interpreted-frames-native-stack
--jitless
--max-old-space-size
--perf-basic-prof-only-functions
--perf-basic-prof
--perf-prof-unwinding-info
--perf-prof
--stack-trace-limit
--perf-basic-prof-only-functions
, --perf-basic-prof
,
--perf-prof-unwinding-info
, and --perf-prof
are only available on Linux.
NODE_PATH=path[:…]
#
Added in: v0.1.32
':'
-separated list of directories prefixed to the module search path.
On Windows, this is a ';'
-separated list instead.
NODE_PENDING_DEPRECATION=1
#
Added in: v8.0.0
When set to 1
, emit pending deprecation warnings.
Pending deprecations are generally identical to a runtime deprecation with the
notable exception that they are turned off by default and will not be emitted
unless either the --pending-deprecation
command-line flag, or the
NODE_PENDING_DEPRECATION=1
environment variable, is set. Pending deprecations
are used to provide a kind of selective "early warning" mechanism that
developers may leverage to detect deprecated API usage.
NODE_PENDING_PIPE_INSTANCES=instances
#
Set the number of pending pipe instance handles when the pipe server is waiting
for connections. This setting applies to Windows only.
NODE_PRESERVE_SYMLINKS=1
#
Added in: v7.1.0
When set to 1
, instructs the module loader to preserve symbolic links when
resolving and caching modules.
NODE_REDIRECT_WARNINGS=file
#
Added in: v8.0.0
When set, process warnings will be emitted to the given file instead of
printing to stderr. The file will be created if it does not exist, and will be
appended to if it does. If an error occurs while attempting to write the
warning to the file, the warning will be written to stderr instead. This is
equivalent to using the --redirect-warnings=file
command-line flag.
NODE_REPL_HISTORY=file
#
Added in: v3.0.0
Path to the file used to store the persistent REPL history. The default path is
~/.node_repl_history
, which is overridden by this variable. Setting the value
to an empty string (''
or ' '
) disables persistent REPL history.
NODE_REPL_EXTERNAL_MODULE=file
#
Added in: v13.0.0, v12.16.0
Path to a Node.js module which will be loaded in place of the built-in REPL.
Overriding this value to an empty string (''
) will use the built-in REPL.
NODE_SKIP_PLATFORM_CHECK=value
#
Added in: v14.5.0
If value
equals '1'
, the check for a supported platform is skipped during
Node.js startup. Node.js might not execute correctly. Any issues encountered
on unsupported platforms will not be fixed.
NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=value
#
If value
equals '0'
, certificate validation is disabled for TLS connections.
This makes TLS, and HTTPS by extension, insecure. The use of this environment
variable is strongly discouraged.
NODE_V8_COVERAGE=dir
#
When set, Node.js will begin outputting V8 JavaScript code coverage and
Source Map data to the directory provided as an argument (coverage
information is written as JSON to files with a coverage
prefix).
NODE_V8_COVERAGE
will automatically propagate to subprocesses, making it
easier to instrument applications that call the child_process.spawn()
family
of functions. NODE_V8_COVERAGE
can be set to an empty string, to prevent
propagation.
Coverage output#
Coverage is output as an array of ScriptCoverage objects on the top-level
key result
:
{
"result": [
{
"scriptId": "67",
"url": "internal/tty.js",
"functions": []
}
]
}
Source map cache#
If found, source map data is appended to the top-level key source-map-cache
on the JSON coverage object.
source-map-cache
is an object with keys representing the files source maps
were extracted from, and values which include the raw source-map URL
(in the key url
), the parsed Source Map v3 information (in the key data
),
and the line lengths of the source file (in the key lineLengths
).
{
"result": [
{
"scriptId": "68",
"url": "file:///absolute/path/to/source.js",
"functions": []
}
],
"source-map-cache": {
"file:///absolute/path/to/source.js": {
"url": "./path-to-map.json",
"data": {
"version": 3,
"sources": [
"file:///absolute/path/to/original.js"
],
"names": [
"Foo",
"console",
"info"
],
"mappings": "MAAMA,IACJC,YAAaC",
"sourceRoot": "./"
},
"lineLengths": [
13,
62,
38,
27
]
}
}
}
NO_COLOR=<any>
#
NO_COLOR
is an alias for NODE_DISABLE_COLORS
. The value of the
environment variable is arbitrary.
OPENSSL_CONF=file
#
Added in: v6.11.0
Load an OpenSSL configuration file on startup. Among other uses, this can be
used to enable FIPS-compliant crypto if Node.js is built with
./configure --openssl-fips
.
If the --openssl-config
command-line option is used, the environment
variable is ignored.
SSL_CERT_DIR=dir
#
Added in: v7.7.0
If --use-openssl-ca
is enabled, this overrides and sets OpenSSL's directory
containing trusted certificates.
Be aware that unless the child environment is explicitly set, this environment
variable will be inherited by any child processes, and if they use OpenSSL, it
may cause them to trust the same CAs as node.
SSL_CERT_FILE=file
#
Added in: v7.7.0
If --use-openssl-ca
is enabled, this overrides and sets OpenSSL's file
containing trusted certificates.
Be aware that unless the child environment is explicitly set, this environment
variable will be inherited by any child processes, and if they use OpenSSL, it
may cause them to trust the same CAs as node.
The TZ
environment variable is used to specify the timezone configuration.
While Node.js does not support all of the various ways that TZ
is handled in
other environments, it does support basic timezone IDs (such as
'Etc/UTC'
, 'Europe/Paris'
, or 'America/New_York'
).
It may support a few other abbreviations or aliases, but these are strongly
discouraged and not guaranteed.
$ TZ=Europe/Dublin node -pe "new Date().toString()"
Wed May 12 2021 20:30:48 GMT+0100 (Irish Standard Time)
UV_THREADPOOL_SIZE=size
#
Set the number of threads used in libuv's threadpool to size
threads.
Asynchronous system APIs are used by Node.js whenever possible, but where they
do not exist, libuv's threadpool is used to create asynchronous node APIs based
on synchronous system APIs. Node.js APIs that use the threadpool are:
- all
fs
APIs, other than the file watcher APIs and those that are explicitly
synchronous
- asynchronous crypto APIs such as
crypto.pbkdf2()
, crypto.scrypt()
,
crypto.randomBytes()
, crypto.randomFill()
, crypto.generateKeyPair()
dns.lookup()
- all
zlib
APIs, other than those that are explicitly synchronous
Because libuv's threadpool has a fixed size, it means that if for whatever
reason any of these APIs takes a long time, other (seemingly unrelated) APIs
that run in libuv's threadpool will experience degraded performance. In order to
mitigate this issue, one potential solution is to increase the size of libuv's
threadpool by setting the 'UV_THREADPOOL_SIZE'
environment variable to a value
greater than 4
(its current default value). For more information, see the
libuv threadpool documentation.
Useful V8 options#
V8 has its own set of CLI options. Any V8 CLI option that is provided to node
will be passed on to V8 to handle. V8's options have no stability guarantee.
The V8 team themselves don't consider them to be part of their formal API,
and reserve the right to change them at any time. Likewise, they are not
covered by the Node.js stability guarantees. Many of the V8
options are of interest only to V8 developers. Despite this, there is a small
set of V8 options that are widely applicable to Node.js, and they are
documented here:
--max-old-space-size=SIZE
(in megabytes)#
Sets the max memory size of V8's old memory section. As memory
consumption approaches the limit, V8 will spend more time on
garbage collection in an effort to free unused memory.
On a machine with 2 GiB of memory, consider setting this to
1536 (1.5 GiB) to leave some memory for other uses and avoid swapping.
$ node --max-old-space-size=1536 index.js
--max-semi-space-size=SIZE
(in megabytes)#
Sets the maximum semi-space size for V8's scavenge garbage collector in
MiB (megabytes).
Increasing the max size of a semi-space may improve throughput for Node.js at
the cost of more memory consumption.
Since the young generation size of the V8 heap is three times (see
YoungGenerationSizeFromSemiSpaceSize
in V8) the size of the semi-space,
an increase of 1 MiB to semi-space applies to each of the three individual
semi-spaces and causes the heap size to increase by 3 MiB. The throughput
improvement depends on your workload (see #42511).
The default value is 16 MiB for 64-bit systems and 8 MiB for 32-bit systems. To
get the best configuration for your application, you should try different
max-semi-space-size values when running benchmarks for your application.
For example, benchmark on a 64-bit systems:
for MiB in 16 32 64 128; do
node --max-semi-space-size=$MiB index.js
done
Crypto#
Source Code: lib/crypto.js
The node:crypto
module provides cryptographic functionality that includes a
set of wrappers for OpenSSL's hash, HMAC, cipher, decipher, sign, and verify
functions.
const { createHmac } = await import('node:crypto');
const secret = 'abcdefg';
const hash = createHmac('sha256', secret)
.update('I love cupcakes')
.digest('hex');
console.log(hash);
const crypto = require('node:crypto');
const secret = 'abcdefg';
const hash = crypto.createHmac('sha256', secret)
.update('I love cupcakes')
.digest('hex');
console.log(hash);
Determining if crypto support is unavailable#
It is possible for Node.js to be built without including support for the
node:crypto
module. In such cases, attempting to import
from crypto
or
calling require('node:crypto')
will result in an error being thrown.
When using CommonJS, the error thrown can be caught using try/catch:
let crypto;
try {
crypto = require('node:crypto');
} catch (err) {
console.log('crypto support is disabled!');
}
When using the lexical ESM import
keyword, the error can only be
caught if a handler for process.on('uncaughtException')
is registered
before any attempt to load the module is made (using, for instance,
a preload module).
When using ESM, if there is a chance that the code may be run on a build
of Node.js where crypto support is not enabled, consider using the
import()
function instead of the lexical import
keyword:
let crypto;
try {
crypto = await import('node:crypto');
} catch (err) {
console.log('crypto support is disabled!');
}
Class: Cipher
#
Added in: v0.1.94
Instances of the Cipher
class are used to encrypt data. The class can be
used in one of two ways:
- As a stream that is both readable and writable, where plain unencrypted
data is written to produce encrypted data on the readable side, or
- Using the
cipher.update()
and cipher.final()
methods to produce
the encrypted data.
The crypto.createCipher()
or crypto.createCipheriv()
methods are
used to create Cipher
instances. Cipher
objects are not to be created
directly using the new
keyword.
Example: Using Cipher
objects as streams:
const {
scrypt,
randomFill,
createCipheriv
} = await import('node:crypto');
const algorithm = 'aes-192-cbc';
const password = 'Password used to generate key';
scrypt(password, 'salt', 24, (err, key) => {
if (err) throw err;
randomFill(new Uint8Array(16), (err, iv) => {
if (err) throw err;
const cipher = createCipheriv(algorithm, key, iv);
let encrypted = '';
cipher.setEncoding('hex');
cipher.on('data', (chunk) => encrypted += chunk);
cipher.on('end', () => console.log(encrypted));
cipher.write('some clear text data');
cipher.end();
});
});
const {
scrypt,
randomFill,
createCipheriv
} = require('node:crypto');
const algorithm = 'aes-192-cbc';
const password = 'Password used to generate key';
scrypt(password, 'salt', 24, (err, key) => {
if (err) throw err;
randomFill(new Uint8Array(16), (err, iv) => {
if (err) throw err;
const cipher = createCipheriv(algorithm, key, iv);
let encrypted = '';
cipher.setEncoding('hex');
cipher.on('data', (chunk) => encrypted += chunk);
cipher.on('end', () => console.log(encrypted));
cipher.write('some clear text data');
cipher.end();
});
});
Example: Using Cipher
and piped streams:
import {
createReadStream,
createWriteStream,
} from 'node:fs';
import {
pipeline
} from 'node:stream';
const {
scrypt,
randomFill,
createCipheriv
} = await import('node:crypto');
const algorithm = 'aes-192-cbc';
const password = 'Password used to generate key';
scrypt(password, 'salt', 24, (err, key) => {
if (err) throw err;
randomFill(new Uint8Array(16), (err, iv) => {
if (err) throw err;
const cipher = createCipheriv(algorithm, key, iv);
const input = createReadStream('test.js');
const output = createWriteStream('test.enc');
pipeline(input, cipher, output, (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
});
});
});
const {
createReadStream,
createWriteStream,
} = require('node:fs');
const {
pipeline
} = require('node:stream');
const {
scrypt,
randomFill,
createCipheriv,
} = require('node:crypto');
const algorithm = 'aes-192-cbc';
const password = 'Password used to generate key';
scrypt(password, 'salt', 24, (err, key) => {
if (err) throw err;
randomFill(new Uint8Array(16), (err, iv) => {
if (err) throw err;
const cipher = createCipheriv(algorithm, key, iv);
const input = createReadStream('test.js');
const output = createWriteStream('test.enc');
pipeline(input, cipher, output, (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
});
});
});
Example: Using the cipher.update()
and cipher.final()
methods:
const {
scrypt,
randomFill,
createCipheriv
} = await import('node:crypto');
const algorithm = 'aes-192-cbc';
const password = 'Password used to generate key';
scrypt(password, 'salt', 24, (err, key) => {
if (err) throw err;
randomFill(new Uint8Array(16), (err, iv) => {
if (err) throw err;
const cipher = createCipheriv(algorithm, key, iv);
let encrypted = cipher.update('some clear text data', 'utf8', 'hex');
encrypted += cipher.final('hex');
console.log(encrypted);
});
});
const {
scrypt,
randomFill,
createCipheriv,
} = require('node:crypto');
const algorithm = 'aes-192-cbc';
const password = 'Password used to generate key';
scrypt(password, 'salt', 24, (err, key) => {
if (err) throw err;
randomFill(new Uint8Array(16), (err, iv) => {
if (err) throw err;
const cipher = createCipheriv(algorithm, key, iv);
let encrypted = cipher.update('some clear text data', 'utf8', 'hex');
encrypted += cipher.final('hex');
console.log(encrypted);
});
});
cipher.final([outputEncoding])
#
Added in: v0.1.94
outputEncoding
<string> The encoding of the return value.
- Returns: <Buffer> | <string> Any remaining enciphered contents.
If
outputEncoding
is specified, a string is
returned. If an outputEncoding
is not provided, a Buffer
is returned.
Once the cipher.final()
method has been called, the Cipher
object can no
longer be used to encrypt data. Attempts to call cipher.final()
more than
once will result in an error being thrown.
cipher.getAuthTag()
#
Added in: v1.0.0
- Returns: <Buffer> When using an authenticated encryption mode (
GCM
, CCM
,
OCB
, and chacha20-poly1305
are currently supported), the
cipher.getAuthTag()
method returns a
Buffer
containing the authentication tag that has been computed from
the given data.
The cipher.getAuthTag()
method should only be called after encryption has
been completed using the cipher.final()
method.
If the authTagLength
option was set during the cipher
instance's creation,
this function will return exactly authTagLength
bytes.
cipher.setAAD(buffer[, options])
#
Added in: v1.0.0
When using an authenticated encryption mode (GCM
, CCM
, OCB
, and
chacha20-poly1305
are
currently supported), the cipher.setAAD()
method sets the value used for the
additional authenticated data (AAD) input parameter.
The plaintextLength
option is optional for GCM
and OCB
. When using CCM
,
the plaintextLength
option must be specified and its value must match the
length of the plaintext in bytes. See CCM mode.
The cipher.setAAD()
method must be called before cipher.update()
.
cipher.setAutoPadding([autoPadding])
#
Added in: v0.7.1
When using block encryption algorithms, the Cipher
class will automatically
add padding to the input data to the appropriate block size. To disable the
default padding call cipher.setAutoPadding(false)
.
When autoPadding
is false
, the length of the entire input data must be a
multiple of the cipher's block size or cipher.final()
will throw an error.
Disabling automatic padding is useful for non-standard padding, for instance
using 0x0
instead of PKCS padding.
The cipher.setAutoPadding()
method must be called before
cipher.final()
.
cipher.update(data[, inputEncoding][, outputEncoding])
#
Updates the cipher with data
. If the inputEncoding
argument is given,
the data
argument is a string using the specified encoding. If the inputEncoding
argument is not given, data
must be a Buffer
, TypedArray
, or
DataView
. If data
is a Buffer
, TypedArray
, or DataView
, then
inputEncoding
is ignored.
The outputEncoding
specifies the output format of the enciphered
data. If the outputEncoding
is specified, a string using the specified encoding is returned. If no
outputEncoding
is provided, a Buffer
is returned.
The cipher.update()
method can be called multiple times with new data until
cipher.final()
is called. Calling cipher.update()
after
cipher.final()
will result in an error being thrown.
Class: Decipher
#
Added in: v0.1.94
Instances of the Decipher
class are used to decrypt data. The class can be
used in one of two ways:
- As a stream that is both readable and writable, where plain encrypted
data is written to produce unencrypted data on the readable side, or
- Using the
decipher.update()
and decipher.final()
methods to
produce the unencrypted data.
The crypto.createDecipher()
or crypto.createDecipheriv()
methods are
used to create Decipher
instances. Decipher
objects are not to be created
directly using the new
keyword.
Example: Using Decipher
objects as streams:
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const {
scryptSync,
createDecipheriv
} = await import('node:crypto');
const algorithm = 'aes-192-cbc';
const password = 'Password used to generate key';
const key = scryptSync(password, 'salt', 24);
const iv = Buffer.alloc(16, 0);
const decipher = createDecipheriv(algorithm, key, iv);
let decrypted = '';
decipher.on('readable', () => {
let chunk;
while (null !== (chunk = decipher.read())) {
decrypted += chunk.toString('utf8');
}
});
decipher.on('end', () => {
console.log(decrypted);
});
const encrypted =
'e5f79c5915c02171eec6b212d5520d44480993d7d622a7c4c2da32f6efda0ffa';
decipher.write(encrypted, 'hex');
decipher.end();
const {
scryptSync,
createDecipheriv,
} = require('node:crypto');
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const algorithm = 'aes-192-cbc';
const password = 'Password used to generate key';
const key = scryptSync(password, 'salt', 24);
const iv = Buffer.alloc(16, 0);
const decipher = createDecipheriv(algorithm, key, iv);
let decrypted = '';
decipher.on('readable', () => {
let chunk;
while (null !== (chunk = decipher.read())) {
decrypted += chunk.toString('utf8');
}
});
decipher.on('end', () => {
console.log(decrypted);
});
const encrypted =
'e5f79c5915c02171eec6b212d5520d44480993d7d622a7c4c2da32f6efda0ffa';
decipher.write(encrypted, 'hex');
decipher.end();
Example: Using Decipher
and piped streams:
import {
createReadStream,
createWriteStream,
} from 'node:fs';
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const {
scryptSync,
createDecipheriv
} = await import('node:crypto');
const algorithm = 'aes-192-cbc';
const password = 'Password used to generate key';
const key = scryptSync(password, 'salt', 24);
const iv = Buffer.alloc(16, 0);
const decipher = createDecipheriv(algorithm, key, iv);
const input = createReadStream('test.enc');
const output = createWriteStream('test.js');
input.pipe(decipher).pipe(output);
const {
createReadStream,
createWriteStream,
} = require('node:fs');
const {
scryptSync,
createDecipheriv,
} = require('node:crypto');
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const algorithm = 'aes-192-cbc';
const password = 'Password used to generate key';
const key = scryptSync(password, 'salt', 24);
const iv = Buffer.alloc(16, 0);
const decipher = createDecipheriv(algorithm, key, iv);
const input = createReadStream('test.enc');
const output = createWriteStream('test.js');
input.pipe(decipher).pipe(output);
Example: Using the decipher.update()
and decipher.final()
methods:
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const {
scryptSync,
createDecipheriv
} = await import('node:crypto');
const algorithm = 'aes-192-cbc';
const password = 'Password used to generate key';
const key = scryptSync(password, 'salt', 24);
const iv = Buffer.alloc(16, 0);
const decipher = createDecipheriv(algorithm, key, iv);
const encrypted =
'e5f79c5915c02171eec6b212d5520d44480993d7d622a7c4c2da32f6efda0ffa';
let decrypted = decipher.update(encrypted, 'hex', 'utf8');
decrypted += decipher.final('utf8');
console.log(decrypted);
const {
scryptSync,
createDecipheriv,
} = require('node:crypto');
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const algorithm = 'aes-192-cbc';
const password = 'Password used to generate key';
const key = scryptSync(password, 'salt', 24);
const iv = Buffer.alloc(16, 0);
const decipher = createDecipheriv(algorithm, key, iv);
const encrypted =
'e5f79c5915c02171eec6b212d5520d44480993d7d622a7c4c2da32f6efda0ffa';
let decrypted = decipher.update(encrypted, 'hex', 'utf8');
decrypted += decipher.final('utf8');
console.log(decrypted);
decipher.final([outputEncoding])
#
Added in: v0.1.94
outputEncoding
<string> The encoding of the return value.
- Returns: <Buffer> | <string> Any remaining deciphered contents.
If
outputEncoding
is specified, a string is
returned. If an outputEncoding
is not provided, a Buffer
is returned.
Once the decipher.final()
method has been called, the Decipher
object can
no longer be used to decrypt data. Attempts to call decipher.final()
more
than once will result in an error being thrown.
decipher.setAAD(buffer[, options])
#
When using an authenticated encryption mode (GCM
, CCM
, OCB
, and
chacha20-poly1305
are
currently supported), the decipher.setAAD()
method sets the value used for the
additional authenticated data (AAD) input parameter.
The options
argument is optional for GCM
. When using CCM
, the
plaintextLength
option must be specified and its value must match the length
of the ciphertext in bytes. See CCM mode.
The decipher.setAAD()
method must be called before decipher.update()
.
When passing a string as the buffer
, please consider
caveats when using strings as inputs to cryptographic APIs.
decipher.setAuthTag(buffer[, encoding])
#
When using an authenticated encryption mode (GCM
, CCM
, OCB
, and
chacha20-poly1305
are
currently supported), the decipher.setAuthTag()
method is used to pass in the
received authentication tag. If no tag is provided, or if the cipher text
has been tampered with, decipher.final()
will throw, indicating that the
cipher text should be discarded due to failed authentication. If the tag length
is invalid according to NIST SP 800-38D or does not match the value of the
authTagLength
option, decipher.setAuthTag()
will throw an error.
The decipher.setAuthTag()
method must be called before decipher.update()
for CCM
mode or before decipher.final()
for GCM
and OCB
modes and
chacha20-poly1305
.
decipher.setAuthTag()
can only be called once.
When passing a string as the authentication tag, please consider
caveats when using strings as inputs to cryptographic APIs.
decipher.setAutoPadding([autoPadding])
#
Added in: v0.7.1
When data has been encrypted without standard block padding, calling
decipher.setAutoPadding(false)
will disable automatic padding to prevent
decipher.final()
from checking for and removing padding.
Turning auto padding off will only work if the input data's length is a
multiple of the ciphers block size.
The decipher.setAutoPadding()
method must be called before
decipher.final()
.
decipher.update(data[, inputEncoding][, outputEncoding])
#
Updates the decipher with data
. If the inputEncoding
argument is given,
the data
argument is a string using the specified encoding. If the inputEncoding
argument is not given, data
must be a Buffer
. If data
is a
Buffer
then inputEncoding
is ignored.
The outputEncoding
specifies the output format of the enciphered
data. If the outputEncoding
is specified, a string using the specified encoding is returned. If no
outputEncoding
is provided, a Buffer
is returned.
The decipher.update()
method can be called multiple times with new data until
decipher.final()
is called. Calling decipher.update()
after
decipher.final()
will result in an error being thrown.
Class: DiffieHellman
#
Added in: v0.5.0
The DiffieHellman
class is a utility for creating Diffie-Hellman key
exchanges.
Instances of the DiffieHellman
class can be created using the
crypto.createDiffieHellman()
function.
import assert from 'node:assert';
const {
createDiffieHellman
} = await import('node:crypto');
const alice = createDiffieHellman(2048);
const aliceKey = alice.generateKeys();
const bob = createDiffieHellman(alice.getPrime(), alice.getGenerator());
const bobKey = bob.generateKeys();
const aliceSecret = alice.computeSecret(bobKey);
const bobSecret = bob.computeSecret(aliceKey);
assert.strictEqual(aliceSecret.toString('hex'), bobSecret.toString('hex'));
const assert = require('node:assert');
const {
createDiffieHellman,
} = require('node:crypto');
const alice = createDiffieHellman(2048);
const aliceKey = alice.generateKeys();
const bob = createDiffieHellman(alice.getPrime(), alice.getGenerator());
const bobKey = bob.generateKeys();
const aliceSecret = alice.computeSecret(bobKey);
const bobSecret = bob.computeSecret(aliceKey);
assert.strictEqual(aliceSecret.toString('hex'), bobSecret.toString('hex'));
diffieHellman.computeSecret(otherPublicKey[, inputEncoding][, outputEncoding])
#
Added in: v0.5.0
Computes the shared secret using otherPublicKey
as the other
party's public key and returns the computed shared secret. The supplied
key is interpreted using the specified inputEncoding
, and secret is
encoded using specified outputEncoding
.
If the inputEncoding
is not
provided, otherPublicKey
is expected to be a Buffer
,
TypedArray
, or DataView
.
If outputEncoding
is given a string is returned; otherwise, a
Buffer
is returned.
diffieHellman.generateKeys([encoding])
#
Added in: v0.5.0
Generates private and public Diffie-Hellman key values unless they have been
generated or computed already, and returns
the public key in the specified encoding
. This key should be
transferred to the other party.
If encoding
is provided a string is returned; otherwise a
Buffer
is returned.
This function is a thin wrapper around DH_generate_key()
. In particular,
once a private key has been generated or set, calling this function only updates
the public key but does not generate a new private key.
diffieHellman.getGenerator([encoding])
#
Added in: v0.5.0
Returns the Diffie-Hellman generator in the specified encoding
.
If encoding
is provided a string is
returned; otherwise a Buffer
is returned.
diffieHellman.getPrime([encoding])
#
Added in: v0.5.0
Returns the Diffie-Hellman prime in the specified encoding
.
If encoding
is provided a string is
returned; otherwise a Buffer
is returned.
diffieHellman.getPrivateKey([encoding])
#
Added in: v0.5.0
Returns the Diffie-Hellman private key in the specified encoding
.
If encoding
is provided a
string is returned; otherwise a Buffer
is returned.
diffieHellman.getPublicKey([encoding])
#
Added in: v0.5.0
Returns the Diffie-Hellman public key in the specified encoding
.
If encoding
is provided a
string is returned; otherwise a Buffer
is returned.
diffieHellman.setPrivateKey(privateKey[, encoding])
#
Added in: v0.5.0
Sets the Diffie-Hellman private key. If the encoding
argument is provided,
privateKey
is expected
to be a string. If no encoding
is provided, privateKey
is expected
to be a Buffer
, TypedArray
, or DataView
.
This function does not automatically compute the associated public key. Either
diffieHellman.setPublicKey()
or diffieHellman.generateKeys()
can be
used to manually provide the public key or to automatically derive it.
diffieHellman.setPublicKey(publicKey[, encoding])
#
Added in: v0.5.0
Sets the Diffie-Hellman public key. If the encoding
argument is provided,
publicKey
is expected
to be a string. If no encoding
is provided, publicKey
is expected
to be a Buffer
, TypedArray
, or DataView
.
diffieHellman.verifyError
#
Added in: v0.11.12
A bit field containing any warnings and/or errors resulting from a check
performed during initialization of the DiffieHellman
object.
The following values are valid for this property (as defined in node:constants
module):
DH_CHECK_P_NOT_SAFE_PRIME
DH_CHECK_P_NOT_PRIME
DH_UNABLE_TO_CHECK_GENERATOR
DH_NOT_SUITABLE_GENERATOR
Class: DiffieHellmanGroup
#
Added in: v0.7.5
The DiffieHellmanGroup
class takes a well-known modp group as its argument.
It works the same as DiffieHellman
, except that it does not allow changing
its keys after creation. In other words, it does not implement setPublicKey()
or setPrivateKey()
methods.
const { createDiffieHellmanGroup } = await import('node:crypto');
const dh = createDiffieHellmanGroup('modp16');
const { createDiffieHellmanGroup } = require('node:crypto');
const dh = createDiffieHellmanGroup('modp16');
The following groups are supported:
'modp14'
(2048 bits, RFC 3526 Section 3)
'modp15'
(3072 bits, RFC 3526 Section 4)
'modp16'
(4096 bits, RFC 3526 Section 5)
'modp17'
(6144 bits, RFC 3526 Section 6)
'modp18'
(8192 bits, RFC 3526 Section 7)
The following groups are still supported but deprecated (see Caveats):
'modp1'
(768 bits, RFC 2409 Section 6.1)
'modp2'
(1024 bits, RFC 2409 Section 6.2)
'modp5'
(1536 bits, RFC 3526 Section 2)
These deprecated groups might be removed in future versions of Node.js.
Class: ECDH
#
Added in: v0.11.14
The ECDH
class is a utility for creating Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH)
key exchanges.
Instances of the ECDH
class can be created using the
crypto.createECDH()
function.
import assert from 'node:assert';
const {
createECDH
} = await import('node:crypto');
const alice = createECDH('secp521r1');
const aliceKey = alice.generateKeys();
const bob = createECDH('secp521r1');
const bobKey = bob.generateKeys();
const aliceSecret = alice.computeSecret(bobKey);
const bobSecret = bob.computeSecret(aliceKey);
assert.strictEqual(aliceSecret.toString('hex'), bobSecret.toString('hex'));
const assert = require('node:assert');
const {
createECDH,
} = require('node:crypto');
const alice = createECDH('secp521r1');
const aliceKey = alice.generateKeys();
const bob = createECDH('secp521r1');
const bobKey = bob.generateKeys();
const aliceSecret = alice.computeSecret(bobKey);
const bobSecret = bob.computeSecret(aliceKey);
assert.strictEqual(aliceSecret.toString('hex'), bobSecret.toString('hex'));
Static method: ECDH.convertKey(key, curve[, inputEncoding[, outputEncoding[, format]]])
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Converts the EC Diffie-Hellman public key specified by key
and curve
to the
format specified by format
. The format
argument specifies point encoding
and can be 'compressed'
, 'uncompressed'
or 'hybrid'
. The supplied key is
interpreted using the specified inputEncoding
, and the returned key is encoded
using the specified outputEncoding
.
Use crypto.getCurves()
to obtain a list of available curve names.
On recent OpenSSL releases, openssl ecparam -list_curves
will also display
the name and description of each available elliptic curve.
If format
is not specified the point will be returned in 'uncompressed'
format.
If the inputEncoding
is not provided, key
is expected to be a Buffer
,
TypedArray
, or DataView
.
Example (uncompressing a key):
const {
createECDH,
ECDH
} = await import('node:crypto');
const ecdh = createECDH('secp256k1');
ecdh.generateKeys();
const compressedKey = ecdh.getPublicKey('hex', 'compressed');
const uncompressedKey = ECDH.convertKey(compressedKey,
'secp256k1',
'hex',
'hex',
'uncompressed');
console.log(uncompressedKey === ecdh.getPublicKey('hex'));
const {
createECDH,
ECDH,
} = require('node:crypto');
const ecdh = createECDH('secp256k1');
ecdh.generateKeys();
const compressedKey = ecdh.getPublicKey('hex', 'compressed');
const uncompressedKey = ECDH.convertKey(compressedKey,
'secp256k1',
'hex',
'hex',
'uncompressed');
console.log(uncompressedKey === ecdh.getPublicKey('hex'));
ecdh.computeSecret(otherPublicKey[, inputEncoding][, outputEncoding])
#
Computes the shared secret using otherPublicKey
as the other
party's public key and returns the computed shared secret. The supplied
key is interpreted using specified inputEncoding
, and the returned secret
is encoded using the specified outputEncoding
.
If the inputEncoding
is not
provided, otherPublicKey
is expected to be a Buffer
, TypedArray
, or
DataView
.
If outputEncoding
is given a string will be returned; otherwise a
Buffer
is returned.
ecdh.computeSecret
will throw an
ERR_CRYPTO_ECDH_INVALID_PUBLIC_KEY
error when otherPublicKey
lies outside of the elliptic curve. Since otherPublicKey
is
usually supplied from a remote user over an insecure network,
be sure to handle this exception accordingly.
ecdh.generateKeys([encoding[, format]])
#
Added in: v0.11.14
Generates private and public EC Diffie-Hellman key values, and returns
the public key in the specified format
and encoding
. This key should be
transferred to the other party.
The format
argument specifies point encoding and can be 'compressed'
or
'uncompressed'
. If format
is not specified, the point will be returned in
'uncompressed'
format.
If encoding
is provided a string is returned; otherwise a Buffer
is returned.
ecdh.getPrivateKey([encoding])
#
Added in: v0.11.14
If encoding
is specified, a string is returned; otherwise a Buffer
is
returned.
ecdh.getPublicKey([encoding][, format])
#
Added in: v0.11.14
The format
argument specifies point encoding and can be 'compressed'
or
'uncompressed'
. If format
is not specified the point will be returned in
'uncompressed'
format.
If encoding
is specified, a string is returned; otherwise a Buffer
is
returned.
ecdh.setPrivateKey(privateKey[, encoding])
#
Added in: v0.11.14
Sets the EC Diffie-Hellman private key.
If encoding
is provided, privateKey
is expected
to be a string; otherwise privateKey
is expected to be a Buffer
,
TypedArray
, or DataView
.
If privateKey
is not valid for the curve specified when the ECDH
object was
created, an error is thrown. Upon setting the private key, the associated
public point (key) is also generated and set in the ECDH
object.
ecdh.setPublicKey(publicKey[, encoding])
#
Added in: v0.11.14Deprecated since: v5.2.0
Sets the EC Diffie-Hellman public key.
If encoding
is provided publicKey
is expected to
be a string; otherwise a Buffer
, TypedArray
, or DataView
is expected.
There is not normally a reason to call this method because ECDH
only requires a private key and the other party's public key to compute the
shared secret. Typically either ecdh.generateKeys()
or
ecdh.setPrivateKey()
will be called. The ecdh.setPrivateKey()
method
attempts to generate the public point/key associated with the private key being
set.
Example (obtaining a shared secret):
const {
createECDH,
createHash
} = await import('node:crypto');
const alice = createECDH('secp256k1');
const bob = createECDH('secp256k1');
alice.setPrivateKey(
createHash('sha256').update('alice', 'utf8').digest()
);
bob.generateKeys();
const aliceSecret = alice.computeSecret(bob.getPublicKey(), null, 'hex');
const bobSecret = bob.computeSecret(alice.getPublicKey(), null, 'hex');
console.log(aliceSecret === bobSecret);
const {
createECDH,
createHash,
} = require('node:crypto');
const alice = createECDH('secp256k1');
const bob = createECDH('secp256k1');
alice.setPrivateKey(
createHash('sha256').update('alice', 'utf8').digest()
);
bob.generateKeys();
const aliceSecret = alice.computeSecret(bob.getPublicKey(), null, 'hex');
const bobSecret = bob.computeSecret(alice.getPublicKey(), null, 'hex');
console.log(aliceSecret === bobSecret);
Class: Hash
#
Added in: v0.1.92
The Hash
class is a utility for creating hash digests of data. It can be
used in one of two ways:
- As a stream that is both readable and writable, where data is written
to produce a computed hash digest on the readable side, or
- Using the
hash.update()
and hash.digest()
methods to produce the
computed hash.
The crypto.createHash()
method is used to create Hash
instances. Hash
objects are not to be created directly using the new
keyword.
Example: Using Hash
objects as streams:
const {
createHash
} = await import('node:crypto');
const hash = createHash('sha256');
hash.on('readable', () => {
const data = hash.read();
if (data) {
console.log(data.toString('hex'));
}
});
hash.write('some data to hash');
hash.end();
const {
createHash,
} = require('node:crypto');
const hash = createHash('sha256');
hash.on('readable', () => {
const data = hash.read();
if (data) {
console.log(data.toString('hex'));
}
});
hash.write('some data to hash');
hash.end();
Example: Using Hash
and piped streams:
import { createReadStream } from 'node:fs';
import { stdout } from 'node:process';
const { createHash } = await import('node:crypto');
const hash = createHash('sha256');
const input = createReadStream('test.js');
input.pipe(hash).setEncoding('hex').pipe(stdout);
const { createReadStream } = require('node:fs');
const { createHash } = require('node:crypto');
const { stdout } = require('node:process');
const hash = createHash('sha256');
const input = createReadStream('test.js');
input.pipe(hash).setEncoding('hex').pipe(stdout);
Example: Using the hash.update()
and hash.digest()
methods:
const {
createHash
} = await import('node:crypto');
const hash = createHash('sha256');
hash.update('some data to hash');
console.log(hash.digest('hex'));
const {
createHash,
} = require('node:crypto');
const hash = createHash('sha256');
hash.update('some data to hash');
console.log(hash.digest('hex'));
hash.copy([options])
#
Added in: v13.1.0
Creates a new Hash
object that contains a deep copy of the internal state
of the current Hash
object.
The optional options
argument controls stream behavior. For XOF hash
functions such as 'shake256'
, the outputLength
option can be used to
specify the desired output length in bytes.
An error is thrown when an attempt is made to copy the Hash
object after
its hash.digest()
method has been called.
const {
createHash
} = await import('node:crypto');
const hash = createHash('sha256');
hash.update('one');
console.log(hash.copy().digest('hex'));
hash.update('two');
console.log(hash.copy().digest('hex'));
hash.update('three');
console.log(hash.copy().digest('hex'));
const {
createHash,
} = require('node:crypto');
const hash = createHash('sha256');
hash.update('one');
console.log(hash.copy().digest('hex'));
hash.update('two');
console.log(hash.copy().digest('hex'));
hash.update('three');
console.log(hash.copy().digest('hex'));
hash.digest([encoding])
#
Added in: v0.1.92
Calculates the digest of all of the data passed to be hashed (using the
hash.update()
method).
If encoding
is provided a string will be returned; otherwise
a Buffer
is returned.
The Hash
object can not be used again after hash.digest()
method has been
called. Multiple calls will cause an error to be thrown.
hash.update(data[, inputEncoding])
#
Updates the hash content with the given data
, the encoding of which
is given in inputEncoding
.
If encoding
is not provided, and the data
is a string, an
encoding of 'utf8'
is enforced. If data
is a Buffer
, TypedArray
, or
DataView
, then inputEncoding
is ignored.
This can be called many times with new data as it is streamed.
Class: Hmac
#
Added in: v0.1.94
The Hmac
class is a utility for creating cryptographic HMAC digests. It can
be used in one of two ways:
- As a stream that is both readable and writable, where data is written
to produce a computed HMAC digest on the readable side, or
- Using the
hmac.update()
and hmac.digest()
methods to produce the
computed HMAC digest.
The crypto.createHmac()
method is used to create Hmac
instances. Hmac
objects are not to be created directly using the new
keyword.
Example: Using Hmac
objects as streams:
const {
createHmac
} = await import('node:crypto');
const hmac = createHmac('sha256', 'a secret');
hmac.on('readable', () => {
const data = hmac.read();
if (data) {
console.log(data.toString('hex'));
}
});
hmac.write('some data to hash');
hmac.end();
const {
createHmac,
} = require('node:crypto');
const hmac = createHmac('sha256', 'a secret');
hmac.on('readable', () => {
const data = hmac.read();
if (data) {
console.log(data.toString('hex'));
}
});
hmac.write('some data to hash');
hmac.end();
Example: Using Hmac
and piped streams:
import { createReadStream } from 'node:fs';
import { stdout } from 'node:process';
const {
createHmac
} = await import('node:crypto');
const hmac = createHmac('sha256', 'a secret');
const input = createReadStream('test.js');
input.pipe(hmac).pipe(stdout);
const {
createReadStream,
} = require('node:fs');
const {
createHmac,
} = require('node:crypto');
const { stdout } = require('node:process');
const hmac = createHmac('sha256', 'a secret');
const input = createReadStream('test.js');
input.pipe(hmac).pipe(stdout);
Example: Using the hmac.update()
and hmac.digest()
methods:
const {
createHmac
} = await import('node:crypto');
const hmac = createHmac('sha256', 'a secret');
hmac.update('some data to hash');
console.log(hmac.digest('hex'));
const {
createHmac,
} = require('node:crypto');
const hmac = createHmac('sha256', 'a secret');
hmac.update('some data to hash');
console.log(hmac.digest('hex'));
hmac.digest([encoding])
#
Added in: v0.1.94
Calculates the HMAC digest of all of the data passed using hmac.update()
.
If encoding
is
provided a string is returned; otherwise a Buffer
is returned;
The Hmac
object can not be used again after hmac.digest()
has been
called. Multiple calls to hmac.digest()
will result in an error being thrown.
hmac.update(data[, inputEncoding])
#
Updates the Hmac
content with the given data
, the encoding of which
is given in inputEncoding
.
If encoding
is not provided, and the data
is a string, an
encoding of 'utf8'
is enforced. If data
is a Buffer
, TypedArray
, or
DataView
, then inputEncoding
is ignored.
This can be called many times with new data as it is streamed.
Class: KeyObject
#
Node.js uses a KeyObject
class to represent a symmetric or asymmetric key,
and each kind of key exposes different functions. The
crypto.createSecretKey()
, crypto.createPublicKey()
and
crypto.createPrivateKey()
methods are used to create KeyObject
instances. KeyObject
objects are not to be created directly using the new
keyword.
Most applications should consider using the new KeyObject
API instead of
passing keys as strings or Buffer
s due to improved security features.
KeyObject
instances can be passed to other threads via postMessage()
.
The receiver obtains a cloned KeyObject
, and the KeyObject
does not need to
be listed in the transferList
argument.
Static method: KeyObject.from(key)
#
Added in: v15.0.0
Example: Converting a CryptoKey
instance to a KeyObject
:
const { webcrypto, KeyObject } = await import('node:crypto');
const { subtle } = webcrypto;
const key = await subtle.generateKey({
name: 'HMAC',
hash: 'SHA-256',
length: 256
}, true, ['sign', 'verify']);
const keyObject = KeyObject.from(key);
console.log(keyObject.symmetricKeySize);
const {
webcrypto: {
subtle,
},
KeyObject,
} = require('node:crypto');
(async function() {
const key = await subtle.generateKey({
name: 'HMAC',
hash: 'SHA-256',
length: 256
}, true, ['sign', 'verify']);
const keyObject = KeyObject.from(key);
console.log(keyObject.symmetricKeySize);
})();
keyObject.asymmetricKeyDetails
#
- <Object>
modulusLength
: <number> Key size in bits (RSA, DSA).
publicExponent
: <bigint> Public exponent (RSA).
hashAlgorithm
: <string> Name of the message digest (RSA-PSS).
mgf1HashAlgorithm
: <string> Name of the message digest used by
MGF1 (RSA-PSS).
saltLength
: <number> Minimal salt length in bytes (RSA-PSS).
divisorLength
: <number> Size of q
in bits (DSA).
namedCurve
: <string> Name of the curve (EC).
This property exists only on asymmetric keys. Depending on the type of the key,
this object contains information about the key. None of the information obtained
through this property can be used to uniquely identify a key or to compromise
the security of the key.
For RSA-PSS keys, if the key material contains a RSASSA-PSS-params
sequence,
the hashAlgorithm
, mgf1HashAlgorithm
, and saltLength
properties will be
set.
Other key details might be exposed via this API using additional attributes.
keyObject.asymmetricKeyType
#
For asymmetric keys, this property represents the type of the key. Supported key
types are:
'rsa'
(OID 1.2.840.113549.1.1.1)
'rsa-pss'
(OID 1.2.840.113549.1.1.10)
'dsa'
(OID 1.2.840.10040.4.1)
'ec'
(OID 1.2.840.10045.2.1)
'x25519'
(OID 1.3.101.110)
'x448'
(OID 1.3.101.111)
'ed25519'
(OID 1.3.101.112)
'ed448'
(OID 1.3.101.113)
'dh'
(OID 1.2.840.113549.1.3.1)
This property is undefined
for unrecognized KeyObject
types and symmetric
keys.
keyObject.export([options])
#
For symmetric keys, the following encoding options can be used:
format
: <string> Must be 'buffer'
(default) or 'jwk'
.
For public keys, the following encoding options can be used:
type
: <string> Must be one of 'pkcs1'
(RSA only) or 'spki'
.
format
: <string> Must be 'pem'
, 'der'
, or 'jwk'
.
For private keys, the following encoding options can be used:
type
: <string> Must be one of 'pkcs1'
(RSA only), 'pkcs8'
or
'sec1'
(EC only).
format
: <string> Must be 'pem'
, 'der'
, or 'jwk'
.
cipher
: <string> If specified, the private key will be encrypted with
the given cipher
and passphrase
using PKCS#5 v2.0 password based
encryption.
passphrase
: <string> | <Buffer> The passphrase to use for encryption, see
cipher
.
The result type depends on the selected encoding format, when PEM the
result is a string, when DER it will be a buffer containing the data
encoded as DER, when JWK it will be an object.
When JWK encoding format was selected, all other encoding options are
ignored.
PKCS#1, SEC1, and PKCS#8 type keys can be encrypted by using a combination of
the cipher
and format
options. The PKCS#8 type
can be used with any
format
to encrypt any key algorithm (RSA, EC, or DH) by specifying a
cipher
. PKCS#1 and SEC1 can only be encrypted by specifying a cipher
when the PEM format
is used. For maximum compatibility, use PKCS#8 for
encrypted private keys. Since PKCS#8 defines its own
encryption mechanism, PEM-level encryption is not supported when encrypting
a PKCS#8 key. See RFC 5208 for PKCS#8 encryption and RFC 1421 for
PKCS#1 and SEC1 encryption.
keyObject.equals(otherKeyObject)
#
Added in: v16.15.0
Returns true
or false
depending on whether the keys have exactly the same
type, value, and parameters. This method is not
constant time.
keyObject.symmetricKeySize
#
Added in: v11.6.0
For secret keys, this property represents the size of the key in bytes. This
property is undefined
for asymmetric keys.
keyObject.type
#
Added in: v11.6.0
Depending on the type of this KeyObject
, this property is either
'secret'
for secret (symmetric) keys, 'public'
for public (asymmetric) keys
or 'private'
for private (asymmetric) keys.
Class: Sign
#
Added in: v0.1.92
The Sign
class is a utility for generating signatures. It can be used in one
of two ways:
- As a writable stream, where data to be signed is written and the
sign.sign()
method is used to generate and return the signature, or
- Using the
sign.update()
and sign.sign()
methods to produce the
signature.
The crypto.createSign()
method is used to create Sign
instances. The
argument is the string name of the hash function to use. Sign
objects are not
to be created directly using the new
keyword.
Example: Using Sign
and Verify
objects as streams:
const {
generateKeyPairSync,
createSign,
createVerify
} = await import('node:crypto');
const { privateKey, publicKey } = generateKeyPairSync('ec', {
namedCurve: 'sect239k1'
});
const sign = createSign('SHA256');
sign.write('some data to sign');
sign.end();
const signature = sign.sign(privateKey, 'hex');
const verify = createVerify('SHA256');
verify.write('some data to sign');
verify.end();
console.log(verify.verify(publicKey, signature, 'hex'));
const {
generateKeyPairSync,
createSign,
createVerify,
} = require('node:crypto');
const { privateKey, publicKey } = generateKeyPairSync('ec', {
namedCurve: 'sect239k1'
});
const sign = createSign('SHA256');
sign.write('some data to sign');
sign.end();
const signature = sign.sign(privateKey, 'hex');
const verify = createVerify('SHA256');
verify.write('some data to sign');
verify.end();
console.log(verify.verify(publicKey, signature, 'hex'));
Example: Using the sign.update()
and verify.update()
methods:
const {
generateKeyPairSync,
createSign,
createVerify
} = await import('node:crypto');
const { privateKey, publicKey } = generateKeyPairSync('rsa', {
modulusLength: 2048,
});
const sign = createSign('SHA256');
sign.update('some data to sign');
sign.end();
const signature = sign.sign(privateKey);
const verify = createVerify('SHA256');
verify.update('some data to sign');
verify.end();
console.log(verify.verify(publicKey, signature));
const {
generateKeyPairSync,
createSign,
createVerify,
} = require('node:crypto');
const { privateKey, publicKey } = generateKeyPairSync('rsa', {
modulusLength: 2048,
});
const sign = createSign('SHA256');
sign.update('some data to sign');
sign.end();
const signature = sign.sign(privateKey);
const verify = createVerify('SHA256');
verify.update('some data to sign');
verify.end();
console.log(verify.verify(publicKey, signature));
sign.sign(privateKey[, outputEncoding])
#
Calculates the signature on all the data passed through using either
sign.update()
or sign.write()
.
If privateKey
is not a KeyObject
, this function behaves as if
privateKey
had been passed to crypto.createPrivateKey()
. If it is an
object, the following additional properties can be passed:
-
dsaEncoding
<string> For DSA and ECDSA, this option specifies the
format of the generated signature. It can be one of the following:
'der'
(default): DER-encoded ASN.1 signature structure encoding (r, s)
.
'ieee-p1363'
: Signature format r || s
as proposed in IEEE-P1363.
-
padding
<integer> Optional padding value for RSA, one of the following:
crypto.constants.RSA_PKCS1_PADDING
(default)
crypto.constants.RSA_PKCS1_PSS_PADDING
RSA_PKCS1_PSS_PADDING
will use MGF1 with the same hash function
used to sign the message as specified in section 3.1 of RFC 4055, unless
an MGF1 hash function has been specified as part of the key in compliance with
section 3.3 of RFC 4055.
-
saltLength
<integer> Salt length for when padding is
RSA_PKCS1_PSS_PADDING
. The special value
crypto.constants.RSA_PSS_SALTLEN_DIGEST
sets the salt length to the digest
size, crypto.constants.RSA_PSS_SALTLEN_MAX_SIGN
(default) sets it to the
maximum permissible value.
If outputEncoding
is provided a string is returned; otherwise a Buffer
is returned.
The Sign
object can not be again used after sign.sign()
method has been
called. Multiple calls to sign.sign()
will result in an error being thrown.
sign.update(data[, inputEncoding])
#
Updates the Sign
content with the given data
, the encoding of which
is given in inputEncoding
.
If encoding
is not provided, and the data
is a string, an
encoding of 'utf8'
is enforced. If data
is a Buffer
, TypedArray
, or
DataView
, then inputEncoding
is ignored.
This can be called many times with new data as it is streamed.
Class: Verify
#
Added in: v0.1.92
The Verify
class is a utility for verifying signatures. It can be used in one
of two ways:
The crypto.createVerify()
method is used to create Verify
instances.
Verify
objects are not to be created directly using the new
keyword.
See Sign
for examples.
verify.update(data[, inputEncoding])
#
Updates the Verify
content with the given data
, the encoding of which
is given in inputEncoding
.
If inputEncoding
is not provided, and the data
is a string, an
encoding of 'utf8'
is enforced. If data
is a Buffer
, TypedArray
, or
DataView
, then inputEncoding
is ignored.
This can be called many times with new data as it is streamed.
verify.verify(object, signature[, signatureEncoding])
#
Verifies the provided data using the given object
and signature
.
If object
is not a KeyObject
, this function behaves as if
object
had been passed to crypto.createPublicKey()
. If it is an
object, the following additional properties can be passed:
-
dsaEncoding
<string> For DSA and ECDSA, this option specifies the
format of the signature. It can be one of the following:
'der'
(default): DER-encoded ASN.1 signature structure encoding (r, s)
.
'ieee-p1363'
: Signature format r || s
as proposed in IEEE-P1363.
-
padding
<integer> Optional padding value for RSA, one of the following:
crypto.constants.RSA_PKCS1_PADDING
(default)
crypto.constants.RSA_PKCS1_PSS_PADDING
RSA_PKCS1_PSS_PADDING
will use MGF1 with the same hash function
used to verify the message as specified in section 3.1 of RFC 4055, unless
an MGF1 hash function has been specified as part of the key in compliance with
section 3.3 of RFC 4055.
-
saltLength
<integer> Salt length for when padding is
RSA_PKCS1_PSS_PADDING
. The special value
crypto.constants.RSA_PSS_SALTLEN_DIGEST
sets the salt length to the digest
size, crypto.constants.RSA_PSS_SALTLEN_AUTO
(default) causes it to be
determined automatically.
The signature
argument is the previously calculated signature for the data, in
the signatureEncoding
.
If a signatureEncoding
is specified, the signature
is expected to be a
string; otherwise signature
is expected to be a Buffer
,
TypedArray
, or DataView
.
The verify
object can not be used again after verify.verify()
has been
called. Multiple calls to verify.verify()
will result in an error being
thrown.
Because public keys can be derived from private keys, a private key may
be passed instead of a public key.
Class: X509Certificate
#
Added in: v15.6.0
Encapsulates an X509 certificate and provides read-only access to
its information.
const { X509Certificate } = await import('node:crypto');
const x509 = new X509Certificate('{... pem encoded cert ...}');
console.log(x509.subject);
const { X509Certificate } = require('node:crypto');
const x509 = new X509Certificate('{... pem encoded cert ...}');
console.log(x509.subject);
new X509Certificate(buffer)
#
Added in: v15.6.0
x509.ca
#
Added in: v15.6.0
- Type: <boolean> Will be
true
if this is a Certificate Authority (CA)
certificate.
x509.checkEmail(email[, options])
#
Checks whether the certificate matches the given email address.
If the 'subject'
option is set to 'always'
and if the subject alternative
name extension either does not exist or does not contain a matching email
address, the certificate subject is considered.
If the 'subject'
option is set to 'default'
, the certificate subject is only
considered if the subject alternative name extension either does not exist or
does not contain any email addresses.
If the 'subject'
option is set to 'never'
, the certificate subject is never
considered, even if the certificate contains no subject alternative names.
x509.checkHost(name[, options])
#
Checks whether the certificate matches the given host name.
If the certificate matches the given host name, the matching subject name is
returned. The returned name might be an exact match (e.g., foo.example.com
)
or it might contain wildcards (e.g., *.example.com
). Because host name
comparisons are case-insensitive, the returned subject name might also differ
from the given name
in capitalization.
If the 'subject'
option is set to 'always'
and if the subject alternative
name extension either does not exist or does not contain a matching DNS name,
the certificate subject is considered.
If the 'subject'
option is set to 'default'
, the certificate subject is only
considered if the subject alternative name extension either does not exist or
does not contain any DNS names. This behavior is consistent with RFC 2818
("HTTP Over TLS").
If the 'subject'
option is set to 'never'
, the certificate subject is never
considered, even if the certificate contains no subject alternative names.
x509.checkIP(ip)
#
Checks whether the certificate matches the given IP address (IPv4 or IPv6).
Only RFC 5280 iPAddress
subject alternative names are considered, and they
must match the given ip
address exactly. Other subject alternative names as
well as the subject field of the certificate are ignored.
x509.checkIssued(otherCert)
#
Added in: v15.6.0
Checks whether this certificate was issued by the given otherCert
.
x509.checkPrivateKey(privateKey)
#
Added in: v15.6.0
Checks whether the public key for this certificate is consistent with
the given private key.
x509.fingerprint
#
Added in: v15.6.0
The SHA-1 fingerprint of this certificate.
Because SHA-1 is cryptographically broken and because the security of SHA-1 is
significantly worse than that of algorithms that are commonly used to sign
certificates, consider using x509.fingerprint256
instead.
x509.fingerprint256
#
Added in: v15.6.0
The SHA-256 fingerprint of this certificate.
x509.fingerprint512
#
Added in: v16.14.0
The SHA-512 fingerprint of this certificate.
Because computing the SHA-256 fingerprint is usually faster and because it is
only half the size of the SHA-512 fingerprint, x509.fingerprint256
may be
a better choice. While SHA-512 presumably provides a higher level of security in
general, the security of SHA-256 matches that of most algorithms that are
commonly used to sign certificates.
x509.infoAccess
#
A textual representation of the certificate's authority information access
extension.
This is a line feed separated list of access descriptions. Each line begins with
the access method and the kind of the access location, followed by a colon and
the value associated with the access location.
After the prefix denoting the access method and the kind of the access location,
the remainder of each line might be enclosed in quotes to indicate that the
value is a JSON string literal. For backward compatibility, Node.js only uses
JSON string literals within this property when necessary to avoid ambiguity.
Third-party code should be prepared to handle both possible entry formats.
x509.issuer
#
Added in: v15.6.0
The issuer identification included in this certificate.
x509.issuerCertificate
#
Added in: v15.9.0
The issuer certificate or undefined
if the issuer certificate is not
available.
x509.keyUsage
#
Added in: v15.6.0
An array detailing the key usages for this certificate.
x509.publicKey
#
Added in: v15.6.0
The public key <KeyObject> for this certificate.
x509.raw
#
Added in: v15.6.0
A Buffer
containing the DER encoding of this certificate.
x509.serialNumber
#
Added in: v15.6.0
The serial number of this certificate.
Serial numbers are assigned by certificate authorities and do not uniquely
identify certificates. Consider using x509.fingerprint256
as a unique
identifier instead.
x509.subject
#
Added in: v15.6.0
The complete subject of this certificate.
x509.subjectAltName
#
The subject alternative name specified for this certificate.
This is a comma-separated list of subject alternative names. Each entry begins
with a string identifying the kind of the subject alternative name followed by
a colon and the value associated with the entry.
Earlier versions of Node.js incorrectly assumed that it is safe to split this
property at the two-character sequence ', '
(see CVE-2021-44532). However,
both malicious and legitimate certificates can contain subject alternative names
that include this sequence when represented as a string.
After the prefix denoting the type of the entry, the remainder of each entry
might be enclosed in quotes to indicate that the value is a JSON string literal.
For backward compatibility, Node.js only uses JSON string literals within this
property when necessary to avoid ambiguity. Third-party code should be prepared
to handle both possible entry formats.
x509.toJSON()
#
Added in: v15.6.0
There is no standard JSON encoding for X509 certificates. The
toJSON()
method returns a string containing the PEM encoded
certificate.
x509.toLegacyObject()
#
Added in: v15.6.0
Returns information about this certificate using the legacy
certificate object encoding.
x509.toString()
#
Added in: v15.6.0
Returns the PEM-encoded certificate.
x509.validFrom
#
Added in: v15.6.0
The date/time from which this certificate is considered valid.
x509.validTo
#
Added in: v15.6.0
The date/time until which this certificate is considered valid.
x509.verify(publicKey)
#
Added in: v15.6.0
Verifies that this certificate was signed by the given public key.
Does not perform any other validation checks on the certificate.
node:crypto
module methods and properties#
crypto.constants
#
Added in: v6.3.0
An object containing commonly used constants for crypto and security related
operations. The specific constants currently defined are described in
Crypto constants.
crypto.DEFAULT_ENCODING
#
Added in: v0.9.3Deprecated since: v10.0.0
The default encoding to use for functions that can take either strings
or buffers. The default value is 'buffer'
, which makes methods
default to Buffer
objects.
The crypto.DEFAULT_ENCODING
mechanism is provided for backward compatibility
with legacy programs that expect 'latin1'
to be the default encoding.
New applications should expect the default to be 'buffer'
.
This property is deprecated.
crypto.fips
#
Added in: v6.0.0Deprecated since: v10.0.0
Property for checking and controlling whether a FIPS compliant crypto provider
is currently in use. Setting to true requires a FIPS build of Node.js.
This property is deprecated. Please use crypto.setFips()
and
crypto.getFips()
instead.
crypto.checkPrime(candidate[, options], callback)
#
Added in: v15.8.0
candidate
<ArrayBuffer> | <SharedArrayBuffer> | <TypedArray> | <Buffer> | <DataView> | <bigint>
A possible prime encoded as a sequence of big endian octets of arbitrary
length.
options
<Object>
checks
<number> The number of Miller-Rabin probabilistic primality
iterations to perform. When the value is 0
(zero), a number of checks
is used that yields a false positive rate of at most 2-64 for
random input. Care must be used when selecting a number of checks. Refer
to the OpenSSL documentation for the BN_is_prime_ex
function nchecks
options for more details. Default: 0
callback
<Function>
err
<Error> Set to an <Error> object if an error occurred during check.
result
<boolean> true
if the candidate is a prime with an error
probability less than 0.25 ** options.checks
.
Checks the primality of the candidate
.
crypto.checkPrimeSync(candidate[, options])
#
Added in: v15.8.0
candidate
<ArrayBuffer> | <SharedArrayBuffer> | <TypedArray> | <Buffer> | <DataView> | <bigint>
A possible prime encoded as a sequence of big endian octets of arbitrary
length.
options
<Object>
checks
<number> The number of Miller-Rabin probabilistic primality
iterations to perform. When the value is 0
(zero), a number of checks
is used that yields a false positive rate of at most 2-64 for
random input. Care must be used when selecting a number of checks. Refer
to the OpenSSL documentation for the BN_is_prime_ex
function nchecks
options for more details. Default: 0
- Returns: <boolean>
true
if the candidate is a prime with an error
probability less than 0.25 ** options.checks
.
Checks the primality of the candidate
.
crypto.createCipher(algorithm, password[, options])
#
Creates and returns a Cipher
object that uses the given algorithm
and
password
.
The options
argument controls stream behavior and is optional except when a
cipher in CCM or OCB mode (e.g. 'aes-128-ccm'
) is used. In that case, the
authTagLength
option is required and specifies the length of the
authentication tag in bytes, see CCM mode. In GCM mode, the authTagLength
option is not required but can be used to set the length of the authentication
tag that will be returned by getAuthTag()
and defaults to 16 bytes.
For chacha20-poly1305
, the authTagLength
option defaults to 16 bytes.
The algorithm
is dependent on OpenSSL, examples are 'aes192'
, etc. On
recent OpenSSL releases, openssl list -cipher-algorithms
will
display the available cipher algorithms.
The password
is used to derive the cipher key and initialization vector (IV).
The value must be either a 'latin1'
encoded string, a Buffer
, a
TypedArray
, or a DataView
.
This function is semantically insecure for all
supported ciphers and fatally flawed for ciphers in counter mode (such as CTR,
GCM, or CCM).
The implementation of crypto.createCipher()
derives keys using the OpenSSL
function EVP_BytesToKey
with the digest algorithm set to MD5, one
iteration, and no salt. The lack of salt allows dictionary attacks as the same
password always creates the same key. The low iteration count and
non-cryptographically secure hash algorithm allow passwords to be tested very
rapidly.
In line with OpenSSL's recommendation to use a more modern algorithm instead of
EVP_BytesToKey
it is recommended that developers derive a key and IV on
their own using crypto.scrypt()
and to use crypto.createCipheriv()
to create the Cipher
object. Users should not use ciphers with counter mode
(e.g. CTR, GCM, or CCM) in crypto.createCipher()
. A warning is emitted when
they are used in order to avoid the risk of IV reuse that causes
vulnerabilities. For the case when IV is reused in GCM, see Nonce-Disrespecting
Adversaries for details.
crypto.createCipheriv(algorithm, key, iv[, options])
#
Creates and returns a Cipher
object, with the given algorithm
, key
and
initialization vector (iv
).
The options
argument controls stream behavior and is optional except when a
cipher in CCM or OCB mode (e.g. 'aes-128-ccm'
) is used. In that case, the
authTagLength
option is required and specifies the length of the
authentication tag in bytes, see CCM mode. In GCM mode, the authTagLength
option is not required but can be used to set the length of the authentication
tag that will be returned by getAuthTag()
and defaults to 16 bytes.
For chacha20-poly1305
, the authTagLength
option defaults to 16 bytes.
The algorithm
is dependent on OpenSSL, examples are 'aes192'
, etc. On
recent OpenSSL releases, openssl list -cipher-algorithms
will
display the available cipher algorithms.
The key
is the raw key used by the algorithm
and iv
is an
initialization vector. Both arguments must be 'utf8'
encoded strings,
Buffers, TypedArray
, or DataView
s. The key
may optionally be
a KeyObject
of type secret
. If the cipher does not need
an initialization vector, iv
may be null
.
When passing strings for key
or iv
, please consider
caveats when using strings as inputs to cryptographic APIs.
Initialization vectors should be unpredictable and unique; ideally, they will be
cryptographically random. They do not have to be secret: IVs are typically just
added to ciphertext messages unencrypted. It may sound contradictory that
something has to be unpredictable and unique, but does not have to be secret;
remember that an attacker must not be able to predict ahead of time what a
given IV will be.
crypto.createDecipher(algorithm, password[, options])
#
Creates and returns a Decipher
object that uses the given algorithm
and
password
(key).
The options
argument controls stream behavior and is optional except when a
cipher in CCM or OCB mode (e.g. 'aes-128-ccm'
) is used. In that case, the
authTagLength
option is required and specifies the length of the
authentication tag in bytes, see CCM mode.
For chacha20-poly1305
, the authTagLength
option defaults to 16 bytes.
This function is semantically insecure for all
supported ciphers and fatally flawed for ciphers in counter mode (such as CTR,
GCM, or CCM).
The implementation of crypto.createDecipher()
derives keys using the OpenSSL
function EVP_BytesToKey
with the digest algorithm set to MD5, one
iteration, and no salt. The lack of salt allows dictionary attacks as the same
password always creates the same key. The low iteration count and
non-cryptographically secure hash algorithm allow passwords to be tested very
rapidly.
In line with OpenSSL's recommendation to use a more modern algorithm instead of
EVP_BytesToKey
it is recommended that developers derive a key and IV on
their own using crypto.scrypt()
and to use crypto.createDecipheriv()
to create the Decipher
object.
crypto.createDecipheriv(algorithm, key, iv[, options])
#
Creates and returns a Decipher
object that uses the given algorithm
, key
and initialization vector (iv
).
The options
argument controls stream behavior and is optional except when a
cipher in CCM or OCB mode (e.g. 'aes-128-ccm'
) is used. In that case, the
authTagLength
option is required and specifies the length of the
authentication tag in bytes, see CCM mode. In GCM mode, the authTagLength
option is not required but can be used to restrict accepted authentication tags
to those with the specified length.
For chacha20-poly1305
, the authTagLength
option defaults to 16 bytes.
The algorithm
is dependent on OpenSSL, examples are 'aes192'
, etc. On
recent OpenSSL releases, openssl list -cipher-algorithms
will
display the available cipher algorithms.
The key
is the raw key used by the algorithm
and iv
is an
initialization vector. Both arguments must be 'utf8'
encoded strings,
Buffers, TypedArray
, or DataView
s. The key
may optionally be
a KeyObject
of type secret
. If the cipher does not need
an initialization vector, iv
may be null
.
When passing strings for key
or iv
, please consider
caveats when using strings as inputs to cryptographic APIs.
Initialization vectors should be unpredictable and unique; ideally, they will be
cryptographically random. They do not have to be secret: IVs are typically just
added to ciphertext messages unencrypted. It may sound contradictory that
something has to be unpredictable and unique, but does not have to be secret;
remember that an attacker must not be able to predict ahead of time what a given
IV will be.
crypto.createDiffieHellman(prime[, primeEncoding][, generator][, generatorEncoding])
#
Creates a DiffieHellman
key exchange object using the supplied prime
and an
optional specific generator
.
The generator
argument can be a number, string, or Buffer
. If
generator
is not specified, the value 2
is used.
If primeEncoding
is specified, prime
is expected to be a string; otherwise
a Buffer
, TypedArray
, or DataView
is expected.
If generatorEncoding
is specified, generator
is expected to be a string;
otherwise a number, Buffer
, TypedArray
, or DataView
is expected.
crypto.createDiffieHellman(primeLength[, generator])
#
Added in: v0.5.0
Creates a DiffieHellman
key exchange object and generates a prime of
primeLength
bits using an optional specific numeric generator
.
If generator
is not specified, the value 2
is used.
crypto.createDiffieHellmanGroup(name)
#
Added in: v0.9.3
An alias for crypto.getDiffieHellman()
crypto.createECDH(curveName)
#
Added in: v0.11.14
Creates an Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH
) key exchange object using a
predefined curve specified by the curveName
string. Use
crypto.getCurves()
to obtain a list of available curve names. On recent
OpenSSL releases, openssl ecparam -list_curves
will also display the name
and description of each available elliptic curve.
crypto.createHash(algorithm[, options])
#
Creates and returns a Hash
object that can be used to generate hash digests
using the given algorithm
. Optional options
argument controls stream
behavior. For XOF hash functions such as 'shake256'
, the outputLength
option
can be used to specify the desired output length in bytes.
The algorithm
is dependent on the available algorithms supported by the
version of OpenSSL on the platform. Examples are 'sha256'
, 'sha512'
, etc.
On recent releases of OpenSSL, openssl list -digest-algorithms
will
display the available digest algorithms.
Example: generating the sha256 sum of a file
import {
createReadStream
} from 'node:fs';
import { argv } from 'node:process';
const {
createHash
} = await import('node:crypto');
const filename = argv[2];
const hash = createHash('sha256');
const input = createReadStream(filename);
input.on('readable', () => {
const data = input.read();
if (data)
hash.update(data);
else {
console.log(`${hash.digest('hex')} ${filename}`);
}
});
const {
createReadStream,
} = require('node:fs');
const {
createHash,
} = require('node:crypto');
const { argv } = require('node:process');
const filename = argv[2];
const hash = createHash('sha256');
const input = createReadStream(filename);
input.on('readable', () => {
const data = input.read();
if (data)
hash.update(data);
else {
console.log(`${hash.digest('hex')} ${filename}`);
}
});
crypto.createHmac(algorithm, key[, options])
#
Creates and returns an Hmac
object that uses the given algorithm
and key
.
Optional options
argument controls stream behavior.
The algorithm
is dependent on the available algorithms supported by the
version of OpenSSL on the platform. Examples are 'sha256'
, 'sha512'
, etc.
On recent releases of OpenSSL, openssl list -digest-algorithms
will
display the available digest algorithms.
The key
is the HMAC key used to generate the cryptographic HMAC hash. If it is
a KeyObject
, its type must be secret
.
Example: generating the sha256 HMAC of a file
import {
createReadStream
} from 'node:fs';
import { argv } from 'node:process';
const {
createHmac
} = await import('node:crypto');
const filename = argv[2];
const hmac = createHmac('sha256', 'a secret');
const input = createReadStream(filename);
input.on('readable', () => {
const data = input.read();
if (data)
hmac.update(data);
else {
console.log(`${hmac.digest('hex')} ${filename}`);
}
});
const {
createReadStream,
} = require('node:fs');
const {
createHmac,
} = require('node:crypto');
const { argv } = require('node:process');
const filename = argv[2];
const hmac = createHmac('sha256', 'a secret');
const input = createReadStream(filename);
input.on('readable', () => {
const data = input.read();
if (data)
hmac.update(data);
else {
console.log(`${hmac.digest('hex')} ${filename}`);
}
});
crypto.createPrivateKey(key)
#
Creates and returns a new key object containing a private key. If key
is a
string or Buffer
, format
is assumed to be 'pem'
; otherwise, key
must be an object with the properties described above.
If the private key is encrypted, a passphrase
must be specified. The length
of the passphrase is limited to 1024 bytes.
crypto.createPublicKey(key)
#
Creates and returns a new key object containing a public key. If key
is a
string or Buffer
, format
is assumed to be 'pem'
; if key
is a KeyObject
with type 'private'
, the public key is derived from the given private key;
otherwise, key
must be an object with the properties described above.
If the format is 'pem'
, the 'key'
may also be an X.509 certificate.
Because public keys can be derived from private keys, a private key may be
passed instead of a public key. In that case, this function behaves as if
crypto.createPrivateKey()
had been called, except that the type of the
returned KeyObject
will be 'public'
and that the private key cannot be
extracted from the returned KeyObject
. Similarly, if a KeyObject
with type
'private'
is given, a new KeyObject
with type 'public'
will be returned
and it will be impossible to extract the private key from the returned object.
crypto.createSecretKey(key[, encoding])
#
Creates and returns a new key object containing a secret key for symmetric
encryption or Hmac
.
crypto.createSign(algorithm[, options])
#
Added in: v0.1.92
Creates and returns a Sign
object that uses the given algorithm
. Use
crypto.getHashes()
to obtain the names of the available digest algorithms.
Optional options
argument controls the stream.Writable
behavior.
In some cases, a Sign
instance can be created using the name of a signature
algorithm, such as 'RSA-SHA256'
, instead of a digest algorithm. This will use
the corresponding digest algorithm. This does not work for all signature
algorithms, such as 'ecdsa-with-SHA256'
, so it is best to always use digest
algorithm names.
crypto.createVerify(algorithm[, options])
#
Added in: v0.1.92
Creates and returns a Verify
object that uses the given algorithm.
Use crypto.getHashes()
to obtain an array of names of the available
signing algorithms. Optional options
argument controls the
stream.Writable
behavior.
In some cases, a Verify
instance can be created using the name of a signature
algorithm, such as 'RSA-SHA256'
, instead of a digest algorithm. This will use
the corresponding digest algorithm. This does not work for all signature
algorithms, such as 'ecdsa-with-SHA256'
, so it is best to always use digest
algorithm names.
crypto.diffieHellman(options)
#
Added in: v13.9.0, v12.17.0
Computes the Diffie-Hellman secret based on a privateKey
and a publicKey
.
Both keys must have the same asymmetricKeyType
, which must be one of 'dh'
(for Diffie-Hellman), 'ec'
(for ECDH), 'x448'
, or 'x25519'
(for ECDH-ES).
crypto.generateKey(type, options, callback)
#
Added in: v15.0.0
type
: <string> The intended use of the generated secret key. Currently
accepted values are 'hmac'
and 'aes'
.
options
: <Object>
length
: <number> The bit length of the key to generate. This must be a
value greater than 0.
- If
type
is 'hmac'
, the minimum is 8, and the maximum length is
231-1. If the value is not a multiple of 8, the generated
key will be truncated to Math.floor(length / 8)
.
- If
type
is 'aes'
, the length must be one of 128
, 192
, or 256
.
callback
: <Function>
Asynchronously generates a new random secret key of the given length
. The
type
will determine which validations will be performed on the length
.
const {
generateKey
} = await import('node:crypto');
generateKey('hmac', { length: 64 }, (err, key) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(key.export().toString('hex'));
});
const {
generateKey,
} = require('node:crypto');
generateKey('hmac', { length: 64 }, (err, key) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(key.export().toString('hex'));
});
crypto.generateKeyPair(type, options, callback)
#
type
: <string> Must be 'rsa'
, 'rsa-pss'
, 'dsa'
, 'ec'
, 'ed25519'
,
'ed448'
, 'x25519'
, 'x448'
, or 'dh'
.
options
: <Object>
callback
: <Function>
Generates a new asymmetric key pair of the given type
. RSA, RSA-PSS, DSA, EC,
Ed25519, Ed448, X25519, X448, and DH are currently supported.
If a publicKeyEncoding
or privateKeyEncoding
was specified, this function
behaves as if keyObject.export()
had been called on its result. Otherwise,
the respective part of the key is returned as a KeyObject
.
It is recommended to encode public keys as 'spki'
and private keys as
'pkcs8'
with encryption for long-term storage:
const {
generateKeyPair
} = await import('node:crypto');
generateKeyPair('rsa', {
modulusLength: 4096,
publicKeyEncoding: {
type: 'spki',
format: 'pem'
},
privateKeyEncoding: {
type: 'pkcs8',
format: 'pem',
cipher: 'aes-256-cbc',
passphrase: 'top secret'
}
}, (err, publicKey, privateKey) => {
});
const {
generateKeyPair,
} = require('node:crypto');
generateKeyPair('rsa', {
modulusLength: 4096,
publicKeyEncoding: {
type: 'spki',
format: 'pem'
},
privateKeyEncoding: {
type: 'pkcs8',
format: 'pem',
cipher: 'aes-256-cbc',
passphrase: 'top secret'
}
}, (err, publicKey, privateKey) => {
});
On completion, callback
will be called with err
set to undefined
and
publicKey
/ privateKey
representing the generated key pair.
If this method is invoked as its util.promisify()
ed version, it returns
a Promise
for an Object
with publicKey
and privateKey
properties.
crypto.generateKeyPairSync(type, options)
#
type
: <string> Must be 'rsa'
, 'rsa-pss'
, 'dsa'
, 'ec'
, 'ed25519'
,
'ed448'
, 'x25519'
, 'x448'
, or 'dh'
.
options
: <Object>
- Returns: <Object>
Generates a new asymmetric key pair of the given type
. RSA, RSA-PSS, DSA, EC,
Ed25519, Ed448, X25519, X448, and DH are currently supported.
If a publicKeyEncoding
or privateKeyEncoding
was specified, this function
behaves as if keyObject.export()
had been called on its result. Otherwise,
the respective part of the key is returned as a KeyObject
.
When encoding public keys, it is recommended to use 'spki'
. When encoding
private keys, it is recommended to use 'pkcs8'
with a strong passphrase,
and to keep the passphrase confidential.
const {
generateKeyPairSync
} = await import('node:crypto');
const {
publicKey,
privateKey,
} = generateKeyPairSync('rsa', {
modulusLength: 4096,
publicKeyEncoding: {
type: 'spki',
format: 'pem'
},
privateKeyEncoding: {
type: 'pkcs8',
format: 'pem',
cipher: 'aes-256-cbc',
passphrase: 'top secret'
}
});
const {
generateKeyPairSync,
} = require('node:crypto');
const {
publicKey,
privateKey,
} = generateKeyPairSync('rsa', {
modulusLength: 4096,
publicKeyEncoding: {
type: 'spki',
format: 'pem'
},
privateKeyEncoding: {
type: 'pkcs8',
format: 'pem',
cipher: 'aes-256-cbc',
passphrase: 'top secret'
}
});
The return value { publicKey, privateKey }
represents the generated key pair.
When PEM encoding was selected, the respective key will be a string, otherwise
it will be a buffer containing the data encoded as DER.
crypto.generateKeySync(type, options)
#
Added in: v15.0.0
type
: <string> The intended use of the generated secret key. Currently
accepted values are 'hmac'
and 'aes'
.
options
: <Object>
length
: <number> The bit length of the key to generate.
- If
type
is 'hmac'
, the minimum is 8, and the maximum length is
231-1. If the value is not a multiple of 8, the generated
key will be truncated to Math.floor(length / 8)
.
- If
type
is 'aes'
, the length must be one of 128
, 192
, or 256
.
- Returns: <KeyObject>
Synchronously generates a new random secret key of the given length
. The
type
will determine which validations will be performed on the length
.
const {
generateKeySync
} = await import('node:crypto');
const key = generateKeySync('hmac', { length: 64 });
console.log(key.export().toString('hex'));
const {
generateKeySync,
} = require('node:crypto');
const key = generateKeySync('hmac', { length: 64 });
console.log(key.export().toString('hex'));
crypto.generatePrime(size[, options[, callback]])
#
Added in: v15.8.0
Generates a pseudorandom prime of size
bits.
If options.safe
is true
, the prime will be a safe prime -- that is,
(prime - 1) / 2
will also be a prime.
The options.add
and options.rem
parameters can be used to enforce additional
requirements, e.g., for Diffie-Hellman:
- If
options.add
and options.rem
are both set, the prime will satisfy the
condition that prime % add = rem
.
- If only
options.add
is set and options.safe
is not true
, the prime will
satisfy the condition that prime % add = 1
.
- If only
options.add
is set and options.safe
is set to true
, the prime
will instead satisfy the condition that prime % add = 3
. This is necessary
because prime % add = 1
for options.add > 2
would contradict the condition
enforced by options.safe
.
options.rem
is ignored if options.add
is not given.
Both options.add
and options.rem
must be encoded as big-endian sequences
if given as an ArrayBuffer
, SharedArrayBuffer
, TypedArray
, Buffer
, or
DataView
.
By default, the prime is encoded as a big-endian sequence of octets
in an <ArrayBuffer>. If the bigint
option is true
, then a <bigint>
is provided.
crypto.generatePrimeSync(size[, options])
#
Added in: v15.8.0
Generates a pseudorandom prime of size
bits.
If options.safe
is true
, the prime will be a safe prime -- that is,
(prime - 1) / 2
will also be a prime.
The options.add
and options.rem
parameters can be used to enforce additional
requirements, e.g., for Diffie-Hellman:
- If
options.add
and options.rem
are both set, the prime will satisfy the
condition that prime % add = rem
.
- If only
options.add
is set and options.safe
is not true
, the prime will
satisfy the condition that prime % add = 1
.
- If only
options.add
is set and options.safe
is set to true
, the prime
will instead satisfy the condition that prime % add = 3
. This is necessary
because prime % add = 1
for options.add > 2
would contradict the condition
enforced by options.safe
.
options.rem
is ignored if options.add
is not given.
Both options.add
and options.rem
must be encoded as big-endian sequences
if given as an ArrayBuffer
, SharedArrayBuffer
, TypedArray
, Buffer
, or
DataView
.
By default, the prime is encoded as a big-endian sequence of octets
in an <ArrayBuffer>. If the bigint
option is true
, then a <bigint>
is provided.
crypto.getCipherInfo(nameOrNid[, options])
#
Added in: v15.0.0
nameOrNid
: <string> | <number> The name or nid of the cipher to query.
options
: <Object>
- Returns: <Object>
name
<string> The name of the cipher
nid
<number> The nid of the cipher
blockSize
<number> The block size of the cipher in bytes. This property
is omitted when mode
is 'stream'
.
ivLength
<number> The expected or default initialization vector length in
bytes. This property is omitted if the cipher does not use an initialization
vector.
keyLength
<number> The expected or default key length in bytes.
mode
<string> The cipher mode. One of 'cbc'
, 'ccm'
, 'cfb'
, 'ctr'
,
'ecb'
, 'gcm'
, 'ocb'
, 'ofb'
, 'stream'
, 'wrap'
, 'xts'
.
Returns information about a given cipher.
Some ciphers accept variable length keys and initialization vectors. By default,
the crypto.getCipherInfo()
method will return the default values for these
ciphers. To test if a given key length or iv length is acceptable for given
cipher, use the keyLength
and ivLength
options. If the given values are
unacceptable, undefined
will be returned.
crypto.getCiphers()
#
Added in: v0.9.3
- Returns: <string[]> An array with the names of the supported cipher
algorithms.
const {
getCiphers
} = await import('node:crypto');
console.log(getCiphers());
const {
getCiphers,
} = require('node:crypto');
console.log(getCiphers());
crypto.getCurves()
#
Added in: v2.3.0
- Returns: <string[]> An array with the names of the supported elliptic curves.
const {
getCurves
} = await import('node:crypto');
console.log(getCurves());
const {
getCurves,
} = require('node:crypto');
console.log(getCurves());
crypto.getDiffieHellman(groupName)
#
Added in: v0.7.5
Creates a predefined DiffieHellmanGroup
key exchange object. The
supported groups are listed in the documentation for DiffieHellmanGroup
.
The returned object mimics the interface of objects created by
crypto.createDiffieHellman()
, but will not allow changing
the keys (with diffieHellman.setPublicKey()
, for example). The
advantage of using this method is that the parties do not have to
generate nor exchange a group modulus beforehand, saving both processor
and communication time.
Example (obtaining a shared secret):
const {
getDiffieHellman
} = await import('node:crypto');
const alice = getDiffieHellman('modp14');
const bob = getDiffieHellman('modp14');
alice.generateKeys();
bob.generateKeys();
const aliceSecret = alice.computeSecret(bob.getPublicKey(), null, 'hex');
const bobSecret = bob.computeSecret(alice.getPublicKey(), null, 'hex');
console.log(aliceSecret === bobSecret);
const {
getDiffieHellman,
} = require('node:crypto');
const alice = getDiffieHellman('modp14');
const bob = getDiffieHellman('modp14');
alice.generateKeys();
bob.generateKeys();
const aliceSecret = alice.computeSecret(bob.getPublicKey(), null, 'hex');
const bobSecret = bob.computeSecret(alice.getPublicKey(), null, 'hex');
console.log(aliceSecret === bobSecret);
crypto.getFips()
#
Added in: v10.0.0
- Returns: <number>
1
if and only if a FIPS compliant crypto provider is
currently in use, 0
otherwise. A future semver-major release may change
the return type of this API to a <boolean>.
crypto.getHashes()
#
Added in: v0.9.3
- Returns: <string[]> An array of the names of the supported hash algorithms,
such as
'RSA-SHA256'
. Hash algorithms are also called "digest" algorithms.
const {
getHashes
} = await import('node:crypto');
console.log(getHashes());
const {
getHashes,
} = require('node:crypto');
console.log(getHashes());
crypto.hkdf(digest, ikm, salt, info, keylen, callback)
#
HKDF is a simple key derivation function defined in RFC 5869. The given ikm
,
salt
and info
are used with the digest
to derive a key of keylen
bytes.
The supplied callback
function is called with two arguments: err
and
derivedKey
. If an errors occurs while deriving the key, err
will be set;
otherwise err
will be null
. The successfully generated derivedKey
will
be passed to the callback as an <ArrayBuffer>. An error will be thrown if any
of the input arguments specify invalid values or types.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const {
hkdf
} = await import('node:crypto');
hkdf('sha512', 'key', 'salt', 'info', 64, (err, derivedKey) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(Buffer.from(derivedKey).toString('hex'));
});
const {
hkdf,
} = require('node:crypto');
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
hkdf('sha512', 'key', 'salt', 'info', 64, (err, derivedKey) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(Buffer.from(derivedKey).toString('hex'));
});
crypto.hkdfSync(digest, ikm, salt, info, keylen)
#
Provides a synchronous HKDF key derivation function as defined in RFC 5869. The
given ikm
, salt
and info
are used with the digest
to derive a key of
keylen
bytes.
The successfully generated derivedKey
will be returned as an <ArrayBuffer>.
An error will be thrown if any of the input arguments specify invalid values or
types, or if the derived key cannot be generated.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const {
hkdfSync
} = await import('node:crypto');
const derivedKey = hkdfSync('sha512', 'key', 'salt', 'info', 64);
console.log(Buffer.from(derivedKey).toString('hex'));
const {
hkdfSync,
} = require('node:crypto');
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const derivedKey = hkdfSync('sha512', 'key', 'salt', 'info', 64);
console.log(Buffer.from(derivedKey).toString('hex'));
crypto.pbkdf2(password, salt, iterations, keylen, digest, callback)
#
Provides an asynchronous Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2 (PBKDF2)
implementation. A selected HMAC digest algorithm specified by digest
is
applied to derive a key of the requested byte length (keylen
) from the
password
, salt
and iterations
.
The supplied callback
function is called with two arguments: err
and
derivedKey
. If an error occurs while deriving the key, err
will be set;
otherwise err
will be null
. By default, the successfully generated
derivedKey
will be passed to the callback as a Buffer
. An error will be
thrown if any of the input arguments specify invalid values or types.
The iterations
argument must be a number set as high as possible. The
higher the number of iterations, the more secure the derived key will be,
but will take a longer amount of time to complete.
The salt
should be as unique as possible. It is recommended that a salt is
random and at least 16 bytes long. See NIST SP 800-132 for details.
When passing strings for password
or salt
, please consider
caveats when using strings as inputs to cryptographic APIs.
const {
pbkdf2
} = await import('node:crypto');
pbkdf2('secret', 'salt', 100000, 64, 'sha512', (err, derivedKey) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(derivedKey.toString('hex'));
});
const {
pbkdf2,
} = require('node:crypto');
pbkdf2('secret', 'salt', 100000, 64, 'sha512', (err, derivedKey) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(derivedKey.toString('hex'));
});
The crypto.DEFAULT_ENCODING
property can be used to change the way the
derivedKey
is passed to the callback. This property, however, has been
deprecated and use should be avoided.
import crypto from 'node:crypto';
crypto.DEFAULT_ENCODING = 'hex';
crypto.pbkdf2('secret', 'salt', 100000, 512, 'sha512', (err, derivedKey) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(derivedKey);
});
const crypto = require('node:crypto');
crypto.DEFAULT_ENCODING = 'hex';
crypto.pbkdf2('secret', 'salt', 100000, 512, 'sha512', (err, derivedKey) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(derivedKey);
});
An array of supported digest functions can be retrieved using
crypto.getHashes()
.
This API uses libuv's threadpool, which can have surprising and
negative performance implications for some applications; see the
UV_THREADPOOL_SIZE
documentation for more information.
crypto.pbkdf2Sync(password, salt, iterations, keylen, digest)
#
Provides a synchronous Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2 (PBKDF2)
implementation. A selected HMAC digest algorithm specified by digest
is
applied to derive a key of the requested byte length (keylen
) from the
password
, salt
and iterations
.
If an error occurs an Error
will be thrown, otherwise the derived key will be
returned as a Buffer
.
The iterations
argument must be a number set as high as possible. The
higher the number of iterations, the more secure the derived key will be,
but will take a longer amount of time to complete.
The salt
should be as unique as possible. It is recommended that a salt is
random and at least 16 bytes long. See NIST SP 800-132 for details.
When passing strings for password
or salt
, please consider
caveats when using strings as inputs to cryptographic APIs.
const {
pbkdf2Sync
} = await import('node:crypto');
const key = pbkdf2Sync('secret', 'salt', 100000, 64, 'sha512');
console.log(key.toString('hex'));
const {
pbkdf2Sync,
} = require('node:crypto');
const key = pbkdf2Sync('secret', 'salt', 100000, 64, 'sha512');
console.log(key.toString('hex'));
The crypto.DEFAULT_ENCODING
property may be used to change the way the
derivedKey
is returned. This property, however, is deprecated and use
should be avoided.
import crypto from 'node:crypto';
crypto.DEFAULT_ENCODING = 'hex';
const key = crypto.pbkdf2Sync('secret', 'salt', 100000, 512, 'sha512');
console.log(key);
const crypto = require('node:crypto');
crypto.DEFAULT_ENCODING = 'hex';
const key = crypto.pbkdf2Sync('secret', 'salt', 100000, 512, 'sha512');
console.log(key);
An array of supported digest functions can be retrieved using
crypto.getHashes()
.
crypto.privateDecrypt(privateKey, buffer)
#
Decrypts buffer
with privateKey
. buffer
was previously encrypted using
the corresponding public key, for example using crypto.publicEncrypt()
.
If privateKey
is not a KeyObject
, this function behaves as if
privateKey
had been passed to crypto.createPrivateKey()
. If it is an
object, the padding
property can be passed. Otherwise, this function uses
RSA_PKCS1_OAEP_PADDING
.
crypto.privateEncrypt(privateKey, buffer)
#
Encrypts buffer
with privateKey
. The returned data can be decrypted using
the corresponding public key, for example using crypto.publicDecrypt()
.
If privateKey
is not a KeyObject
, this function behaves as if
privateKey
had been passed to crypto.createPrivateKey()
. If it is an
object, the padding
property can be passed. Otherwise, this function uses
RSA_PKCS1_PADDING
.
crypto.publicDecrypt(key, buffer)
#
Decrypts buffer
with key
.buffer
was previously encrypted using
the corresponding private key, for example using crypto.privateEncrypt()
.
If key
is not a KeyObject
, this function behaves as if
key
had been passed to crypto.createPublicKey()
. If it is an
object, the padding
property can be passed. Otherwise, this function uses
RSA_PKCS1_PADDING
.
Because RSA public keys can be derived from private keys, a private key may
be passed instead of a public key.
crypto.publicEncrypt(key, buffer)
#
Encrypts the content of buffer
with key
and returns a new
Buffer
with encrypted content. The returned data can be decrypted using
the corresponding private key, for example using crypto.privateDecrypt()
.
If key
is not a KeyObject
, this function behaves as if
key
had been passed to crypto.createPublicKey()
. If it is an
object, the padding
property can be passed. Otherwise, this function uses
RSA_PKCS1_OAEP_PADDING
.
Because RSA public keys can be derived from private keys, a private key may
be passed instead of a public key.
crypto.randomBytes(size[, callback])
#
size
<number> The number of bytes to generate. The size
must
not be larger than 2**31 - 1
.
callback
<Function>
- Returns: <Buffer> if the
callback
function is not provided.
Generates cryptographically strong pseudorandom data. The size
argument
is a number indicating the number of bytes to generate.
If a callback
function is provided, the bytes are generated asynchronously
and the callback
function is invoked with two arguments: err
and buf
.
If an error occurs, err
will be an Error
object; otherwise it is null
. The
buf
argument is a Buffer
containing the generated bytes.
const {
randomBytes
} = await import('node:crypto');
randomBytes(256, (err, buf) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(`${buf.length} bytes of random data: ${buf.toString('hex')}`);
});
const {
randomBytes,
} = require('node:crypto');
randomBytes(256, (err, buf) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(`${buf.length} bytes of random data: ${buf.toString('hex')}`);
});
If the callback
function is not provided, the random bytes are generated
synchronously and returned as a Buffer
. An error will be thrown if
there is a problem generating the bytes.
const {
randomBytes
} = await import('node:crypto');
const buf = randomBytes(256);
console.log(
`${buf.length} bytes of random data: ${buf.toString('hex')}`);
const {
randomBytes,
} = require('node:crypto');
const buf = randomBytes(256);
console.log(
`${buf.length} bytes of random data: ${buf.toString('hex')}`);
The crypto.randomBytes()
method will not complete until there is
sufficient entropy available.
This should normally never take longer than a few milliseconds. The only time
when generating the random bytes may conceivably block for a longer period of
time is right after boot, when the whole system is still low on entropy.
This API uses libuv's threadpool, which can have surprising and
negative performance implications for some applications; see the
UV_THREADPOOL_SIZE
documentation for more information.
The asynchronous version of crypto.randomBytes()
is carried out in a single
threadpool request. To minimize threadpool task length variation, partition
large randomBytes
requests when doing so as part of fulfilling a client
request.
crypto.randomFillSync(buffer[, offset][, size])
#
Synchronous version of crypto.randomFill()
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const { randomFillSync } = await import('node:crypto');
const buf = Buffer.alloc(10);
console.log(randomFillSync(buf).toString('hex'));
randomFillSync(buf, 5);
console.log(buf.toString('hex'));
randomFillSync(buf, 5, 5);
console.log(buf.toString('hex'));
const { randomFillSync } = require('node:crypto');
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.alloc(10);
console.log(randomFillSync(buf).toString('hex'));
randomFillSync(buf, 5);
console.log(buf.toString('hex'));
randomFillSync(buf, 5, 5);
console.log(buf.toString('hex'));
Any ArrayBuffer
, TypedArray
or DataView
instance may be passed as
buffer
.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const { randomFillSync } = await import('node:crypto');
const a = new Uint32Array(10);
console.log(Buffer.from(randomFillSync(a).buffer,
a.byteOffset, a.byteLength).toString('hex'));
const b = new DataView(new ArrayBuffer(10));
console.log(Buffer.from(randomFillSync(b).buffer,
b.byteOffset, b.byteLength).toString('hex'));
const c = new ArrayBuffer(10);
console.log(Buffer.from(randomFillSync(c)).toString('hex'));
const { randomFillSync } = require('node:crypto');
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const a = new Uint32Array(10);
console.log(Buffer.from(randomFillSync(a).buffer,
a.byteOffset, a.byteLength).toString('hex'));
const b = new DataView(new ArrayBuffer(10));
console.log(Buffer.from(randomFillSync(b).buffer,
b.byteOffset, b.byteLength).toString('hex'));
const c = new ArrayBuffer(10);
console.log(Buffer.from(randomFillSync(c)).toString('hex'));
crypto.randomFill(buffer[, offset][, size], callback)
#
This function is similar to crypto.randomBytes()
but requires the first
argument to be a Buffer
that will be filled. It also
requires that a callback is passed in.
If the callback
function is not provided, an error will be thrown.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const { randomFill } = await import('node:crypto');
const buf = Buffer.alloc(10);
randomFill(buf, (err, buf) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(buf.toString('hex'));
});
randomFill(buf, 5, (err, buf) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(buf.toString('hex'));
});
randomFill(buf, 5, 5, (err, buf) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(buf.toString('hex'));
});
const { randomFill } = require('node:crypto');
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const buf = Buffer.alloc(10);
randomFill(buf, (err, buf) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(buf.toString('hex'));
});
randomFill(buf, 5, (err, buf) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(buf.toString('hex'));
});
randomFill(buf, 5, 5, (err, buf) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(buf.toString('hex'));
});
Any ArrayBuffer
, TypedArray
, or DataView
instance may be passed as
buffer
.
While this includes instances of Float32Array
and Float64Array
, this
function should not be used to generate random floating-point numbers. The
result may contain +Infinity
, -Infinity
, and NaN
, and even if the array
contains finite numbers only, they are not drawn from a uniform random
distribution and have no meaningful lower or upper bounds.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const { randomFill } = await import('node:crypto');
const a = new Uint32Array(10);
randomFill(a, (err, buf) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(Buffer.from(buf.buffer, buf.byteOffset, buf.byteLength)
.toString('hex'));
});
const b = new DataView(new ArrayBuffer(10));
randomFill(b, (err, buf) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(Buffer.from(buf.buffer, buf.byteOffset, buf.byteLength)
.toString('hex'));
});
const c = new ArrayBuffer(10);
randomFill(c, (err, buf) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(Buffer.from(buf).toString('hex'));
});
const { randomFill } = require('node:crypto');
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const a = new Uint32Array(10);
randomFill(a, (err, buf) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(Buffer.from(buf.buffer, buf.byteOffset, buf.byteLength)
.toString('hex'));
});
const b = new DataView(new ArrayBuffer(10));
randomFill(b, (err, buf) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(Buffer.from(buf.buffer, buf.byteOffset, buf.byteLength)
.toString('hex'));
});
const c = new ArrayBuffer(10);
randomFill(c, (err, buf) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(Buffer.from(buf).toString('hex'));
});
This API uses libuv's threadpool, which can have surprising and
negative performance implications for some applications; see the
UV_THREADPOOL_SIZE
documentation for more information.
The asynchronous version of crypto.randomFill()
is carried out in a single
threadpool request. To minimize threadpool task length variation, partition
large randomFill
requests when doing so as part of fulfilling a client
request.
crypto.randomInt([min, ]max[, callback])
#
Added in: v14.10.0, v12.19.0
min
<integer> Start of random range (inclusive). Default: 0
.
max
<integer> End of random range (exclusive).
callback
<Function> function(err, n) {}
.
Return a random integer n
such that min <= n < max
. This
implementation avoids modulo bias.
The range (max - min
) must be less than 248. min
and max
must
be safe integers.
If the callback
function is not provided, the random integer is
generated synchronously.
const {
randomInt
} = await import('node:crypto');
randomInt(3, (err, n) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(`Random number chosen from (0, 1, 2): ${n}`);
});
const {
randomInt,
} = require('node:crypto');
randomInt(3, (err, n) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(`Random number chosen from (0, 1, 2): ${n}`);
});
const {
randomInt
} = await import('node:crypto');
const n = randomInt(3);
console.log(`Random number chosen from (0, 1, 2): ${n}`);
const {
randomInt,
} = require('node:crypto');
const n = randomInt(3);
console.log(`Random number chosen from (0, 1, 2): ${n}`);
const {
randomInt
} = await import('node:crypto');
const n = randomInt(1, 7);
console.log(`The dice rolled: ${n}`);
const {
randomInt,
} = require('node:crypto');
const n = randomInt(1, 7);
console.log(`The dice rolled: ${n}`);
crypto.randomUUID([options])
#
Added in: v15.6.0
options
<Object>
disableEntropyCache
<boolean> By default, to improve performance,
Node.js generates and caches enough
random data to generate up to 128 random UUIDs. To generate a UUID
without using the cache, set disableEntropyCache
to true
.
Default: false
.
- Returns: <string>
Generates a random RFC 4122 version 4 UUID. The UUID is generated using a
cryptographic pseudorandom number generator.
crypto.scrypt(password, salt, keylen[, options], callback)
#
Provides an asynchronous scrypt implementation. Scrypt is a password-based
key derivation function that is designed to be expensive computationally and
memory-wise in order to make brute-force attacks unrewarding.
The salt
should be as unique as possible. It is recommended that a salt is
random and at least 16 bytes long. See NIST SP 800-132 for details.
When passing strings for password
or salt
, please consider
caveats when using strings as inputs to cryptographic APIs.
The callback
function is called with two arguments: err
and derivedKey
.
err
is an exception object when key derivation fails, otherwise err
is
null
. derivedKey
is passed to the callback as a Buffer
.
An exception is thrown when any of the input arguments specify invalid values
or types.
const {
scrypt
} = await import('node:crypto');
scrypt('password', 'salt', 64, (err, derivedKey) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(derivedKey.toString('hex'));
});
scrypt('password', 'salt', 64, { N: 1024 }, (err, derivedKey) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(derivedKey.toString('hex'));
});
const {
scrypt,
} = require('node:crypto');
scrypt('password', 'salt', 64, (err, derivedKey) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(derivedKey.toString('hex'));
});
scrypt('password', 'salt', 64, { N: 1024 }, (err, derivedKey) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(derivedKey.toString('hex'));
});
crypto.scryptSync(password, salt, keylen[, options])
#
Provides a synchronous scrypt implementation. Scrypt is a password-based
key derivation function that is designed to be expensive computationally and
memory-wise in order to make brute-force attacks unrewarding.
The salt
should be as unique as possible. It is recommended that a salt is
random and at least 16 bytes long. See NIST SP 800-132 for details.
When passing strings for password
or salt
, please consider
caveats when using strings as inputs to cryptographic APIs.
An exception is thrown when key derivation fails, otherwise the derived key is
returned as a Buffer
.
An exception is thrown when any of the input arguments specify invalid values
or types.
const {
scryptSync
} = await import('node:crypto');
const key1 = scryptSync('password', 'salt', 64);
console.log(key1.toString('hex'));
const key2 = scryptSync('password', 'salt', 64, { N: 1024 });
console.log(key2.toString('hex'));
const {
scryptSync,
} = require('node:crypto');
const key1 = scryptSync('password', 'salt', 64);
console.log(key1.toString('hex'));
const key2 = scryptSync('password', 'salt', 64, { N: 1024 });
console.log(key2.toString('hex'));
crypto.secureHeapUsed()
#
Added in: v15.6.0
- Returns: <Object>
total
<number> The total allocated secure heap size as specified
using the --secure-heap=n
command-line flag.
min
<number> The minimum allocation from the secure heap as
specified using the --secure-heap-min
command-line flag.
used
<number> The total number of bytes currently allocated from
the secure heap.
utilization
<number> The calculated ratio of used
to total
allocated bytes.
crypto.setEngine(engine[, flags])
#
Added in: v0.11.11
Load and set the engine
for some or all OpenSSL functions (selected by flags).
engine
could be either an id or a path to the engine's shared library.
The optional flags
argument uses ENGINE_METHOD_ALL
by default. The flags
is a bit field taking one of or a mix of the following flags (defined in
crypto.constants
):
crypto.constants.ENGINE_METHOD_RSA
crypto.constants.ENGINE_METHOD_DSA
crypto.constants.ENGINE_METHOD_DH
crypto.constants.ENGINE_METHOD_RAND
crypto.constants.ENGINE_METHOD_EC
crypto.constants.ENGINE_METHOD_CIPHERS
crypto.constants.ENGINE_METHOD_DIGESTS
crypto.constants.ENGINE_METHOD_PKEY_METHS
crypto.constants.ENGINE_METHOD_PKEY_ASN1_METHS
crypto.constants.ENGINE_METHOD_ALL
crypto.constants.ENGINE_METHOD_NONE
crypto.setFips(bool)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Enables the FIPS compliant crypto provider in a FIPS-enabled Node.js build.
Throws an error if FIPS mode is not available.
crypto.sign(algorithm, data, key[, callback])
#
Calculates and returns the signature for data
using the given private key and
algorithm. If algorithm
is null
or undefined
, then the algorithm is
dependent upon the key type (especially Ed25519 and Ed448).
If key
is not a KeyObject
, this function behaves as if key
had been
passed to crypto.createPrivateKey()
. If it is an object, the following
additional properties can be passed:
-
dsaEncoding
<string> For DSA and ECDSA, this option specifies the
format of the generated signature. It can be one of the following:
'der'
(default): DER-encoded ASN.1 signature structure encoding (r, s)
.
'ieee-p1363'
: Signature format r || s
as proposed in IEEE-P1363.
-
padding
<integer> Optional padding value for RSA, one of the following:
crypto.constants.RSA_PKCS1_PADDING
(default)
crypto.constants.RSA_PKCS1_PSS_PADDING
RSA_PKCS1_PSS_PADDING
will use MGF1 with the same hash function
used to sign the message as specified in section 3.1 of RFC 4055.
-
saltLength
<integer> Salt length for when padding is
RSA_PKCS1_PSS_PADDING
. The special value
crypto.constants.RSA_PSS_SALTLEN_DIGEST
sets the salt length to the digest
size, crypto.constants.RSA_PSS_SALTLEN_MAX_SIGN
(default) sets it to the
maximum permissible value.
If the callback
function is provided this function uses libuv's threadpool.
crypto.timingSafeEqual(a, b)
#
This function compares the underlying bytes that represent the given
ArrayBuffer
, TypedArray
, or DataView
instances using a constant-time
algorithm.
This function does not leak timing information that
would allow an attacker to guess one of the values. This is suitable for
comparing HMAC digests or secret values like authentication cookies or
capability urls.
a
and b
must both be Buffer
s, TypedArray
s, or DataView
s, and they
must have the same byte length. An error is thrown if a
and b
have
different byte lengths.
If at least one of a
and b
is a TypedArray
with more than one byte per
entry, such as Uint16Array
, the result will be computed using the platform
byte order.
When both of the inputs are Float32Array
s or
Float64Array
s, this function might return unexpected results due to IEEE 754
encoding of floating-point numbers. In particular, neither x === y
nor
Object.is(x, y)
implies that the byte representations of two floating-point
numbers x
and y
are equal.
Use of crypto.timingSafeEqual
does not guarantee that the surrounding code
is timing-safe. Care should be taken to ensure that the surrounding code does
not introduce timing vulnerabilities.
crypto.verify(algorithm, data, key, signature[, callback])
#
Verifies the given signature for data
using the given key and algorithm. If
algorithm
is null
or undefined
, then the algorithm is dependent upon the
key type (especially Ed25519 and Ed448).
If key
is not a KeyObject
, this function behaves as if key
had been
passed to crypto.createPublicKey()
. If it is an object, the following
additional properties can be passed:
-
dsaEncoding
<string> For DSA and ECDSA, this option specifies the
format of the signature. It can be one of the following:
'der'
(default): DER-encoded ASN.1 signature structure encoding (r, s)
.
'ieee-p1363'
: Signature format r || s
as proposed in IEEE-P1363.
-
padding
<integer> Optional padding value for RSA, one of the following:
crypto.constants.RSA_PKCS1_PADDING
(default)
crypto.constants.RSA_PKCS1_PSS_PADDING
RSA_PKCS1_PSS_PADDING
will use MGF1 with the same hash function
used to sign the message as specified in section 3.1 of RFC 4055.
-
saltLength
<integer> Salt length for when padding is
RSA_PKCS1_PSS_PADDING
. The special value
crypto.constants.RSA_PSS_SALTLEN_DIGEST
sets the salt length to the digest
size, crypto.constants.RSA_PSS_SALTLEN_MAX_SIGN
(default) sets it to the
maximum permissible value.
The signature
argument is the previously calculated signature for the data
.
Because public keys can be derived from private keys, a private key or a public
key may be passed for key
.
If the callback
function is provided this function uses libuv's threadpool.
crypto.webcrypto
#
Added in: v15.0.0
Type: <Crypto> An implementation of the Web Crypto API standard.
See the Web Crypto API documentation for details.
Notes#
Using strings as inputs to cryptographic APIs#
For historical reasons, many cryptographic APIs provided by Node.js accept
strings as inputs where the underlying cryptographic algorithm works on byte
sequences. These instances include plaintexts, ciphertexts, symmetric keys,
initialization vectors, passphrases, salts, authentication tags,
and additional authenticated data.
When passing strings to cryptographic APIs, consider the following factors.
-
Not all byte sequences are valid UTF-8 strings. Therefore, when a byte
sequence of length n
is derived from a string, its entropy is generally
lower than the entropy of a random or pseudorandom n
byte sequence.
For example, no UTF-8 string will result in the byte sequence c0 af
. Secret
keys should almost exclusively be random or pseudorandom byte sequences.
-
Similarly, when converting random or pseudorandom byte sequences to UTF-8
strings, subsequences that do not represent valid code points may be replaced
by the Unicode replacement character (U+FFFD
). The byte representation of
the resulting Unicode string may, therefore, not be equal to the byte sequence
that the string was created from.
const original = [0xc0, 0xaf];
const bytesAsString = Buffer.from(original).toString('utf8');
const stringAsBytes = Buffer.from(bytesAsString, 'utf8');
console.log(stringAsBytes);
The outputs of ciphers, hash functions, signature algorithms, and key
derivation functions are pseudorandom byte sequences and should not be
used as Unicode strings.
-
When strings are obtained from user input, some Unicode characters can be
represented in multiple equivalent ways that result in different byte
sequences. For example, when passing a user passphrase to a key derivation
function, such as PBKDF2 or scrypt, the result of the key derivation function
depends on whether the string uses composed or decomposed characters. Node.js
does not normalize character representations. Developers should consider using
String.prototype.normalize()
on user inputs before passing them to
cryptographic APIs.
Legacy streams API (prior to Node.js 0.10)#
The Crypto module was added to Node.js before there was the concept of a
unified Stream API, and before there were Buffer
objects for handling
binary data. As such, the many of the crypto
defined classes have methods not
typically found on other Node.js classes that implement the streams
API (e.g. update()
, final()
, or digest()
). Also, many methods accepted
and returned 'latin1'
encoded strings by default rather than Buffer
s. This
default was changed after Node.js v0.8 to use Buffer
objects by default
instead.
Support for weak or compromised algorithms#
The node:crypto
module still supports some algorithms which are already
compromised and are not currently recommended for use. The API also allows
the use of ciphers and hashes with a small key size that are too weak for safe
use.
Users should take full responsibility for selecting the crypto
algorithm and key size according to their security requirements.
Based on the recommendations of NIST SP 800-131A:
- MD5 and SHA-1 are no longer acceptable where collision resistance is
required such as digital signatures.
- The key used with RSA, DSA, and DH algorithms is recommended to have
at least 2048 bits and that of the curve of ECDSA and ECDH at least
224 bits, to be safe to use for several years.
- The DH groups of
modp1
, modp2
and modp5
have a key size
smaller than 2048 bits and are not recommended.
See the reference for other recommendations and details.
CCM mode#
CCM is one of the supported AEAD algorithms. Applications which use this
mode must adhere to certain restrictions when using the cipher API:
- The authentication tag length must be specified during cipher creation by
setting the
authTagLength
option and must be one of 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 or
16 bytes.
- The length of the initialization vector (nonce)
N
must be between 7 and 13
bytes (7 ≤ N ≤ 13
).
- The length of the plaintext is limited to
2 ** (8 * (15 - N))
bytes.
- When decrypting, the authentication tag must be set via
setAuthTag()
before
calling update()
.
Otherwise, decryption will fail and final()
will throw an error in
compliance with section 2.6 of RFC 3610.
- Using stream methods such as
write(data)
, end(data)
or pipe()
in CCM
mode might fail as CCM cannot handle more than one chunk of data per instance.
- When passing additional authenticated data (AAD), the length of the actual
message in bytes must be passed to
setAAD()
via the plaintextLength
option.
Many crypto libraries include the authentication tag in the ciphertext,
which means that they produce ciphertexts of the length
plaintextLength + authTagLength
. Node.js does not include the authentication
tag, so the ciphertext length is always plaintextLength
.
This is not necessary if no AAD is used.
- As CCM processes the whole message at once,
update()
must be called exactly
once.
- Even though calling
update()
is sufficient to encrypt/decrypt the message,
applications must call final()
to compute or verify the
authentication tag.
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const {
createCipheriv,
createDecipheriv,
randomBytes
} = await import('node:crypto');
const key = 'keykeykeykeykeykeykeykey';
const nonce = randomBytes(12);
const aad = Buffer.from('0123456789', 'hex');
const cipher = createCipheriv('aes-192-ccm', key, nonce, {
authTagLength: 16
});
const plaintext = 'Hello world';
cipher.setAAD(aad, {
plaintextLength: Buffer.byteLength(plaintext)
});
const ciphertext = cipher.update(plaintext, 'utf8');
cipher.final();
const tag = cipher.getAuthTag();
const decipher = createDecipheriv('aes-192-ccm', key, nonce, {
authTagLength: 16
});
decipher.setAuthTag(tag);
decipher.setAAD(aad, {
plaintextLength: ciphertext.length
});
const receivedPlaintext = decipher.update(ciphertext, null, 'utf8');
try {
decipher.final();
} catch (err) {
throw new Error('Authentication failed!', { cause: err });
}
console.log(receivedPlaintext);
const { Buffer } = require('node:buffer');
const {
createCipheriv,
createDecipheriv,
randomBytes,
} = require('node:crypto');
const key = 'keykeykeykeykeykeykeykey';
const nonce = randomBytes(12);
const aad = Buffer.from('0123456789', 'hex');
const cipher = createCipheriv('aes-192-ccm', key, nonce, {
authTagLength: 16
});
const plaintext = 'Hello world';
cipher.setAAD(aad, {
plaintextLength: Buffer.byteLength(plaintext)
});
const ciphertext = cipher.update(plaintext, 'utf8');
cipher.final();
const tag = cipher.getAuthTag();
const decipher = createDecipheriv('aes-192-ccm', key, nonce, {
authTagLength: 16
});
decipher.setAuthTag(tag);
decipher.setAAD(aad, {
plaintextLength: ciphertext.length
});
const receivedPlaintext = decipher.update(ciphertext, null, 'utf8');
try {
decipher.final();
} catch (err) {
throw new Error('Authentication failed!', { cause: err });
}
console.log(receivedPlaintext);
Crypto constants#
The following constants exported by crypto.constants
apply to various uses of
the node:crypto
, node:tls
, and node:https
modules and are generally
specific to OpenSSL.
OpenSSL options#
See the list of SSL OP Flags for details.
Constant |
Description |
SSL_OP_ALL |
Applies multiple bug workarounds within OpenSSL. See
https://www.openssl.org/docs/man1.0.2/ssl/SSL_CTX_set_options.html
for detail. |
SSL_OP_ALLOW_NO_DHE_KEX |
Instructs OpenSSL to allow a non-[EC]DHE-based key exchange mode
for TLS v1.3 |
SSL_OP_ALLOW_UNSAFE_LEGACY_RENEGOTIATION |
Allows legacy insecure renegotiation between OpenSSL and unpatched
clients or servers. See
https://www.openssl.org/docs/man1.0.2/ssl/SSL_CTX_set_options.html. |
SSL_OP_CIPHER_SERVER_PREFERENCE |
Attempts to use the server's preferences instead of the client's when
selecting a cipher. Behavior depends on protocol version. See
https://www.openssl.org/docs/man1.0.2/ssl/SSL_CTX_set_options.html. |
SSL_OP_CISCO_ANYCONNECT |
Instructs OpenSSL to use Cisco's "speshul" version of DTLS_BAD_VER. |
SSL_OP_COOKIE_EXCHANGE |
Instructs OpenSSL to turn on cookie exchange. |
SSL_OP_CRYPTOPRO_TLSEXT_BUG |
Instructs OpenSSL to add server-hello extension from an early version
of the cryptopro draft. |
SSL_OP_DONT_INSERT_EMPTY_FRAGMENTS |
Instructs OpenSSL to disable a SSL 3.0/TLS 1.0 vulnerability
workaround added in OpenSSL 0.9.6d. |
SSL_OP_EPHEMERAL_RSA |
Instructs OpenSSL to always use the tmp_rsa key when performing RSA
operations. |
SSL_OP_LEGACY_SERVER_CONNECT |
Allows initial connection to servers that do not support RI. |
SSL_OP_MICROSOFT_BIG_SSLV3_BUFFER |
|
SSL_OP_MICROSOFT_SESS_ID_BUG |
|
SSL_OP_MSIE_SSLV2_RSA_PADDING |
Instructs OpenSSL to disable the workaround for a man-in-the-middle
protocol-version vulnerability in the SSL 2.0 server implementation. |
SSL_OP_NETSCAPE_CA_DN_BUG |
|
SSL_OP_NETSCAPE_CHALLENGE_BUG |
|
SSL_OP_NETSCAPE_DEMO_CIPHER_CHANGE_BUG |
|
SSL_OP_NETSCAPE_REUSE_CIPHER_CHANGE_BUG |
|
SSL_OP_NO_COMPRESSION |
Instructs OpenSSL to disable support for SSL/TLS compression. |
SSL_OP_NO_ENCRYPT_THEN_MAC |
Instructs OpenSSL to disable encrypt-then-MAC. |
SSL_OP_NO_QUERY_MTU |
|
SSL_OP_NO_RENEGOTIATION |
Instructs OpenSSL to disable renegotiation. |
SSL_OP_NO_SESSION_RESUMPTION_ON_RENEGOTIATION |
Instructs OpenSSL to always start a new session when performing
renegotiation. |
SSL_OP_NO_SSLv2 |
Instructs OpenSSL to turn off SSL v2 |
SSL_OP_NO_SSLv3 |
Instructs OpenSSL to turn off SSL v3 |
SSL_OP_NO_TICKET |
Instructs OpenSSL to disable use of RFC4507bis tickets. |
SSL_OP_NO_TLSv1 |
Instructs OpenSSL to turn off TLS v1 |
SSL_OP_NO_TLSv1_1 |
Instructs OpenSSL to turn off TLS v1.1 |
SSL_OP_NO_TLSv1_2 |
Instructs OpenSSL to turn off TLS v1.2 |
SSL_OP_NO_TLSv1_3 |
Instructs OpenSSL to turn off TLS v1.3 |
SSL_OP_PKCS1_CHECK_1 |
|
SSL_OP_PKCS1_CHECK_2 |
|
SSL_OP_PRIORITIZE_CHACHA |
Instructs OpenSSL server to prioritize ChaCha20-Poly1305
when the client does.
This option has no effect if
SSL_OP_CIPHER_SERVER_PREFERENCE
is not enabled. |
SSL_OP_SINGLE_DH_USE |
Instructs OpenSSL to always create a new key when using
temporary/ephemeral DH parameters. |
SSL_OP_SINGLE_ECDH_USE |
Instructs OpenSSL to always create a new key when using
temporary/ephemeral ECDH parameters. |
SSL_OP_SSLEAY_080_CLIENT_DH_BUG |
|
SSL_OP_SSLREF2_REUSE_CERT_TYPE_BUG |
|
SSL_OP_TLS_BLOCK_PADDING_BUG |
|
SSL_OP_TLS_D5_BUG |
|
SSL_OP_TLS_ROLLBACK_BUG |
Instructs OpenSSL to disable version rollback attack detection. |
OpenSSL engine constants#
Constant |
Description |
ENGINE_METHOD_RSA |
Limit engine usage to RSA |
ENGINE_METHOD_DSA |
Limit engine usage to DSA |
ENGINE_METHOD_DH |
Limit engine usage to DH |
ENGINE_METHOD_RAND |
Limit engine usage to RAND |
ENGINE_METHOD_EC |
Limit engine usage to EC |
ENGINE_METHOD_CIPHERS |
Limit engine usage to CIPHERS |
ENGINE_METHOD_DIGESTS |
Limit engine usage to DIGESTS |
ENGINE_METHOD_PKEY_METHS |
Limit engine usage to PKEY_METHDS |
ENGINE_METHOD_PKEY_ASN1_METHS |
Limit engine usage to PKEY_ASN1_METHS |
ENGINE_METHOD_ALL |
|
ENGINE_METHOD_NONE |
|
Other OpenSSL constants#
Constant |
Description |
DH_CHECK_P_NOT_SAFE_PRIME |
|
DH_CHECK_P_NOT_PRIME |
|
DH_UNABLE_TO_CHECK_GENERATOR |
|
DH_NOT_SUITABLE_GENERATOR |
|
ALPN_ENABLED |
|
RSA_PKCS1_PADDING |
|
RSA_SSLV23_PADDING |
|
RSA_NO_PADDING |
|
RSA_PKCS1_OAEP_PADDING |
|
RSA_X931_PADDING |
|
RSA_PKCS1_PSS_PADDING |
|
RSA_PSS_SALTLEN_DIGEST |
Sets the salt length for RSA_PKCS1_PSS_PADDING to the
digest size when signing or verifying. |
RSA_PSS_SALTLEN_MAX_SIGN |
Sets the salt length for RSA_PKCS1_PSS_PADDING to the
maximum permissible value when signing data. |
RSA_PSS_SALTLEN_AUTO |
Causes the salt length for RSA_PKCS1_PSS_PADDING to be
determined automatically when verifying a signature. |
POINT_CONVERSION_COMPRESSED |
|
POINT_CONVERSION_UNCOMPRESSED |
|
POINT_CONVERSION_HYBRID |
|
Node.js crypto constants#
Constant |
Description |
defaultCoreCipherList |
Specifies the built-in default cipher list used by Node.js. |
defaultCipherList |
Specifies the active default cipher list used by the current Node.js
process. |
Deprecated APIs#
Node.js APIs might be deprecated for any of the following reasons:
- Use of the API is unsafe.
- An improved alternative API is available.
- Breaking changes to the API are expected in a future major release.
Node.js uses three kinds of Deprecations:
- Documentation-only
- Runtime
- End-of-Life
A Documentation-only deprecation is one that is expressed only within the
Node.js API docs. These generate no side-effects while running Node.js.
Some Documentation-only deprecations trigger a runtime warning when launched
with --pending-deprecation
flag (or its alternative,
NODE_PENDING_DEPRECATION=1
environment variable), similarly to Runtime
deprecations below. Documentation-only deprecations that support that flag
are explicitly labeled as such in the
list of Deprecated APIs.
A Runtime deprecation will, by default, generate a process warning that will
be printed to stderr
the first time the deprecated API is used. When the
--throw-deprecation
command-line flag is used, a Runtime deprecation will
cause an error to be thrown.
An End-of-Life deprecation is used when functionality is or will soon be removed
from Node.js.
Revoking deprecations#
Occasionally, the deprecation of an API might be reversed. In such situations,
this document will be updated with information relevant to the decision.
However, the deprecation identifier will not be modified.
List of deprecated APIs#
DEP0001: http.OutgoingMessage.prototype.flush
#
Type: End-of-Life
OutgoingMessage.prototype.flush()
has been removed. Use
OutgoingMessage.prototype.flushHeaders()
instead.
DEP0002: require('_linklist')
#
Type: End-of-Life
The _linklist
module is deprecated. Please use a userland alternative.
DEP0003: _writableState.buffer
#
Type: End-of-Life
The _writableState.buffer
has been removed. Use _writableState.getBuffer()
instead.
DEP0004: CryptoStream.prototype.readyState
#
Type: End-of-Life
The CryptoStream.prototype.readyState
property was removed.
DEP0005: Buffer()
constructor#
Type: Runtime (supports --pending-deprecation
)
The Buffer()
function and new Buffer()
constructor are deprecated due to
API usability issues that can lead to accidental security issues.
As an alternative, use one of the following methods of constructing Buffer
objects:
Without --pending-deprecation
, runtime warnings occur only for code not in
node_modules
. This means there will not be deprecation warnings for
Buffer()
usage in dependencies. With --pending-deprecation
, a runtime
warning results no matter where the Buffer()
usage occurs.
DEP0006: child_process
options.customFds
#
Type: End-of-Life
Within the child_process
module's spawn()
, fork()
, and exec()
methods, the options.customFds
option is deprecated. The options.stdio
option should be used instead.
DEP0007: Replace cluster
worker.suicide
with worker.exitedAfterDisconnect
#
Type: End-of-Life
In an earlier version of the Node.js cluster
, a boolean property with the name
suicide
was added to the Worker
object. The intent of this property was to
provide an indication of how and why the Worker
instance exited. In Node.js
6.0.0, the old property was deprecated and replaced with a new
worker.exitedAfterDisconnect
property. The old property name did not
precisely describe the actual semantics and was unnecessarily emotion-laden.
DEP0008: require('node:constants')
#
Type: Documentation-only
The node:constants
module is deprecated. When requiring access to constants
relevant to specific Node.js builtin modules, developers should instead refer
to the constants
property exposed by the relevant module. For instance,
require('node:fs').constants
and require('node:os').constants
.
DEP0009: crypto.pbkdf2
without digest#
Type: End-of-Life
Use of the crypto.pbkdf2()
API without specifying a digest was deprecated
in Node.js 6.0 because the method defaulted to using the non-recommended
'SHA1'
digest. Previously, a deprecation warning was printed. Starting in
Node.js 8.0.0, calling crypto.pbkdf2()
or crypto.pbkdf2Sync()
with
digest
set to undefined
will throw a TypeError
.
Beginning in Node.js v11.0.0, calling these functions with digest
set to
null
would print a deprecation warning to align with the behavior when digest
is undefined
.
Now, however, passing either undefined
or null
will throw a TypeError
.
DEP0010: crypto.createCredentials
#
Type: End-of-Life
The crypto.createCredentials()
API was removed. Please use
tls.createSecureContext()
instead.
DEP0011: crypto.Credentials
#
Type: End-of-Life
The crypto.Credentials
class was removed. Please use tls.SecureContext
instead.
DEP0012: Domain.dispose
#
Type: End-of-Life
Domain.dispose()
has been removed. Recover from failed I/O actions
explicitly via error event handlers set on the domain instead.
DEP0013: fs
asynchronous function without callback#
Type: End-of-Life
Calling an asynchronous function without a callback throws a TypeError
in Node.js 10.0.0 onwards. See https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/12562.
DEP0014: fs.read
legacy String interface#
Type: End-of-Life
The fs.read()
legacy String
interface is deprecated. Use the Buffer
API as mentioned in the documentation instead.
DEP0015: fs.readSync
legacy String interface#
Type: End-of-Life
The fs.readSync()
legacy String
interface is deprecated. Use the
Buffer
API as mentioned in the documentation instead.
DEP0016: GLOBAL
/root
#
Type: End-of-Life
The GLOBAL
and root
aliases for the global
property were deprecated
in Node.js 6.0.0 and have since been removed.
DEP0017: Intl.v8BreakIterator
#
Type: End-of-Life
Intl.v8BreakIterator
was a non-standard extension and has been removed.
See Intl.Segmenter
.
DEP0018: Unhandled promise rejections#
Type: End-of-Life
Unhandled promise rejections are deprecated. By default, promise rejections
that are not handled terminate the Node.js process with a non-zero exit
code. To change the way Node.js treats unhandled rejections, use the
--unhandled-rejections
command-line option.
DEP0019: require('.')
resolved outside directory#
Type: End-of-Life
In certain cases, require('.')
could resolve outside the package directory.
This behavior has been removed.
DEP0020: Server.connections
#
Type: End-of-Life
The Server.connections
property was deprecated in Node.js v0.9.7 and has
been removed. Please use the Server.getConnections()
method instead.
DEP0021: Server.listenFD
#
Type: End-of-Life
The Server.listenFD()
method was deprecated and removed. Please use
Server.listen({fd: <number>})
instead.
DEP0022: os.tmpDir()
#
Type: End-of-Life
The os.tmpDir()
API was deprecated in Node.js 7.0.0 and has since been
removed. Please use os.tmpdir()
instead.
DEP0023: os.getNetworkInterfaces()
#
Type: End-of-Life
The os.getNetworkInterfaces()
method is deprecated. Please use the
os.networkInterfaces()
method instead.
DEP0024: REPLServer.prototype.convertToContext()
#
Type: End-of-Life
The REPLServer.prototype.convertToContext()
API has been removed.
DEP0025: require('node:sys')
#
Type: Runtime
The node:sys
module is deprecated. Please use the util
module instead.
DEP0026: util.print()
#
Type: End-of-Life
util.print()
has been removed. Please use console.log()
instead.
DEP0027: util.puts()
#
Type: End-of-Life
util.puts()
has been removed. Please use console.log()
instead.
DEP0028: util.debug()
#
Type: End-of-Life
util.debug()
has been removed. Please use console.error()
instead.
DEP0029: util.error()
#
Type: End-of-Life
util.error()
has been removed. Please use console.error()
instead.
DEP0030: SlowBuffer
#
Type: Documentation-only
The SlowBuffer
class is deprecated. Please use
Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow(size)
instead.
DEP0031: ecdh.setPublicKey()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The ecdh.setPublicKey()
method is now deprecated as its inclusion in the
API is not useful.
DEP0032: node:domain
module#
Type: Documentation-only
The domain
module is deprecated and should not be used.
DEP0033: EventEmitter.listenerCount()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The events.listenerCount(emitter, eventName)
API is
deprecated. Please use emitter.listenerCount(eventName)
instead.
DEP0034: fs.exists(path, callback)
#
Type: Documentation-only
The fs.exists(path, callback)
API is deprecated. Please use
fs.stat()
or fs.access()
instead.
DEP0035: fs.lchmod(path, mode, callback)
#
Type: Documentation-only
The fs.lchmod(path, mode, callback)
API is deprecated.
DEP0036: fs.lchmodSync(path, mode)
#
Type: Documentation-only
The fs.lchmodSync(path, mode)
API is deprecated.
DEP0037: fs.lchown(path, uid, gid, callback)
#
Type: Deprecation revoked
The fs.lchown(path, uid, gid, callback)
API was deprecated. The
deprecation was revoked because the requisite supporting APIs were added in
libuv.
DEP0038: fs.lchownSync(path, uid, gid)
#
Type: Deprecation revoked
The fs.lchownSync(path, uid, gid)
API was deprecated. The deprecation was
revoked because the requisite supporting APIs were added in libuv.
DEP0039: require.extensions
#
Type: Documentation-only
The require.extensions
property is deprecated.
DEP0040: node:punycode
module#
Type: Documentation-only (supports --pending-deprecation
)
The punycode
module is deprecated. Please use a userland alternative
instead.
DEP0041: NODE_REPL_HISTORY_FILE
environment variable#
Type: End-of-Life
The NODE_REPL_HISTORY_FILE
environment variable was removed. Please use
NODE_REPL_HISTORY
instead.
DEP0042: tls.CryptoStream
#
Type: End-of-Life
The tls.CryptoStream
class was removed. Please use
tls.TLSSocket
instead.
DEP0043: tls.SecurePair
#
Type: Documentation-only
The tls.SecurePair
class is deprecated. Please use
tls.TLSSocket
instead.
DEP0044: util.isArray()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util.isArray()
API is deprecated. Please use Array.isArray()
instead.
DEP0045: util.isBoolean()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util.isBoolean()
API is deprecated.
DEP0046: util.isBuffer()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util.isBuffer()
API is deprecated. Please use
Buffer.isBuffer()
instead.
DEP0047: util.isDate()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util.isDate()
API is deprecated.
DEP0048: util.isError()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util.isError()
API is deprecated.
DEP0049: util.isFunction()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util.isFunction()
API is deprecated.
DEP0050: util.isNull()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util.isNull()
API is deprecated.
DEP0051: util.isNullOrUndefined()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util.isNullOrUndefined()
API is deprecated.
DEP0052: util.isNumber()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util.isNumber()
API is deprecated.
DEP0053: util.isObject()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util.isObject()
API is deprecated.
DEP0054: util.isPrimitive()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util.isPrimitive()
API is deprecated.
DEP0055: util.isRegExp()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util.isRegExp()
API is deprecated.
DEP0056: util.isString()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util.isString()
API is deprecated.
DEP0057: util.isSymbol()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util.isSymbol()
API is deprecated.
DEP0058: util.isUndefined()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util.isUndefined()
API is deprecated.
DEP0059: util.log()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util.log()
API is deprecated.
DEP0060: util._extend()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The util._extend()
API is deprecated.
DEP0061: fs.SyncWriteStream
#
Type: End-of-Life
The fs.SyncWriteStream
class was never intended to be a publicly accessible
API and has been removed. No alternative API is available. Please use a userland
alternative.
DEP0062: node --debug
#
Type: End-of-Life
--debug
activates the legacy V8 debugger interface, which was removed as
of V8 5.8. It is replaced by Inspector which is activated with --inspect
instead.
DEP0063: ServerResponse.prototype.writeHeader()
Type: Documentation-only
The node:http
module ServerResponse.prototype.writeHeader()
API is
deprecated. Please use ServerResponse.prototype.writeHead()
instead.
The ServerResponse.prototype.writeHeader()
method was never documented as an
officially supported API.
DEP0064: tls.createSecurePair()
#
Type: Runtime
The tls.createSecurePair()
API was deprecated in documentation in Node.js
0.11.3. Users should use tls.Socket
instead.
DEP0065: repl.REPL_MODE_MAGIC
and NODE_REPL_MODE=magic
#
Type: End-of-Life
The node:repl
module's REPL_MODE_MAGIC
constant, used for replMode
option,
has been removed. Its behavior has been functionally identical to that of
REPL_MODE_SLOPPY
since Node.js 6.0.0, when V8 5.0 was imported. Please use
REPL_MODE_SLOPPY
instead.
The NODE_REPL_MODE
environment variable is used to set the underlying
replMode
of an interactive node
session. Its value, magic
, is also
removed. Please use sloppy
instead.
DEP0066: OutgoingMessage.prototype._headers, OutgoingMessage.prototype._headerNames
Type: Runtime
The node:http
module OutgoingMessage.prototype._headers
and
OutgoingMessage.prototype._headerNames
properties are deprecated. Use one of
the public methods (e.g. OutgoingMessage.prototype.getHeader()
,
OutgoingMessage.prototype.getHeaders()
,
OutgoingMessage.prototype.getHeaderNames()
,
OutgoingMessage.prototype.getRawHeaderNames()
,
OutgoingMessage.prototype.hasHeader()
,
OutgoingMessage.prototype.removeHeader()
,
OutgoingMessage.prototype.setHeader()
) for working with outgoing headers.
The OutgoingMessage.prototype._headers
and
OutgoingMessage.prototype._headerNames
properties were never documented as
officially supported properties.
DEP0067: OutgoingMessage.prototype._renderHeaders
Type: Documentation-only
The node:http
module OutgoingMessage.prototype._renderHeaders()
API is
deprecated.
The OutgoingMessage.prototype._renderHeaders
property was never documented as
an officially supported API.
DEP0068: node debug
#
Type: End-of-Life
node debug
corresponds to the legacy CLI debugger which has been replaced with
a V8-inspector based CLI debugger available through node inspect
.
DEP0069: vm.runInDebugContext(string)
#
Type: End-of-Life
DebugContext has been removed in V8 and is not available in Node.js 10+.
DebugContext was an experimental API.
DEP0070: async_hooks.currentId()
#
Type: End-of-Life
async_hooks.currentId()
was renamed to async_hooks.executionAsyncId()
for
clarity.
This change was made while async_hooks
was an experimental API.
DEP0071: async_hooks.triggerId()
#
Type: End-of-Life
async_hooks.triggerId()
was renamed to async_hooks.triggerAsyncId()
for
clarity.
This change was made while async_hooks
was an experimental API.
DEP0072: async_hooks.AsyncResource.triggerId()
#
Type: End-of-Life
async_hooks.AsyncResource.triggerId()
was renamed to
async_hooks.AsyncResource.triggerAsyncId()
for clarity.
This change was made while async_hooks
was an experimental API.
DEP0073: Several internal properties of net.Server
#
Type: End-of-Life
Accessing several internal, undocumented properties of net.Server
instances
with inappropriate names is deprecated.
As the original API was undocumented and not generally useful for non-internal
code, no replacement API is provided.
DEP0074: REPLServer.bufferedCommand
#
Type: End-of-Life
The REPLServer.bufferedCommand
property was deprecated in favor of
REPLServer.clearBufferedCommand()
.
DEP0075: REPLServer.parseREPLKeyword()
#
Type: End-of-Life
REPLServer.parseREPLKeyword()
was removed from userland visibility.
DEP0076: tls.parseCertString()
#
Type: Runtime
tls.parseCertString()
is a trivial parsing helper that was made public by
mistake. This function can usually be replaced with:
const querystring = require('querystring');
querystring.parse(str, '\n', '=');
This function is not completely equivalent to querystring.parse()
. One
difference is that querystring.parse()
does url decoding:
> querystring.parse('%E5%A5%BD=1', '\n', '=');
{ '好': '1' }
> tls.parseCertString('%E5%A5%BD=1');
{ '%E5%A5%BD': '1' }
DEP0077: Module._debug()
#
Type: Runtime
Module._debug()
is deprecated.
The Module._debug()
function was never documented as an officially
supported API.
DEP0078: REPLServer.turnOffEditorMode()
#
Type: End-of-Life
REPLServer.turnOffEditorMode()
was removed from userland visibility.
DEP0079: Custom inspection function on objects via .inspect()
#
Type: End-of-Life
Using a property named inspect
on an object to specify a custom inspection
function for util.inspect()
is deprecated. Use util.inspect.custom
instead. For backward compatibility with Node.js prior to version 6.4.0, both
can be specified.
DEP0080: path._makeLong()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The internal path._makeLong()
was not intended for public use. However,
userland modules have found it useful. The internal API is deprecated
and replaced with an identical, public path.toNamespacedPath()
method.
DEP0081: fs.truncate()
using a file descriptor#
Type: Runtime
fs.truncate()
fs.truncateSync()
usage with a file descriptor is
deprecated. Please use fs.ftruncate()
or fs.ftruncateSync()
to work with
file descriptors.
DEP0082: REPLServer.prototype.memory()
#
Type: End-of-Life
REPLServer.prototype.memory()
is only necessary for the internal mechanics of
the REPLServer
itself. Do not use this function.
DEP0083: Disabling ECDH by setting ecdhCurve
to false
#
Type: End-of-Life.
The ecdhCurve
option to tls.createSecureContext()
and tls.TLSSocket
could
be set to false
to disable ECDH entirely on the server only. This mode was
deprecated in preparation for migrating to OpenSSL 1.1.0 and consistency with
the client and is now unsupported. Use the ciphers
parameter instead.
DEP0084: requiring bundled internal dependencies#
Type: End-of-Life
Since Node.js versions 4.4.0 and 5.2.0, several modules only intended for
internal usage were mistakenly exposed to user code through require()
. These
modules were:
v8/tools/codemap
v8/tools/consarray
v8/tools/csvparser
v8/tools/logreader
v8/tools/profile_view
v8/tools/profile
v8/tools/SourceMap
v8/tools/splaytree
v8/tools/tickprocessor-driver
v8/tools/tickprocessor
node-inspect/lib/_inspect
(from 7.6.0)
node-inspect/lib/internal/inspect_client
(from 7.6.0)
node-inspect/lib/internal/inspect_repl
(from 7.6.0)
The v8/*
modules do not have any exports, and if not imported in a specific
order would in fact throw errors. As such there are virtually no legitimate use
cases for importing them through require()
.
On the other hand, node-inspect
can be installed locally through a package
manager, as it is published on the npm registry under the same name. No source
code modification is necessary if that is done.
DEP0085: AsyncHooks sensitive API#
Type: End-of-Life
The AsyncHooks sensitive API was never documented and had various minor issues.
Use the AsyncResource
API instead. See
https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/15572.
DEP0086: Remove runInAsyncIdScope
#
Type: End-of-Life
runInAsyncIdScope
doesn't emit the 'before'
or 'after'
event and can thus
cause a lot of issues. See https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/14328.
DEP0089: require('node:assert')
#
Type: Deprecation revoked
Importing assert directly was not recommended as the exposed functions use
loose equality checks. The deprecation was revoked because use of the
node:assert
module is not discouraged, and the deprecation caused developer
confusion.
DEP0090: Invalid GCM authentication tag lengths#
Type: End-of-Life
Node.js used to support all GCM authentication tag lengths which are accepted by
OpenSSL when calling decipher.setAuthTag()
. Beginning with Node.js
v11.0.0, only authentication tag lengths of 128, 120, 112, 104, 96, 64, and 32
bits are allowed. Authentication tags of other lengths are invalid per
NIST SP 800-38D.
DEP0091: crypto.DEFAULT_ENCODING
#
Type: Runtime
The crypto.DEFAULT_ENCODING
property is deprecated.
DEP0092: Top-level this
bound to module.exports
#
Type: Documentation-only
Assigning properties to the top-level this
as an alternative
to module.exports
is deprecated. Developers should use exports
or module.exports
instead.
DEP0093: crypto.fips
is deprecated and replaced#
Type: Documentation-only
The crypto.fips
property is deprecated. Please use crypto.setFips()
and crypto.getFips()
instead.
DEP0094: Using assert.fail()
with more than one argument#
Type: Runtime
Using assert.fail()
with more than one argument is deprecated. Use
assert.fail()
with only one argument or use a different node:assert
module
method.
DEP0095: timers.enroll()
#
Type: Runtime
timers.enroll()
is deprecated. Please use the publicly documented
setTimeout()
or setInterval()
instead.
DEP0096: timers.unenroll()
#
Type: Runtime
timers.unenroll()
is deprecated. Please use the publicly documented
clearTimeout()
or clearInterval()
instead.
DEP0097: MakeCallback
with domain
property#
Type: Runtime
Users of MakeCallback
that add the domain
property to carry context,
should start using the async_context
variant of MakeCallback
or
CallbackScope
, or the high-level AsyncResource
class.
DEP0098: AsyncHooks embedder AsyncResource.emitBefore
and AsyncResource.emitAfter
APIs#
Type: End-of-Life
The embedded API provided by AsyncHooks exposes .emitBefore()
and
.emitAfter()
methods which are very easy to use incorrectly which can lead
to unrecoverable errors.
Use asyncResource.runInAsyncScope()
API instead which provides a much
safer, and more convenient, alternative. See
https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/18513.
DEP0099: Async context-unaware node::MakeCallback
C++ APIs#
Type: Compile-time
Certain versions of node::MakeCallback
APIs available to native addons are
deprecated. Please use the versions of the API that accept an async_context
parameter.
DEP0100: process.assert()
#
Type: Runtime
process.assert()
is deprecated. Please use the assert
module instead.
This was never a documented feature.
DEP0101: --with-lttng
#
Type: End-of-Life
The --with-lttng
compile-time option has been removed.
DEP0102: Using noAssert
in Buffer#(read|write)
operations#
Type: End-of-Life
Using the noAssert
argument has no functionality anymore. All input is
verified regardless of the value of noAssert
. Skipping the verification
could lead to hard-to-find errors and crashes.
DEP0103: process.binding('util').is[...]
typechecks#
Type: Documentation-only (supports --pending-deprecation
)
Using process.binding()
in general should be avoided. The type checking
methods in particular can be replaced by using util.types
.
This deprecation has been superseded by the deprecation of the
process.binding()
API (DEP0111).
DEP0104: process.env
string coercion#
Type: Documentation-only (supports --pending-deprecation
)
When assigning a non-string property to process.env
, the assigned value is
implicitly converted to a string. This behavior is deprecated if the assigned
value is not a string, boolean, or number. In the future, such assignment might
result in a thrown error. Please convert the property to a string before
assigning it to process.env
.
DEP0105: decipher.finaltol
#
Type: End-of-Life
decipher.finaltol()
has never been documented and was an alias for
decipher.final()
. This API has been removed, and it is recommended to use
decipher.final()
instead.
DEP0106: crypto.createCipher
and crypto.createDecipher
#
Type: Runtime
Using crypto.createCipher()
and crypto.createDecipher()
must be
avoided as they use a weak key derivation function (MD5 with no salt) and static
initialization vectors. It is recommended to derive a key using
crypto.pbkdf2()
or crypto.scrypt()
with random salts and to use
crypto.createCipheriv()
and crypto.createDecipheriv()
to obtain the
Cipher
and Decipher
objects respectively.
DEP0107: tls.convertNPNProtocols()
#
Type: End-of-Life
This was an undocumented helper function not intended for use outside Node.js
core and obsoleted by the removal of NPN (Next Protocol Negotiation) support.
DEP0108: zlib.bytesRead
#
Type: Runtime
Deprecated alias for zlib.bytesWritten
. This original name was chosen
because it also made sense to interpret the value as the number of bytes
read by the engine, but is inconsistent with other streams in Node.js that
expose values under these names.
DEP0109: http
, https
, and tls
support for invalid URLs#
Type: End-of-Life
Some previously supported (but strictly invalid) URLs were accepted through the
http.request()
, http.get()
, https.request()
,
https.get()
, and tls.checkServerIdentity()
APIs because those were
accepted by the legacy url.parse()
API. The mentioned APIs now use the WHATWG
URL parser that requires strictly valid URLs. Passing an invalid URL is
deprecated and support will be removed in the future.
DEP0110: vm.Script
cached data#
Type: Documentation-only
The produceCachedData
option is deprecated. Use
script.createCachedData()
instead.
DEP0111: process.binding()
#
Type: Documentation-only (supports --pending-deprecation
)
process.binding()
is for use by Node.js internal code only.
While process.binding()
has not reached End-of-Life status in general, it is
unavailable when policies are enabled.
DEP0112: dgram
private APIs#
Type: Runtime
The node:dgram
module previously contained several APIs that were never meant
to accessed outside of Node.js core: Socket.prototype._handle
,
Socket.prototype._receiving
, Socket.prototype._bindState
,
Socket.prototype._queue
, Socket.prototype._reuseAddr
,
Socket.prototype._healthCheck()
, Socket.prototype._stopReceiving()
, and
dgram._createSocketHandle()
.
DEP0113: Cipher.setAuthTag()
, Decipher.getAuthTag()
#
Type: End-of-Life
Cipher.setAuthTag()
and Decipher.getAuthTag()
are no longer available. They
were never documented and would throw when called.
DEP0114: crypto._toBuf()
#
Type: End-of-Life
The crypto._toBuf()
function was not designed to be used by modules outside
of Node.js core and was removed.
DEP0115: crypto.prng()
, crypto.pseudoRandomBytes()
, crypto.rng()
#
Type: Documentation-only (supports --pending-deprecation
)
In recent versions of Node.js, there is no difference between
crypto.randomBytes()
and crypto.pseudoRandomBytes()
. The latter is
deprecated along with the undocumented aliases crypto.prng()
and
crypto.rng()
in favor of crypto.randomBytes()
and might be removed in a
future release.
DEP0116: Legacy URL API#
Type: Deprecation revoked
The Legacy URL API is deprecated. This includes url.format()
,
url.parse()
, url.resolve()
, and the legacy urlObject
. Please
use the WHATWG URL API instead.
DEP0117: Native crypto handles#
Type: End-of-Life
Previous versions of Node.js exposed handles to internal native objects through
the _handle
property of the Cipher
, Decipher
, DiffieHellman
,
DiffieHellmanGroup
, ECDH
, Hash
, Hmac
, Sign
, and Verify
classes.
The _handle
property has been removed because improper use of the native
object can lead to crashing the application.
DEP0118: dns.lookup()
support for a falsy host name#
Type: Runtime
Previous versions of Node.js supported dns.lookup()
with a falsy host name
like dns.lookup(false)
due to backward compatibility.
This behavior is undocumented and is thought to be unused in real world apps.
It will become an error in future versions of Node.js.
DEP0119: process.binding('uv').errname()
private API#
Type: Documentation-only (supports --pending-deprecation
)
process.binding('uv').errname()
is deprecated. Please use
util.getSystemErrorName()
instead.
DEP0120: Windows Performance Counter support#
Type: End-of-Life
Windows Performance Counter support has been removed from Node.js. The
undocumented COUNTER_NET_SERVER_CONNECTION()
,
COUNTER_NET_SERVER_CONNECTION_CLOSE()
, COUNTER_HTTP_SERVER_REQUEST()
,
COUNTER_HTTP_SERVER_RESPONSE()
, COUNTER_HTTP_CLIENT_REQUEST()
, and
COUNTER_HTTP_CLIENT_RESPONSE()
functions have been deprecated.
DEP0121: net._setSimultaneousAccepts()
#
Type: Runtime
The undocumented net._setSimultaneousAccepts()
function was originally
intended for debugging and performance tuning when using the
node:child_process
and node:cluster
modules on Windows. The function is not
generally useful and is being removed. See discussion here:
https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/18391
DEP0122: tls
Server.prototype.setOptions()
#
Type: Runtime
Please use Server.prototype.setSecureContext()
instead.
DEP0123: setting the TLS ServerName to an IP address#
Type: Runtime
Setting the TLS ServerName to an IP address is not permitted by
RFC 6066. This will be ignored in a future version.
DEP0124: using REPLServer.rli
#
Type: End-of-Life
This property is a reference to the instance itself.
DEP0125: require('node:_stream_wrap')
#
Type: Runtime
The node:_stream_wrap
module is deprecated.
DEP0126: timers.active()
#
Type: Runtime
The previously undocumented timers.active()
is deprecated.
Please use the publicly documented timeout.refresh()
instead.
If re-referencing the timeout is necessary, timeout.ref()
can be used
with no performance impact since Node.js 10.
DEP0127: timers._unrefActive()
#
Type: Runtime
The previously undocumented and "private" timers._unrefActive()
is deprecated.
Please use the publicly documented timeout.refresh()
instead.
If unreferencing the timeout is necessary, timeout.unref()
can be used
with no performance impact since Node.js 10.
DEP0128: modules with an invalid main
entry and an index.js
file#
Type: Runtime
Modules that have an invalid main
entry (e.g., ./does-not-exist.js
) and
also have an index.js
file in the top level directory will resolve the
index.js
file. That is deprecated and is going to throw an error in future
Node.js versions.
DEP0129: ChildProcess._channel
#
Type: Runtime
The _channel
property of child process objects returned by spawn()
and
similar functions is not intended for public use. Use ChildProcess.channel
instead.
DEP0130: Module.createRequireFromPath()
#
Type: End-of-Life
Use module.createRequire()
instead.
DEP0131: Legacy HTTP parser#
Type: End-of-Life
The legacy HTTP parser, used by default in versions of Node.js prior to 12.0.0,
is deprecated and has been removed in v13.0.0. Prior to v13.0.0, the
--http-parser=legacy
command-line flag could be used to revert to using the
legacy parser.
DEP0132: worker.terminate()
with callback#
Type: Runtime
Passing a callback to worker.terminate()
is deprecated. Use the returned
Promise
instead, or a listener to the worker's 'exit'
event.
DEP0133: http
connection
#
Type: Documentation-only
Prefer response.socket
over response.connection
and
request.socket
over request.connection
.
DEP0134: process._tickCallback
#
Type: Documentation-only (supports --pending-deprecation
)
The process._tickCallback
property was never documented as
an officially supported API.
DEP0135: WriteStream.open()
and ReadStream.open()
are internal#
Type: Runtime
WriteStream.open()
and ReadStream.open()
are undocumented internal
APIs that do not make sense to use in userland. File streams should always be
opened through their corresponding factory methods fs.createWriteStream()
and fs.createReadStream()
) or by passing a file descriptor in options.
DEP0136: http
finished
#
Type: Documentation-only
response.finished
indicates whether response.end()
has been
called, not whether 'finish'
has been emitted and the underlying data
is flushed.
Use response.writableFinished
or response.writableEnded
accordingly instead to avoid the ambiguity.
To maintain existing behavior response.finished
should be replaced with
response.writableEnded
.
DEP0137: Closing fs.FileHandle on garbage collection#
Type: Runtime
Allowing a fs.FileHandle
object to be closed on garbage collection is
deprecated. In the future, doing so might result in a thrown error that will
terminate the process.
Please ensure that all fs.FileHandle
objects are explicitly closed using
FileHandle.prototype.close()
when the fs.FileHandle
is no longer needed:
const fsPromises = require('node:fs').promises;
async function openAndClose() {
let filehandle;
try {
filehandle = await fsPromises.open('thefile.txt', 'r');
} finally {
if (filehandle !== undefined)
await filehandle.close();
}
}
DEP0138: process.mainModule
#
Type: Documentation-only
process.mainModule
is a CommonJS-only feature while process
global
object is shared with non-CommonJS environment. Its use within ECMAScript
modules is unsupported.
It is deprecated in favor of require.main
, because it serves the same
purpose and is only available on CommonJS environment.
DEP0139: process.umask()
with no arguments#
Type: Documentation-only
Calling process.umask()
with no argument causes the process-wide umask to be
written twice. This introduces a race condition between threads, and is a
potential security vulnerability. There is no safe, cross-platform alternative
API.
DEP0140: Use request.destroy()
instead of request.abort()
#
Type: Documentation-only
Use request.destroy()
instead of request.abort()
.
DEP0141: repl.inputStream
and repl.outputStream
#
Type: Documentation-only (supports --pending-deprecation
)
The node:repl
module exported the input and output stream twice. Use .input
instead of .inputStream
and .output
instead of .outputStream
.
DEP0142: repl._builtinLibs
#
Type: Documentation-only
The node:repl
module exports a _builtinLibs
property that contains an array
of built-in modules. It was incomplete so far and instead it's better to rely
upon require('node:module').builtinModules
.
DEP0143: Transform._transformState
#
Type: Runtime
Transform._transformState
will be removed in future versions where it is
no longer required due to simplification of the implementation.
DEP0144: module.parent
#
Type: Documentation-only (supports --pending-deprecation
)
A CommonJS module can access the first module that required it using
module.parent
. This feature is deprecated because it does not work
consistently in the presence of ECMAScript modules and because it gives an
inaccurate representation of the CommonJS module graph.
Some modules use it to check if they are the entry point of the current process.
Instead, it is recommended to compare require.main
and module
:
if (require.main === module) {
}
When looking for the CommonJS modules that have required the current one,
require.cache
and module.children
can be used:
const moduleParents = Object.values(require.cache)
.filter((m) => m.children.includes(module));
DEP0145: socket.bufferSize
#
Type: Documentation-only
socket.bufferSize
is just an alias for writable.writableLength
.
DEP0146: new crypto.Certificate()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The crypto.Certificate()
constructor is deprecated. Use
static methods of crypto.Certificate()
instead.
DEP0147: fs.rmdir(path, { recursive: true })
#
Type: Runtime
In future versions of Node.js, recursive
option will be ignored for
fs.rmdir
, fs.rmdirSync
, and fs.promises.rmdir
.
Use fs.rm(path, { recursive: true, force: true })
,
fs.rmSync(path, { recursive: true, force: true })
or
fs.promises.rm(path, { recursive: true, force: true })
instead.
DEP0148: Folder mappings in "exports"
(trailing "/"
)#
Type: Runtime
Using a trailing "/"
to define
subpath folder mappings in the subpath exports or
subpath imports fields is deprecated. Use subpath patterns instead.
DEP0149: http.IncomingMessage#connection
#
Type: Documentation-only.
Prefer message.socket
over message.connection
.
DEP0150: Changing the value of process.config
#
Type: Runtime
The process.config
property provides access to Node.js compile-time settings.
However, the property is mutable and therefore subject to tampering. The ability
to change the value will be removed in a future version of Node.js.
DEP0151: Main index lookup and extension searching#
Type: Runtime
Previously, index.js
and extension searching lookups would apply to
import 'pkg'
main entry point resolution, even when resolving ES modules.
With this deprecation, all ES module main entry point resolutions require
an explicit "exports"
or "main"
entry with the exact file extension.
DEP0152: Extension PerformanceEntry properties#
Type: Runtime
The 'gc'
, 'http2'
, and 'http'
<PerformanceEntry> object types have
additional properties assigned to them that provide additional information.
These properties are now available within the standard detail
property
of the PerformanceEntry
object. The existing accessors have been
deprecated and should no longer be used.
DEP0153: dns.lookup
and dnsPromises.lookup
options type coercion#
Type: Documentation-only
Using a non-nullish non-integer value for family
option, a non-nullish
non-number value for hints
option, a non-nullish non-boolean value for all
option, or a non-nullish non-boolean value for verbatim
option in
dns.lookup()
and dnsPromises.lookup()
is deprecated.
DEP0154: RSA-PSS generate key pair options#
Type: Documentation-only (supports --pending-deprecation
)
The 'hash'
and 'mgf1Hash'
options are replaced with 'hashAlgorithm'
and 'mgf1HashAlgorithm'
.
DEP0155: Trailing slashes in pattern specifier resolutions#
Type: Documentation-only (supports --pending-deprecation
)
The remapping of specifiers ending in "/"
like import 'pkg/x/'
is deprecated
for package "exports"
and "imports"
pattern resolutions.
DEP0156: .aborted
property and 'abort'
, 'aborted'
event in http
#
Type: Documentation-only
Move to <Stream> API instead, as the http.ClientRequest
,
http.ServerResponse
, and http.IncomingMessage
are all stream-based.
Check stream.destroyed
instead of the .aborted
property, and listen for
'close'
instead of 'abort'
, 'aborted'
event.
The .aborted
property and 'abort'
event are only useful for detecting
.abort()
calls. For closing a request early, use the Stream
.destroy([error])
then check the .destroyed
property and 'close'
event
should have the same effect. The receiving end should also check the
readable.readableEnded
value on http.IncomingMessage
to get whether
it was an aborted or graceful destroy.
DEP0157: Thenable support in streams#
Type: Documentation-only
An undocumented feature of Node.js streams was to support thenables in
implementation methods. This is now deprecated, use callbacks instead and avoid
use of async function for streams implementation methods.
This feature caused users to encounter unexpected problems where the user
implements the function in callback style but uses e.g. an async method which
would cause an error since mixing promise and callback semantics is not valid.
const w = new Writable({
async final(callback) {
await someOp();
callback();
}
});
DEP0158: buffer.slice(start, end)
#
Type: Documentation-only
This method was deprecated because it is not compatible with
Uint8Array.prototype.slice()
, which is a superclass of Buffer
.
Use buffer.subarray
which does the same thing instead.
DEP0160: process.on('multipleResolves', handler)
#
Type: Documentation-only
This event was deprecated because it did not work with V8 promise combinators
which diminished its usefulness.
DEP0161: process._getActiveRequests()
and process._getActiveHandles()
#
Type: Documentation-only
The process._getActiveHandles()
and process._getActiveRequests()
functions are not intended for public use and can be removed in future
releases.
Use process.getActiveResourcesInfo()
to get a list of types of active
resources and not the actual references.
DEP0162: fs.write()
, fs.writeFileSync()
coercion to string#
Type: Documentation-only
Implicit coercion of objects with own toString
property, passed as second
parameter in fs.write()
, fs.writeFile()
, fs.appendFile()
,
fs.writeFileSync()
, and fs.appendFileSync()
is deprecated.
Convert them to primitive strings.
DEP0163: channel.subscribe(onMessage)
, channel.unsubscribe(onMessage)
#
Type: Documentation-only
These methods were deprecated because they can be used in a way which does not
hold the channel reference alive long enough to receive the events.
Use diagnostics_channel.subscribe(name, onMessage)
or
diagnostics_channel.unsubscribe(name, onMessage)
which does the same
thing instead.
DEP0164: process.exit(code)
, process.exitCode
coercion to integer#
Type: Documentation-only
Values other than undefined
, null
, integer numbers, and integer strings
(e.g., '1'
) are deprecated as value for the code
parameter in
process.exit()
and as value to assign to process.exitCode
.
DEP0165: --trace-atomics-wait
#
Type: Documentation-only
The --trace-atomics-wait
flag is deprecated.
DEP0167: Weak DiffieHellmanGroup
instances (modp1
, modp2
, modp5
)#
Type: Documentation-only
The well-known MODP groups modp1
, modp2
, and modp5
are deprecated because
they are not secure against practical attacks. See RFC 8247 Section 2.4 for
details.
These groups might be removed in future versions of Node.js. Applications that
rely on these groups should evaluate using stronger MODP groups instead.
DEP0168: Unhandled exception in Node-API callbacks#
Type: Runtime.
The implicit suppression of uncaught exceptions in Node-API callbacks is now
deprecated.
Set the flag --force-node-api-uncaught-exceptions-policy
to force Node.js
to emit an 'uncaughtException'
event if the exception is not handled in
Node-API callbacks.
Errors#
Applications running in Node.js will generally experience four categories of
errors:
- Standard JavaScript errors such as <EvalError>, <SyntaxError>, <RangeError>,
<ReferenceError>, <TypeError>, and <URIError>.
- System errors triggered by underlying operating system constraints such
as attempting to open a file that does not exist or attempting to send data
over a closed socket.
- User-specified errors triggered by application code.
AssertionError
s are a special class of error that can be triggered when
Node.js detects an exceptional logic violation that should never occur. These
are raised typically by the node:assert
module.
All JavaScript and system errors raised by Node.js inherit from, or are
instances of, the standard JavaScript <Error> class and are guaranteed
to provide at least the properties available on that class.
Error propagation and interception#
Node.js supports several mechanisms for propagating and handling errors that
occur while an application is running. How these errors are reported and
handled depends entirely on the type of Error
and the style of the API that is
called.
All JavaScript errors are handled as exceptions that immediately generate
and throw an error using the standard JavaScript throw
mechanism. These
are handled using the try…catch
construct provided by the
JavaScript language.
try {
const m = 1;
const n = m + z;
} catch (err) {
}
Any use of the JavaScript throw
mechanism will raise an exception that
must be handled using try…catch
or the Node.js process will exit
immediately.
With few exceptions, Synchronous APIs (any blocking method that does not
accept a callback
function, such as fs.readFileSync
), will use throw
to report errors.
Errors that occur within Asynchronous APIs may be reported in multiple ways:
-
Most asynchronous methods that accept a callback
function will accept an
Error
object passed as the first argument to that function. If that first
argument is not null
and is an instance of Error
, then an error occurred
that should be handled.
const fs = require('node:fs');
fs.readFile('a file that does not exist', (err, data) => {
if (err) {
console.error('There was an error reading the file!', err);
return;
}
});
-
When an asynchronous method is called on an object that is an
EventEmitter
, errors can be routed to that object's 'error'
event.
const net = require('node:net');
const connection = net.connect('localhost');
connection.on('error', (err) => {
console.error(err);
});
connection.pipe(process.stdout);
-
A handful of typically asynchronous methods in the Node.js API may still
use the throw
mechanism to raise exceptions that must be handled using
try…catch
. There is no comprehensive list of such methods; please
refer to the documentation of each method to determine the appropriate
error handling mechanism required.
The use of the 'error'
event mechanism is most common for stream-based
and event emitter-based APIs, which themselves represent a series of
asynchronous operations over time (as opposed to a single operation that may
pass or fail).
For all EventEmitter
objects, if an 'error'
event handler is not
provided, the error will be thrown, causing the Node.js process to report an
uncaught exception and crash unless either: The domain
module is
used appropriately or a handler has been registered for the
'uncaughtException'
event.
const EventEmitter = require('node:events');
const ee = new EventEmitter();
setImmediate(() => {
ee.emit('error', new Error('This will crash'));
});
Errors generated in this way cannot be intercepted using try…catch
as
they are thrown after the calling code has already exited.
Developers must refer to the documentation for each method to determine
exactly how errors raised by those methods are propagated.
Error-first callbacks#
Most asynchronous methods exposed by the Node.js core API follow an idiomatic
pattern referred to as an error-first callback. With this pattern, a callback
function is passed to the method as an argument. When the operation either
completes or an error is raised, the callback function is called with the
Error
object (if any) passed as the first argument. If no error was raised,
the first argument will be passed as null
.
const fs = require('node:fs');
function errorFirstCallback(err, data) {
if (err) {
console.error('There was an error', err);
return;
}
console.log(data);
}
fs.readFile('/some/file/that/does-not-exist', errorFirstCallback);
fs.readFile('/some/file/that/does-exist', errorFirstCallback);
The JavaScript try…catch
mechanism cannot be used to intercept errors
generated by asynchronous APIs. A common mistake for beginners is to try to
use throw
inside an error-first callback:
const fs = require('node:fs');
try {
fs.readFile('/some/file/that/does-not-exist', (err, data) => {
if (err) {
throw err;
}
});
} catch (err) {
console.error(err);
}
This will not work because the callback function passed to fs.readFile()
is
called asynchronously. By the time the callback has been called, the
surrounding code, including the try…catch
block, will have already exited.
Throwing an error inside the callback can crash the Node.js process in most
cases. If domains are enabled, or a handler has been registered with
process.on('uncaughtException')
, such errors can be intercepted.
Class: Error
#
A generic JavaScript <Error> object that does not denote any specific
circumstance of why the error occurred. Error
objects capture a "stack trace"
detailing the point in the code at which the Error
was instantiated, and may
provide a text description of the error.
All errors generated by Node.js, including all system and JavaScript errors,
will either be instances of, or inherit from, the Error
class.
new Error(message[, options])
#
Creates a new Error
object and sets the error.message
property to the
provided text message. If an object is passed as message
, the text message
is generated by calling String(message)
. If the cause
option is provided,
it is assigned to the error.cause
property. The error.stack
property will
represent the point in the code at which new Error()
was called. Stack traces
are dependent on V8's stack trace API. Stack traces extend only to either
(a) the beginning of synchronous code execution, or (b) the number of frames
given by the property Error.stackTraceLimit
, whichever is smaller.
Error.captureStackTrace(targetObject[, constructorOpt])
#
Creates a .stack
property on targetObject
, which when accessed returns
a string representing the location in the code at which
Error.captureStackTrace()
was called.
const myObject = {};
Error.captureStackTrace(myObject);
myObject.stack;
The first line of the trace will be prefixed with
${myObject.name}: ${myObject.message}
.
The optional constructorOpt
argument accepts a function. If given, all frames
above constructorOpt
, including constructorOpt
, will be omitted from the
generated stack trace.
The constructorOpt
argument is useful for hiding implementation
details of error generation from the user. For instance:
function MyError() {
Error.captureStackTrace(this, MyError);
}
new MyError().stack;
Error.stackTraceLimit
#
The Error.stackTraceLimit
property specifies the number of stack frames
collected by a stack trace (whether generated by new Error().stack
or
Error.captureStackTrace(obj)
).
The default value is 10
but may be set to any valid JavaScript number. Changes
will affect any stack trace captured after the value has been changed.
If set to a non-number value, or set to a negative number, stack traces will
not capture any frames.
error.cause
#
Added in: v16.9.0
If present, the error.cause
property is the underlying cause of the Error
.
It is used when catching an error and throwing a new one with a different
message or code in order to still have access to the original error.
The error.cause
property is typically set by calling
new Error(message, { cause })
. It is not set by the constructor if the
cause
option is not provided.
This property allows errors to be chained. When serializing Error
objects,
util.inspect()
recursively serializes error.cause
if it is set.
const cause = new Error('The remote HTTP server responded with a 500 status');
const symptom = new Error('The message failed to send', { cause });
console.log(symptom);
error.code
#
The error.code
property is a string label that identifies the kind of error.
error.code
is the most stable way to identify an error. It will only change
between major versions of Node.js. In contrast, error.message
strings may
change between any versions of Node.js. See Node.js error codes for details
about specific codes.
error.message
#
The error.message
property is the string description of the error as set by
calling new Error(message)
. The message
passed to the constructor will also
appear in the first line of the stack trace of the Error
, however changing
this property after the Error
object is created may not change the first
line of the stack trace (for example, when error.stack
is read before this
property is changed).
const err = new Error('The message');
console.error(err.message);
error.stack
#
The error.stack
property is a string describing the point in the code at which
the Error
was instantiated.
Error: Things keep happening!
at /home/gbusey/file.js:525:2
at Frobnicator.refrobulate (/home/gbusey/business-logic.js:424:21)
at Actor.<anonymous> (/home/gbusey/actors.js:400:8)
at increaseSynergy (/home/gbusey/actors.js:701:6)
The first line is formatted as <error class name>: <error message>
, and
is followed by a series of stack frames (each line beginning with "at ").
Each frame describes a call site within the code that lead to the error being
generated. V8 attempts to display a name for each function (by variable name,
function name, or object method name), but occasionally it will not be able to
find a suitable name. If V8 cannot determine a name for the function, only
location information will be displayed for that frame. Otherwise, the
determined function name will be displayed with location information appended
in parentheses.
Frames are only generated for JavaScript functions. If, for example, execution
synchronously passes through a C++ addon function called cheetahify
which
itself calls a JavaScript function, the frame representing the cheetahify
call
will not be present in the stack traces:
const cheetahify = require('./native-binding.node');
function makeFaster() {
cheetahify(function speedy() {
throw new Error('oh no!');
});
}
makeFaster();
The location information will be one of:
native
, if the frame represents a call internal to V8 (as in [].forEach
).
plain-filename.js:line:column
, if the frame represents a call internal
to Node.js.
/absolute/path/to/file.js:line:column
, if the frame represents a call in
a user program (using CommonJS module system), or its dependencies.
<transport-protocol>:///url/to/module/file.mjs:line:column
, if the frame
represents a call in a user program (using ES module system), or
its dependencies.
The string representing the stack trace is lazily generated when the
error.stack
property is accessed.
The number of frames captured by the stack trace is bounded by the smaller of
Error.stackTraceLimit
or the number of available frames on the current event
loop tick.
Class: RangeError
#
Indicates that a provided argument was not within the set or range of
acceptable values for a function; whether that is a numeric range, or
outside the set of options for a given function parameter.
require('node:net').connect(-1);
Node.js will generate and throw RangeError
instances immediately as a form
of argument validation.
Class: ReferenceError
#
Indicates that an attempt is being made to access a variable that is not
defined. Such errors commonly indicate typos in code, or an otherwise broken
program.
While client code may generate and propagate these errors, in practice, only V8
will do so.
doesNotExist;
Unless an application is dynamically generating and running code,
ReferenceError
instances indicate a bug in the code or its dependencies.
Class: SyntaxError
#
Indicates that a program is not valid JavaScript. These errors may only be
generated and propagated as a result of code evaluation. Code evaluation may
happen as a result of eval
, Function
, require
, or vm. These errors
are almost always indicative of a broken program.
try {
require('node:vm').runInThisContext('binary ! isNotOk');
} catch (err) {
}
SyntaxError
instances are unrecoverable in the context that created them –
they may only be caught by other contexts.
Class: SystemError
#
Node.js generates system errors when exceptions occur within its runtime
environment. These usually occur when an application violates an operating
system constraint. For example, a system error will occur if an application
attempts to read a file that does not exist.
address
<string> If present, the address to which a network connection
failed
code
<string> The string error code
dest
<string> If present, the file path destination when reporting a file
system error
errno
<number> The system-provided error number
info
<Object> If present, extra details about the error condition
message
<string> A system-provided human-readable description of the error
path
<string> If present, the file path when reporting a file system error
port
<number> If present, the network connection port that is not available
syscall
<string> The name of the system call that triggered the error
error.address
#
If present, error.address
is a string describing the address to which a
network connection failed.
error.code
#
The error.code
property is a string representing the error code.
error.dest
#
If present, error.dest
is the file path destination when reporting a file
system error.
error.errno
#
The error.errno
property is a negative number which corresponds
to the error code defined in libuv Error handling
.
On Windows the error number provided by the system will be normalized by libuv.
To get the string representation of the error code, use
util.getSystemErrorName(error.errno)
.
error.info
#
If present, error.info
is an object with details about the error condition.
error.message
#
error.message
is a system-provided human-readable description of the error.
error.path
#
If present, error.path
is a string containing a relevant invalid pathname.
error.port
#
If present, error.port
is the network connection port that is not available.
error.syscall
#
The error.syscall
property is a string describing the syscall that failed.
Common system errors#
This is a list of system errors commonly-encountered when writing a Node.js
program. For a comprehensive list, see the errno
(3) man page.
-
EACCES
(Permission denied): An attempt was made to access a file in a way
forbidden by its file access permissions.
-
EADDRINUSE
(Address already in use): An attempt to bind a server
(net
, http
, or https
) to a local address failed due to
another server on the local system already occupying that address.
-
ECONNREFUSED
(Connection refused): No connection could be made because the
target machine actively refused it. This usually results from trying to
connect to a service that is inactive on the foreign host.
-
ECONNRESET
(Connection reset by peer): A connection was forcibly closed by
a peer. This normally results from a loss of the connection on the remote
socket due to a timeout or reboot. Commonly encountered via the http
and net
modules.
-
EEXIST
(File exists): An existing file was the target of an operation that
required that the target not exist.
-
EISDIR
(Is a directory): An operation expected a file, but the given
pathname was a directory.
-
EMFILE
(Too many open files in system): Maximum number of
file descriptors allowable on the system has been reached, and
requests for another descriptor cannot be fulfilled until at least one
has been closed. This is encountered when opening many files at once in
parallel, especially on systems (in particular, macOS) where there is a low
file descriptor limit for processes. To remedy a low limit, run
ulimit -n 2048
in the same shell that will run the Node.js process.
-
ENOENT
(No such file or directory): Commonly raised by fs
operations
to indicate that a component of the specified pathname does not exist. No
entity (file or directory) could be found by the given path.
-
ENOTDIR
(Not a directory): A component of the given pathname existed, but
was not a directory as expected. Commonly raised by fs.readdir
.
-
ENOTEMPTY
(Directory not empty): A directory with entries was the target
of an operation that requires an empty directory, usually fs.unlink
.
-
ENOTFOUND
(DNS lookup failed): Indicates a DNS failure of either
EAI_NODATA
or EAI_NONAME
. This is not a standard POSIX error.
-
EPERM
(Operation not permitted): An attempt was made to perform an
operation that requires elevated privileges.
-
EPIPE
(Broken pipe): A write on a pipe, socket, or FIFO for which there is
no process to read the data. Commonly encountered at the net
and
http
layers, indicative that the remote side of the stream being
written to has been closed.
-
ETIMEDOUT
(Operation timed out): A connect or send request failed because
the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time. Usually
encountered by http
or net
. Often a sign that a socket.end()
was not properly called.
Class: TypeError
#
Indicates that a provided argument is not an allowable type. For example,
passing a function to a parameter which expects a string would be a TypeError
.
require('node:url').parse(() => { });
Node.js will generate and throw TypeError
instances immediately as a form
of argument validation.
Exceptions vs. errors#
A JavaScript exception is a value that is thrown as a result of an invalid
operation or as the target of a throw
statement. While it is not required
that these values are instances of Error
or classes which inherit from
Error
, all exceptions thrown by Node.js or the JavaScript runtime will be
instances of Error
.
Some exceptions are unrecoverable at the JavaScript layer. Such exceptions
will always cause the Node.js process to crash. Examples include assert()
checks or abort()
calls in the C++ layer.
OpenSSL errors#
Errors originating in crypto
or tls
are of class Error
, and in addition to
the standard .code
and .message
properties, may have some additional
OpenSSL-specific properties.
error.opensslErrorStack
#
An array of errors that can give context to where in the OpenSSL library an
error originates from.
error.function
#
The OpenSSL function the error originates in.
error.library
#
The OpenSSL library the error originates in.
error.reason
#
A human-readable string describing the reason for the error.
Node.js error codes#
ABORT_ERR
#
Added in: v15.0.0
Used when an operation has been aborted (typically using an AbortController
).
APIs not using AbortSignal
s typically do not raise an error with this code.
This code does not use the regular ERR_*
convention Node.js errors use in
order to be compatible with the web platform's AbortError
.
ERR_ACCESS_DENIED
#
A special type of error that is triggered whenever Node.js tries to get access
to a resource restricted by the policy manifest.
For example, process.binding
.
ERR_AMBIGUOUS_ARGUMENT
#
A function argument is being used in a way that suggests that the function
signature may be misunderstood. This is thrown by the node:assert
module when
the message
parameter in assert.throws(block, message)
matches the error
message thrown by block
because that usage suggests that the user believes
message
is the expected message rather than the message the AssertionError
will display if block
does not throw.
ERR_ARG_NOT_ITERABLE
#
An iterable argument (i.e. a value that works with for...of
loops) was
required, but not provided to a Node.js API.
ERR_ASSERTION
#
A special type of error that can be triggered whenever Node.js detects an
exceptional logic violation that should never occur. These are raised typically
by the node:assert
module.
ERR_ASYNC_CALLBACK
#
An attempt was made to register something that is not a function as an
AsyncHooks
callback.
ERR_ASYNC_TYPE
#
The type of an asynchronous resource was invalid. Users are also able
to define their own types if using the public embedder API.
ERR_BROTLI_COMPRESSION_FAILED
#
Data passed to a Brotli stream was not successfully compressed.
ERR_BROTLI_INVALID_PARAM
#
An invalid parameter key was passed during construction of a Brotli stream.
ERR_BUFFER_CONTEXT_NOT_AVAILABLE
#
An attempt was made to create a Node.js Buffer
instance from addon or embedder
code, while in a JS engine Context that is not associated with a Node.js
instance. The data passed to the Buffer
method will have been released
by the time the method returns.
When encountering this error, a possible alternative to creating a Buffer
instance is to create a normal Uint8Array
, which only differs in the
prototype of the resulting object. Uint8Array
s are generally accepted in all
Node.js core APIs where Buffer
s are; they are available in all Contexts.
ERR_BUFFER_OUT_OF_BOUNDS
#
An operation outside the bounds of a Buffer
was attempted.
ERR_BUFFER_TOO_LARGE
#
An attempt has been made to create a Buffer
larger than the maximum allowed
size.
ERR_CANNOT_WATCH_SIGINT
#
Node.js was unable to watch for the SIGINT
signal.
ERR_CHILD_CLOSED_BEFORE_REPLY
#
A child process was closed before the parent received a reply.
ERR_CHILD_PROCESS_IPC_REQUIRED
#
Used when a child process is being forked without specifying an IPC channel.
ERR_CHILD_PROCESS_STDIO_MAXBUFFER
#
Used when the main process is trying to read data from the child process's
STDERR/STDOUT, and the data's length is longer than the maxBuffer
option.
ERR_CLOSED_MESSAGE_PORT
#
There was an attempt to use a MessagePort
instance in a closed
state, usually after .close()
has been called.
ERR_CONSOLE_WRITABLE_STREAM
#
Console
was instantiated without stdout
stream, or Console
has a
non-writable stdout
or stderr
stream.
ERR_CONSTRUCT_CALL_INVALID
#
A class constructor was called that is not callable.
ERR_CONSTRUCT_CALL_REQUIRED
#
A constructor for a class was called without new
.
ERR_CONTEXT_NOT_INITIALIZED
#
The vm context passed into the API is not yet initialized. This could happen
when an error occurs (and is caught) during the creation of the
context, for example, when the allocation fails or the maximum call stack
size is reached when the context is created.
ERR_CRYPTO_CUSTOM_ENGINE_NOT_SUPPORTED
#
A client certificate engine was requested that is not supported by the version
of OpenSSL being used.
ERR_CRYPTO_ECDH_INVALID_FORMAT
#
An invalid value for the format
argument was passed to the crypto.ECDH()
class getPublicKey()
method.
ERR_CRYPTO_ECDH_INVALID_PUBLIC_KEY
#
An invalid value for the key
argument has been passed to the
crypto.ECDH()
class computeSecret()
method. It means that the public
key lies outside of the elliptic curve.
ERR_CRYPTO_ENGINE_UNKNOWN
#
An invalid crypto engine identifier was passed to
require('node:crypto').setEngine()
.
ERR_CRYPTO_FIPS_FORCED
#
The --force-fips
command-line argument was used but there was an attempt
to enable or disable FIPS mode in the node:crypto
module.
ERR_CRYPTO_FIPS_UNAVAILABLE
#
An attempt was made to enable or disable FIPS mode, but FIPS mode was not
available.
ERR_CRYPTO_HASH_FINALIZED
#
hash.digest()
was called multiple times. The hash.digest()
method must
be called no more than one time per instance of a Hash
object.
ERR_CRYPTO_HASH_UPDATE_FAILED
#
hash.update()
failed for any reason. This should rarely, if ever, happen.
ERR_CRYPTO_INCOMPATIBLE_KEY
#
The given crypto keys are incompatible with the attempted operation.
ERR_CRYPTO_INCOMPATIBLE_KEY_OPTIONS
#
The selected public or private key encoding is incompatible with other options.
ERR_CRYPTO_INITIALIZATION_FAILED
#
Added in: v15.0.0
Initialization of the crypto subsystem failed.
ERR_CRYPTO_INVALID_AUTH_TAG
#
Added in: v15.0.0
An invalid authentication tag was provided.
ERR_CRYPTO_INVALID_COUNTER
#
Added in: v15.0.0
An invalid counter was provided for a counter-mode cipher.
ERR_CRYPTO_INVALID_CURVE
#
Added in: v15.0.0
An invalid elliptic-curve was provided.
ERR_CRYPTO_INVALID_DIGEST
#
An invalid crypto digest algorithm was specified.
ERR_CRYPTO_INVALID_IV
#
Added in: v15.0.0
An invalid initialization vector was provided.
ERR_CRYPTO_INVALID_JWK
#
Added in: v15.0.0
An invalid JSON Web Key was provided.
ERR_CRYPTO_INVALID_KEY_OBJECT_TYPE
#
The given crypto key object's type is invalid for the attempted operation.
ERR_CRYPTO_INVALID_KEYLEN
#
Added in: v15.0.0
An invalid key length was provided.
ERR_CRYPTO_INVALID_KEYPAIR
#
Added in: v15.0.0
An invalid key pair was provided.
ERR_CRYPTO_INVALID_KEYTYPE
#
Added in: v15.0.0
An invalid key type was provided.
ERR_CRYPTO_INVALID_MESSAGELEN
#
Added in: v15.0.0
An invalid message length was provided.
ERR_CRYPTO_INVALID_SCRYPT_PARAMS
#
Added in: v15.0.0
Invalid scrypt algorithm parameters were provided.
ERR_CRYPTO_INVALID_STATE
#
A crypto method was used on an object that was in an invalid state. For
instance, calling cipher.getAuthTag()
before calling cipher.final()
.
ERR_CRYPTO_INVALID_TAG_LENGTH
#
Added in: v15.0.0
An invalid authentication tag length was provided.
ERR_CRYPTO_JOB_INIT_FAILED
#
Added in: v15.0.0
Initialization of an asynchronous crypto operation failed.
ERR_CRYPTO_JWK_UNSUPPORTED_CURVE
#
Key's Elliptic Curve is not registered for use in the
JSON Web Key Elliptic Curve Registry.
ERR_CRYPTO_JWK_UNSUPPORTED_KEY_TYPE
#
Key's Asymmetric Key Type is not registered for use in the
JSON Web Key Types Registry.
ERR_CRYPTO_OPERATION_FAILED
#
Added in: v15.0.0
A crypto operation failed for an otherwise unspecified reason.
ERR_CRYPTO_PBKDF2_ERROR
#
The PBKDF2 algorithm failed for unspecified reasons. OpenSSL does not provide
more details and therefore neither does Node.js.
ERR_CRYPTO_SCRYPT_INVALID_PARAMETER
#
One or more crypto.scrypt()
or crypto.scryptSync()
parameters are
outside their legal range.
ERR_CRYPTO_SCRYPT_NOT_SUPPORTED
#
Node.js was compiled without scrypt
support. Not possible with the official
release binaries but can happen with custom builds, including distro builds.
ERR_CRYPTO_SIGN_KEY_REQUIRED
#
A signing key
was not provided to the sign.sign()
method.
ERR_CRYPTO_TIMING_SAFE_EQUAL_LENGTH
#
crypto.timingSafeEqual()
was called with Buffer
, TypedArray
, or
DataView
arguments of different lengths.
ERR_CRYPTO_UNKNOWN_CIPHER
#
An unknown cipher was specified.
ERR_CRYPTO_UNKNOWN_DH_GROUP
#
An unknown Diffie-Hellman group name was given. See
crypto.getDiffieHellman()
for a list of valid group names.
ERR_CRYPTO_UNSUPPORTED_OPERATION
#
Added in: v15.0.0
An attempt to invoke an unsupported crypto operation was made.
ERR_DEBUGGER_ERROR
#
Added in: v16.4.0
An error occurred with the debugger.
ERR_DEBUGGER_STARTUP_ERROR
#
Added in: v16.4.0
The debugger timed out waiting for the required host/port to be free.
ERR_DLOPEN_DISABLED
#
Added in: v16.10.0
Loading native addons has been disabled using --no-addons
.
ERR_DLOPEN_FAILED
#
Added in: v15.0.0
A call to process.dlopen()
failed.
ERR_DIR_CLOSED
#
The fs.Dir
was previously closed.
ERR_DIR_CONCURRENT_OPERATION
#
Added in: v14.3.0
A synchronous read or close call was attempted on an fs.Dir
which has
ongoing asynchronous operations.
ERR_DNS_SET_SERVERS_FAILED
#
c-ares
failed to set the DNS server.
ERR_DOMAIN_CALLBACK_NOT_AVAILABLE
#
The node:domain
module was not usable since it could not establish the
required error handling hooks, because
process.setUncaughtExceptionCaptureCallback()
had been called at an
earlier point in time.
ERR_DOMAIN_CANNOT_SET_UNCAUGHT_EXCEPTION_CAPTURE
#
process.setUncaughtExceptionCaptureCallback()
could not be called
because the node:domain
module has been loaded at an earlier point in time.
The stack trace is extended to include the point in time at which the
node:domain
module had been loaded.
ERR_DUPLICATE_STARTUP_SNAPSHOT_MAIN_FUNCTION
#
v8.startupSnapshot.setDeserializeMainFunction()
could not be called
because it had already been called before.
ERR_ENCODING_INVALID_ENCODED_DATA
#
Data provided to TextDecoder()
API was invalid according to the encoding
provided.
ERR_ENCODING_NOT_SUPPORTED
#
Encoding provided to TextDecoder()
API was not one of the
WHATWG Supported Encodings.
ERR_EVAL_ESM_CANNOT_PRINT
#
--print
cannot be used with ESM input.
ERR_EVENT_RECURSION
#
Thrown when an attempt is made to recursively dispatch an event on EventTarget
.
ERR_EXECUTION_ENVIRONMENT_NOT_AVAILABLE
#
The JS execution context is not associated with a Node.js environment.
This may occur when Node.js is used as an embedded library and some hooks
for the JS engine are not set up properly.
ERR_FALSY_VALUE_REJECTION
#
A Promise
that was callbackified via util.callbackify()
was rejected with a
falsy value.
ERR_FEATURE_UNAVAILABLE_ON_PLATFORM
#
Added in: v14.0.0
Used when a feature that is not available
to the current platform which is running Node.js is used.
ERR_FS_CP_DIR_TO_NON_DIR
#
An attempt was made to copy a directory to a non-directory (file, symlink,
etc.) using fs.cp()
.
ERR_FS_CP_EEXIST
#
An attempt was made to copy over a file that already existed with
fs.cp()
, with the force
and errorOnExist
set to true
.
ERR_FS_CP_EINVAL
#
When using fs.cp()
, src
or dest
pointed to an invalid path.
ERR_HTTP_CONTENT_LENGTH_MISMATCH
#
Response body size doesn't match with the specified content-length header value.
ERR_FS_CP_FIFO_PIPE
#
An attempt was made to copy a named pipe with fs.cp()
.
ERR_FS_CP_NON_DIR_TO_DIR
#
An attempt was made to copy a non-directory (file, symlink, etc.) to a directory
using fs.cp()
.
ERR_FS_CP_SOCKET
#
An attempt was made to copy to a socket with fs.cp()
.
ERR_FS_CP_SYMLINK_TO_SUBDIRECTORY
#
When using fs.cp()
, a symlink in dest
pointed to a subdirectory
of src
.
ERR_FS_CP_UNKNOWN
#
An attempt was made to copy to an unknown file type with fs.cp()
.
ERR_FS_EISDIR
#
Path is a directory.
ERR_FS_FILE_TOO_LARGE
#
An attempt has been made to read a file whose size is larger than the maximum
allowed size for a Buffer
.
ERR_FS_INVALID_SYMLINK_TYPE
#
An invalid symlink type was passed to the fs.symlink()
or
fs.symlinkSync()
methods.
ERR_HTTP_HEADERS_SENT
An attempt was made to add more headers after the headers had already been sent.
ERR_HTTP_INVALID_HEADER_VALUE
An invalid HTTP header value was specified.
ERR_HTTP_INVALID_STATUS_CODE
#
Status code was outside the regular status code range (100-999).
ERR_HTTP_REQUEST_TIMEOUT
#
The client has not sent the entire request within the allowed time.
ERR_HTTP_SOCKET_ENCODING
#
Changing the socket encoding is not allowed per RFC 7230 Section 3.
ERR_HTTP_TRAILER_INVALID
#
The Trailer
header was set even though the transfer encoding does not support
that.
ERR_HTTP2_ALTSVC_INVALID_ORIGIN
#
HTTP/2 ALTSVC frames require a valid origin.
ERR_HTTP2_ALTSVC_LENGTH
#
HTTP/2 ALTSVC frames are limited to a maximum of 16,382 payload bytes.
ERR_HTTP2_CONNECT_AUTHORITY
#
For HTTP/2 requests using the CONNECT
method, the :authority
pseudo-header
is required.
ERR_HTTP2_CONNECT_PATH
#
For HTTP/2 requests using the CONNECT
method, the :path
pseudo-header is
forbidden.
ERR_HTTP2_CONNECT_SCHEME
#
For HTTP/2 requests using the CONNECT
method, the :scheme
pseudo-header is
forbidden.
ERR_HTTP2_ERROR
#
A non-specific HTTP/2 error has occurred.
ERR_HTTP2_GOAWAY_SESSION
#
New HTTP/2 Streams may not be opened after the Http2Session
has received a
GOAWAY
frame from the connected peer.
ERR_HTTP2_HEADER_SINGLE_VALUE
Multiple values were provided for an HTTP/2 header field that was required to
have only a single value.
ERR_HTTP2_HEADERS_AFTER_RESPOND
An additional headers was specified after an HTTP/2 response was initiated.
ERR_HTTP2_HEADERS_SENT
An attempt was made to send multiple response headers.
ERR_HTTP2_INFO_STATUS_NOT_ALLOWED
#
Informational HTTP status codes (1xx
) may not be set as the response status
code on HTTP/2 responses.
ERR_HTTP2_INVALID_CONNECTION_HEADERS
HTTP/1 connection specific headers are forbidden to be used in HTTP/2
requests and responses.
ERR_HTTP2_INVALID_HEADER_VALUE
An invalid HTTP/2 header value was specified.
ERR_HTTP2_INVALID_INFO_STATUS
#
An invalid HTTP informational status code has been specified. Informational
status codes must be an integer between 100
and 199
(inclusive).
ERR_HTTP2_INVALID_ORIGIN
#
HTTP/2 ORIGIN
frames require a valid origin.
ERR_HTTP2_INVALID_PACKED_SETTINGS_LENGTH
#
Input Buffer
and Uint8Array
instances passed to the
http2.getUnpackedSettings()
API must have a length that is a multiple of
six.
ERR_HTTP2_INVALID_PSEUDOHEADER
Only valid HTTP/2 pseudoheaders (:status
, :path
, :authority
, :scheme
,
and :method
) may be used.
ERR_HTTP2_INVALID_SESSION
#
An action was performed on an Http2Session
object that had already been
destroyed.
ERR_HTTP2_INVALID_SETTING_VALUE
#
An invalid value has been specified for an HTTP/2 setting.
ERR_HTTP2_INVALID_STREAM
#
An operation was performed on a stream that had already been destroyed.
ERR_HTTP2_MAX_PENDING_SETTINGS_ACK
#
Whenever an HTTP/2 SETTINGS
frame is sent to a connected peer, the peer is
required to send an acknowledgment that it has received and applied the new
SETTINGS
. By default, a maximum number of unacknowledged SETTINGS
frames may
be sent at any given time. This error code is used when that limit has been
reached.
ERR_HTTP2_NESTED_PUSH
#
An attempt was made to initiate a new push stream from within a push stream.
Nested push streams are not permitted.
ERR_HTTP2_NO_MEM
#
Out of memory when using the http2session.setLocalWindowSize(windowSize)
API.
ERR_HTTP2_NO_SOCKET_MANIPULATION
#
An attempt was made to directly manipulate (read, write, pause, resume, etc.) a
socket attached to an Http2Session
.
ERR_HTTP2_ORIGIN_LENGTH
#
HTTP/2 ORIGIN
frames are limited to a length of 16382 bytes.
ERR_HTTP2_OUT_OF_STREAMS
#
The number of streams created on a single HTTP/2 session reached the maximum
limit.
ERR_HTTP2_PAYLOAD_FORBIDDEN
#
A message payload was specified for an HTTP response code for which a payload is
forbidden.
ERR_HTTP2_PING_CANCEL
#
An HTTP/2 ping was canceled.
ERR_HTTP2_PING_LENGTH
#
HTTP/2 ping payloads must be exactly 8 bytes in length.
ERR_HTTP2_PSEUDOHEADER_NOT_ALLOWED
An HTTP/2 pseudo-header has been used inappropriately. Pseudo-headers are header
key names that begin with the :
prefix.
ERR_HTTP2_PUSH_DISABLED
#
An attempt was made to create a push stream, which had been disabled by the
client.
ERR_HTTP2_SEND_FILE
#
An attempt was made to use the Http2Stream.prototype.responseWithFile()
API to
send a directory.
ERR_HTTP2_SEND_FILE_NOSEEK
#
An attempt was made to use the Http2Stream.prototype.responseWithFile()
API to
send something other than a regular file, but offset
or length
options were
provided.
ERR_HTTP2_SESSION_ERROR
#
The Http2Session
closed with a non-zero error code.
ERR_HTTP2_SETTINGS_CANCEL
#
The Http2Session
settings canceled.
ERR_HTTP2_SOCKET_BOUND
#
An attempt was made to connect a Http2Session
object to a net.Socket
or
tls.TLSSocket
that had already been bound to another Http2Session
object.
ERR_HTTP2_SOCKET_UNBOUND
#
An attempt was made to use the socket
property of an Http2Session
that
has already been closed.
ERR_HTTP2_STATUS_101
#
Use of the 101
Informational status code is forbidden in HTTP/2.
ERR_HTTP2_STATUS_INVALID
#
An invalid HTTP status code has been specified. Status codes must be an integer
between 100
and 599
(inclusive).
ERR_HTTP2_STREAM_CANCEL
#
An Http2Stream
was destroyed before any data was transmitted to the connected
peer.
ERR_HTTP2_STREAM_ERROR
#
A non-zero error code was been specified in an RST_STREAM
frame.
ERR_HTTP2_STREAM_SELF_DEPENDENCY
#
When setting the priority for an HTTP/2 stream, the stream may be marked as
a dependency for a parent stream. This error code is used when an attempt is
made to mark a stream and dependent of itself.
ERR_HTTP2_TOO_MANY_INVALID_FRAMES
#
The limit of acceptable invalid HTTP/2 protocol frames sent by the peer,
as specified through the maxSessionInvalidFrames
option, has been exceeded.
ERR_HTTP2_TRAILERS_ALREADY_SENT
#
Trailing headers have already been sent on the Http2Stream
.
ERR_HTTP2_TRAILERS_NOT_READY
#
The http2stream.sendTrailers()
method cannot be called until after the
'wantTrailers'
event is emitted on an Http2Stream
object. The
'wantTrailers'
event will only be emitted if the waitForTrailers
option
is set for the Http2Stream
.
ERR_HTTP2_UNSUPPORTED_PROTOCOL
#
http2.connect()
was passed a URL that uses any protocol other than http:
or
https:
.
ERR_ILLEGAL_CONSTRUCTOR
#
An attempt was made to construct an object using a non-public constructor.
ERR_IMPORT_ASSERTION_TYPE_FAILED
#
Added in: v16.14.0
An import assertion has failed, preventing the specified module to be imported.
ERR_IMPORT_ASSERTION_TYPE_MISSING
#
Added in: v16.14.0
An import assertion is missing, preventing the specified module to be imported.
ERR_IMPORT_ASSERTION_TYPE_UNSUPPORTED
#
Added in: v16.14.0
An import assertion is not supported by this version of Node.js.
ERR_INCOMPATIBLE_OPTION_PAIR
#
An option pair is incompatible with each other and cannot be used at the same
time.
ERR_INPUT_TYPE_NOT_ALLOWED
#
The --input-type
flag was used to attempt to execute a file. This flag can
only be used with input via --eval
, --print
, or STDIN
.
ERR_INSPECTOR_ALREADY_ACTIVATED
#
While using the node:inspector
module, an attempt was made to activate the
inspector when it already started to listen on a port. Use inspector.close()
before activating it on a different address.
ERR_INSPECTOR_ALREADY_CONNECTED
#
While using the node:inspector
module, an attempt was made to connect when the
inspector was already connected.
ERR_INSPECTOR_CLOSED
#
While using the node:inspector
module, an attempt was made to use the
inspector after the session had already closed.
ERR_INSPECTOR_COMMAND
#
An error occurred while issuing a command via the node:inspector
module.
ERR_INSPECTOR_NOT_ACTIVE
#
The inspector
is not active when inspector.waitForDebugger()
is called.
ERR_INSPECTOR_NOT_AVAILABLE
#
The node:inspector
module is not available for use.
ERR_INSPECTOR_NOT_CONNECTED
#
While using the node:inspector
module, an attempt was made to use the
inspector before it was connected.
ERR_INSPECTOR_NOT_WORKER
#
An API was called on the main thread that can only be used from
the worker thread.
ERR_INTERNAL_ASSERTION
#
There was a bug in Node.js or incorrect usage of Node.js internals.
To fix the error, open an issue at https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues.
ERR_INVALID_ADDRESS_FAMILY
#
The provided address family is not understood by the Node.js API.
ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE
#
An argument of the wrong type was passed to a Node.js API.
ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE
#
An invalid or unsupported value was passed for a given argument.
ERR_INVALID_ASYNC_ID
#
An invalid asyncId
or triggerAsyncId
was passed using AsyncHooks
. An id
less than -1 should never happen.
ERR_INVALID_BUFFER_SIZE
#
A swap was performed on a Buffer
but its size was not compatible with the
operation.
ERR_INVALID_CALLBACK
#
A callback function was required but was not been provided to a Node.js API.
ERR_INVALID_CHAR
#
Invalid characters were detected in headers.
ERR_INVALID_CURSOR_POS
#
A cursor on a given stream cannot be moved to a specified row without a
specified column.
ERR_INVALID_FD
#
A file descriptor ('fd') was not valid (e.g. it was a negative value).
ERR_INVALID_FD_TYPE
#
A file descriptor ('fd') type was not valid.
ERR_INVALID_FILE_URL_HOST
#
A Node.js API that consumes file:
URLs (such as certain functions in the
fs
module) encountered a file URL with an incompatible host. This
situation can only occur on Unix-like systems where only localhost
or an empty
host is supported.
ERR_INVALID_FILE_URL_PATH
#
A Node.js API that consumes file:
URLs (such as certain functions in the
fs
module) encountered a file URL with an incompatible path. The exact
semantics for determining whether a path can be used is platform-dependent.
ERR_INVALID_HANDLE_TYPE
#
An attempt was made to send an unsupported "handle" over an IPC communication
channel to a child process. See subprocess.send()
and process.send()
for more information.
ERR_INVALID_HTTP_TOKEN
#
An invalid HTTP token was supplied.
ERR_INVALID_IP_ADDRESS
#
An IP address is not valid.
ERR_INVALID_MODULE
#
Added in: v15.0.0
An attempt was made to load a module that does not exist or was otherwise not
valid.
ERR_INVALID_MODULE_SPECIFIER
#
The imported module string is an invalid URL, package name, or package subpath
specifier.
ERR_INVALID_PACKAGE_CONFIG
#
An invalid package.json
file failed parsing.
ERR_INVALID_PACKAGE_TARGET
#
The package.json
"exports"
field contains an invalid target mapping
value for the attempted module resolution.
ERR_INVALID_PERFORMANCE_MARK
#
While using the Performance Timing API (perf_hooks
), a performance mark is
invalid.
ERR_INVALID_PROTOCOL
#
An invalid options.protocol
was passed to http.request()
.
ERR_INVALID_REPL_EVAL_CONFIG
#
Both breakEvalOnSigint
and eval
options were set in the REPL
config,
which is not supported.
ERR_INVALID_REPL_INPUT
#
The input may not be used in the REPL
. The conditions under which this
error is used are described in the REPL
documentation.
ERR_INVALID_RETURN_PROPERTY
#
Thrown in case a function option does not provide a valid value for one of its
returned object properties on execution.
ERR_INVALID_RETURN_PROPERTY_VALUE
#
Thrown in case a function option does not provide an expected value
type for one of its returned object properties on execution.
ERR_INVALID_RETURN_VALUE
#
Thrown in case a function option does not return an expected value
type on execution, such as when a function is expected to return a promise.
ERR_INVALID_STATE
#
Added in: v15.0.0
Indicates that an operation cannot be completed due to an invalid state.
For instance, an object may have already been destroyed, or may be
performing another operation.
ERR_INVALID_SYNC_FORK_INPUT
#
A Buffer
, TypedArray
, DataView
, or string
was provided as stdio input to
an asynchronous fork. See the documentation for the child_process
module
for more information.
ERR_INVALID_THIS
#
A Node.js API function was called with an incompatible this
value.
const urlSearchParams = new URLSearchParams('foo=bar&baz=new');
const buf = Buffer.alloc(1);
urlSearchParams.has.call(buf, 'foo');
ERR_INVALID_TRANSFER_OBJECT
#
An invalid transfer object was passed to postMessage()
.
ERR_INVALID_TUPLE
#
An element in the iterable
provided to the WHATWG
URLSearchParams
constructor did not
represent a [name, value]
tuple – that is, if an element is not iterable, or
does not consist of exactly two elements.
ERR_INVALID_URI
#
An invalid URI was passed.
ERR_INVALID_URL
#
An invalid URL was passed to the WHATWG
URL
constructor to be parsed. The thrown error object
typically has an additional property 'input'
that contains the URL that failed
to parse.
ERR_INVALID_URL_SCHEME
#
An attempt was made to use a URL of an incompatible scheme (protocol) for a
specific purpose. It is only used in the WHATWG URL API support in the
fs
module (which only accepts URLs with 'file'
scheme), but may be used
in other Node.js APIs as well in the future.
ERR_IPC_CHANNEL_CLOSED
#
An attempt was made to use an IPC communication channel that was already closed.
ERR_IPC_DISCONNECTED
#
An attempt was made to disconnect an IPC communication channel that was already
disconnected. See the documentation for the child_process
module
for more information.
ERR_IPC_ONE_PIPE
#
An attempt was made to create a child Node.js process using more than one IPC
communication channel. See the documentation for the child_process
module
for more information.
ERR_IPC_SYNC_FORK
#
An attempt was made to open an IPC communication channel with a synchronously
forked Node.js process. See the documentation for the child_process
module
for more information.
ERR_LOADER_CHAIN_INCOMPLETE
#
Added in: v16.17.0
An ESM loader hook returned without calling next()
and without explicitly
signaling a short circuit.
ERR_MANIFEST_ASSERT_INTEGRITY
#
An attempt was made to load a resource, but the resource did not match the
integrity defined by the policy manifest. See the documentation for policy
manifests for more information.
ERR_MANIFEST_DEPENDENCY_MISSING
#
An attempt was made to load a resource, but the resource was not listed as a
dependency from the location that attempted to load it. See the documentation
for policy manifests for more information.
ERR_MANIFEST_INTEGRITY_MISMATCH
#
An attempt was made to load a policy manifest, but the manifest had multiple
entries for a resource which did not match each other. Update the manifest
entries to match in order to resolve this error. See the documentation for
policy manifests for more information.
ERR_MANIFEST_INVALID_RESOURCE_FIELD
#
A policy manifest resource had an invalid value for one of its fields. Update
the manifest entry to match in order to resolve this error. See the
documentation for policy manifests for more information.
ERR_MANIFEST_INVALID_SPECIFIER
#
A policy manifest resource had an invalid value for one of its dependency
mappings. Update the manifest entry to match to resolve this error. See the
documentation for policy manifests for more information.
ERR_MANIFEST_PARSE_POLICY
#
An attempt was made to load a policy manifest, but the manifest was unable to
be parsed. See the documentation for policy manifests for more information.
ERR_MANIFEST_TDZ
#
An attempt was made to read from a policy manifest, but the manifest
initialization has not yet taken place. This is likely a bug in Node.js.
ERR_MANIFEST_UNKNOWN_ONERROR
#
A policy manifest was loaded, but had an unknown value for its "onerror"
behavior. See the documentation for policy manifests for more information.
ERR_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_FAILED
#
An attempt was made to allocate memory (usually in the C++ layer) but it
failed.
ERR_MESSAGE_TARGET_CONTEXT_UNAVAILABLE
#
Added in: v14.5.0, v12.19.0
A message posted to a MessagePort
could not be deserialized in the target
vm Context
. Not all Node.js objects can be successfully instantiated in
any context at this time, and attempting to transfer them using postMessage()
can fail on the receiving side in that case.
ERR_METHOD_NOT_IMPLEMENTED
#
A method is required but not implemented.
ERR_MISSING_ARGS
#
A required argument of a Node.js API was not passed. This is only used for
strict compliance with the API specification (which in some cases may accept
func(undefined)
but not func()
). In most native Node.js APIs,
func(undefined)
and func()
are treated identically, and the
ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE
error code may be used instead.
ERR_MISSING_OPTION
#
For APIs that accept options objects, some options might be mandatory. This code
is thrown if a required option is missing.
ERR_MISSING_PASSPHRASE
#
An attempt was made to read an encrypted key without specifying a passphrase.
ERR_MISSING_PLATFORM_FOR_WORKER
#
The V8 platform used by this instance of Node.js does not support creating
Workers. This is caused by lack of embedder support for Workers. In particular,
this error will not occur with standard builds of Node.js.
ERR_MISSING_TRANSFERABLE_IN_TRANSFER_LIST
#
Added in: v15.0.0
An object that needs to be explicitly listed in the transferList
argument
is in the object passed to a postMessage()
call, but is not provided
in the transferList
for that call. Usually, this is a MessagePort
.
In Node.js versions prior to v15.0.0, the error code being used here was
ERR_MISSING_MESSAGE_PORT_IN_TRANSFER_LIST
. However, the set of
transferable object types has been expanded to cover more types than
MessagePort
.
ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND
#
A module file could not be resolved by the ECMAScript modules loader while
attempting an import
operation or when loading the program entry point.
ERR_MULTIPLE_CALLBACK
#
A callback was called more than once.
A callback is almost always meant to only be called once as the query
can either be fulfilled or rejected but not both at the same time. The latter
would be possible by calling a callback more than once.
ERR_NAPI_CONS_FUNCTION
#
While using Node-API
, a constructor passed was not a function.
ERR_NAPI_INVALID_DATAVIEW_ARGS
#
While calling napi_create_dataview()
, a given offset
was outside the bounds
of the dataview or offset + length
was larger than a length of given buffer
.
ERR_NAPI_INVALID_TYPEDARRAY_ALIGNMENT
#
While calling napi_create_typedarray()
, the provided offset
was not a
multiple of the element size.
ERR_NAPI_INVALID_TYPEDARRAY_LENGTH
#
While calling napi_create_typedarray()
, (length * size_of_element) + byte_offset
was larger than the length of given buffer
.
ERR_NAPI_TSFN_CALL_JS
#
An error occurred while invoking the JavaScript portion of the thread-safe
function.
ERR_NAPI_TSFN_GET_UNDEFINED
#
An error occurred while attempting to retrieve the JavaScript undefined
value.
ERR_NAPI_TSFN_START_IDLE_LOOP
#
On the main thread, values are removed from the queue associated with the
thread-safe function in an idle loop. This error indicates that an error
has occurred when attempting to start the loop.
ERR_NAPI_TSFN_STOP_IDLE_LOOP
#
Once no more items are left in the queue, the idle loop must be suspended. This
error indicates that the idle loop has failed to stop.
ERR_NOT_BUILDING_SNAPSHOT
#
An attempt was made to use operations that can only be used when building
V8 startup snapshot even though Node.js isn't building one.
ERR_NO_CRYPTO
#
An attempt was made to use crypto features while Node.js was not compiled with
OpenSSL crypto support.
ERR_NO_ICU
#
An attempt was made to use features that require ICU, but Node.js was not
compiled with ICU support.
ERR_NON_CONTEXT_AWARE_DISABLED
#
A non-context-aware native addon was loaded in a process that disallows them.
ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE
#
A given value is out of the accepted range.
ERR_PACKAGE_IMPORT_NOT_DEFINED
#
The package.json
"imports"
field does not define the given internal
package specifier mapping.
ERR_PACKAGE_PATH_NOT_EXPORTED
#
The package.json
"exports"
field does not export the requested subpath.
Because exports are encapsulated, private internal modules that are not exported
cannot be imported through the package resolution, unless using an absolute URL.
ERR_PARSE_ARGS_INVALID_OPTION_VALUE
#
Added in: v16.17.0
When strict
set to true
, thrown by util.parseArgs()
if a <boolean>
value is provided for an option of type <string>, or if a <string>
value is provided for an option of type <boolean>.
ERR_PARSE_ARGS_UNEXPECTED_POSITIONAL
#
Added in: v16.17.0
Thrown by util.parseArgs()
, when a positional argument is provided and
allowPositionals
is set to false
.
ERR_PARSE_ARGS_UNKNOWN_OPTION
#
Added in: v16.17.0
When strict
set to true
, thrown by util.parseArgs()
if an argument
is not configured in options
.
ERR_PERFORMANCE_INVALID_TIMESTAMP
#
An invalid timestamp value was provided for a performance mark or measure.
ERR_PERFORMANCE_MEASURE_INVALID_OPTIONS
#
Invalid options were provided for a performance measure.
ERR_PROTO_ACCESS
#
Accessing Object.prototype.__proto__
has been forbidden using
--disable-proto=throw
. Object.getPrototypeOf
and
Object.setPrototypeOf
should be used to get and set the prototype of an
object.
ERR_REQUIRE_ESM
#
An attempt was made to require()
an ES Module.
ERR_SCRIPT_EXECUTION_INTERRUPTED
#
Script execution was interrupted by SIGINT
(For
example, Ctrl+C was pressed.)
ERR_SCRIPT_EXECUTION_TIMEOUT
#
Script execution timed out, possibly due to bugs in the script being executed.
ERR_SERVER_ALREADY_LISTEN
#
The server.listen()
method was called while a net.Server
was already
listening. This applies to all instances of net.Server
, including HTTP, HTTPS,
and HTTP/2 Server
instances.
ERR_SERVER_NOT_RUNNING
#
The server.close()
method was called when a net.Server
was not
running. This applies to all instances of net.Server
, including HTTP, HTTPS,
and HTTP/2 Server
instances.
ERR_SOCKET_ALREADY_BOUND
#
An attempt was made to bind a socket that has already been bound.
ERR_SOCKET_BAD_BUFFER_SIZE
#
An invalid (negative) size was passed for either the recvBufferSize
or
sendBufferSize
options in dgram.createSocket()
.
ERR_SOCKET_BAD_PORT
#
An API function expecting a port >= 0 and < 65536 received an invalid value.
ERR_SOCKET_BAD_TYPE
#
An API function expecting a socket type (udp4
or udp6
) received an invalid
value.
ERR_SOCKET_BUFFER_SIZE
#
While using dgram.createSocket()
, the size of the receive or send Buffer
could not be determined.
ERR_SOCKET_CLOSED
#
An attempt was made to operate on an already closed socket.
ERR_SOCKET_DGRAM_IS_CONNECTED
#
A dgram.connect()
call was made on an already connected socket.
ERR_SOCKET_DGRAM_NOT_CONNECTED
#
A dgram.disconnect()
or dgram.remoteAddress()
call was made on a
disconnected socket.
ERR_SOCKET_DGRAM_NOT_RUNNING
#
A call was made and the UDP subsystem was not running.
ERR_SRI_PARSE
#
A string was provided for a Subresource Integrity check, but was unable to be
parsed. Check the format of integrity attributes by looking at the
Subresource Integrity specification.
ERR_STREAM_ALREADY_FINISHED
#
A stream method was called that cannot complete because the stream was
finished.
ERR_STREAM_CANNOT_PIPE
#
An attempt was made to call stream.pipe()
on a Writable
stream.
ERR_STREAM_DESTROYED
#
A stream method was called that cannot complete because the stream was
destroyed using stream.destroy()
.
ERR_STREAM_NULL_VALUES
#
An attempt was made to call stream.write()
with a null
chunk.
ERR_STREAM_PREMATURE_CLOSE
#
An error returned by stream.finished()
and stream.pipeline()
, when a stream
or a pipeline ends non gracefully with no explicit error.
ERR_STREAM_PUSH_AFTER_EOF
#
An attempt was made to call stream.push()
after a null
(EOF) had been
pushed to the stream.
ERR_STREAM_UNSHIFT_AFTER_END_EVENT
#
An attempt was made to call stream.unshift()
after the 'end'
event was
emitted.
ERR_STREAM_WRAP
#
Prevents an abort if a string decoder was set on the Socket or if the decoder
is in objectMode
.
const Socket = require('node:net').Socket;
const instance = new Socket();
instance.setEncoding('utf8');
ERR_STREAM_WRITE_AFTER_END
#
An attempt was made to call stream.write()
after stream.end()
has been
called.
ERR_STRING_TOO_LONG
#
An attempt has been made to create a string longer than the maximum allowed
length.
ERR_SYNTHETIC
#
An artificial error object used to capture the call stack for diagnostic
reports.
ERR_SYSTEM_ERROR
#
An unspecified or non-specific system error has occurred within the Node.js
process. The error object will have an err.info
object property with
additional details.
ERR_TEST_FAILURE
#
This error represents a failed test. Additional information about the failure
is available via the cause
property. The failureType
property specifies
what the test was doing when the failure occurred.
ERR_TLS_CERT_ALTNAME_FORMAT
#
This error is thrown by checkServerIdentity
if a user-supplied
subjectaltname
property violates encoding rules. Certificate objects produced
by Node.js itself always comply with encoding rules and will never cause
this error.
ERR_TLS_CERT_ALTNAME_INVALID
#
While using TLS, the host name/IP of the peer did not match any of the
subjectAltNames
in its certificate.
ERR_TLS_DH_PARAM_SIZE
#
While using TLS, the parameter offered for the Diffie-Hellman (DH
)
key-agreement protocol is too small. By default, the key length must be greater
than or equal to 1024 bits to avoid vulnerabilities, even though it is strongly
recommended to use 2048 bits or larger for stronger security.
ERR_TLS_HANDSHAKE_TIMEOUT
#
A TLS/SSL handshake timed out. In this case, the server must also abort the
connection.
ERR_TLS_INVALID_CONTEXT
#
Added in: v13.3.0
The context must be a SecureContext
.
ERR_TLS_INVALID_PROTOCOL_METHOD
#
The specified secureProtocol
method is invalid. It is either unknown, or
disabled because it is insecure.
ERR_TLS_INVALID_PROTOCOL_VERSION
#
Valid TLS protocol versions are 'TLSv1'
, 'TLSv1.1'
, or 'TLSv1.2'
.
ERR_TLS_INVALID_STATE
#
Added in: v13.10.0, v12.17.0
The TLS socket must be connected and securely established. Ensure the 'secure'
event is emitted before continuing.
ERR_TLS_PROTOCOL_VERSION_CONFLICT
#
Attempting to set a TLS protocol minVersion
or maxVersion
conflicts with an
attempt to set the secureProtocol
explicitly. Use one mechanism or the other.
ERR_TLS_PSK_SET_IDENTIY_HINT_FAILED
#
Failed to set PSK identity hint. Hint may be too long.
ERR_TLS_RENEGOTIATION_DISABLED
#
An attempt was made to renegotiate TLS on a socket instance with TLS disabled.
ERR_TLS_REQUIRED_SERVER_NAME
#
While using TLS, the server.addContext()
method was called without providing
a host name in the first parameter.
ERR_TLS_SESSION_ATTACK
#
An excessive amount of TLS renegotiations is detected, which is a potential
vector for denial-of-service attacks.
ERR_TLS_SNI_FROM_SERVER
#
An attempt was made to issue Server Name Indication from a TLS server-side
socket, which is only valid from a client.
ERR_TRACE_EVENTS_CATEGORY_REQUIRED
#
The trace_events.createTracing()
method requires at least one trace event
category.
ERR_TRACE_EVENTS_UNAVAILABLE
#
The node:trace_events
module could not be loaded because Node.js was compiled
with the --without-v8-platform
flag.
ERR_TRANSFORM_ALREADY_TRANSFORMING
#
A Transform
stream finished while it was still transforming.
ERR_TRANSFORM_WITH_LENGTH_0
#
A Transform
stream finished with data still in the write buffer.
ERR_TTY_INIT_FAILED
#
The initialization of a TTY failed due to a system error.
ERR_UNAVAILABLE_DURING_EXIT
#
Function was called within a process.on('exit')
handler that shouldn't be
called within process.on('exit')
handler.
ERR_UNCAUGHT_EXCEPTION_CAPTURE_ALREADY_SET
#
process.setUncaughtExceptionCaptureCallback()
was called twice,
without first resetting the callback to null
.
This error is designed to prevent accidentally overwriting a callback registered
from another module.
ERR_UNESCAPED_CHARACTERS
#
A string that contained unescaped characters was received.
ERR_UNHANDLED_ERROR
#
An unhandled error occurred (for instance, when an 'error'
event is emitted
by an EventEmitter
but an 'error'
handler is not registered).
ERR_UNKNOWN_BUILTIN_MODULE
#
Used to identify a specific kind of internal Node.js error that should not
typically be triggered by user code. Instances of this error point to an
internal bug within the Node.js binary itself.
ERR_UNKNOWN_CREDENTIAL
#
A Unix group or user identifier that does not exist was passed.
ERR_UNKNOWN_ENCODING
#
An invalid or unknown encoding option was passed to an API.
ERR_UNKNOWN_FILE_EXTENSION
#
An attempt was made to load a module with an unknown or unsupported file
extension.
ERR_UNKNOWN_MODULE_FORMAT
#
An attempt was made to load a module with an unknown or unsupported format.
ERR_UNKNOWN_SIGNAL
#
An invalid or unknown process signal was passed to an API expecting a valid
signal (such as subprocess.kill()
).
ERR_UNSUPPORTED_DIR_IMPORT
#
import
a directory URL is unsupported. Instead,
self-reference a package using its name and define a custom subpath in
the "exports"
field of the package.json
file.
import './';
import './index.js';
import 'package-name';
ERR_UNSUPPORTED_ESM_URL_SCHEME
#
import
with URL schemes other than file
and data
is unsupported.
ERR_VALID_PERFORMANCE_ENTRY_TYPE
#
While using the Performance Timing API (perf_hooks
), no valid performance
entry types are found.
ERR_VM_DYNAMIC_IMPORT_CALLBACK_MISSING
#
A dynamic import callback was not specified.
ERR_VM_MODULE_ALREADY_LINKED
#
The module attempted to be linked is not eligible for linking, because of one of
the following reasons:
- It has already been linked (
linkingStatus
is 'linked'
)
- It is being linked (
linkingStatus
is 'linking'
)
- Linking has failed for this module (
linkingStatus
is 'errored'
)
ERR_VM_MODULE_CACHED_DATA_REJECTED
#
The cachedData
option passed to a module constructor is invalid.
ERR_VM_MODULE_CANNOT_CREATE_CACHED_DATA
#
Cached data cannot be created for modules which have already been evaluated.
ERR_VM_MODULE_DIFFERENT_CONTEXT
#
The module being returned from the linker function is from a different context
than the parent module. Linked modules must share the same context.
ERR_VM_MODULE_LINK_FAILURE
#
The module was unable to be linked due to a failure.
ERR_VM_MODULE_NOT_MODULE
#
The fulfilled value of a linking promise is not a vm.Module
object.
ERR_VM_MODULE_STATUS
#
The current module's status does not allow for this operation. The specific
meaning of the error depends on the specific function.
ERR_WASI_ALREADY_STARTED
#
The WASI instance has already started.
ERR_WASI_NOT_STARTED
#
The WASI instance has not been started.
ERR_WORKER_INIT_FAILED
#
The Worker
initialization failed.
ERR_WORKER_INVALID_EXEC_ARGV
#
The execArgv
option passed to the Worker
constructor contains
invalid flags.
ERR_WORKER_NOT_RUNNING
#
An operation failed because the Worker
instance is not currently running.
ERR_WORKER_OUT_OF_MEMORY
#
The Worker
instance terminated because it reached its memory limit.
ERR_WORKER_PATH
#
The path for the main script of a worker is neither an absolute path
nor a relative path starting with ./
or ../
.
ERR_WORKER_UNSERIALIZABLE_ERROR
#
All attempts at serializing an uncaught exception from a worker thread failed.
ERR_WORKER_UNSUPPORTED_OPERATION
#
The requested functionality is not supported in worker threads.
ERR_ZLIB_INITIALIZATION_FAILED
#
Creation of a zlib
object failed due to incorrect configuration.
HPE_HEADER_OVERFLOW
Too much HTTP header data was received. In order to protect against malicious or
malconfigured clients, if more than 8 KiB of HTTP header data is received then
HTTP parsing will abort without a request or response object being created, and
an Error
with this code will be emitted.
HPE_UNEXPECTED_CONTENT_LENGTH
#
Server is sending both a Content-Length
header and Transfer-Encoding: chunked
.
Transfer-Encoding: chunked
allows the server to maintain an HTTP persistent
connection for dynamically generated content.
In this case, the Content-Length
HTTP header cannot be used.
Use Content-Length
or Transfer-Encoding: chunked
.
MODULE_NOT_FOUND
#
A module file could not be resolved by the CommonJS modules loader while
attempting a require()
operation or when loading the program entry point.
Legacy Node.js error codes#
Stability: 0 - Deprecated. These error codes are either inconsistent, or have
been removed.
ERR_CANNOT_TRANSFER_OBJECT
#
The value passed to postMessage()
contained an object that is not supported
for transferring.
ERR_CRYPTO_HASH_DIGEST_NO_UTF16
#
Added in: v9.0.0Removed in: v12.12.0
The UTF-16 encoding was used with hash.digest()
. While the
hash.digest()
method does allow an encoding
argument to be passed in,
causing the method to return a string rather than a Buffer
, the UTF-16
encoding (e.g. ucs
or utf16le
) is not supported.
ERR_HTTP2_FRAME_ERROR
#
Added in: v9.0.0Removed in: v10.0.0
Used when a failure occurs sending an individual frame on the HTTP/2
session.
ERR_HTTP2_HEADERS_OBJECT
Added in: v9.0.0Removed in: v10.0.0
Used when an HTTP/2 Headers Object is expected.
ERR_HTTP2_HEADER_REQUIRED
Added in: v9.0.0Removed in: v10.0.0
Used when a required header is missing in an HTTP/2 message.
ERR_HTTP2_INFO_HEADERS_AFTER_RESPOND
Added in: v9.0.0Removed in: v10.0.0
HTTP/2 informational headers must only be sent prior to calling the
Http2Stream.prototype.respond()
method.
ERR_HTTP2_STREAM_CLOSED
#
Added in: v9.0.0Removed in: v10.0.0
Used when an action has been performed on an HTTP/2 Stream that has already
been closed.
ERR_HTTP_INVALID_CHAR
#
Added in: v9.0.0Removed in: v10.0.0
Used when an invalid character is found in an HTTP response status message
(reason phrase).
ERR_INDEX_OUT_OF_RANGE
#
Added in: v10.0.0Removed in: v11.0.0
A given index was out of the accepted range (e.g. negative offsets).
ERR_INVALID_OPT_VALUE
#
Added in: v8.0.0Removed in: v15.0.0
An invalid or unexpected value was passed in an options object.
ERR_INVALID_OPT_VALUE_ENCODING
#
Added in: v9.0.0Removed in: v15.0.0
An invalid or unknown file encoding was passed.
ERR_MISSING_MESSAGE_PORT_IN_TRANSFER_LIST
#
Removed in: v15.0.0
This error code was replaced by ERR_MISSING_TRANSFERABLE_IN_TRANSFER_LIST
in Node.js v15.0.0, because it is no longer accurate as other types of
transferable objects also exist now.
ERR_NAPI_CONS_PROTOTYPE_OBJECT
#
Added in: v9.0.0Removed in: v10.0.0
Used by the Node-API
when Constructor.prototype
is not an object.
ERR_NETWORK_IMPORT_BAD_RESPONSE
#
Response was received but was invalid when importing a module over the network.
ERR_NETWORK_IMPORT_DISALLOWED
#
A network module attempted to load another module that it is not allowed to
load. Likely this restriction is for security reasons.
ERR_NO_LONGER_SUPPORTED
#
A Node.js API was called in an unsupported manner, such as
Buffer.write(string, encoding, offset[, length])
.
ERR_OPERATION_FAILED
#
Added in: v15.0.0
An operation failed. This is typically used to signal the general failure
of an asynchronous operation.
ERR_OUTOFMEMORY
#
Added in: v9.0.0Removed in: v10.0.0
Used generically to identify that an operation caused an out of memory
condition.
ERR_PARSE_HISTORY_DATA
#
Added in: v9.0.0Removed in: v10.0.0
The node:repl
module was unable to parse data from the REPL history file.
ERR_SOCKET_CANNOT_SEND
#
Added in: v9.0.0Removed in: v14.0.0
Data could not be sent on a socket.
ERR_STDERR_CLOSE
#
An attempt was made to close the process.stderr
stream. By design, Node.js
does not allow stdout
or stderr
streams to be closed by user code.
ERR_STDOUT_CLOSE
#
An attempt was made to close the process.stdout
stream. By design, Node.js
does not allow stdout
or stderr
streams to be closed by user code.
ERR_STREAM_READ_NOT_IMPLEMENTED
#
Added in: v9.0.0Removed in: v10.0.0
Used when an attempt is made to use a readable stream that has not implemented
readable._read()
.
ERR_TLS_RENEGOTIATION_FAILED
#
Added in: v9.0.0Removed in: v10.0.0
Used when a TLS renegotiation request has failed in a non-specific way.
ERR_TRANSFERRING_EXTERNALIZED_SHAREDARRAYBUFFER
#
Added in: v10.5.0Removed in: v14.0.0
A SharedArrayBuffer
whose memory is not managed by the JavaScript engine
or by Node.js was encountered during serialization. Such a SharedArrayBuffer
cannot be serialized.
This can only happen when native addons create SharedArrayBuffer
s in
"externalized" mode, or put existing SharedArrayBuffer
into externalized mode.
ERR_UNKNOWN_STDIN_TYPE
#
Added in: v8.0.0Removed in: v11.7.0
An attempt was made to launch a Node.js process with an unknown stdin
file
type. This error is usually an indication of a bug within Node.js itself,
although it is possible for user code to trigger it.
ERR_UNKNOWN_STREAM_TYPE
#
Added in: v8.0.0Removed in: v11.7.0
An attempt was made to launch a Node.js process with an unknown stdout
or
stderr
file type. This error is usually an indication of a bug within Node.js
itself, although it is possible for user code to trigger it.
ERR_V8BREAKITERATOR
#
The V8 BreakIterator
API was used but the full ICU data set is not installed.
ERR_VALUE_OUT_OF_RANGE
#
Added in: v9.0.0Removed in: v10.0.0
Used when a given value is out of the accepted range.
ERR_VM_MODULE_NOT_LINKED
#
The module must be successfully linked before instantiation.
ERR_VM_MODULE_LINKING_ERRORED
#
Added in: v10.0.0Removed in: v16.17.0
The linker function returned a module for which linking has failed.
ERR_WORKER_UNSUPPORTED_EXTENSION
#
Added in: v11.0.0Removed in: v16.9.0
The pathname used for the main script of a worker has an
unknown file extension.
ERR_ZLIB_BINDING_CLOSED
#
Added in: v9.0.0Removed in: v10.0.0
Used when an attempt is made to use a zlib
object after it has already been
closed.
ERR_CPU_USAGE
#
Removed in: v15.0.0
The native call from process.cpuUsage
could not be processed.
Events#
Source Code: lib/events.js
Much of the Node.js core API is built around an idiomatic asynchronous
event-driven architecture in which certain kinds of objects (called "emitters")
emit named events that cause Function
objects ("listeners") to be called.
For instance: a net.Server
object emits an event each time a peer
connects to it; a fs.ReadStream
emits an event when the file is opened;
a stream emits an event whenever data is available to be read.
All objects that emit events are instances of the EventEmitter
class. These
objects expose an eventEmitter.on()
function that allows one or more
functions to be attached to named events emitted by the object. Typically,
event names are camel-cased strings but any valid JavaScript property key
can be used.
When the EventEmitter
object emits an event, all of the functions attached
to that specific event are called synchronously. Any values returned by the
called listeners are ignored and discarded.
The following example shows a simple EventEmitter
instance with a single
listener. The eventEmitter.on()
method is used to register listeners, while
the eventEmitter.emit()
method is used to trigger the event.
import { EventEmitter } from 'node:events';
class MyEmitter extends EventEmitter {}
const myEmitter = new MyEmitter();
myEmitter.on('event', () => {
console.log('an event occurred!');
});
myEmitter.emit('event');
const EventEmitter = require('node:events');
class MyEmitter extends EventEmitter {}
const myEmitter = new MyEmitter();
myEmitter.on('event', () => {
console.log('an event occurred!');
});
myEmitter.emit('event');
Passing arguments and this
to listeners#
The eventEmitter.emit()
method allows an arbitrary set of arguments to be
passed to the listener functions. Keep in mind that when
an ordinary listener function is called, the standard this
keyword
is intentionally set to reference the EventEmitter
instance to which the
listener is attached.
const myEmitter = new MyEmitter();
myEmitter.on('event', function(a, b) {
console.log(a, b, this, this === myEmitter);
});
myEmitter.emit('event', 'a', 'b');
It is possible to use ES6 Arrow Functions as listeners, however, when doing so,
the this
keyword will no longer reference the EventEmitter
instance:
const myEmitter = new MyEmitter();
myEmitter.on('event', (a, b) => {
console.log(a, b, this);
});
myEmitter.emit('event', 'a', 'b');
Asynchronous vs. synchronous#
The EventEmitter
calls all listeners synchronously in the order in which
they were registered. This ensures the proper sequencing of
events and helps avoid race conditions and logic errors. When appropriate,
listener functions can switch to an asynchronous mode of operation using
the setImmediate()
or process.nextTick()
methods:
const myEmitter = new MyEmitter();
myEmitter.on('event', (a, b) => {
setImmediate(() => {
console.log('this happens asynchronously');
});
});
myEmitter.emit('event', 'a', 'b');
Handling events only once#
When a listener is registered using the eventEmitter.on()
method, that
listener is invoked every time the named event is emitted.
const myEmitter = new MyEmitter();
let m = 0;
myEmitter.on('event', () => {
console.log(++m);
});
myEmitter.emit('event');
myEmitter.emit('event');
Using the eventEmitter.once()
method, it is possible to register a listener
that is called at most once for a particular event. Once the event is emitted,
the listener is unregistered and then called.
const myEmitter = new MyEmitter();
let m = 0;
myEmitter.once('event', () => {
console.log(++m);
});
myEmitter.emit('event');
myEmitter.emit('event');
Error events#
When an error occurs within an EventEmitter
instance, the typical action is
for an 'error'
event to be emitted. These are treated as special cases
within Node.js.
If an EventEmitter
does not have at least one listener registered for the
'error'
event, and an 'error'
event is emitted, the error is thrown, a
stack trace is printed, and the Node.js process exits.
const myEmitter = new MyEmitter();
myEmitter.emit('error', new Error('whoops!'));
To guard against crashing the Node.js process the domain
module can be
used. (Note, however, that the node:domain
module is deprecated.)
As a best practice, listeners should always be added for the 'error'
events.
const myEmitter = new MyEmitter();
myEmitter.on('error', (err) => {
console.error('whoops! there was an error');
});
myEmitter.emit('error', new Error('whoops!'));
It is possible to monitor 'error'
events without consuming the emitted error
by installing a listener using the symbol events.errorMonitor
.
import { EventEmitter, errorMonitor } from 'node:events';
const myEmitter = new EventEmitter();
myEmitter.on(errorMonitor, (err) => {
MyMonitoringTool.log(err);
});
myEmitter.emit('error', new Error('whoops!'));
const { EventEmitter, errorMonitor } = require('node:events');
const myEmitter = new EventEmitter();
myEmitter.on(errorMonitor, (err) => {
MyMonitoringTool.log(err);
});
myEmitter.emit('error', new Error('whoops!'));
Capture rejections of promises#
Using async
functions with event handlers is problematic, because it
can lead to an unhandled rejection in case of a thrown exception:
const ee = new EventEmitter();
ee.on('something', async (value) => {
throw new Error('kaboom');
});
The captureRejections
option in the EventEmitter
constructor or the global
setting change this behavior, installing a .then(undefined, handler)
handler on the Promise
. This handler routes the exception
asynchronously to the Symbol.for('nodejs.rejection')
method
if there is one, or to 'error'
event handler if there is none.
const ee1 = new EventEmitter({ captureRejections: true });
ee1.on('something', async (value) => {
throw new Error('kaboom');
});
ee1.on('error', console.log);
const ee2 = new EventEmitter({ captureRejections: true });
ee2.on('something', async (value) => {
throw new Error('kaboom');
});
ee2[Symbol.for('nodejs.rejection')] = console.log;
Setting events.captureRejections = true
will change the default for all
new instances of EventEmitter
.
import { EventEmitter } from 'node:events';
EventEmitter.captureRejections = true;
const ee1 = new EventEmitter();
ee1.on('something', async (value) => {
throw new Error('kaboom');
});
ee1.on('error', console.log);
const events = require('node:events');
events.captureRejections = true;
const ee1 = new events.EventEmitter();
ee1.on('something', async (value) => {
throw new Error('kaboom');
});
ee1.on('error', console.log);
The 'error'
events that are generated by the captureRejections
behavior
do not have a catch handler to avoid infinite error loops: the
recommendation is to not use async
functions as 'error'
event handlers.
Class: EventEmitter
#
The EventEmitter
class is defined and exposed by the node:events
module:
import { EventEmitter } from 'node:events';
const EventEmitter = require('node:events');
All EventEmitter
s emit the event 'newListener'
when new listeners are
added and 'removeListener'
when existing listeners are removed.
It supports the following option:
Event: 'newListener'
#
Added in: v0.1.26
The EventEmitter
instance will emit its own 'newListener'
event before
a listener is added to its internal array of listeners.
Listeners registered for the 'newListener'
event are passed the event
name and a reference to the listener being added.
The fact that the event is triggered before adding the listener has a subtle
but important side effect: any additional listeners registered to the same
name
within the 'newListener'
callback are inserted before the
listener that is in the process of being added.
class MyEmitter extends EventEmitter {}
const myEmitter = new MyEmitter();
myEmitter.once('newListener', (event, listener) => {
if (event === 'event') {
myEmitter.on('event', () => {
console.log('B');
});
}
});
myEmitter.on('event', () => {
console.log('A');
});
myEmitter.emit('event');
Event: 'removeListener'
#
The 'removeListener'
event is emitted after the listener
is removed.
emitter.addListener(eventName, listener)
#
Added in: v0.1.26
Alias for emitter.on(eventName, listener)
.
emitter.emit(eventName[, ...args])
#
Added in: v0.1.26
Synchronously calls each of the listeners registered for the event named
eventName
, in the order they were registered, passing the supplied arguments
to each.
Returns true
if the event had listeners, false
otherwise.
import { EventEmitter } from 'node:events';
const myEmitter = new EventEmitter();
myEmitter.on('event', function firstListener() {
console.log('Helloooo! first listener');
});
myEmitter.on('event', function secondListener(arg1, arg2) {
console.log(`event with parameters ${arg1}, ${arg2} in second listener`);
});
myEmitter.on('event', function thirdListener(...args) {
const parameters = args.join(', ');
console.log(`event with parameters ${parameters} in third listener`);
});
console.log(myEmitter.listeners('event'));
myEmitter.emit('event', 1, 2, 3, 4, 5);
const EventEmitter = require('node:events');
const myEmitter = new EventEmitter();
myEmitter.on('event', function firstListener() {
console.log('Helloooo! first listener');
});
myEmitter.on('event', function secondListener(arg1, arg2) {
console.log(`event with parameters ${arg1}, ${arg2} in second listener`);
});
myEmitter.on('event', function thirdListener(...args) {
const parameters = args.join(', ');
console.log(`event with parameters ${parameters} in third listener`);
});
console.log(myEmitter.listeners('event'));
myEmitter.emit('event', 1, 2, 3, 4, 5);
emitter.eventNames()
#
Added in: v6.0.0
Returns an array listing the events for which the emitter has registered
listeners. The values in the array are strings or Symbol
s.
import { EventEmitter } from 'node:events';
const myEE = new EventEmitter();
myEE.on('foo', () => {});
myEE.on('bar', () => {});
const sym = Symbol('symbol');
myEE.on(sym, () => {});
console.log(myEE.eventNames());
const EventEmitter = require('node:events');
const myEE = new EventEmitter();
myEE.on('foo', () => {});
myEE.on('bar', () => {});
const sym = Symbol('symbol');
myEE.on(sym, () => {});
console.log(myEE.eventNames());
emitter.getMaxListeners()
#
Added in: v1.0.0
Returns the current max listener value for the EventEmitter
which is either
set by emitter.setMaxListeners(n)
or defaults to
events.defaultMaxListeners
.
emitter.listenerCount(eventName)
#
Added in: v3.2.0
Returns the number of listeners listening to the event named eventName
.
emitter.listeners(eventName)
#
Returns a copy of the array of listeners for the event named eventName
.
server.on('connection', (stream) => {
console.log('someone connected!');
});
console.log(util.inspect(server.listeners('connection')));
emitter.off(eventName, listener)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Alias for emitter.removeListener()
.
emitter.on(eventName, listener)
#
Added in: v0.1.101
Adds the listener
function to the end of the listeners array for the
event named eventName
. No checks are made to see if the listener
has
already been added. Multiple calls passing the same combination of eventName
and listener
will result in the listener
being added, and called, multiple
times.
server.on('connection', (stream) => {
console.log('someone connected!');
});
Returns a reference to the EventEmitter
, so that calls can be chained.
By default, event listeners are invoked in the order they are added. The
emitter.prependListener()
method can be used as an alternative to add the
event listener to the beginning of the listeners array.
const myEE = new EventEmitter();
myEE.on('foo', () => console.log('a'));
myEE.prependListener('foo', () => console.log('b'));
myEE.emit('foo');
emitter.once(eventName, listener)
#
Added in: v0.3.0
Adds a one-time listener
function for the event named eventName
. The
next time eventName
is triggered, this listener is removed and then invoked.
server.once('connection', (stream) => {
console.log('Ah, we have our first user!');
});
Returns a reference to the EventEmitter
, so that calls can be chained.
By default, event listeners are invoked in the order they are added. The
emitter.prependOnceListener()
method can be used as an alternative to add the
event listener to the beginning of the listeners array.
const myEE = new EventEmitter();
myEE.once('foo', () => console.log('a'));
myEE.prependOnceListener('foo', () => console.log('b'));
myEE.emit('foo');
emitter.prependListener(eventName, listener)
#
Added in: v6.0.0
Adds the listener
function to the beginning of the listeners array for the
event named eventName
. No checks are made to see if the listener
has
already been added. Multiple calls passing the same combination of eventName
and listener
will result in the listener
being added, and called, multiple
times.
server.prependListener('connection', (stream) => {
console.log('someone connected!');
});
Returns a reference to the EventEmitter
, so that calls can be chained.
emitter.prependOnceListener(eventName, listener)
#
Added in: v6.0.0
Adds a one-time listener
function for the event named eventName
to the
beginning of the listeners array. The next time eventName
is triggered, this
listener is removed, and then invoked.
server.prependOnceListener('connection', (stream) => {
console.log('Ah, we have our first user!');
});
Returns a reference to the EventEmitter
, so that calls can be chained.
emitter.removeAllListeners([eventName])
#
Added in: v0.1.26
Removes all listeners, or those of the specified eventName
.
It is bad practice to remove listeners added elsewhere in the code,
particularly when the EventEmitter
instance was created by some other
component or module (e.g. sockets or file streams).
Returns a reference to the EventEmitter
, so that calls can be chained.
emitter.removeListener(eventName, listener)
#
Added in: v0.1.26
Removes the specified listener
from the listener array for the event named
eventName
.
const callback = (stream) => {
console.log('someone connected!');
};
server.on('connection', callback);
server.removeListener('connection', callback);
removeListener()
will remove, at most, one instance of a listener from the
listener array. If any single listener has been added multiple times to the
listener array for the specified eventName
, then removeListener()
must be
called multiple times to remove each instance.
Once an event is emitted, all listeners attached to it at the
time of emitting are called in order. This implies that any
removeListener()
or removeAllListeners()
calls after emitting and
before the last listener finishes execution will not remove them from
emit()
in progress. Subsequent events behave as expected.
const myEmitter = new MyEmitter();
const callbackA = () => {
console.log('A');
myEmitter.removeListener('event', callbackB);
};
const callbackB = () => {
console.log('B');
};
myEmitter.on('event', callbackA);
myEmitter.on('event', callbackB);
myEmitter.emit('event');
myEmitter.emit('event');
Because listeners are managed using an internal array, calling this will
change the position indices of any listener registered after the listener
being removed. This will not impact the order in which listeners are called,
but it means that any copies of the listener array as returned by
the emitter.listeners()
method will need to be recreated.
When a single function has been added as a handler multiple times for a single
event (as in the example below), removeListener()
will remove the most
recently added instance. In the example the once('ping')
listener is removed:
const ee = new EventEmitter();
function pong() {
console.log('pong');
}
ee.on('ping', pong);
ee.once('ping', pong);
ee.removeListener('ping', pong);
ee.emit('ping');
ee.emit('ping');
Returns a reference to the EventEmitter
, so that calls can be chained.
emitter.setMaxListeners(n)
#
Added in: v0.3.5
By default EventEmitter
s will print a warning if more than 10
listeners are
added for a particular event. This is a useful default that helps finding
memory leaks. The emitter.setMaxListeners()
method allows the limit to be
modified for this specific EventEmitter
instance. The value can be set to
Infinity
(or 0
) to indicate an unlimited number of listeners.
Returns a reference to the EventEmitter
, so that calls can be chained.
emitter.rawListeners(eventName)
#
Added in: v9.4.0
Returns a copy of the array of listeners for the event named eventName
,
including any wrappers (such as those created by .once()
).
const emitter = new EventEmitter();
emitter.once('log', () => console.log('log once'));
const listeners = emitter.rawListeners('log');
const logFnWrapper = listeners[0];
logFnWrapper.listener();
logFnWrapper();
emitter.on('log', () => console.log('log persistently'));
const newListeners = emitter.rawListeners('log');
newListeners[0]();
emitter.emit('log');
emitter[Symbol.for('nodejs.rejection')](err, eventName[, ...args])
#
The Symbol.for('nodejs.rejection')
method is called in case a
promise rejection happens when emitting an event and
captureRejections
is enabled on the emitter.
It is possible to use events.captureRejectionSymbol
in
place of Symbol.for('nodejs.rejection')
.
import { EventEmitter, captureRejectionSymbol } from 'node:events';
class MyClass extends EventEmitter {
constructor() {
super({ captureRejections: true });
}
[captureRejectionSymbol](err, event, ...args) {
console.log('rejection happened for', event, 'with', err, ...args);
this.destroy(err);
}
destroy(err) {
}
}
const { EventEmitter, captureRejectionSymbol } = require('node:events');
class MyClass extends EventEmitter {
constructor() {
super({ captureRejections: true });
}
[captureRejectionSymbol](err, event, ...args) {
console.log('rejection happened for', event, 'with', err, ...args);
this.destroy(err);
}
destroy(err) {
}
}
events.defaultMaxListeners
#
Added in: v0.11.2
By default, a maximum of 10
listeners can be registered for any single
event. This limit can be changed for individual EventEmitter
instances
using the emitter.setMaxListeners(n)
method. To change the default
for all EventEmitter
instances, the events.defaultMaxListeners
property can be used. If this value is not a positive number, a RangeError
is thrown.
Take caution when setting the events.defaultMaxListeners
because the
change affects all EventEmitter
instances, including those created before
the change is made. However, calling emitter.setMaxListeners(n)
still has
precedence over events.defaultMaxListeners
.
This is not a hard limit. The EventEmitter
instance will allow
more listeners to be added but will output a trace warning to stderr indicating
that a "possible EventEmitter memory leak" has been detected. For any single
EventEmitter
, the emitter.getMaxListeners()
and emitter.setMaxListeners()
methods can be used to temporarily avoid this warning:
emitter.setMaxListeners(emitter.getMaxListeners() + 1);
emitter.once('event', () => {
emitter.setMaxListeners(Math.max(emitter.getMaxListeners() - 1, 0));
});
The --trace-warnings
command-line flag can be used to display the
stack trace for such warnings.
The emitted warning can be inspected with process.on('warning')
and will
have the additional emitter
, type
, and count
properties, referring to
the event emitter instance, the event's name and the number of attached
listeners, respectively.
Its name
property is set to 'MaxListenersExceededWarning'
.
events.errorMonitor
#
Added in: v13.6.0, v12.17.0
This symbol shall be used to install a listener for only monitoring 'error'
events. Listeners installed using this symbol are called before the regular
'error'
listeners are called.
Installing a listener using this symbol does not change the behavior once an
'error'
event is emitted. Therefore, the process will still crash if no
regular 'error'
listener is installed.
events.getEventListeners(emitterOrTarget, eventName)
#
Added in: v15.2.0
Returns a copy of the array of listeners for the event named eventName
.
For EventEmitter
s this behaves exactly the same as calling .listeners
on
the emitter.
For EventTarget
s this is the only way to get the event listeners for the
event target. This is useful for debugging and diagnostic purposes.
import { getEventListeners, EventEmitter } from 'node:events';
{
const ee = new EventEmitter();
const listener = () => console.log('Events are fun');
ee.on('foo', listener);
getEventListeners(ee, 'foo');
}
{
const et = new EventTarget();
const listener = () => console.log('Events are fun');
et.addEventListener('foo', listener);
getEventListeners(et, 'foo');
}
const { getEventListeners, EventEmitter } = require('node:events');
{
const ee = new EventEmitter();
const listener = () => console.log('Events are fun');
ee.on('foo', listener);
getEventListeners(ee, 'foo');
}
{
const et = new EventTarget();
const listener = () => console.log('Events are fun');
et.addEventListener('foo', listener);
getEventListeners(et, 'foo');
}
events.once(emitter, name[, options])
#
Creates a Promise
that is fulfilled when the EventEmitter
emits the given
event or that is rejected if the EventEmitter
emits 'error'
while waiting.
The Promise
will resolve with an array of all the arguments emitted to the
given event.
This method is intentionally generic and works with the web platform
EventTarget interface, which has no special
'error'
event semantics and does not listen to the 'error'
event.
import { once, EventEmitter } from 'node:events';
import process from 'node:process';
const ee = new EventEmitter();
process.nextTick(() => {
ee.emit('myevent', 42);
});
const [value] = await once(ee, 'myevent');
console.log(value);
const err = new Error('kaboom');
process.nextTick(() => {
ee.emit('error', err);
});
try {
await once(ee, 'myevent');
} catch (err) {
console.log('error happened', err);
}
const { once, EventEmitter } = require('node:events');
async function run() {
const ee = new EventEmitter();
process.nextTick(() => {
ee.emit('myevent', 42);
});
const [value] = await once(ee, 'myevent');
console.log(value);
const err = new Error('kaboom');
process.nextTick(() => {
ee.emit('error', err);
});
try {
await once(ee, 'myevent');
} catch (err) {
console.log('error happened', err);
}
}
run();
The special handling of the 'error'
event is only used when events.once()
is used to wait for another event. If events.once()
is used to wait for the
'error'
event itself, then it is treated as any other kind of event without
special handling:
import { EventEmitter, once } from 'node:events';
const ee = new EventEmitter();
once(ee, 'error')
.then(([err]) => console.log('ok', err.message))
.catch((err) => console.log('error', err.message));
ee.emit('error', new Error('boom'));
const { EventEmitter, once } = require('node:events');
const ee = new EventEmitter();
once(ee, 'error')
.then(([err]) => console.log('ok', err.message))
.catch((err) => console.log('error', err.message));
ee.emit('error', new Error('boom'));
An <AbortSignal> can be used to cancel waiting for the event:
import { EventEmitter, once } from 'node:events';
const ee = new EventEmitter();
const ac = new AbortController();
async function foo(emitter, event, signal) {
try {
await once(emitter, event, { signal });
console.log('event emitted!');
} catch (error) {
if (error.name === 'AbortError') {
console.error('Waiting for the event was canceled!');
} else {
console.error('There was an error', error.message);
}
}
}
foo(ee, 'foo', ac.signal);
ac.abort();
ee.emit('foo');
const { EventEmitter, once } = require('node:events');
const ee = new EventEmitter();
const ac = new AbortController();
async function foo(emitter, event, signal) {
try {
await once(emitter, event, { signal });
console.log('event emitted!');
} catch (error) {
if (error.name === 'AbortError') {
console.error('Waiting for the event was canceled!');
} else {
console.error('There was an error', error.message);
}
}
}
foo(ee, 'foo', ac.signal);
ac.abort();
ee.emit('foo');
Awaiting multiple events emitted on process.nextTick()
#
There is an edge case worth noting when using the events.once()
function
to await multiple events emitted on in the same batch of process.nextTick()
operations, or whenever multiple events are emitted synchronously. Specifically,
because the process.nextTick()
queue is drained before the Promise
microtask
queue, and because EventEmitter
emits all events synchronously, it is possible
for events.once()
to miss an event.
import { EventEmitter, once } from 'node:events';
import process from 'node:process';
const myEE = new EventEmitter();
async function foo() {
await once(myEE, 'bar');
console.log('bar');
await once(myEE, 'foo');
console.log('foo');
}
process.nextTick(() => {
myEE.emit('bar');
myEE.emit('foo');
});
foo().then(() => console.log('done'));
const { EventEmitter, once } = require('node:events');
const myEE = new EventEmitter();
async function foo() {
await once(myEE, 'bar');
console.log('bar');
await once(myEE, 'foo');
console.log('foo');
}
process.nextTick(() => {
myEE.emit('bar');
myEE.emit('foo');
});
foo().then(() => console.log('done'));
To catch both events, create each of the Promises before awaiting either
of them, then it becomes possible to use Promise.all()
, Promise.race()
,
or Promise.allSettled()
:
import { EventEmitter, once } from 'node:events';
import process from 'node:process';
const myEE = new EventEmitter();
async function foo() {
await Promise.all([once(myEE, 'bar'), once(myEE, 'foo')]);
console.log('foo', 'bar');
}
process.nextTick(() => {
myEE.emit('bar');
myEE.emit('foo');
});
foo().then(() => console.log('done'));
const { EventEmitter, once } = require('node:events');
const myEE = new EventEmitter();
async function foo() {
await Promise.all([once(myEE, 'bar'), once(myEE, 'foo')]);
console.log('foo', 'bar');
}
process.nextTick(() => {
myEE.emit('bar');
myEE.emit('foo');
});
foo().then(() => console.log('done'));
events.captureRejections
#
Value: <boolean>
Change the default captureRejections
option on all new EventEmitter
objects.
events.captureRejectionSymbol
#
Value: Symbol.for('nodejs.rejection')
See how to write a custom rejection handler.
events.listenerCount(emitter, eventName)
#
Added in: v0.9.12Deprecated since: v3.2.0
A class method that returns the number of listeners for the given eventName
registered on the given emitter
.
import { EventEmitter, listenerCount } from 'node:events';
const myEmitter = new EventEmitter();
myEmitter.on('event', () => {});
myEmitter.on('event', () => {});
console.log(listenerCount(myEmitter, 'event'));
const { EventEmitter, listenerCount } = require('node:events');
const myEmitter = new EventEmitter();
myEmitter.on('event', () => {});
myEmitter.on('event', () => {});
console.log(listenerCount(myEmitter, 'event'));
events.on(emitter, eventName[, options])
#
Added in: v13.6.0, v12.16.0
import { on, EventEmitter } from 'node:events';
import process from 'node:process';
const ee = new EventEmitter();
process.nextTick(() => {
ee.emit('foo', 'bar');
ee.emit('foo', 42);
});
for await (const event of on(ee, 'foo')) {
console.log(event);
}
const { on, EventEmitter } = require('node:events');
(async () => {
const ee = new EventEmitter();
process.nextTick(() => {
ee.emit('foo', 'bar');
ee.emit('foo', 42);
});
for await (const event of on(ee, 'foo')) {
console.log(event);
}
})();
Returns an AsyncIterator
that iterates eventName
events. It will throw
if the EventEmitter
emits 'error'
. It removes all listeners when
exiting the loop. The value
returned by each iteration is an array
composed of the emitted event arguments.
An <AbortSignal> can be used to cancel waiting on events:
import { on, EventEmitter } from 'node:events';
import process from 'node:process';
const ac = new AbortController();
(async () => {
const ee = new EventEmitter();
process.nextTick(() => {
ee.emit('foo', 'bar');
ee.emit('foo', 42);
});
for await (const event of on(ee, 'foo', { signal: ac.signal })) {
console.log(event);
}
})();
process.nextTick(() => ac.abort());
const { on, EventEmitter } = require('node:events');
const ac = new AbortController();
(async () => {
const ee = new EventEmitter();
process.nextTick(() => {
ee.emit('foo', 'bar');
ee.emit('foo', 42);
});
for await (const event of on(ee, 'foo', { signal: ac.signal })) {
console.log(event);
}
})();
process.nextTick(() => ac.abort());
Class: events.EventEmitterAsyncResource extends EventEmitter
#
Added in: v16.14.0
Integrates EventEmitter
with <AsyncResource> for EventEmitter
s that
require manual async tracking. Specifically, all events emitted by instances
of events.EventEmitterAsyncResource
will run within its async context.
import { EventEmitterAsyncResource, EventEmitter } from 'node:events';
import { notStrictEqual, strictEqual } from 'node:assert';
import { executionAsyncId, triggerAsyncId } from 'node:async_hooks';
const ee1 = new EventEmitterAsyncResource({ name: 'Q' });
ee1.on('foo', () => {
strictEqual(executionAsyncId(), ee1.asyncId);
strictEqual(triggerAsyncId(), ee1.triggerAsyncId);
});
const ee2 = new EventEmitter();
ee2.on('foo', () => {
notStrictEqual(executionAsyncId(), ee2.asyncId);
notStrictEqual(triggerAsyncId(), ee2.triggerAsyncId);
});
Promise.resolve().then(() => {
ee1.emit('foo');
ee2.emit('foo');
});
const { EventEmitterAsyncResource, EventEmitter } = require('node:events');
const { notStrictEqual, strictEqual } = require('node:assert');
const { executionAsyncId, triggerAsyncId } = require('node:async_hooks');
const ee1 = new EventEmitterAsyncResource({ name: 'Q' });
ee1.on('foo', () => {
strictEqual(executionAsyncId(), ee1.asyncId);
strictEqual(triggerAsyncId(), ee1.triggerAsyncId);
});
const ee2 = new EventEmitter();
ee2.on('foo', () => {
notStrictEqual(executionAsyncId(), ee2.asyncId);
notStrictEqual(triggerAsyncId(), ee2.triggerAsyncId);
});
Promise.resolve().then(() => {
ee1.emit('foo');
ee2.emit('foo');
});
The EventEmitterAsyncResource
class has the same methods and takes the
same options as EventEmitter
and AsyncResource
themselves.
new events.EventEmitterAsyncResource(options)
#
options
<Object>
captureRejections
<boolean> It enables
automatic capturing of promise rejection.
Default: false
.
name
<string> The type of async event. Default::
new.target.name
.
triggerAsyncId
<number> The ID of the execution context that created this
async event. Default: executionAsyncId()
.
requireManualDestroy
<boolean> If set to true
, disables emitDestroy
when the object is garbage collected. This usually does not need to be set
(even if emitDestroy
is called manually), unless the resource's asyncId
is retrieved and the sensitive API's emitDestroy
is called with it.
When set to false
, the emitDestroy
call on garbage collection
will only take place if there is at least one active destroy
hook.
Default: false
.
eventemitterasyncresource.asyncId
#
- Type: <number> The unique
asyncId
assigned to the resource.
eventemitterasyncresource.asyncResource
#
The returned AsyncResource
object has an additional eventEmitter
property
that provides a reference to this EventEmitterAsyncResource
.
eventemitterasyncresource.emitDestroy()
#
Call all destroy
hooks. This should only ever be called once. An error will
be thrown if it is called more than once. This must be manually called. If
the resource is left to be collected by the GC then the destroy
hooks will
never be called.
eventemitterasyncresource.triggerAsyncId
#
- Type: <number> The same
triggerAsyncId
that is passed to the
AsyncResource
constructor.
EventTarget
and Event
API#
The EventTarget
and Event
objects are a Node.js-specific implementation
of the EventTarget
Web API that are exposed by some Node.js core APIs.
const target = new EventTarget();
target.addEventListener('foo', (event) => {
console.log('foo event happened!');
});
Node.js EventTarget
vs. DOM EventTarget
#
There are two key differences between the Node.js EventTarget
and the
EventTarget
Web API:
- Whereas DOM
EventTarget
instances may be hierarchical, there is no
concept of hierarchy and event propagation in Node.js. That is, an event
dispatched to an EventTarget
does not propagate through a hierarchy of
nested target objects that may each have their own set of handlers for the
event.
- In the Node.js
EventTarget
, if an event listener is an async function
or returns a Promise
, and the returned Promise
rejects, the rejection
is automatically captured and handled the same way as a listener that
throws synchronously (see EventTarget
error handling for details).
NodeEventTarget
vs. EventEmitter
#
The NodeEventTarget
object implements a modified subset of the
EventEmitter
API that allows it to closely emulate an EventEmitter
in
certain situations. A NodeEventTarget
is not an instance of EventEmitter
and cannot be used in place of an EventEmitter
in most cases.
- Unlike
EventEmitter
, any given listener
can be registered at most once
per event type
. Attempts to register a listener
multiple times are
ignored.
- The
NodeEventTarget
does not emulate the full EventEmitter
API.
Specifically the prependListener()
, prependOnceListener()
,
rawListeners()
, setMaxListeners()
, getMaxListeners()
, and
errorMonitor
APIs are not emulated. The 'newListener'
and
'removeListener'
events will also not be emitted.
- The
NodeEventTarget
does not implement any special default behavior
for events with type 'error'
.
- The
NodeEventTarget
supports EventListener
objects as well as
functions as handlers for all event types.
Event listener#
Event listeners registered for an event type
may either be JavaScript
functions or objects with a handleEvent
property whose value is a function.
In either case, the handler function is invoked with the event
argument
passed to the eventTarget.dispatchEvent()
function.
Async functions may be used as event listeners. If an async handler function
rejects, the rejection is captured and handled as described in
EventTarget
error handling.
An error thrown by one handler function does not prevent the other handlers
from being invoked.
The return value of a handler function is ignored.
Handlers are always invoked in the order they were added.
Handler functions may mutate the event
object.
function handler1(event) {
console.log(event.type);
event.a = 1;
}
async function handler2(event) {
console.log(event.type);
console.log(event.a);
}
const handler3 = {
handleEvent(event) {
console.log(event.type);
}
};
const handler4 = {
async handleEvent(event) {
console.log(event.type);
}
};
const target = new EventTarget();
target.addEventListener('foo', handler1);
target.addEventListener('foo', handler2);
target.addEventListener('foo', handler3);
target.addEventListener('foo', handler4, { once: true });
EventTarget
error handling#
When a registered event listener throws (or returns a Promise that rejects),
by default the error is treated as an uncaught exception on
process.nextTick()
. This means uncaught exceptions in EventTarget
s will
terminate the Node.js process by default.
Throwing within an event listener will not stop the other registered handlers
from being invoked.
The EventTarget
does not implement any special default handling for 'error'
type events like EventEmitter
.
Currently errors are first forwarded to the process.on('error')
event
before reaching process.on('uncaughtException')
. This behavior is
deprecated and will change in a future release to align EventTarget
with
other Node.js APIs. Any code relying on the process.on('error')
event should
be aligned with the new behavior.
Class: Event
#
The Event
object is an adaptation of the Event
Web API. Instances
are created internally by Node.js.
event.bubbles
#
Added in: v14.5.0
This is not used in Node.js and is provided purely for completeness.
event.cancelBubble()
#
Added in: v14.5.0
Alias for event.stopPropagation()
. This is not used in Node.js and is
provided purely for completeness.
event.cancelable
#
Added in: v14.5.0
- Type: <boolean> True if the event was created with the
cancelable
option.
event.composed
#
Added in: v14.5.0
This is not used in Node.js and is provided purely for completeness.
event.composedPath()
#
Added in: v14.5.0
Returns an array containing the current EventTarget
as the only entry or
empty if the event is not being dispatched. This is not used in
Node.js and is provided purely for completeness.
event.currentTarget
#
Added in: v14.5.0
Alias for event.target
.
event.defaultPrevented
#
Added in: v14.5.0
Is true
if cancelable
is true
and event.preventDefault()
has been
called.
event.eventPhase
#
Added in: v14.5.0
- Type: <number> Returns
0
while an event is not being dispatched, 2
while
it is being dispatched.
This is not used in Node.js and is provided purely for completeness.
event.isTrusted
#
Added in: v14.5.0
The <AbortSignal> "abort"
event is emitted with isTrusted
set to true
. The
value is false
in all other cases.
event.preventDefault()
#
Added in: v14.5.0
Sets the defaultPrevented
property to true
if cancelable
is true
.
event.returnValue
#
Added in: v14.5.0
- Type: <boolean> True if the event has not been canceled.
This is not used in Node.js and is provided purely for completeness.
event.srcElement
#
Added in: v14.5.0
Alias for event.target
.
event.stopImmediatePropagation()
#
Added in: v14.5.0
Stops the invocation of event listeners after the current one completes.
event.stopPropagation()
#
Added in: v14.5.0
This is not used in Node.js and is provided purely for completeness.
event.target
#
Added in: v14.5.0
event.timeStamp
#
Added in: v14.5.0
The millisecond timestamp when the Event
object was created.
event.type
#
Added in: v14.5.0
The event type identifier.
Class: EventTarget
#
eventTarget.addEventListener(type, listener[, options])
#
type
<string>
listener
<Function> | <EventListener>
options
<Object>
once
<boolean> When true
, the listener is automatically removed
when it is first invoked. Default: false
.
passive
<boolean> When true
, serves as a hint that the listener will
not call the Event
object's preventDefault()
method.
Default: false
.
capture
<boolean> Not directly used by Node.js. Added for API
completeness. Default: false
.
signal
<AbortSignal> The listener will be removed when the given
AbortSignal object's abort()
method is called.
Adds a new handler for the type
event. Any given listener
is added
only once per type
and per capture
option value.
If the once
option is true
, the listener
is removed after the
next time a type
event is dispatched.
The capture
option is not used by Node.js in any functional way other than
tracking registered event listeners per the EventTarget
specification.
Specifically, the capture
option is used as part of the key when registering
a listener
. Any individual listener
may be added once with
capture = false
, and once with capture = true
.
function handler(event) {}
const target = new EventTarget();
target.addEventListener('foo', handler, { capture: true });
target.addEventListener('foo', handler, { capture: false });
target.removeEventListener('foo', handler);
target.removeEventListener('foo', handler, { capture: true });
eventTarget.dispatchEvent(event)
#
Added in: v14.5.0
event
<Event>
- Returns: <boolean>
true
if either event's cancelable
attribute value is
false or its preventDefault()
method was not invoked, otherwise false
.
Dispatches the event
to the list of handlers for event.type
.
The registered event listeners is synchronously invoked in the order they
were registered.
eventTarget.removeEventListener(type, listener)
#
Added in: v14.5.0
Removes the listener
from the list of handlers for event type
.
Class: CustomEvent
#
Added in: v16.17.0
The CustomEvent
object is an adaptation of the CustomEvent
Web API.
Instances are created internally by Node.js.
event.detail
#
Added in: v16.17.0
- Type: <any> Returns custom data passed when initializing.
Read-only.
Class: NodeEventTarget
#
Added in: v14.5.0
The NodeEventTarget
is a Node.js-specific extension to EventTarget
that emulates a subset of the EventEmitter
API.
nodeEventTarget.addListener(type, listener[, options])
#
Added in: v14.5.0
Node.js-specific extension to the EventTarget
class that emulates the
equivalent EventEmitter
API. The only difference between addListener()
and
addEventListener()
is that addListener()
will return a reference to the
EventTarget
.
nodeEventTarget.eventNames()
#
Added in: v14.5.0
Node.js-specific extension to the EventTarget
class that returns an array
of event type
names for which event listeners are registered.
nodeEventTarget.listenerCount(type)
#
Added in: v14.5.0
Node.js-specific extension to the EventTarget
class that returns the number
of event listeners registered for the type
.
nodeEventTarget.off(type, listener)
#
Added in: v14.5.0
Node.js-specific alias for eventTarget.removeListener()
.
nodeEventTarget.on(type, listener[, options])
#
Added in: v14.5.0
Node.js-specific alias for eventTarget.addListener()
.
nodeEventTarget.once(type, listener[, options])
#
Added in: v14.5.0
Node.js-specific extension to the EventTarget
class that adds a once
listener for the given event type
. This is equivalent to calling on
with the once
option set to true
.
nodeEventTarget.removeAllListeners([type])
#
Added in: v14.5.0
Node.js-specific extension to the EventTarget
class. If type
is specified,
removes all registered listeners for type
, otherwise removes all registered
listeners.
nodeEventTarget.removeListener(type, listener)
#
Added in: v14.5.0
Node.js-specific extension to the EventTarget
class that removes the
listener
for the given type
. The only difference between removeListener()
and removeEventListener()
is that removeListener()
will return a reference
to the EventTarget
.
File system#
Source Code: lib/fs.js
The node:fs
module enables interacting with the file system in a
way modeled on standard POSIX functions.
To use the promise-based APIs:
import * as fs from 'node:fs/promises';
const fs = require('node:fs/promises');
To use the callback and sync APIs:
import * as fs from 'node:fs';
const fs = require('node:fs');
All file system operations have synchronous, callback, and promise-based
forms, and are accessible using both CommonJS syntax and ES6 Modules (ESM).
Promises API#
The fs/promises
API provides asynchronous file system methods that return
promises.
The promise APIs use the underlying Node.js threadpool to perform file
system operations off the event loop thread. These operations are not
synchronized or threadsafe. Care must be taken when performing multiple
concurrent modifications on the same file or data corruption may occur.
Class: FileHandle
#
Added in: v10.0.0
A <FileHandle> object is an object wrapper for a numeric file descriptor.
Instances of the <FileHandle> object are created by the fsPromises.open()
method.
All <FileHandle> objects are <EventEmitter>s.
If a <FileHandle> is not closed using the filehandle.close()
method, it will
try to automatically close the file descriptor and emit a process warning,
helping to prevent memory leaks. Please do not rely on this behavior because
it can be unreliable and the file may not be closed. Instead, always explicitly
close <FileHandle>s. Node.js may change this behavior in the future.
Event: 'close'
#
Added in: v15.4.0
The 'close'
event is emitted when the <FileHandle> has been closed and can no
longer be used.
filehandle.appendFile(data[, options])
#
Alias of filehandle.writeFile()
.
When operating on file handles, the mode cannot be changed from what it was set
to with fsPromises.open()
. Therefore, this is equivalent to
filehandle.writeFile()
.
filehandle.chmod(mode)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
mode
<integer> the file mode bit mask.
- Returns: <Promise> Fulfills with
undefined
upon success.
Modifies the permissions on the file. See chmod(2)
.
filehandle.chown(uid, gid)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
uid
<integer> The file's new owner's user id.
gid
<integer> The file's new group's group id.
- Returns: <Promise> Fulfills with
undefined
upon success.
Changes the ownership of the file. A wrapper for chown(2)
.
filehandle.close()
#
Added in: v10.0.0
- Returns: <Promise> Fulfills with
undefined
upon success.
Closes the file handle after waiting for any pending operation on the handle to
complete.
import { open } from 'node:fs/promises';
let filehandle;
try {
filehandle = await open('thefile.txt', 'r');
} finally {
await filehandle?.close();
}
filehandle.createReadStream([options])
#
Added in: v16.11.0
Unlike the 16 KiB default highWaterMark
for a <stream.Readable>, the stream
returned by this method has a default highWaterMark
of 64 KiB.
options
can include start
and end
values to read a range of bytes from
the file instead of the entire file. Both start
and end
are inclusive and
start counting at 0, allowed values are in the
[0, Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER
] range. If start
is
omitted or undefined
, filehandle.createReadStream()
reads sequentially from
the current file position. The encoding
can be any one of those accepted by
<Buffer>.
If the FileHandle
points to a character device that only supports blocking
reads (such as keyboard or sound card), read operations do not finish until data
is available. This can prevent the process from exiting and the stream from
closing naturally.
By default, the stream will emit a 'close'
event after it has been
destroyed. Set the emitClose
option to false
to change this behavior.
import { open } from 'node:fs/promises';
const fd = await open('/dev/input/event0');
const stream = fd.createReadStream();
setTimeout(() => {
stream.close();
stream.push(null);
stream.read(0);
}, 100);
If autoClose
is false, then the file descriptor won't be closed, even if
there's an error. It is the application's responsibility to close it and make
sure there's no file descriptor leak. If autoClose
is set to true (default
behavior), on 'error'
or 'end'
the file descriptor will be closed
automatically.
An example to read the last 10 bytes of a file which is 100 bytes long:
import { open } from 'node:fs/promises';
const fd = await open('sample.txt');
fd.createReadStream({ start: 90, end: 99 });
filehandle.createWriteStream([options])
#
Added in: v16.11.0
options
may also include a start
option to allow writing data at some
position past the beginning of the file, allowed values are in the
[0, Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER
] range. Modifying a file rather than
replacing it may require the flags
open
option to be set to r+
rather than
the default r
. The encoding
can be any one of those accepted by <Buffer>.
If autoClose
is set to true (default behavior) on 'error'
or 'finish'
the file descriptor will be closed automatically. If autoClose
is false,
then the file descriptor won't be closed, even if there's an error.
It is the application's responsibility to close it and make sure there's no
file descriptor leak.
By default, the stream will emit a 'close'
event after it has been
destroyed. Set the emitClose
option to false
to change this behavior.
filehandle.datasync()
#
Added in: v10.0.0
- Returns: <Promise> Fulfills with
undefined
upon success.
Forces all currently queued I/O operations associated with the file to the
operating system's synchronized I/O completion state. Refer to the POSIX
fdatasync(2)
documentation for details.
Unlike filehandle.sync
this method does not flush modified metadata.
filehandle.fd
#
Added in: v10.0.0
filehandle.read(buffer, offset, length, position)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
buffer
<Buffer> | <TypedArray> | <DataView> A buffer that will be filled with the
file data read.
offset
<integer> The location in the buffer at which to start filling.
length
<integer> The number of bytes to read.
position
<integer> | <null> The location where to begin reading data from the
file. If null
, data will be read from the current file position, and
the position will be updated. If position
is an integer, the current
file position will remain unchanged.
- Returns: <Promise> Fulfills upon success with an object with two properties:
Reads data from the file and stores that in the given buffer.
If the file is not modified concurrently, the end-of-file is reached when the
number of bytes read is zero.
filehandle.read([options])
#
Added in: v13.11.0, v12.17.0
options
<Object>
buffer
<Buffer> | <TypedArray> | <DataView> A buffer that will be filled with the
file data read. Default: Buffer.alloc(16384)
offset
<integer> The location in the buffer at which to start filling.
Default: 0
length
<integer> The number of bytes to read. Default:
buffer.byteLength - offset
position
<integer> | <null> The location where to begin reading data from the
file. If null
, data will be read from the current file position, and
the position will be updated. If position
is an integer, the current
file position will remain unchanged. Default:: null
- Returns: <Promise> Fulfills upon success with an object with two properties:
Reads data from the file and stores that in the given buffer.
If the file is not modified concurrently, the end-of-file is reached when the
number of bytes read is zero.
filehandle.read(buffer[, options])
#
Added in: v16.17.0
buffer
<Buffer> | <TypedArray> | <DataView> A buffer that will be filled with the
file data read.
options
<Object>
offset
<integer> The location in the buffer at which to start filling.
Default: 0
length
<integer> The number of bytes to read. Default:
buffer.byteLength - offset
position
<integer> The location where to begin reading data from the
file. If null
, data will be read from the current file position, and
the position will be updated. If position
is an integer, the current
file position will remain unchanged. Default:: null
- Returns: <Promise> Fulfills upon success with an object with two properties:
Reads data from the file and stores that in the given buffer.
If the file is not modified concurrently, the end-of-file is reached when the
number of bytes read is zero.
filehandle.readFile(options)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
options
<Object> | <string>
- Returns: <Promise> Fulfills upon a successful read with the contents of the
file. If no encoding is specified (using
options.encoding
), the data is
returned as a <Buffer> object. Otherwise, the data will be a string.
Asynchronously reads the entire contents of a file.
If options
is a string, then it specifies the encoding
.
The <FileHandle> has to support reading.
If one or more filehandle.read()
calls are made on a file handle and then a
filehandle.readFile()
call is made, the data will be read from the current
position till the end of the file. It doesn't always read from the beginning
of the file.
filehandle.readv(buffers[, position])
#
Added in: v13.13.0, v12.17.0
buffers
<Buffer[]> | <TypedArray[]> | <DataView[]>
position
<integer> | <null> The offset from the beginning of the file where
the data should be read from. If position
is not a number
, the data will
be read from the current position. Default: null
- Returns: <Promise> Fulfills upon success an object containing two properties:
Read from a file and write to an array of <ArrayBufferView>s
filehandle.stat([options])
#
filehandle.sync()
#
Added in: v10.0.0
- Returns: <Promise> Fulfills with
undefined
upon success.
Request that all data for the open file descriptor is flushed to the storage
device. The specific implementation is operating system and device specific.
Refer to the POSIX fsync(2)
documentation for more detail.
filehandle.truncate(len)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Truncates the file.
If the file was larger than len
bytes, only the first len
bytes will be
retained in the file.
The following example retains only the first four bytes of the file:
import { open } from 'node:fs/promises';
let filehandle = null;
try {
filehandle = await open('temp.txt', 'r+');
await filehandle.truncate(4);
} finally {
await filehandle?.close();
}
If the file previously was shorter than len
bytes, it is extended, and the
extended part is filled with null bytes ('\0'
):
If len
is negative then 0
will be used.
filehandle.utimes(atime, mtime)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Change the file system timestamps of the object referenced by the <FileHandle>
then resolves the promise with no arguments upon success.
filehandle.write(buffer, offset[, length[, position]])
#
buffer
<Buffer> | <TypedArray> | <DataView>
offset
<integer> The start position from within buffer
where the data
to write begins.
length
<integer> The number of bytes from buffer
to write. Default:
buffer.byteLength - offset
position
<integer> | <null> The offset from the beginning of the file where the
data from buffer
should be written. If position
is not a number
,
the data will be written at the current position. See the POSIX pwrite(2)
documentation for more detail. Default: null
- Returns: <Promise>
Write buffer
to the file.
The promise is resolved with an object containing two properties:
It is unsafe to use filehandle.write()
multiple times on the same file
without waiting for the promise to be resolved (or rejected). For this
scenario, use filehandle.createWriteStream()
.
On Linux, positional writes do not work when the file is opened in append mode.
The kernel ignores the position argument and always appends the data to
the end of the file.
filehandle.write(buffer[, options])
#
Added in: v16.17.0
Write buffer
to the file.
Similar to the above filehandle.write
function, this version takes an
optional options
object. If no options
object is specified, it will
default with the above values.
filehandle.write(string[, position[, encoding]])
#
string
<string>
position
<integer> | <null> The offset from the beginning of the file where the
data from string
should be written. If position
is not a number
the
data will be written at the current position. See the POSIX pwrite(2)
documentation for more detail. Default: null
encoding
<string> The expected string encoding. Default: 'utf8'
- Returns: <Promise>
Write string
to the file. If string
is not a string, the promise is
rejected with an error.
The promise is resolved with an object containing two properties:
bytesWritten
<integer> the number of bytes written
buffer
<string> a reference to the string
written.
It is unsafe to use filehandle.write()
multiple times on the same file
without waiting for the promise to be resolved (or rejected). For this
scenario, use filehandle.createWriteStream()
.
On Linux, positional writes do not work when the file is opened in append mode.
The kernel ignores the position argument and always appends the data to
the end of the file.
filehandle.writeFile(data, options)
#
Asynchronously writes data to a file, replacing the file if it already exists.
data
can be a string, a buffer, an <AsyncIterable>, or an <Iterable> object.
The promise is resolved with no arguments upon success.
If options
is a string, then it specifies the encoding
.
The <FileHandle> has to support writing.
It is unsafe to use filehandle.writeFile()
multiple times on the same file
without waiting for the promise to be resolved (or rejected).
If one or more filehandle.write()
calls are made on a file handle and then a
filehandle.writeFile()
call is made, the data will be written from the
current position till the end of the file. It doesn't always write from the
beginning of the file.
filehandle.writev(buffers[, position])
#
Added in: v12.9.0
Write an array of <ArrayBufferView>s to the file.
The promise is resolved with an object containing a two properties:
It is unsafe to call writev()
multiple times on the same file without waiting
for the promise to be resolved (or rejected).
On Linux, positional writes don't work when the file is opened in append mode.
The kernel ignores the position argument and always appends the data to
the end of the file.
fsPromises.access(path[, mode])
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Tests a user's permissions for the file or directory specified by path
.
The mode
argument is an optional integer that specifies the accessibility
checks to be performed. mode
should be either the value fs.constants.F_OK
or a mask consisting of the bitwise OR of any of fs.constants.R_OK
,
fs.constants.W_OK
, and fs.constants.X_OK
(e.g.
fs.constants.W_OK | fs.constants.R_OK
). Check File access constants for
possible values of mode
.
If the accessibility check is successful, the promise is resolved with no
value. If any of the accessibility checks fail, the promise is rejected
with an <Error> object. The following example checks if the file
/etc/passwd
can be read and written by the current process.
import { access, constants } from 'node:fs/promises';
try {
await access('/etc/passwd', constants.R_OK | constants.W_OK);
console.log('can access');
} catch {
console.error('cannot access');
}
Using fsPromises.access()
to check for the accessibility of a file before
calling fsPromises.open()
is not recommended. Doing so introduces a race
condition, since other processes may change the file's state between the two
calls. Instead, user code should open/read/write the file directly and handle
the error raised if the file is not accessible.
fsPromises.appendFile(path, data[, options])
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Asynchronously append data to a file, creating the file if it does not yet
exist. data
can be a string or a <Buffer>.
If options
is a string, then it specifies the encoding
.
The mode
option only affects the newly created file. See fs.open()
for more details.
The path
may be specified as a <FileHandle> that has been opened
for appending (using fsPromises.open()
).
fsPromises.chmod(path, mode)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Changes the permissions of a file.
fsPromises.chown(path, uid, gid)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Changes the ownership of a file.
fsPromises.copyFile(src, dest[, mode])
#
src
<string> | <Buffer> | <URL> source filename to copy
dest
<string> | <Buffer> | <URL> destination filename of the copy operation
mode
<integer> Optional modifiers that specify the behavior of the copy
operation. It is possible to create a mask consisting of the bitwise OR of
two or more values (e.g.
fs.constants.COPYFILE_EXCL | fs.constants.COPYFILE_FICLONE
)
Default: 0
.
fs.constants.COPYFILE_EXCL
: The copy operation will fail if dest
already exists.
fs.constants.COPYFILE_FICLONE
: The copy operation will attempt to create
a copy-on-write reflink. If the platform does not support copy-on-write,
then a fallback copy mechanism is used.
fs.constants.COPYFILE_FICLONE_FORCE
: The copy operation will attempt to
create a copy-on-write reflink. If the platform does not support
copy-on-write, then the operation will fail.
- Returns: <Promise> Fulfills with
undefined
upon success.
Asynchronously copies src
to dest
. By default, dest
is overwritten if it
already exists.
No guarantees are made about the atomicity of the copy operation. If an
error occurs after the destination file has been opened for writing, an attempt
will be made to remove the destination.
import { copyFile, constants } from 'node:fs/promises';
try {
await copyFile('source.txt', 'destination.txt');
console.log('source.txt was copied to destination.txt');
} catch {
console.log('The file could not be copied');
}
try {
await copyFile('source.txt', 'destination.txt', constants.COPYFILE_EXCL);
console.log('source.txt was copied to destination.txt');
} catch {
console.log('The file could not be copied');
}
fsPromises.cp(src, dest[, options])
#
src
<string> | <URL> source path to copy.
dest
<string> | <URL> destination path to copy to.
options
<Object>
dereference
<boolean> dereference symlinks. Default: false
.
errorOnExist
<boolean> when force
is false
, and the destination
exists, throw an error. Default: false
.
filter
<Function> Function to filter copied files/directories. Return
true
to copy the item, false
to ignore it. Can also return a Promise
that resolves to true
or false
Default: undefined
.
force
<boolean> overwrite existing file or directory. The copy
operation will ignore errors if you set this to false and the destination
exists. Use the errorOnExist
option to change this behavior.
Default: true
.
preserveTimestamps
<boolean> When true
timestamps from src
will
be preserved. Default: false
.
recursive
<boolean> copy directories recursively Default: false
verbatimSymlinks
<boolean> When true
, path resolution for symlinks will
be skipped. Default: false
- Returns: <Promise> Fulfills with
undefined
upon success.
Asynchronously copies the entire directory structure from src
to dest
,
including subdirectories and files.
When copying a directory to another directory, globs are not supported and
behavior is similar to cp dir1/ dir2/
.
fsPromises.lchmod(path, mode)
#
Deprecated since: v10.0.0
Changes the permissions on a symbolic link.
This method is only implemented on macOS.
fsPromises.lchown(path, uid, gid)
#
Changes the ownership on a symbolic link.
fsPromises.lutimes(path, atime, mtime)
#
Added in: v14.5.0, v12.19.0
Changes the access and modification times of a file in the same way as
fsPromises.utimes()
, with the difference that if the path refers to a
symbolic link, then the link is not dereferenced: instead, the timestamps of
the symbolic link itself are changed.
fsPromises.link(existingPath, newPath)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Creates a new link from the existingPath
to the newPath
. See the POSIX
link(2)
documentation for more detail.
fsPromises.lstat(path[, options])
#
Equivalent to fsPromises.stat()
unless path
refers to a symbolic link,
in which case the link itself is stat-ed, not the file that it refers to.
Refer to the POSIX lstat(2)
document for more detail.
fsPromises.mkdir(path[, options])
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Asynchronously creates a directory.
The optional options
argument can be an integer specifying mode
(permission
and sticky bits), or an object with a mode
property and a recursive
property indicating whether parent directories should be created. Calling
fsPromises.mkdir()
when path
is a directory that exists results in a
rejection only when recursive
is false.
import { mkdir } from 'node:fs/promises';
try {
const projectFolder = new URL('./test/project/', import.meta.url);
const createDir = await mkdir(projectFolder, { recursive: true });
console.log(`created ${createDir}`);
} catch (err) {
console.error(err.message);
}
const { mkdir } = require('node:fs/promises');
const { resolve, join } = require('node:path');
async function makeDirectory() {
const projectFolder = join(__dirname, 'test', 'project');
const dirCreation = await mkdir(projectFolder, { recursive: true });
console.log(dirCreation);
return dirCreation;
}
makeDirectory().catch(console.error);
fsPromises.mkdtemp(prefix[, options])
#
Creates a unique temporary directory. A unique directory name is generated by
appending six random characters to the end of the provided prefix
. Due to
platform inconsistencies, avoid trailing X
characters in prefix
. Some
platforms, notably the BSDs, can return more than six random characters, and
replace trailing X
characters in prefix
with random characters.
The optional options
argument can be a string specifying an encoding, or an
object with an encoding
property specifying the character encoding to use.
import { mkdtemp } from 'node:fs/promises';
try {
await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'foo-'));
} catch (err) {
console.error(err);
}
The fsPromises.mkdtemp()
method will append the six randomly selected
characters directly to the prefix
string. For instance, given a directory
/tmp
, if the intention is to create a temporary directory within /tmp
, the
prefix
must end with a trailing platform-specific path separator
(require('node:path').sep
).
fsPromises.open(path, flags[, mode])
#
Opens a <FileHandle>.
Refer to the POSIX open(2)
documentation for more detail.
Some characters (< > : " / \ | ? *
) are reserved under Windows as documented
by Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces. Under NTFS, if the filename contains
a colon, Node.js will open a file system stream, as described by
this MSDN page.
fsPromises.opendir(path[, options])
#
Asynchronously open a directory for iterative scanning. See the POSIX
opendir(3)
documentation for more detail.
Creates an <fs.Dir>, which contains all further functions for reading from
and cleaning up the directory.
The encoding
option sets the encoding for the path
while opening the
directory and subsequent read operations.
Example using async iteration:
import { opendir } from 'node:fs/promises';
try {
const dir = await opendir('./');
for await (const dirent of dir)
console.log(dirent.name);
} catch (err) {
console.error(err);
}
When using the async iterator, the <fs.Dir> object will be automatically
closed after the iterator exits.
fsPromises.readdir(path[, options])
#
Reads the contents of a directory.
The optional options
argument can be a string specifying an encoding, or an
object with an encoding
property specifying the character encoding to use for
the filenames. If the encoding
is set to 'buffer'
, the filenames returned
will be passed as <Buffer> objects.
If options.withFileTypes
is set to true
, the resolved array will contain
<fs.Dirent> objects.
import { readdir } from 'node:fs/promises';
try {
const files = await readdir(path);
for (const file of files)
console.log(file);
} catch (err) {
console.error(err);
}
fsPromises.readFile(path[, options])
#
Asynchronously reads the entire contents of a file.
If no encoding is specified (using options.encoding
), the data is returned
as a <Buffer> object. Otherwise, the data will be a string.
If options
is a string, then it specifies the encoding.
When the path
is a directory, the behavior of fsPromises.readFile()
is
platform-specific. On macOS, Linux, and Windows, the promise will be rejected
with an error. On FreeBSD, a representation of the directory's contents will be
returned.
It is possible to abort an ongoing readFile
using an <AbortSignal>. If a
request is aborted the promise returned is rejected with an AbortError
:
import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
try {
const controller = new AbortController();
const { signal } = controller;
const promise = readFile(fileName, { signal });
controller.abort();
await promise;
} catch (err) {
console.error(err);
}
Aborting an ongoing request does not abort individual operating
system requests but rather the internal buffering fs.readFile
performs.
Any specified <FileHandle> has to support reading.
fsPromises.readlink(path[, options])
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Reads the contents of the symbolic link referred to by path
. See the POSIX
readlink(2)
documentation for more detail. The promise is resolved with the
linkString
upon success.
The optional options
argument can be a string specifying an encoding, or an
object with an encoding
property specifying the character encoding to use for
the link path returned. If the encoding
is set to 'buffer'
, the link path
returned will be passed as a <Buffer> object.
fsPromises.realpath(path[, options])
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Determines the actual location of path
using the same semantics as the
fs.realpath.native()
function.
Only paths that can be converted to UTF8 strings are supported.
The optional options
argument can be a string specifying an encoding, or an
object with an encoding
property specifying the character encoding to use for
the path. If the encoding
is set to 'buffer'
, the path returned will be
passed as a <Buffer> object.
On Linux, when Node.js is linked against musl libc, the procfs file system must
be mounted on /proc
in order for this function to work. Glibc does not have
this restriction.
fsPromises.rename(oldPath, newPath)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Renames oldPath
to newPath
.
fsPromises.rmdir(path[, options])
#
path
<string> | <Buffer> | <URL>
options
<Object>
maxRetries
<integer> If an EBUSY
, EMFILE
, ENFILE
, ENOTEMPTY
, or
EPERM
error is encountered, Node.js retries the operation with a linear
backoff wait of retryDelay
milliseconds longer on each try. This option
represents the number of retries. This option is ignored if the recursive
option is not true
. Default: 0
.
recursive
<boolean> If true
, perform a recursive directory removal. In
recursive mode, operations are retried on failure. Default: false
.
Deprecated.
retryDelay
<integer> The amount of time in milliseconds to wait between
retries. This option is ignored if the recursive
option is not true
.
Default: 100
.
- Returns: <Promise> Fulfills with
undefined
upon success.
Removes the directory identified by path
.
Using fsPromises.rmdir()
on a file (not a directory) results in the
promise being rejected with an ENOENT
error on Windows and an ENOTDIR
error on POSIX.
To get a behavior similar to the rm -rf
Unix command, use
fsPromises.rm()
with options { recursive: true, force: true }
.
fsPromises.rm(path[, options])
#
Added in: v14.14.0
path
<string> | <Buffer> | <URL>
options
<Object>
force
<boolean> When true
, exceptions will be ignored if path
does
not exist. Default: false
.
maxRetries
<integer> If an EBUSY
, EMFILE
, ENFILE
, ENOTEMPTY
, or
EPERM
error is encountered, Node.js will retry the operation with a linear
backoff wait of retryDelay
milliseconds longer on each try. This option
represents the number of retries. This option is ignored if the recursive
option is not true
. Default: 0
.
recursive
<boolean> If true
, perform a recursive directory removal. In
recursive mode operations are retried on failure. Default: false
.
retryDelay
<integer> The amount of time in milliseconds to wait between
retries. This option is ignored if the recursive
option is not true
.
Default: 100
.
- Returns: <Promise> Fulfills with
undefined
upon success.
Removes files and directories (modeled on the standard POSIX rm
utility).
fsPromises.stat(path[, options])
#
fsPromises.symlink(target, path[, type])
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Creates a symbolic link.
The type
argument is only used on Windows platforms and can be one of 'dir'
,
'file'
, or 'junction'
. Windows junction points require the destination path
to be absolute. When using 'junction'
, the target
argument will
automatically be normalized to absolute path.
fsPromises.truncate(path[, len])
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Truncates (shortens or extends the length) of the content at path
to len
bytes.
fsPromises.unlink(path)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
If path
refers to a symbolic link, then the link is removed without affecting
the file or directory to which that link refers. If the path
refers to a file
path that is not a symbolic link, the file is deleted. See the POSIX unlink(2)
documentation for more detail.
fsPromises.utimes(path, atime, mtime)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Change the file system timestamps of the object referenced by path
.
The atime
and mtime
arguments follow these rules:
- Values can be either numbers representing Unix epoch time,
Date
s, or a
numeric string like '123456789.0'
.
- If the value can not be converted to a number, or is
NaN
, Infinity
, or
-Infinity
, an Error
will be thrown.
fsPromises.watch(filename[, options])
#
Added in: v15.9.0
filename
<string> | <Buffer> | <URL>
options
<string> | <Object>
persistent
<boolean> Indicates whether the process should continue to run
as long as files are being watched. Default: true
.
recursive
<boolean> Indicates whether all subdirectories should be
watched, or only the current directory. This applies when a directory is
specified, and only on supported platforms (See caveats). Default:
false
.
encoding
<string> Specifies the character encoding to be used for the
filename passed to the listener. Default: 'utf8'
.
signal
<AbortSignal> An <AbortSignal> used to signal when the watcher
should stop.
- Returns: <AsyncIterator> of objects with the properties:
Returns an async iterator that watches for changes on filename
, where filename
is either a file or a directory.
const { watch } = require('node:fs/promises');
const ac = new AbortController();
const { signal } = ac;
setTimeout(() => ac.abort(), 10000);
(async () => {
try {
const watcher = watch(__filename, { signal });
for await (const event of watcher)
console.log(event);
} catch (err) {
if (err.name === 'AbortError')
return;
throw err;
}
})();
On most platforms, 'rename'
is emitted whenever a filename appears or
disappears in the directory.
All the caveats for fs.watch()
also apply to fsPromises.watch()
.
fsPromises.writeFile(file, data[, options])
#
Asynchronously writes data to a file, replacing the file if it already exists.
data
can be a string, a buffer, an <AsyncIterable>, or an <Iterable> object.
The encoding
option is ignored if data
is a buffer.
If options
is a string, then it specifies the encoding.
The mode
option only affects the newly created file. See fs.open()
for more details.
Any specified <FileHandle> has to support writing.
It is unsafe to use fsPromises.writeFile()
multiple times on the same file
without waiting for the promise to be settled.
Similarly to fsPromises.readFile
- fsPromises.writeFile
is a convenience
method that performs multiple write
calls internally to write the buffer
passed to it. For performance sensitive code consider using
fs.createWriteStream()
or filehandle.createWriteStream()
.
It is possible to use an <AbortSignal> to cancel an fsPromises.writeFile()
.
Cancelation is "best effort", and some amount of data is likely still
to be written.
import { writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
try {
const controller = new AbortController();
const { signal } = controller;
const data = new Uint8Array(Buffer.from('Hello Node.js'));
const promise = writeFile('message.txt', data, { signal });
controller.abort();
await promise;
} catch (err) {
console.error(err);
}
Aborting an ongoing request does not abort individual operating
system requests but rather the internal buffering fs.writeFile
performs.
fsPromises.constants
#
Returns an object containing commonly used constants for file system
operations. The object is the same as fs.constants
. See FS constants
for more details.
Callback API#
The callback APIs perform all operations asynchronously, without blocking the
event loop, then invoke a callback function upon completion or error.
The callback APIs use the underlying Node.js threadpool to perform file
system operations off the event loop thread. These operations are not
synchronized or threadsafe. Care must be taken when performing multiple
concurrent modifications on the same file or data corruption may occur.
fs.access(path[, mode], callback)
#
Tests a user's permissions for the file or directory specified by path
.
The mode
argument is an optional integer that specifies the accessibility
checks to be performed. mode
should be either the value fs.constants.F_OK
or a mask consisting of the bitwise OR of any of fs.constants.R_OK
,
fs.constants.W_OK
, and fs.constants.X_OK
(e.g.
fs.constants.W_OK | fs.constants.R_OK
). Check File access constants for
possible values of mode
.
The final argument, callback
, is a callback function that is invoked with
a possible error argument. If any of the accessibility checks fail, the error
argument will be an Error
object. The following examples check if
package.json
exists, and if it is readable or writable.
import { access, constants } from 'node:fs';
const file = 'package.json';
access(file, constants.F_OK, (err) => {
console.log(`${file} ${err ? 'does not exist' : 'exists'}`);
});
access(file, constants.R_OK, (err) => {
console.log(`${file} ${err ? 'is not readable' : 'is readable'}`);
});
access(file, constants.W_OK, (err) => {
console.log(`${file} ${err ? 'is not writable' : 'is writable'}`);
});
access(file, constants.R_OK | constants.W_OK, (err) => {
console.log(`${file} ${err ? 'is not' : 'is'} readable and writable`);
});
Do not use fs.access()
to check for the accessibility of a file before calling
fs.open()
, fs.readFile()
, or fs.writeFile()
. Doing
so introduces a race condition, since other processes may change the file's
state between the two calls. Instead, user code should open/read/write the
file directly and handle the error raised if the file is not accessible.
write (NOT RECOMMENDED)
import { access, open, close } from 'node:fs';
access('myfile', (err) => {
if (!err) {
console.error('myfile already exists');
return;
}
open('myfile', 'wx', (err, fd) => {
if (err) throw err;
try {
writeMyData(fd);
} finally {
close(fd, (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
});
}
});
});
write (RECOMMENDED)
import { open, close } from 'node:fs';
open('myfile', 'wx', (err, fd) => {
if (err) {
if (err.code === 'EEXIST') {
console.error('myfile already exists');
return;
}
throw err;
}
try {
writeMyData(fd);
} finally {
close(fd, (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
});
}
});
read (NOT RECOMMENDED)
import { access, open, close } from 'node:fs';
access('myfile', (err) => {
if (err) {
if (err.code === 'ENOENT') {
console.error('myfile does not exist');
return;
}
throw err;
}
open('myfile', 'r', (err, fd) => {
if (err) throw err;
try {
readMyData(fd);
} finally {
close(fd, (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
});
}
});
});
read (RECOMMENDED)
import { open, close } from 'node:fs';
open('myfile', 'r', (err, fd) => {
if (err) {
if (err.code === 'ENOENT') {
console.error('myfile does not exist');
return;
}
throw err;
}
try {
readMyData(fd);
} finally {
close(fd, (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
});
}
});
The "not recommended" examples above check for accessibility and then use the
file; the "recommended" examples are better because they use the file directly
and handle the error, if any.
In general, check for the accessibility of a file only if the file will not be
used directly, for example when its accessibility is a signal from another
process.
On Windows, access-control policies (ACLs) on a directory may limit access to
a file or directory. The fs.access()
function, however, does not check the
ACL and therefore may report that a path is accessible even if the ACL restricts
the user from reading or writing to it.
fs.appendFile(path, data[, options], callback)
#
Asynchronously append data to a file, creating the file if it does not yet
exist. data
can be a string or a <Buffer>.
The mode
option only affects the newly created file. See fs.open()
for more details.
import { appendFile } from 'node:fs';
appendFile('message.txt', 'data to append', (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log('The "data to append" was appended to file!');
});
If options
is a string, then it specifies the encoding:
import { appendFile } from 'node:fs';
appendFile('message.txt', 'data to append', 'utf8', callback);
The path
may be specified as a numeric file descriptor that has been opened
for appending (using fs.open()
or fs.openSync()
). The file descriptor will
not be closed automatically.
import { open, close, appendFile } from 'node:fs';
function closeFd(fd) {
close(fd, (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
});
}
open('message.txt', 'a', (err, fd) => {
if (err) throw err;
try {
appendFile(fd, 'data to append', 'utf8', (err) => {
closeFd(fd);
if (err) throw err;
});
} catch (err) {
closeFd(fd);
throw err;
}
});
fs.chmod(path, mode, callback)
#
Asynchronously changes the permissions of a file. No arguments other than a
possible exception are given to the completion callback.
See the POSIX chmod(2)
documentation for more detail.
import { chmod } from 'node:fs';
chmod('my_file.txt', 0o775, (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log('The permissions for file "my_file.txt" have been changed!');
});
File modes#
The mode
argument used in both the fs.chmod()
and fs.chmodSync()
methods is a numeric bitmask created using a logical OR of the following
constants:
Constant | Octal | Description |
---|
fs.constants.S_IRUSR | 0o400 | read by owner |
fs.constants.S_IWUSR | 0o200 | write by owner |
fs.constants.S_IXUSR | 0o100 | execute/search by owner |
fs.constants.S_IRGRP | 0o40 | read by group |
fs.constants.S_IWGRP | 0o20 | write by group |
fs.constants.S_IXGRP | 0o10 | execute/search by group |
fs.constants.S_IROTH | 0o4 | read by others |
fs.constants.S_IWOTH | 0o2 | write by others |
fs.constants.S_IXOTH | 0o1 | execute/search by others |
An easier method of constructing the mode
is to use a sequence of three
octal digits (e.g. 765
). The left-most digit (7
in the example), specifies
the permissions for the file owner. The middle digit (6
in the example),
specifies permissions for the group. The right-most digit (5
in the example),
specifies the permissions for others.
Number | Description |
---|
7 | read, write, and execute |
6 | read and write |
5 | read and execute |
4 | read only |
3 | write and execute |
2 | write only |
1 | execute only |
0 | no permission |
For example, the octal value 0o765
means:
- The owner may read, write, and execute the file.
- The group may read and write the file.
- Others may read and execute the file.
When using raw numbers where file modes are expected, any value larger than
0o777
may result in platform-specific behaviors that are not supported to work
consistently. Therefore constants like S_ISVTX
, S_ISGID
, or S_ISUID
are
not exposed in fs.constants
.
Caveats: on Windows only the write permission can be changed, and the
distinction among the permissions of group, owner, or others is not
implemented.
fs.chown(path, uid, gid, callback)
#
Asynchronously changes owner and group of a file. No arguments other than a
possible exception are given to the completion callback.
See the POSIX chown(2)
documentation for more detail.
fs.close(fd[, callback])
#
Closes the file descriptor. No arguments other than a possible exception are
given to the completion callback.
Calling fs.close()
on any file descriptor (fd
) that is currently in use
through any other fs
operation may lead to undefined behavior.
See the POSIX close(2)
documentation for more detail.
fs.copyFile(src, dest[, mode], callback)
#
Asynchronously copies src
to dest
. By default, dest
is overwritten if it
already exists. No arguments other than a possible exception are given to the
callback function. Node.js makes no guarantees about the atomicity of the copy
operation. If an error occurs after the destination file has been opened for
writing, Node.js will attempt to remove the destination.
mode
is an optional integer that specifies the behavior
of the copy operation. It is possible to create a mask consisting of the bitwise
OR of two or more values (e.g.
fs.constants.COPYFILE_EXCL | fs.constants.COPYFILE_FICLONE
).
fs.constants.COPYFILE_EXCL
: The copy operation will fail if dest
already
exists.
fs.constants.COPYFILE_FICLONE
: The copy operation will attempt to create a
copy-on-write reflink. If the platform does not support copy-on-write, then a
fallback copy mechanism is used.
fs.constants.COPYFILE_FICLONE_FORCE
: The copy operation will attempt to
create a copy-on-write reflink. If the platform does not support
copy-on-write, then the operation will fail.
import { copyFile, constants } from 'node:fs';
function callback(err) {
if (err) throw err;
console.log('source.txt was copied to destination.txt');
}
copyFile('source.txt', 'destination.txt', callback);
copyFile('source.txt', 'destination.txt', constants.COPYFILE_EXCL, callback);
fs.cp(src, dest[, options], callback)
#
src
<string> | <URL> source path to copy.
dest
<string> | <URL> destination path to copy to.
options
<Object>
dereference
<boolean> dereference symlinks. Default: false
.
errorOnExist
<boolean> when force
is false
, and the destination
exists, throw an error. Default: false
.
filter
<Function> Function to filter copied files/directories. Return
true
to copy the item, false
to ignore it. Can also return a Promise
that resolves to true
or false
Default: undefined
.
force
<boolean> overwrite existing file or directory. The copy
operation will ignore errors if you set this to false and the destination
exists. Use the errorOnExist
option to change this behavior.
Default: true
.
preserveTimestamps
<boolean> When true
timestamps from src
will
be preserved. Default: false
.
recursive
<boolean> copy directories recursively Default: false
verbatimSymlinks
<boolean> When true
, path resolution for symlinks will
be skipped. Default: false
callback
<Function>
Asynchronously copies the entire directory structure from src
to dest
,
including subdirectories and files.
When copying a directory to another directory, globs are not supported and
behavior is similar to cp dir1/ dir2/
.
fs.createReadStream(path[, options])
#
Unlike the 16 KiB default highWaterMark
for a <stream.Readable>, the stream
returned by this method has a default highWaterMark
of 64 KiB.
options
can include start
and end
values to read a range of bytes from
the file instead of the entire file. Both start
and end
are inclusive and
start counting at 0, allowed values are in the
[0, Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER
] range. If fd
is specified and start
is
omitted or undefined
, fs.createReadStream()
reads sequentially from the
current file position. The encoding
can be any one of those accepted by
<Buffer>.
If fd
is specified, ReadStream
will ignore the path
argument and will use
the specified file descriptor. This means that no 'open'
event will be
emitted. fd
should be blocking; non-blocking fd
s should be passed to
<net.Socket>.
If fd
points to a character device that only supports blocking reads
(such as keyboard or sound card), read operations do not finish until data is
available. This can prevent the process from exiting and the stream from
closing naturally.
By default, the stream will emit a 'close'
event after it has been
destroyed. Set the emitClose
option to false
to change this behavior.
By providing the fs
option, it is possible to override the corresponding fs
implementations for open
, read
, and close
. When providing the fs
option,
an override for read
is required. If no fd
is provided, an override for
open
is also required. If autoClose
is true
, an override for close
is
also required.
import { createReadStream } from 'node:fs';
const stream = createReadStream('/dev/input/event0');
setTimeout(() => {
stream.close();
stream.push(null);
stream.read(0);
}, 100);
If autoClose
is false, then the file descriptor won't be closed, even if
there's an error. It is the application's responsibility to close it and make
sure there's no file descriptor leak. If autoClose
is set to true (default
behavior), on 'error'
or 'end'
the file descriptor will be closed
automatically.
mode
sets the file mode (permission and sticky bits), but only if the
file was created.
An example to read the last 10 bytes of a file which is 100 bytes long:
import { createReadStream } from 'node:fs';
createReadStream('sample.txt', { start: 90, end: 99 });
If options
is a string, then it specifies the encoding.
fs.createWriteStream(path[, options])
#
options
may also include a start
option to allow writing data at some
position past the beginning of the file, allowed values are in the
[0, Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER
] range. Modifying a file rather than
replacing it may require the flags
option to be set to r+
rather than the
default w
. The encoding
can be any one of those accepted by <Buffer>.
If autoClose
is set to true (default behavior) on 'error'
or 'finish'
the file descriptor will be closed automatically. If autoClose
is false,
then the file descriptor won't be closed, even if there's an error.
It is the application's responsibility to close it and make sure there's no
file descriptor leak.
By default, the stream will emit a 'close'
event after it has been
destroyed. Set the emitClose
option to false
to change this behavior.
By providing the fs
option it is possible to override the corresponding fs
implementations for open
, write
, writev
, and close
. Overriding write()
without writev()
can reduce performance as some optimizations (_writev()
)
will be disabled. When providing the fs
option, overrides for at least one of
write
and writev
are required. If no fd
option is supplied, an override
for open
is also required. If autoClose
is true
, an override for close
is also required.
Like <fs.ReadStream>, if fd
is specified, <fs.WriteStream> will ignore the
path
argument and will use the specified file descriptor. This means that no
'open'
event will be emitted. fd
should be blocking; non-blocking fd
s
should be passed to <net.Socket>.
If options
is a string, then it specifies the encoding.
fs.exists(path, callback)
#
Test whether or not the given path exists by checking with the file system.
Then call the callback
argument with either true or false:
import { exists } from 'node:fs';
exists('/etc/passwd', (e) => {
console.log(e ? 'it exists' : 'no passwd!');
});
The parameters for this callback are not consistent with other Node.js
callbacks. Normally, the first parameter to a Node.js callback is an err
parameter, optionally followed by other parameters. The fs.exists()
callback
has only one boolean parameter. This is one reason fs.access()
is recommended
instead of fs.exists()
.
Using fs.exists()
to check for the existence of a file before calling
fs.open()
, fs.readFile()
, or fs.writeFile()
is not recommended. Doing
so introduces a race condition, since other processes may change the file's
state between the two calls. Instead, user code should open/read/write the
file directly and handle the error raised if the file does not exist.
write (NOT RECOMMENDED)
import { exists, open, close } from 'node:fs';
exists('myfile', (e) => {
if (e) {
console.error('myfile already exists');
} else {
open('myfile', 'wx', (err, fd) => {
if (err) throw err;
try {
writeMyData(fd);
} finally {
close(fd, (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
});
}
});
}
});
write (RECOMMENDED)
import { open, close } from 'node:fs';
open('myfile', 'wx', (err, fd) => {
if (err) {
if (err.code === 'EEXIST') {
console.error('myfile already exists');
return;
}
throw err;
}
try {
writeMyData(fd);
} finally {
close(fd, (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
});
}
});
read (NOT RECOMMENDED)
import { open, close, exists } from 'node:fs';
exists('myfile', (e) => {
if (e) {
open('myfile', 'r', (err, fd) => {
if (err) throw err;
try {
readMyData(fd);
} finally {
close(fd, (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
});
}
});
} else {
console.error('myfile does not exist');
}
});
read (RECOMMENDED)
import { open, close } from 'node:fs';
open('myfile', 'r', (err, fd) => {
if (err) {
if (err.code === 'ENOENT') {
console.error('myfile does not exist');
return;
}
throw err;
}
try {
readMyData(fd);
} finally {
close(fd, (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
});
}
});
The "not recommended" examples above check for existence and then use the
file; the "recommended" examples are better because they use the file directly
and handle the error, if any.
In general, check for the existence of a file only if the file won't be
used directly, for example when its existence is a signal from another
process.
fs.fchmod(fd, mode, callback)
#
Sets the permissions on the file. No arguments other than a possible exception
are given to the completion callback.
See the POSIX fchmod(2)
documentation for more detail.
fs.fchown(fd, uid, gid, callback)
#
Sets the owner of the file. No arguments other than a possible exception are
given to the completion callback.
See the POSIX fchown(2)
documentation for more detail.
fs.fdatasync(fd, callback)
#
Forces all currently queued I/O operations associated with the file to the
operating system's synchronized I/O completion state. Refer to the POSIX
fdatasync(2)
documentation for details. No arguments other than a possible
exception are given to the completion callback.
fs.fstat(fd[, options], callback)
#
Invokes the callback with the <fs.Stats> for the file descriptor.
See the POSIX fstat(2)
documentation for more detail.
fs.fsync(fd, callback)
#
Request that all data for the open file descriptor is flushed to the storage
device. The specific implementation is operating system and device specific.
Refer to the POSIX fsync(2)
documentation for more detail. No arguments other
than a possible exception are given to the completion callback.
fs.ftruncate(fd[, len], callback)
#
Truncates the file descriptor. No arguments other than a possible exception are
given to the completion callback.
See the POSIX ftruncate(2)
documentation for more detail.
If the file referred to by the file descriptor was larger than len
bytes, only
the first len
bytes will be retained in the file.
For example, the following program retains only the first four bytes of the
file:
import { open, close, ftruncate } from 'node:fs';
function closeFd(fd) {
close(fd, (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
});
}
open('temp.txt', 'r+', (err, fd) => {
if (err) throw err;
try {
ftruncate(fd, 4, (err) => {
closeFd(fd);
if (err) throw err;
});
} catch (err) {
closeFd(fd);
if (err) throw err;
}
});
If the file previously was shorter than len
bytes, it is extended, and the
extended part is filled with null bytes ('\0'
):
If len
is negative then 0
will be used.
fs.futimes(fd, atime, mtime, callback)
#
Change the file system timestamps of the object referenced by the supplied file
descriptor. See fs.utimes()
.
fs.lchmod(path, mode, callback)
#
Changes the permissions on a symbolic link. No arguments other than a possible
exception are given to the completion callback.
This method is only implemented on macOS.
See the POSIX lchmod(2)
documentation for more detail.
fs.lchown(path, uid, gid, callback)
#
Set the owner of the symbolic link. No arguments other than a possible
exception are given to the completion callback.
See the POSIX lchown(2)
documentation for more detail.
fs.lutimes(path, atime, mtime, callback)
#
Added in: v14.5.0, v12.19.0
Changes the access and modification times of a file in the same way as
fs.utimes()
, with the difference that if the path refers to a symbolic
link, then the link is not dereferenced: instead, the timestamps of the
symbolic link itself are changed.
No arguments other than a possible exception are given to the completion
callback.
fs.link(existingPath, newPath, callback)
#
Creates a new link from the existingPath
to the newPath
. See the POSIX
link(2)
documentation for more detail. No arguments other than a possible
exception are given to the completion callback.
fs.lstat(path[, options], callback)
#
Retrieves the <fs.Stats> for the symbolic link referred to by the path.
The callback gets two arguments (err, stats)
where stats
is a <fs.Stats>
object. lstat()
is identical to stat()
, except that if path
is a symbolic
link, then the link itself is stat-ed, not the file that it refers to.
See the POSIX lstat(2)
documentation for more details.
fs.mkdir(path[, options], callback)
#
Asynchronously creates a directory.
The callback is given a possible exception and, if recursive
is true
, the
first directory path created, (err[, path])
.
path
can still be undefined
when recursive
is true
, if no directory was
created.
The optional options
argument can be an integer specifying mode
(permission
and sticky bits), or an object with a mode
property and a recursive
property indicating whether parent directories should be created. Calling
fs.mkdir()
when path
is a directory that exists results in an error only
when recursive
is false.
import { mkdir } from 'node:fs';
mkdir('/tmp/a/apple', { recursive: true }, (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
});
On Windows, using fs.mkdir()
on the root directory even with recursion will
result in an error:
import { mkdir } from 'node:fs';
mkdir('/', { recursive: true }, (err) => {
});
See the POSIX mkdir(2)
documentation for more details.
fs.mkdtemp(prefix[, options], callback)
#
Creates a unique temporary directory.
Generates six random characters to be appended behind a required
prefix
to create a unique temporary directory. Due to platform
inconsistencies, avoid trailing X
characters in prefix
. Some platforms,
notably the BSDs, can return more than six random characters, and replace
trailing X
characters in prefix
with random characters.
The created directory path is passed as a string to the callback's second
parameter.
The optional options
argument can be a string specifying an encoding, or an
object with an encoding
property specifying the character encoding to use.
import { mkdtemp } from 'node:fs';
mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'foo-'), (err, directory) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(directory);
});
The fs.mkdtemp()
method will append the six randomly selected characters
directly to the prefix
string. For instance, given a directory /tmp
, if the
intention is to create a temporary directory within /tmp
, the prefix
must end with a trailing platform-specific path separator
(require('node:path').sep
).
import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
import { mkdtemp } from 'node:fs';
const tmpDir = tmpdir();
mkdtemp(tmpDir, (err, directory) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(directory);
});
import { sep } from 'node:path';
mkdtemp(`${tmpDir}${sep}`, (err, directory) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(directory);
});
fs.open(path[, flags[, mode]], callback)
#
Asynchronous file open. See the POSIX open(2)
documentation for more details.
mode
sets the file mode (permission and sticky bits), but only if the file was
created. On Windows, only the write permission can be manipulated; see
fs.chmod()
.
The callback gets two arguments (err, fd)
.
Some characters (< > : " / \ | ? *
) are reserved under Windows as documented
by Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces. Under NTFS, if the filename contains
a colon, Node.js will open a file system stream, as described by
this MSDN page.
Functions based on fs.open()
exhibit this behavior as well:
fs.writeFile()
, fs.readFile()
, etc.
fs.opendir(path[, options], callback)
#
Asynchronously open a directory. See the POSIX opendir(3)
documentation for
more details.
Creates an <fs.Dir>, which contains all further functions for reading from
and cleaning up the directory.
The encoding
option sets the encoding for the path
while opening the
directory and subsequent read operations.
fs.read(fd, buffer, offset, length, position, callback)
#
fd
<integer>
buffer
<Buffer> | <TypedArray> | <DataView> The buffer that the data will be
written to.
offset
<integer> The position in buffer
to write the data to.
length
<integer> The number of bytes to read.
position
<integer> | <bigint> | <null> Specifies where to begin reading from in the
file. If position
is null
or -1
, data will be read from the current
file position, and the file position will be updated. If position
is an
integer, the file position will be unchanged.
callback
<Function>
Read data from the file specified by fd
.
The callback is given the three arguments, (err, bytesRead, buffer)
.
If the file is not modified concurrently, the end-of-file is reached when the
number of bytes read is zero.
If this method is invoked as its util.promisify()
ed version, it returns
a promise for an Object
with bytesRead
and buffer
properties.
fs.read(fd[, options], callback)
#
Similar to the fs.read()
function, this version takes an optional
options
object. If no options
object is specified, it will default with the
above values.
fs.read(fd, buffer[, options], callback)
#
Added in: v16.17.0
Similar to the fs.read()
function, this version takes an optional
options
object. If no options
object is specified, it will default with the
above values.
fs.readdir(path[, options], callback)
#
Reads the contents of a directory. The callback gets two arguments (err, files)
where files
is an array of the names of the files in the directory excluding
'.'
and '..'
.
See the POSIX readdir(3)
documentation for more details.
The optional options
argument can be a string specifying an encoding, or an
object with an encoding
property specifying the character encoding to use for
the filenames passed to the callback. If the encoding
is set to 'buffer'
,
the filenames returned will be passed as <Buffer> objects.
If options.withFileTypes
is set to true
, the files
array will contain
<fs.Dirent> objects.
fs.readFile(path[, options], callback)
#
Asynchronously reads the entire contents of a file.
import { readFile } from 'node:fs';
readFile('/etc/passwd', (err, data) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(data);
});
The callback is passed two arguments (err, data)
, where data
is the
contents of the file.
If no encoding is specified, then the raw buffer is returned.
If options
is a string, then it specifies the encoding:
import { readFile } from 'node:fs';
readFile('/etc/passwd', 'utf8', callback);
When the path is a directory, the behavior of fs.readFile()
and
fs.readFileSync()
is platform-specific. On macOS, Linux, and Windows, an
error will be returned. On FreeBSD, a representation of the directory's contents
will be returned.
import { readFile } from 'node:fs';
readFile('<directory>', (err, data) => {
});
readFile('<directory>', (err, data) => {
});
It is possible to abort an ongoing request using an AbortSignal
. If a
request is aborted the callback is called with an AbortError
:
import { readFile } from 'node:fs';
const controller = new AbortController();
const signal = controller.signal;
readFile(fileInfo[0].name, { signal }, (err, buf) => {
});
controller.abort();
The fs.readFile()
function buffers the entire file. To minimize memory costs,
when possible prefer streaming via fs.createReadStream()
.
Aborting an ongoing request does not abort individual operating
system requests but rather the internal buffering fs.readFile
performs.
File descriptors#
- Any specified file descriptor has to support reading.
- If a file descriptor is specified as the
path
, it will not be closed
automatically.
- The reading will begin at the current position. For example, if the file
already had
'Hello World
' and six bytes are read with the file descriptor,
the call to fs.readFile()
with the same file descriptor, would give
'World'
, rather than 'Hello World'
.
Performance Considerations#
The fs.readFile()
method asynchronously reads the contents of a file into
memory one chunk at a time, allowing the event loop to turn between each chunk.
This allows the read operation to have less impact on other activity that may
be using the underlying libuv thread pool but means that it will take longer
to read a complete file into memory.
The additional read overhead can vary broadly on different systems and depends
on the type of file being read. If the file type is not a regular file (a pipe
for instance) and Node.js is unable to determine an actual file size, each read
operation will load on 64 KiB of data. For regular files, each read will process
512 KiB of data.
For applications that require as-fast-as-possible reading of file contents, it
is better to use fs.read()
directly and for application code to manage
reading the full contents of the file itself.
The Node.js GitHub issue #25741 provides more information and a detailed
analysis on the performance of fs.readFile()
for multiple file sizes in
different Node.js versions.
fs.readlink(path[, options], callback)
#
Reads the contents of the symbolic link referred to by path
. The callback gets
two arguments (err, linkString)
.
See the POSIX readlink(2)
documentation for more details.
The optional options
argument can be a string specifying an encoding, or an
object with an encoding
property specifying the character encoding to use for
the link path passed to the callback. If the encoding
is set to 'buffer'
,
the link path returned will be passed as a <Buffer> object.
fs.readv(fd, buffers[, position], callback)
#
Added in: v13.13.0, v12.17.0
Read from a file specified by fd
and write to an array of ArrayBufferView
s
using readv()
.
position
is the offset from the beginning of the file from where data
should be read. If typeof position !== 'number'
, the data will be read
from the current position.
The callback will be given three arguments: err
, bytesRead
, and
buffers
. bytesRead
is how many bytes were read from the file.
If this method is invoked as its util.promisify()
ed version, it returns
a promise for an Object
with bytesRead
and buffers
properties.
fs.realpath(path[, options], callback)
#
Asynchronously computes the canonical pathname by resolving .
, ..
, and
symbolic links.
A canonical pathname is not necessarily unique. Hard links and bind mounts can
expose a file system entity through many pathnames.
This function behaves like realpath(3)
, with some exceptions:
-
No case conversion is performed on case-insensitive file systems.
-
The maximum number of symbolic links is platform-independent and generally
(much) higher than what the native realpath(3)
implementation supports.
The callback
gets two arguments (err, resolvedPath)
. May use process.cwd
to resolve relative paths.
Only paths that can be converted to UTF8 strings are supported.
The optional options
argument can be a string specifying an encoding, or an
object with an encoding
property specifying the character encoding to use for
the path passed to the callback. If the encoding
is set to 'buffer'
,
the path returned will be passed as a <Buffer> object.
If path
resolves to a socket or a pipe, the function will return a system
dependent name for that object.
fs.realpath.native(path[, options], callback)
#
Added in: v9.2.0
Asynchronous realpath(3)
.
The callback
gets two arguments (err, resolvedPath)
.
Only paths that can be converted to UTF8 strings are supported.
The optional options
argument can be a string specifying an encoding, or an
object with an encoding
property specifying the character encoding to use for
the path passed to the callback. If the encoding
is set to 'buffer'
,
the path returned will be passed as a <Buffer> object.
On Linux, when Node.js is linked against musl libc, the procfs file system must
be mounted on /proc
in order for this function to work. Glibc does not have
this restriction.
fs.rename(oldPath, newPath, callback)
#
Asynchronously rename file at oldPath
to the pathname provided
as newPath
. In the case that newPath
already exists, it will
be overwritten. If there is a directory at newPath
, an error will
be raised instead. No arguments other than a possible exception are
given to the completion callback.
See also: rename(2)
.
import { rename } from 'node:fs';
rename('oldFile.txt', 'newFile.txt', (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log('Rename complete!');
});
fs.rmdir(path[, options], callback)
#
path
<string> | <Buffer> | <URL>
options
<Object>
maxRetries
<integer> If an EBUSY
, EMFILE
, ENFILE
, ENOTEMPTY
, or
EPERM
error is encountered, Node.js retries the operation with a linear
backoff wait of retryDelay
milliseconds longer on each try. This option
represents the number of retries. This option is ignored if the recursive
option is not true
. Default: 0
.
recursive
<boolean> If true
, perform a recursive directory removal. In
recursive mode, operations are retried on failure. Default: false
.
Deprecated.
retryDelay
<integer> The amount of time in milliseconds to wait between
retries. This option is ignored if the recursive
option is not true
.
Default: 100
.
callback
<Function>
Asynchronous rmdir(2)
. No arguments other than a possible exception are given
to the completion callback.
Using fs.rmdir()
on a file (not a directory) results in an ENOENT
error on
Windows and an ENOTDIR
error on POSIX.
To get a behavior similar to the rm -rf
Unix command, use fs.rm()
with options { recursive: true, force: true }
.
fs.rm(path[, options], callback)
#
path
<string> | <Buffer> | <URL>
options
<Object>
force
<boolean> When true
, exceptions will be ignored if path
does
not exist. Default: false
.
maxRetries
<integer> If an EBUSY
, EMFILE
, ENFILE
, ENOTEMPTY
, or
EPERM
error is encountered, Node.js will retry the operation with a linear
backoff wait of retryDelay
milliseconds longer on each try. This option
represents the number of retries. This option is ignored if the recursive
option is not true
. Default: 0
.
recursive
<boolean> If true
, perform a recursive removal. In
recursive mode operations are retried on failure. Default: false
.
retryDelay
<integer> The amount of time in milliseconds to wait between
retries. This option is ignored if the recursive
option is not true
.
Default: 100
.
callback
<Function>
Asynchronously removes files and directories (modeled on the standard POSIX rm
utility). No arguments other than a possible exception are given to the
completion callback.
fs.stat(path[, options], callback)
#
Asynchronous stat(2)
. The callback gets two arguments (err, stats)
where
stats
is an <fs.Stats> object.
In case of an error, the err.code
will be one of Common System Errors.
Using fs.stat()
to check for the existence of a file before calling
fs.open()
, fs.readFile()
, or fs.writeFile()
is not recommended.
Instead, user code should open/read/write the file directly and handle the
error raised if the file is not available.
To check if a file exists without manipulating it afterwards, fs.access()
is recommended.
For example, given the following directory structure:
- txtDir
-- file.txt
- app.js
The next program will check for the stats of the given paths:
import { stat } from 'node:fs';
const pathsToCheck = ['./txtDir', './txtDir/file.txt'];
for (let i = 0; i < pathsToCheck.length; i++) {
stat(pathsToCheck[i], (err, stats) => {
console.log(stats.isDirectory());
console.log(stats);
});
}
The resulting output will resemble:
true
Stats {
dev: 16777220,
mode: 16877,
nlink: 3,
uid: 501,
gid: 20,
rdev: 0,
blksize: 4096,
ino: 14214262,
size: 96,
blocks: 0,
atimeMs: 1561174653071.963,
mtimeMs: 1561174614583.3518,
ctimeMs: 1561174626623.5366,
birthtimeMs: 1561174126937.2893,
atime: 2019-06-22T03:37:33.072Z,
mtime: 2019-06-22T03:36:54.583Z,
ctime: 2019-06-22T03:37:06.624Z,
birthtime: 2019-06-22T03:28:46.937Z
}
false
Stats {
dev: 16777220,
mode: 33188,
nlink: 1,
uid: 501,
gid: 20,
rdev: 0,
blksize: 4096,
ino: 14214074,
size: 8,
blocks: 8,
atimeMs: 1561174616618.8555,
mtimeMs: 1561174614584,
ctimeMs: 1561174614583.8145,
birthtimeMs: 1561174007710.7478,
atime: 2019-06-22T03:36:56.619Z,
mtime: 2019-06-22T03:36:54.584Z,
ctime: 2019-06-22T03:36:54.584Z,
birthtime: 2019-06-22T03:26:47.711Z
}
fs.symlink(target, path[, type], callback)
#
Creates the link called path
pointing to target
. No arguments other than a
possible exception are given to the completion callback.
See the POSIX symlink(2)
documentation for more details.
The type
argument is only available on Windows and ignored on other platforms.
It can be set to 'dir'
, 'file'
, or 'junction'
. If the type
argument is
not a string, Node.js will autodetect target
type and use 'file'
or 'dir'
.
If the target
does not exist, 'file'
will be used. Windows junction points
require the destination path to be absolute. When using 'junction'
, the
target
argument will automatically be normalized to absolute path.
Relative targets are relative to the link's parent directory.
import { symlink } from 'node:fs';
symlink('./mew', './mewtwo', callback);
The above example creates a symbolic link mewtwo
which points to mew
in the
same directory:
$ tree .
.
├── mew
└── mewtwo -> ./mew
fs.truncate(path[, len], callback)
#
Truncates the file. No arguments other than a possible exception are
given to the completion callback. A file descriptor can also be passed as the
first argument. In this case, fs.ftruncate()
is called.
import { truncate } from 'node:fs';
truncate('path/file.txt', (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log('path/file.txt was truncated');
});
const { truncate } = require('node:fs');
truncate('path/file.txt', (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log('path/file.txt was truncated');
});
Passing a file descriptor is deprecated and may result in an error being thrown
in the future.
See the POSIX truncate(2)
documentation for more details.
fs.unlink(path, callback)
#
Asynchronously removes a file or symbolic link. No arguments other than a
possible exception are given to the completion callback.
import { unlink } from 'node:fs';
unlink('path/file.txt', (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log('path/file.txt was deleted');
});
fs.unlink()
will not work on a directory, empty or otherwise. To remove a
directory, use fs.rmdir()
.
See the POSIX unlink(2)
documentation for more details.
fs.unwatchFile(filename[, listener])
#
Added in: v0.1.31
Stop watching for changes on filename
. If listener
is specified, only that
particular listener is removed. Otherwise, all listeners are removed,
effectively stopping watching of filename
.
Calling fs.unwatchFile()
with a filename that is not being watched is a
no-op, not an error.
Using fs.watch()
is more efficient than fs.watchFile()
and
fs.unwatchFile()
. fs.watch()
should be used instead of fs.watchFile()
and fs.unwatchFile()
when possible.
fs.utimes(path, atime, mtime, callback)
#
Change the file system timestamps of the object referenced by path
.
The atime
and mtime
arguments follow these rules:
- Values can be either numbers representing Unix epoch time in seconds,
Date
s, or a numeric string like '123456789.0'
.
- If the value can not be converted to a number, or is
NaN
, Infinity
, or
-Infinity
, an Error
will be thrown.
fs.watch(filename[, options][, listener])
#
filename
<string> | <Buffer> | <URL>
options
<string> | <Object>
persistent
<boolean> Indicates whether the process should continue to run
as long as files are being watched. Default: true
.
recursive
<boolean> Indicates whether all subdirectories should be
watched, or only the current directory. This applies when a directory is
specified, and only on supported platforms (See caveats). Default:
false
.
encoding
<string> Specifies the character encoding to be used for the
filename passed to the listener. Default: 'utf8'
.
signal
<AbortSignal> allows closing the watcher with an AbortSignal.
listener
<Function> | <undefined> Default: undefined
- Returns: <fs.FSWatcher>
Watch for changes on filename
, where filename
is either a file or a
directory.
The second argument is optional. If options
is provided as a string, it
specifies the encoding
. Otherwise options
should be passed as an object.
The listener callback gets two arguments (eventType, filename)
. eventType
is either 'rename'
or 'change'
, and filename
is the name of the file
which triggered the event.
On most platforms, 'rename'
is emitted whenever a filename appears or
disappears in the directory.
The listener callback is attached to the 'change'
event fired by
<fs.FSWatcher>, but it is not the same thing as the 'change'
value of
eventType
.
If a signal
is passed, aborting the corresponding AbortController will close
the returned <fs.FSWatcher>.
Caveats#
The fs.watch
API is not 100% consistent across platforms, and is
unavailable in some situations.
The recursive option is only supported on macOS and Windows.
An ERR_FEATURE_UNAVAILABLE_ON_PLATFORM
exception will be thrown
when the option is used on a platform that does not support it.
On Windows, no events will be emitted if the watched directory is moved or
renamed. An EPERM
error is reported when the watched directory is deleted.
Availability#
This feature depends on the underlying operating system providing a way
to be notified of filesystem changes.
- On Linux systems, this uses
inotify(7)
.
- On BSD systems, this uses
kqueue(2)
.
- On macOS, this uses
kqueue(2)
for files and FSEvents
for
directories.
- On SunOS systems (including Solaris and SmartOS), this uses
event ports
.
- On Windows systems, this feature depends on
ReadDirectoryChangesW
.
- On AIX systems, this feature depends on
AHAFS
, which must be enabled.
- On IBM i systems, this feature is not supported.
If the underlying functionality is not available for some reason, then
fs.watch()
will not be able to function and may throw an exception.
For example, watching files or directories can be unreliable, and in some
cases impossible, on network file systems (NFS, SMB, etc) or host file systems
when using virtualization software such as Vagrant or Docker.
It is still possible to use fs.watchFile()
, which uses stat polling, but
this method is slower and less reliable.
Inodes#
On Linux and macOS systems, fs.watch()
resolves the path to an inode and
watches the inode. If the watched path is deleted and recreated, it is assigned
a new inode. The watch will emit an event for the delete but will continue
watching the original inode. Events for the new inode will not be emitted.
This is expected behavior.
AIX files retain the same inode for the lifetime of a file. Saving and closing a
watched file on AIX will result in two notifications (one for adding new
content, and one for truncation).
Filename argument#
Providing filename
argument in the callback is only supported on Linux,
macOS, Windows, and AIX. Even on supported platforms, filename
is not always
guaranteed to be provided. Therefore, don't assume that filename
argument is
always provided in the callback, and have some fallback logic if it is null
.
import { watch } from 'node:fs';
watch('somedir', (eventType, filename) => {
console.log(`event type is: ${eventType}`);
if (filename) {
console.log(`filename provided: ${filename}`);
} else {
console.log('filename not provided');
}
});
fs.watchFile(filename[, options], listener)
#
Watch for changes on filename
. The callback listener
will be called each
time the file is accessed.
The options
argument may be omitted. If provided, it should be an object. The
options
object may contain a boolean named persistent
that indicates
whether the process should continue to run as long as files are being watched.
The options
object may specify an interval
property indicating how often the
target should be polled in milliseconds.
The listener
gets two arguments the current stat object and the previous
stat object:
import { watchFile } from 'node:fs';
watchFile('message.text', (curr, prev) => {
console.log(`the current mtime is: ${curr.mtime}`);
console.log(`the previous mtime was: ${prev.mtime}`);
});
These stat objects are instances of fs.Stat
. If the bigint
option is true
,
the numeric values in these objects are specified as BigInt
s.
To be notified when the file was modified, not just accessed, it is necessary
to compare curr.mtimeMs
and prev.mtimeMs
.
When an fs.watchFile
operation results in an ENOENT
error, it
will invoke the listener once, with all the fields zeroed (or, for dates, the
Unix Epoch). If the file is created later on, the listener will be called
again, with the latest stat objects. This is a change in functionality since
v0.10.
Using fs.watch()
is more efficient than fs.watchFile
and
fs.unwatchFile
. fs.watch
should be used instead of fs.watchFile
and
fs.unwatchFile
when possible.
When a file being watched by fs.watchFile()
disappears and reappears,
then the contents of previous
in the second callback event (the file's
reappearance) will be the same as the contents of previous
in the first
callback event (its disappearance).
This happens when:
- the file is deleted, followed by a restore
- the file is renamed and then renamed a second time back to its original name
fs.write(fd, buffer, offset[, length[, position]], callback)
#
Write buffer
to the file specified by fd
.
offset
determines the part of the buffer to be written, and length
is
an integer specifying the number of bytes to write.
position
refers to the offset from the beginning of the file where this data
should be written. If typeof position !== 'number'
, the data will be written
at the current position. See pwrite(2)
.
The callback will be given three arguments (err, bytesWritten, buffer)
where
bytesWritten
specifies how many bytes were written from buffer
.
If this method is invoked as its util.promisify()
ed version, it returns
a promise for an Object
with bytesWritten
and buffer
properties.
It is unsafe to use fs.write()
multiple times on the same file without waiting
for the callback. For this scenario, fs.createWriteStream()
is
recommended.
On Linux, positional writes don't work when the file is opened in append mode.
The kernel ignores the position argument and always appends the data to
the end of the file.
fs.write(fd, buffer[, options], callback)
#
Added in: v16.17.0
Write buffer
to the file specified by fd
.
Similar to the above fs.write
function, this version takes an
optional options
object. If no options
object is specified, it will
default with the above values.
fs.write(fd, string[, position[, encoding]], callback)
#
Write string
to the file specified by fd
. If string
is not a string, or an
object with an own toString
function property, then an exception is thrown.
position
refers to the offset from the beginning of the file where this data
should be written. If typeof position !== 'number'
the data will be written at
the current position. See pwrite(2)
.
encoding
is the expected string encoding.
The callback will receive the arguments (err, written, string)
where written
specifies how many bytes the passed string required to be written. Bytes
written is not necessarily the same as string characters written. See
Buffer.byteLength
.
It is unsafe to use fs.write()
multiple times on the same file without waiting
for the callback. For this scenario, fs.createWriteStream()
is
recommended.
On Linux, positional writes don't work when the file is opened in append mode.
The kernel ignores the position argument and always appends the data to
the end of the file.
On Windows, if the file descriptor is connected to the console (e.g. fd == 1
or stdout
) a string containing non-ASCII characters will not be rendered
properly by default, regardless of the encoding used.
It is possible to configure the console to render UTF-8 properly by changing the
active codepage with the chcp 65001
command. See the chcp docs for more
details.
fs.writeFile(file, data[, options], callback)
#
When file
is a filename, asynchronously writes data to the file, replacing the
file if it already exists. data
can be a string or a buffer.
When file
is a file descriptor, the behavior is similar to calling
fs.write()
directly (which is recommended). See the notes below on using
a file descriptor.
The encoding
option is ignored if data
is a buffer.
The mode
option only affects the newly created file. See fs.open()
for more details.
If data
is a plain object, it must have an own (not inherited) toString
function property.
import { writeFile } from 'node:fs';
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const data = new Uint8Array(Buffer.from('Hello Node.js'));
writeFile('message.txt', data, (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log('The file has been saved!');
});
If options
is a string, then it specifies the encoding:
import { writeFile } from 'node:fs';
writeFile('message.txt', 'Hello Node.js', 'utf8', callback);
It is unsafe to use fs.writeFile()
multiple times on the same file without
waiting for the callback. For this scenario, fs.createWriteStream()
is
recommended.
Similarly to fs.readFile
- fs.writeFile
is a convenience method that
performs multiple write
calls internally to write the buffer passed to it.
For performance sensitive code consider using fs.createWriteStream()
.
It is possible to use an <AbortSignal> to cancel an fs.writeFile()
.
Cancelation is "best effort", and some amount of data is likely still
to be written.
import { writeFile } from 'node:fs';
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
const controller = new AbortController();
const { signal } = controller;
const data = new Uint8Array(Buffer.from('Hello Node.js'));
writeFile('message.txt', data, { signal }, (err) => {
});
controller.abort();
Aborting an ongoing request does not abort individual operating
system requests but rather the internal buffering fs.writeFile
performs.
Using fs.writeFile()
with file descriptors#
When file
is a file descriptor, the behavior is almost identical to directly
calling fs.write()
like:
import { write } from 'node:fs';
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
write(fd, Buffer.from(data, options.encoding), callback);
The difference from directly calling fs.write()
is that under some unusual
conditions, fs.write()
might write only part of the buffer and need to be
retried to write the remaining data, whereas fs.writeFile()
retries until
the data is entirely written (or an error occurs).
The implications of this are a common source of confusion. In
the file descriptor case, the file is not replaced! The data is not necessarily
written to the beginning of the file, and the file's original data may remain
before and/or after the newly written data.
For example, if fs.writeFile()
is called twice in a row, first to write the
string 'Hello'
, then to write the string ', World'
, the file would contain
'Hello, World'
, and might contain some of the file's original data (depending
on the size of the original file, and the position of the file descriptor). If
a file name had been used instead of a descriptor, the file would be guaranteed
to contain only ', World'
.
fs.writev(fd, buffers[, position], callback)
#
Added in: v12.9.0
Write an array of ArrayBufferView
s to the file specified by fd
using
writev()
.
position
is the offset from the beginning of the file where this data
should be written. If typeof position !== 'number'
, the data will be written
at the current position.
The callback will be given three arguments: err
, bytesWritten
, and
buffers
. bytesWritten
is how many bytes were written from buffers
.
If this method is util.promisify()
ed, it returns a promise for an
Object
with bytesWritten
and buffers
properties.
It is unsafe to use fs.writev()
multiple times on the same file without
waiting for the callback. For this scenario, use fs.createWriteStream()
.
On Linux, positional writes don't work when the file is opened in append mode.
The kernel ignores the position argument and always appends the data to
the end of the file.
Synchronous API#
The synchronous APIs perform all operations synchronously, blocking the
event loop until the operation completes or fails.
fs.accessSync(path[, mode])
#
Synchronously tests a user's permissions for the file or directory specified
by path
. The mode
argument is an optional integer that specifies the
accessibility checks to be performed. mode
should be either the value
fs.constants.F_OK
or a mask consisting of the bitwise OR of any of
fs.constants.R_OK
, fs.constants.W_OK
, and fs.constants.X_OK
(e.g.
fs.constants.W_OK | fs.constants.R_OK
). Check File access constants for
possible values of mode
.
If any of the accessibility checks fail, an Error
will be thrown. Otherwise,
the method will return undefined
.
import { accessSync, constants } from 'node:fs';
try {
accessSync('etc/passwd', constants.R_OK | constants.W_OK);
console.log('can read/write');
} catch (err) {
console.error('no access!');
}
fs.appendFileSync(path, data[, options])
#
Synchronously append data to a file, creating the file if it does not yet
exist. data
can be a string or a <Buffer>.
The mode
option only affects the newly created file. See fs.open()
for more details.
import { appendFileSync } from 'node:fs';
try {
appendFileSync('message.txt', 'data to append');
console.log('The "data to append" was appended to file!');
} catch (err) {
}
If options
is a string, then it specifies the encoding:
import { appendFileSync } from 'node:fs';
appendFileSync('message.txt', 'data to append', 'utf8');
The path
may be specified as a numeric file descriptor that has been opened
for appending (using fs.open()
or fs.openSync()
). The file descriptor will
not be closed automatically.
import { openSync, closeSync, appendFileSync } from 'node:fs';
let fd;
try {
fd = openSync('message.txt', 'a');
appendFileSync(fd, 'data to append', 'utf8');
} catch (err) {
} finally {
if (fd !== undefined)
closeSync(fd);
}
fs.chmodSync(path, mode)
#
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.chmod()
.
See the POSIX chmod(2)
documentation for more detail.
fs.chownSync(path, uid, gid)
#
Synchronously changes owner and group of a file. Returns undefined
.
This is the synchronous version of fs.chown()
.
See the POSIX chown(2)
documentation for more detail.
fs.closeSync(fd)
#
Added in: v0.1.21
Closes the file descriptor. Returns undefined
.
Calling fs.closeSync()
on any file descriptor (fd
) that is currently in use
through any other fs
operation may lead to undefined behavior.
See the POSIX close(2)
documentation for more detail.
fs.copyFileSync(src, dest[, mode])
#
Synchronously copies src
to dest
. By default, dest
is overwritten if it
already exists. Returns undefined
. Node.js makes no guarantees about the
atomicity of the copy operation. If an error occurs after the destination file
has been opened for writing, Node.js will attempt to remove the destination.
mode
is an optional integer that specifies the behavior
of the copy operation. It is possible to create a mask consisting of the bitwise
OR of two or more values (e.g.
fs.constants.COPYFILE_EXCL | fs.constants.COPYFILE_FICLONE
).
fs.constants.COPYFILE_EXCL
: The copy operation will fail if dest
already
exists.
fs.constants.COPYFILE_FICLONE
: The copy operation will attempt to create a
copy-on-write reflink. If the platform does not support copy-on-write, then a
fallback copy mechanism is used.
fs.constants.COPYFILE_FICLONE_FORCE
: The copy operation will attempt to
create a copy-on-write reflink. If the platform does not support
copy-on-write, then the operation will fail.
import { copyFileSync, constants } from 'node:fs';
copyFileSync('source.txt', 'destination.txt');
console.log('source.txt was copied to destination.txt');
copyFileSync('source.txt', 'destination.txt', constants.COPYFILE_EXCL);
fs.cpSync(src, dest[, options])
#
src
<string> | <URL> source path to copy.
dest
<string> | <URL> destination path to copy to.
options
<Object>
dereference
<boolean> dereference symlinks. Default: false
.
errorOnExist
<boolean> when force
is false
, and the destination
exists, throw an error. Default: false
.
filter
<Function> Function to filter copied files/directories. Return
true
to copy the item, false
to ignore it. Default: undefined
force
<boolean> overwrite existing file or directory. The copy
operation will ignore errors if you set this to false and the destination
exists. Use the errorOnExist
option to change this behavior.
Default: true
.
preserveTimestamps
<boolean> When true
timestamps from src
will
be preserved. Default: false
.
recursive
<boolean> copy directories recursively Default: false
verbatimSymlinks
<boolean> When true
, path resolution for symlinks will
be skipped. Default: false
Synchronously copies the entire directory structure from src
to dest
,
including subdirectories and files.
When copying a directory to another directory, globs are not supported and
behavior is similar to cp dir1/ dir2/
.
fs.existsSync(path)
#
Returns true
if the path exists, false
otherwise.
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.exists()
.
fs.exists()
is deprecated, but fs.existsSync()
is not. The callback
parameter to fs.exists()
accepts parameters that are inconsistent with other
Node.js callbacks. fs.existsSync()
does not use a callback.
import { existsSync } from 'node:fs';
if (existsSync('/etc/passwd'))
console.log('The path exists.');
fs.fchmodSync(fd, mode)
#
Added in: v0.4.7
Sets the permissions on the file. Returns undefined
.
See the POSIX fchmod(2)
documentation for more detail.
fs.fchownSync(fd, uid, gid)
#
Added in: v0.4.7
Sets the owner of the file. Returns undefined
.
See the POSIX fchown(2)
documentation for more detail.
fs.fdatasyncSync(fd)
#
Added in: v0.1.96
Forces all currently queued I/O operations associated with the file to the
operating system's synchronized I/O completion state. Refer to the POSIX
fdatasync(2)
documentation for details. Returns undefined
.
fs.fstatSync(fd[, options])
#
Retrieves the <fs.Stats> for the file descriptor.
See the POSIX fstat(2)
documentation for more detail.
fs.fsyncSync(fd)
#
Added in: v0.1.96
Request that all data for the open file descriptor is flushed to the storage
device. The specific implementation is operating system and device specific.
Refer to the POSIX fsync(2)
documentation for more detail. Returns undefined
.
fs.ftruncateSync(fd[, len])
#
Added in: v0.8.6
Truncates the file descriptor. Returns undefined
.
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.ftruncate()
.
fs.futimesSync(fd, atime, mtime)
#
Synchronous version of fs.futimes()
. Returns undefined
.
fs.lchmodSync(path, mode)
#
Deprecated since: v0.4.7
Changes the permissions on a symbolic link. Returns undefined
.
This method is only implemented on macOS.
See the POSIX lchmod(2)
documentation for more detail.
fs.lchownSync(path, uid, gid)
#
Set the owner for the path. Returns undefined
.
See the POSIX lchown(2)
documentation for more details.
fs.lutimesSync(path, atime, mtime)
#
Added in: v14.5.0, v12.19.0
Change the file system timestamps of the symbolic link referenced by path
.
Returns undefined
, or throws an exception when parameters are incorrect or
the operation fails. This is the synchronous version of fs.lutimes()
.
fs.linkSync(existingPath, newPath)
#
Creates a new link from the existingPath
to the newPath
. See the POSIX
link(2)
documentation for more detail. Returns undefined
.
fs.lstatSync(path[, options])
#
Retrieves the <fs.Stats> for the symbolic link referred to by path
.
See the POSIX lstat(2)
documentation for more details.
fs.mkdirSync(path[, options])
#
Synchronously creates a directory. Returns undefined
, or if recursive
is
true
, the first directory path created.
This is the synchronous version of fs.mkdir()
.
See the POSIX mkdir(2)
documentation for more details.
fs.mkdtempSync(prefix[, options])
#
Returns the created directory path.
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.mkdtemp()
.
The optional options
argument can be a string specifying an encoding, or an
object with an encoding
property specifying the character encoding to use.
fs.opendirSync(path[, options])
#
path
<string> | <Buffer> | <URL>
options
<Object>
encoding
<string> | <null> Default: 'utf8'
bufferSize
<number> Number of directory entries that are buffered
internally when reading from the directory. Higher values lead to better
performance but higher memory usage. Default: 32
- Returns: <fs.Dir>
Synchronously open a directory. See opendir(3)
.
Creates an <fs.Dir>, which contains all further functions for reading from
and cleaning up the directory.
The encoding
option sets the encoding for the path
while opening the
directory and subsequent read operations.
fs.openSync(path[, flags[, mode]])
#
Returns an integer representing the file descriptor.
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.open()
.
fs.readdirSync(path[, options])
#
Reads the contents of the directory.
See the POSIX readdir(3)
documentation for more details.
The optional options
argument can be a string specifying an encoding, or an
object with an encoding
property specifying the character encoding to use for
the filenames returned. If the encoding
is set to 'buffer'
,
the filenames returned will be passed as <Buffer> objects.
If options.withFileTypes
is set to true
, the result will contain
<fs.Dirent> objects.
fs.readFileSync(path[, options])
#
Returns the contents of the path
.
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.readFile()
.
If the encoding
option is specified then this function returns a
string. Otherwise it returns a buffer.
Similar to fs.readFile()
, when the path is a directory, the behavior of
fs.readFileSync()
is platform-specific.
import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
readFileSync('<directory>');
readFileSync('<directory>');
fs.readlinkSync(path[, options])
#
Returns the symbolic link's string value.
See the POSIX readlink(2)
documentation for more details.
The optional options
argument can be a string specifying an encoding, or an
object with an encoding
property specifying the character encoding to use for
the link path returned. If the encoding
is set to 'buffer'
,
the link path returned will be passed as a <Buffer> object.
fs.readSync(fd, buffer, offset, length[, position])
#
Returns the number of bytesRead
.
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.read()
.
fs.readSync(fd, buffer[, options])
#
Returns the number of bytesRead
.
Similar to the above fs.readSync
function, this version takes an optional options
object.
If no options
object is specified, it will default with the above values.
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.read()
.
fs.readvSync(fd, buffers[, position])
#
Added in: v13.13.0, v12.17.0
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.readv()
.
fs.realpathSync(path[, options])
#
Returns the resolved pathname.
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.realpath()
.
fs.realpathSync.native(path[, options])
#
Added in: v9.2.0
Synchronous realpath(3)
.
Only paths that can be converted to UTF8 strings are supported.
The optional options
argument can be a string specifying an encoding, or an
object with an encoding
property specifying the character encoding to use for
the path returned. If the encoding
is set to 'buffer'
,
the path returned will be passed as a <Buffer> object.
On Linux, when Node.js is linked against musl libc, the procfs file system must
be mounted on /proc
in order for this function to work. Glibc does not have
this restriction.
fs.renameSync(oldPath, newPath)
#
Renames the file from oldPath
to newPath
. Returns undefined
.
See the POSIX rename(2)
documentation for more details.
fs.rmdirSync(path[, options])
#
path
<string> | <Buffer> | <URL>
options
<Object>
maxRetries
<integer> If an EBUSY
, EMFILE
, ENFILE
, ENOTEMPTY
, or
EPERM
error is encountered, Node.js retries the operation with a linear
backoff wait of retryDelay
milliseconds longer on each try. This option
represents the number of retries. This option is ignored if the recursive
option is not true
. Default: 0
.
recursive
<boolean> If true
, perform a recursive directory removal. In
recursive mode, operations are retried on failure. Default: false
.
Deprecated.
retryDelay
<integer> The amount of time in milliseconds to wait between
retries. This option is ignored if the recursive
option is not true
.
Default: 100
.
Synchronous rmdir(2)
. Returns undefined
.
Using fs.rmdirSync()
on a file (not a directory) results in an ENOENT
error
on Windows and an ENOTDIR
error on POSIX.
To get a behavior similar to the rm -rf
Unix command, use fs.rmSync()
with options { recursive: true, force: true }
.
fs.rmSync(path[, options])
#
path
<string> | <Buffer> | <URL>
options
<Object>
force
<boolean> When true
, exceptions will be ignored if path
does
not exist. Default: false
.
maxRetries
<integer> If an EBUSY
, EMFILE
, ENFILE
, ENOTEMPTY
, or
EPERM
error is encountered, Node.js will retry the operation with a linear
backoff wait of retryDelay
milliseconds longer on each try. This option
represents the number of retries. This option is ignored if the recursive
option is not true
. Default: 0
.
recursive
<boolean> If true
, perform a recursive directory removal. In
recursive mode operations are retried on failure. Default: false
.
retryDelay
<integer> The amount of time in milliseconds to wait between
retries. This option is ignored if the recursive
option is not true
.
Default: 100
.
Synchronously removes files and directories (modeled on the standard POSIX rm
utility). Returns undefined
.
fs.statSync(path[, options])
#
Retrieves the <fs.Stats> for the path.
fs.symlinkSync(target, path[, type])
#
Returns undefined
.
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.symlink()
.
fs.truncateSync(path[, len])
#
Added in: v0.8.6
Truncates the file. Returns undefined
. A file descriptor can also be
passed as the first argument. In this case, fs.ftruncateSync()
is called.
Passing a file descriptor is deprecated and may result in an error being thrown
in the future.
fs.unlinkSync(path)
#
Synchronous unlink(2)
. Returns undefined
.
fs.utimesSync(path, atime, mtime)
#
Returns undefined
.
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.utimes()
.
fs.writeFileSync(file, data[, options])
#
Returns undefined
.
If data
is a plain object, it must have an own (not inherited) toString
function property.
The mode
option only affects the newly created file. See fs.open()
for more details.
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.writeFile()
.
fs.writeSync(fd, buffer, offset[, length[, position]])
#
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.write(fd, buffer...)
.
fs.writeSync(fd, buffer[, options])
#
Added in: v16.17.0
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.write(fd, buffer...)
.
fs.writeSync(fd, string[, position[, encoding]])
#
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.write(fd, string...)
.
fs.writevSync(fd, buffers[, position])
#
Added in: v12.9.0
For detailed information, see the documentation of the asynchronous version of
this API: fs.writev()
.
Common Objects#
The common objects are shared by all of the file system API variants
(promise, callback, and synchronous).
Class: fs.Dir
#
Added in: v12.12.0
A class representing a directory stream.
Created by fs.opendir()
, fs.opendirSync()
, or
fsPromises.opendir()
.
import { opendir } from 'node:fs/promises';
try {
const dir = await opendir('./');
for await (const dirent of dir)
console.log(dirent.name);
} catch (err) {
console.error(err);
}
When using the async iterator, the <fs.Dir> object will be automatically
closed after the iterator exits.
dir.close()
#
Added in: v12.12.0
Asynchronously close the directory's underlying resource handle.
Subsequent reads will result in errors.
A promise is returned that will be resolved after the resource has been
closed.
dir.close(callback)
#
Added in: v12.12.0
Asynchronously close the directory's underlying resource handle.
Subsequent reads will result in errors.
The callback
will be called after the resource handle has been closed.
dir.closeSync()
#
Added in: v12.12.0
Synchronously close the directory's underlying resource handle.
Subsequent reads will result in errors.
dir.path
#
Added in: v12.12.0
The read-only path of this directory as was provided to fs.opendir()
,
fs.opendirSync()
, or fsPromises.opendir()
.
dir.read()
#
Added in: v12.12.0
Asynchronously read the next directory entry via readdir(3)
as an
<fs.Dirent>.
A promise is returned that will be resolved with an <fs.Dirent>, or null
if there are no more directory entries to read.
Directory entries returned by this function are in no particular order as
provided by the operating system's underlying directory mechanisms.
Entries added or removed while iterating over the directory might not be
included in the iteration results.
dir.read(callback)
#
Added in: v12.12.0
Asynchronously read the next directory entry via readdir(3)
as an
<fs.Dirent>.
After the read is completed, the callback
will be called with an
<fs.Dirent>, or null
if there are no more directory entries to read.
Directory entries returned by this function are in no particular order as
provided by the operating system's underlying directory mechanisms.
Entries added or removed while iterating over the directory might not be
included in the iteration results.
dir.readSync()
#
Added in: v12.12.0
Synchronously read the next directory entry as an <fs.Dirent>. See the
POSIX readdir(3)
documentation for more detail.
If there are no more directory entries to read, null
will be returned.
Directory entries returned by this function are in no particular order as
provided by the operating system's underlying directory mechanisms.
Entries added or removed while iterating over the directory might not be
included in the iteration results.
dir[Symbol.asyncIterator]()
#
Added in: v12.12.0
Asynchronously iterates over the directory until all entries have
been read. Refer to the POSIX readdir(3)
documentation for more detail.
Entries returned by the async iterator are always an <fs.Dirent>.
The null
case from dir.read()
is handled internally.
See <fs.Dir> for an example.
Directory entries returned by this iterator are in no particular order as
provided by the operating system's underlying directory mechanisms.
Entries added or removed while iterating over the directory might not be
included in the iteration results.
Class: fs.Dirent
#
Added in: v10.10.0
A representation of a directory entry, which can be a file or a subdirectory
within the directory, as returned by reading from an <fs.Dir>. The
directory entry is a combination of the file name and file type pairs.
Additionally, when fs.readdir()
or fs.readdirSync()
is called with
the withFileTypes
option set to true
, the resulting array is filled with
<fs.Dirent> objects, rather than strings or <Buffer>s.
dirent.isBlockDevice()
#
Added in: v10.10.0
Returns true
if the <fs.Dirent> object describes a block device.
dirent.isCharacterDevice()
#
Added in: v10.10.0
Returns true
if the <fs.Dirent> object describes a character device.
dirent.isDirectory()
#
Added in: v10.10.0
Returns true
if the <fs.Dirent> object describes a file system
directory.
dirent.isFIFO()
#
Added in: v10.10.0
Returns true
if the <fs.Dirent> object describes a first-in-first-out
(FIFO) pipe.
dirent.isFile()
#
Added in: v10.10.0
Returns true
if the <fs.Dirent> object describes a regular file.
dirent.isSocket()
#
Added in: v10.10.0
Returns true
if the <fs.Dirent> object describes a socket.
dirent.isSymbolicLink()
#
Added in: v10.10.0
Returns true
if the <fs.Dirent> object describes a symbolic link.
dirent.name
#
Added in: v10.10.0
The file name that this <fs.Dirent> object refers to. The type of this
value is determined by the options.encoding
passed to fs.readdir()
or
fs.readdirSync()
.
Class: fs.FSWatcher
#
Added in: v0.5.8
A successful call to fs.watch()
method will return a new <fs.FSWatcher>
object.
All <fs.FSWatcher> objects emit a 'change'
event whenever a specific watched
file is modified.
Event: 'change'
#
Added in: v0.5.8
eventType
<string> The type of change event that has occurred
filename
<string> | <Buffer> The filename that changed (if relevant/available)
Emitted when something changes in a watched directory or file.
See more details in fs.watch()
.
The filename
argument may not be provided depending on operating system
support. If filename
is provided, it will be provided as a <Buffer> if
fs.watch()
is called with its encoding
option set to 'buffer'
, otherwise
filename
will be a UTF-8 string.
import { watch } from 'node:fs';
watch('./tmp', { encoding: 'buffer' }, (eventType, filename) => {
if (filename) {
console.log(filename);
}
});
Event: 'close'
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Emitted when the watcher stops watching for changes. The closed
<fs.FSWatcher> object is no longer usable in the event handler.
Event: 'error'
#
Added in: v0.5.8
Emitted when an error occurs while watching the file. The errored
<fs.FSWatcher> object is no longer usable in the event handler.
watcher.close()
#
Added in: v0.5.8
Stop watching for changes on the given <fs.FSWatcher>. Once stopped, the
<fs.FSWatcher> object is no longer usable.
watcher.ref()
#
Added in: v14.3.0, v12.20.0
When called, requests that the Node.js event loop not exit so long as the
<fs.FSWatcher> is active. Calling watcher.ref()
multiple times will have
no effect.
By default, all <fs.FSWatcher> objects are "ref'ed", making it normally
unnecessary to call watcher.ref()
unless watcher.unref()
had been
called previously.
watcher.unref()
#
Added in: v14.3.0, v12.20.0
When called, the active <fs.FSWatcher> object will not require the Node.js
event loop to remain active. If there is no other activity keeping the
event loop running, the process may exit before the <fs.FSWatcher> object's
callback is invoked. Calling watcher.unref()
multiple times will have
no effect.
Class: fs.StatWatcher
#
Added in: v14.3.0, v12.20.0
A successful call to fs.watchFile()
method will return a new <fs.StatWatcher>
object.
watcher.ref()
#
Added in: v14.3.0, v12.20.0
When called, requests that the Node.js event loop not exit so long as the
<fs.StatWatcher> is active. Calling watcher.ref()
multiple times will have
no effect.
By default, all <fs.StatWatcher> objects are "ref'ed", making it normally
unnecessary to call watcher.ref()
unless watcher.unref()
had been
called previously.
watcher.unref()
#
Added in: v14.3.0, v12.20.0
When called, the active <fs.StatWatcher> object will not require the Node.js
event loop to remain active. If there is no other activity keeping the
event loop running, the process may exit before the <fs.StatWatcher> object's
callback is invoked. Calling watcher.unref()
multiple times will have
no effect.
Class: fs.ReadStream
#
Added in: v0.1.93
Instances of <fs.ReadStream> are created and returned using the
fs.createReadStream()
function.
Event: 'close'
#
Added in: v0.1.93
Emitted when the <fs.ReadStream>'s underlying file descriptor has been closed.
Event: 'open'
#
Added in: v0.1.93
Emitted when the <fs.ReadStream>'s file descriptor has been opened.
Event: 'ready'
#
Added in: v9.11.0
Emitted when the <fs.ReadStream> is ready to be used.
Fires immediately after 'open'
.
readStream.bytesRead
#
Added in: v6.4.0
The number of bytes that have been read so far.
readStream.path
#
Added in: v0.1.93
The path to the file the stream is reading from as specified in the first
argument to fs.createReadStream()
. If path
is passed as a string, then
readStream.path
will be a string. If path
is passed as a <Buffer>, then
readStream.path
will be a <Buffer>. If fd
is specified, then
readStream.path
will be undefined
.
readStream.pending
#
Added in: v11.2.0, v10.16.0
This property is true
if the underlying file has not been opened yet,
i.e. before the 'ready'
event is emitted.
Class: fs.Stats
#
A <fs.Stats> object provides information about a file.
Objects returned from fs.stat()
, fs.lstat()
, fs.fstat()
, and
their synchronous counterparts are of this type.
If bigint
in the options
passed to those methods is true, the numeric values
will be bigint
instead of number
, and the object will contain additional
nanosecond-precision properties suffixed with Ns
.
Stats {
dev: 2114,
ino: 48064969,
mode: 33188,
nlink: 1,
uid: 85,
gid: 100,
rdev: 0,
size: 527,
blksize: 4096,
blocks: 8,
atimeMs: 1318289051000.1,
mtimeMs: 1318289051000.1,
ctimeMs: 1318289051000.1,
birthtimeMs: 1318289051000.1,
atime: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 23:24:11 GMT,
mtime: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 23:24:11 GMT,
ctime: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 23:24:11 GMT,
birthtime: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 23:24:11 GMT }
bigint
version:
BigIntStats {
dev: 2114n,
ino: 48064969n,
mode: 33188n,
nlink: 1n,
uid: 85n,
gid: 100n,
rdev: 0n,
size: 527n,
blksize: 4096n,
blocks: 8n,
atimeMs: 1318289051000n,
mtimeMs: 1318289051000n,
ctimeMs: 1318289051000n,
birthtimeMs: 1318289051000n,
atimeNs: 1318289051000000000n,
mtimeNs: 1318289051000000000n,
ctimeNs: 1318289051000000000n,
birthtimeNs: 1318289051000000000n,
atime: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 23:24:11 GMT,
mtime: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 23:24:11 GMT,
ctime: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 23:24:11 GMT,
birthtime: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 23:24:11 GMT }
stats.isBlockDevice()
#
Added in: v0.1.10
Returns true
if the <fs.Stats> object describes a block device.
stats.isCharacterDevice()
#
Added in: v0.1.10
Returns true
if the <fs.Stats> object describes a character device.
stats.isDirectory()
#
Added in: v0.1.10
Returns true
if the <fs.Stats> object describes a file system directory.
If the <fs.Stats> object was obtained from fs.lstat()
, this method will
always return false
. This is because fs.lstat()
returns information
about a symbolic link itself and not the path it resolves to.
stats.isFIFO()
#
Added in: v0.1.10
Returns true
if the <fs.Stats> object describes a first-in-first-out (FIFO)
pipe.
stats.isFile()
#
Added in: v0.1.10
Returns true
if the <fs.Stats> object describes a regular file.
stats.isSocket()
#
Added in: v0.1.10
Returns true
if the <fs.Stats> object describes a socket.
stats.isSymbolicLink()
#
Added in: v0.1.10
Returns true
if the <fs.Stats> object describes a symbolic link.
This method is only valid when using fs.lstat()
.
stats.dev
#
The numeric identifier of the device containing the file.
stats.ino
#
The file system specific "Inode" number for the file.
stats.mode
#
A bit-field describing the file type and mode.
stats.nlink
#
The number of hard-links that exist for the file.
stats.uid
#
The numeric user identifier of the user that owns the file (POSIX).
stats.gid
#
The numeric group identifier of the group that owns the file (POSIX).
stats.rdev
#
A numeric device identifier if the file represents a device.
stats.size
#
The size of the file in bytes.
If the underlying file system does not support getting the size of the file,
this will be 0
.
stats.blksize
#
The file system block size for i/o operations.
stats.blocks
#
The number of blocks allocated for this file.
stats.atimeMs
#
Added in: v8.1.0
The timestamp indicating the last time this file was accessed expressed in
milliseconds since the POSIX Epoch.
stats.mtimeMs
#
Added in: v8.1.0
The timestamp indicating the last time this file was modified expressed in
milliseconds since the POSIX Epoch.
stats.ctimeMs
#
Added in: v8.1.0
The timestamp indicating the last time the file status was changed expressed
in milliseconds since the POSIX Epoch.
stats.birthtimeMs
#
Added in: v8.1.0
The timestamp indicating the creation time of this file expressed in
milliseconds since the POSIX Epoch.
stats.atimeNs
#
Added in: v12.10.0
Only present when bigint: true
is passed into the method that generates
the object.
The timestamp indicating the last time this file was accessed expressed in
nanoseconds since the POSIX Epoch.
stats.mtimeNs
#
Added in: v12.10.0
Only present when bigint: true
is passed into the method that generates
the object.
The timestamp indicating the last time this file was modified expressed in
nanoseconds since the POSIX Epoch.
stats.ctimeNs
#
Added in: v12.10.0
Only present when bigint: true
is passed into the method that generates
the object.
The timestamp indicating the last time the file status was changed expressed
in nanoseconds since the POSIX Epoch.
stats.birthtimeNs
#
Added in: v12.10.0
Only present when bigint: true
is passed into the method that generates
the object.
The timestamp indicating the creation time of this file expressed in
nanoseconds since the POSIX Epoch.
stats.atime
#
Added in: v0.11.13
The timestamp indicating the last time this file was accessed.
stats.mtime
#
Added in: v0.11.13
The timestamp indicating the last time this file was modified.
stats.ctime
#
Added in: v0.11.13
The timestamp indicating the last time the file status was changed.
stats.birthtime
#
Added in: v0.11.13
The timestamp indicating the creation time of this file.
Stat time values#
The atimeMs
, mtimeMs
, ctimeMs
, birthtimeMs
properties are
numeric values that hold the corresponding times in milliseconds. Their
precision is platform specific. When bigint: true
is passed into the
method that generates the object, the properties will be bigints,
otherwise they will be numbers.
The atimeNs
, mtimeNs
, ctimeNs
, birthtimeNs
properties are
bigints that hold the corresponding times in nanoseconds. They are
only present when bigint: true
is passed into the method that generates
the object. Their precision is platform specific.
atime
, mtime
, ctime
, and birthtime
are
Date
object alternate representations of the various times. The
Date
and number values are not connected. Assigning a new number value, or
mutating the Date
value, will not be reflected in the corresponding alternate
representation.
The times in the stat object have the following semantics:
atime
"Access Time": Time when file data last accessed. Changed
by the mknod(2)
, utimes(2)
, and read(2)
system calls.
mtime
"Modified Time": Time when file data last modified.
Changed by the mknod(2)
, utimes(2)
, and write(2)
system calls.
ctime
"Change Time": Time when file status was last changed
(inode data modification). Changed by the chmod(2)
, chown(2)
,
link(2)
, mknod(2)
, rename(2)
, unlink(2)
, utimes(2)
,
read(2)
, and write(2)
system calls.
birthtime
"Birth Time": Time of file creation. Set once when the
file is created. On filesystems where birthtime is not available,
this field may instead hold either the ctime
or
1970-01-01T00:00Z
(ie, Unix epoch timestamp 0
). This value may be greater
than atime
or mtime
in this case. On Darwin and other FreeBSD variants,
also set if the atime
is explicitly set to an earlier value than the current
birthtime
using the utimes(2)
system call.
Prior to Node.js 0.12, the ctime
held the birthtime
on Windows systems. As
of 0.12, ctime
is not "creation time", and on Unix systems, it never was.
Class: fs.WriteStream
#
Added in: v0.1.93
Instances of <fs.WriteStream> are created and returned using the
fs.createWriteStream()
function.
Event: 'close'
#
Added in: v0.1.93
Emitted when the <fs.WriteStream>'s underlying file descriptor has been closed.
Event: 'open'
#
Added in: v0.1.93
Emitted when the <fs.WriteStream>'s file is opened.
Event: 'ready'
#
Added in: v9.11.0
Emitted when the <fs.WriteStream> is ready to be used.
Fires immediately after 'open'
.
writeStream.bytesWritten
#
Added in: v0.4.7
The number of bytes written so far. Does not include data that is still queued
for writing.
writeStream.close([callback])
#
Added in: v0.9.4
Closes writeStream
. Optionally accepts a
callback that will be executed once the writeStream
is closed.
writeStream.path
#
Added in: v0.1.93
The path to the file the stream is writing to as specified in the first
argument to fs.createWriteStream()
. If path
is passed as a string, then
writeStream.path
will be a string. If path
is passed as a <Buffer>, then
writeStream.path
will be a <Buffer>.
writeStream.pending
#
Added in: v11.2.0
This property is true
if the underlying file has not been opened yet,
i.e. before the 'ready'
event is emitted.
fs.constants
#
Returns an object containing commonly used constants for file system
operations.
FS constants#
The following constants are exported by fs.constants
and fsPromises.constants
.
Not every constant will be available on every operating system;
this is especially important for Windows, where many of the POSIX specific
definitions are not available.
For portable applications it is recommended to check for their presence
before use.
To use more than one constant, use the bitwise OR |
operator.
Example:
import { open, constants } from 'node:fs';
const {
O_RDWR,
O_CREAT,
O_EXCL
} = constants;
open('/path/to/my/file', O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, (err, fd) => {
});
File access constants#
The following constants are meant for use as the mode
parameter passed to
fsPromises.access()
, fs.access()
, and fs.accessSync()
.
Constant |
Description |
F_OK |
Flag indicating that the file is visible to the calling process.
This is useful for determining if a file exists, but says nothing
about rwx permissions. Default if no mode is specified. |
R_OK |
Flag indicating that the file can be read by the calling process. |
W_OK |
Flag indicating that the file can be written by the calling
process. |
X_OK |
Flag indicating that the file can be executed by the calling
process. This has no effect on Windows
(will behave like fs.constants.F_OK ). |
The definitions are also available on Windows.
File copy constants#
The following constants are meant for use with fs.copyFile()
.
Constant |
Description |
COPYFILE_EXCL |
If present, the copy operation will fail with an error if the
destination path already exists. |
COPYFILE_FICLONE |
If present, the copy operation will attempt to create a
copy-on-write reflink. If the underlying platform does not support
copy-on-write, then a fallback copy mechanism is used. |
COPYFILE_FICLONE_FORCE |
If present, the copy operation will attempt to create a
copy-on-write reflink. If the underlying platform does not support
copy-on-write, then the operation will fail with an error. |
The definitions are also available on Windows.
File open constants#
The following constants are meant for use with fs.open()
.
Constant |
Description |
O_RDONLY |
Flag indicating to open a file for read-only access. |
O_WRONLY |
Flag indicating to open a file for write-only access. |
O_RDWR |
Flag indicating to open a file for read-write access. |
O_CREAT |
Flag indicating to create the file if it does not already exist. |
O_EXCL |
Flag indicating that opening a file should fail if the
O_CREAT flag is set and the file already exists. |
O_NOCTTY |
Flag indicating that if path identifies a terminal device, opening the
path shall not cause that terminal to become the controlling terminal for
the process (if the process does not already have one). |
O_TRUNC |
Flag indicating that if the file exists and is a regular file, and the
file is opened successfully for write access, its length shall be truncated
to zero. |
O_APPEND |
Flag indicating that data will be appended to the end of the file. |
O_DIRECTORY |
Flag indicating that the open should fail if the path is not a
directory. |
O_NOATIME |
Flag indicating reading accesses to the file system will no longer
result in an update to the atime information associated with
the file. This flag is available on Linux operating systems only. |
O_NOFOLLOW |
Flag indicating that the open should fail if the path is a symbolic
link. |
O_SYNC |
Flag indicating that the file is opened for synchronized I/O with write
operations waiting for file integrity. |
O_DSYNC |
Flag indicating that the file is opened for synchronized I/O with write
operations waiting for data integrity. |
O_SYMLINK |
Flag indicating to open the symbolic link itself rather than the
resource it is pointing to. |
O_DIRECT |
When set, an attempt will be made to minimize caching effects of file
I/O. |
O_NONBLOCK |
Flag indicating to open the file in nonblocking mode when possible. |
UV_FS_O_FILEMAP |
When set, a memory file mapping is used to access the file. This flag
is available on Windows operating systems only. On other operating systems,
this flag is ignored. |
On Windows, only O_APPEND
, O_CREAT
, O_EXCL
, O_RDONLY
, O_RDWR
,
O_TRUNC
, O_WRONLY
, and UV_FS_O_FILEMAP
are available.
File type constants#
The following constants are meant for use with the <fs.Stats> object's
mode
property for determining a file's type.
Constant |
Description |
S_IFMT |
Bit mask used to extract the file type code. |
S_IFREG |
File type constant for a regular file. |
S_IFDIR |
File type constant for a directory. |
S_IFCHR |
File type constant for a character-oriented device file. |
S_IFBLK |
File type constant for a block-oriented device file. |
S_IFIFO |
File type constant for a FIFO/pipe. |
S_IFLNK |
File type constant for a symbolic link. |
S_IFSOCK |
File type constant for a socket. |
On Windows, only S_IFCHR
, S_IFDIR
, S_IFLNK
, S_IFMT
, and S_IFREG
,
are available.
File mode constants#
The following constants are meant for use with the <fs.Stats> object's
mode
property for determining the access permissions for a file.
Constant |
Description |
S_IRWXU |
File mode indicating readable, writable, and executable by owner. |
S_IRUSR |
File mode indicating readable by owner. |
S_IWUSR |
File mode indicating writable by owner. |
S_IXUSR |
File mode indicating executable by owner. |
S_IRWXG |
File mode indicating readable, writable, and executable by group. |
S_IRGRP |
File mode indicating readable by group. |
S_IWGRP |
File mode indicating writable by group. |
S_IXGRP |
File mode indicating executable by group. |
S_IRWXO |
File mode indicating readable, writable, and executable by others. |
S_IROTH |
File mode indicating readable by others. |
S_IWOTH |
File mode indicating writable by others. |
S_IXOTH |
File mode indicating executable by others. |
On Windows, only S_IRUSR
and S_IWUSR
are available.
Notes#
Ordering of callback and promise-based operations#
Because they are executed asynchronously by the underlying thread pool,
there is no guaranteed ordering when using either the callback or
promise-based methods.
For example, the following is prone to error because the fs.stat()
operation might complete before the fs.rename()
operation:
fs.rename('/tmp/hello', '/tmp/world', (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log('renamed complete');
});
fs.stat('/tmp/world', (err, stats) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(`stats: ${JSON.stringify(stats)}`);
});
It is important to correctly order the operations by awaiting the results
of one before invoking the other:
import { rename, stat } from 'node:fs/promises';
const from = '/tmp/hello';
const to = '/tmp/world';
try {
await rename(from, to);
const stats = await stat(to);
console.log(`stats: ${JSON.stringify(stats)}`);
} catch (error) {
console.error('there was an error:', error.message);
}
const { rename, stat } = require('node:fs/promises');
(async function(from, to) {
try {
await rename(from, to);
const stats = await stat(to);
console.log(`stats: ${JSON.stringify(stats)}`);
} catch (error) {
console.error('there was an error:', error.message);
}
})('/tmp/hello', '/tmp/world');
Or, when using the callback APIs, move the fs.stat()
call into the callback
of the fs.rename()
operation:
import { rename, stat } from 'node:fs';
rename('/tmp/hello', '/tmp/world', (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
stat('/tmp/world', (err, stats) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(`stats: ${JSON.stringify(stats)}`);
});
});
const { rename, stat } = require('node:fs/promises');
rename('/tmp/hello', '/tmp/world', (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
stat('/tmp/world', (err, stats) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(`stats: ${JSON.stringify(stats)}`);
});
});
File paths#
Most fs
operations accept file paths that may be specified in the form of
a string, a <Buffer>, or a <URL> object using the file:
protocol.
String paths#
String paths are interpreted as UTF-8 character sequences identifying
the absolute or relative filename. Relative paths will be resolved relative
to the current working directory as determined by calling process.cwd()
.
Example using an absolute path on POSIX:
import { open } from 'node:fs/promises';
let fd;
try {
fd = await open('/open/some/file.txt', 'r');
} finally {
await fd.close();
}
Example using a relative path on POSIX (relative to process.cwd()
):
import { open } from 'node:fs/promises';
let fd;
try {
fd = await open('file.txt', 'r');
} finally {
await fd.close();
}
File URL paths#
Added in: v7.6.0
For most node:fs
module functions, the path
or filename
argument may be
passed as a <URL> object using the file:
protocol.
import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
readFileSync(new URL('file:///tmp/hello'));
file:
URLs are always absolute paths.
Platform-specific considerations#
On Windows, file:
<URL>s with a host name convert to UNC paths, while file:
<URL>s with drive letters convert to local absolute paths. file:
<URL>s
with no host name and no drive letter will result in an error:
import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
readFileSync(new URL('file://hostname/p/a/t/h/file'));
readFileSync(new URL('file:///C:/tmp/hello'));
readFileSync(new URL('file:///notdriveletter/p/a/t/h/file'));
readFileSync(new URL('file:///c/p/a/t/h/file'));
file:
<URL>s with drive letters must use :
as a separator just after
the drive letter. Using another separator will result in an error.
On all other platforms, file:
<URL>s with a host name are unsupported and
will result in an error:
import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
readFileSync(new URL('file://hostname/p/a/t/h/file'));
readFileSync(new URL('file:///tmp/hello'));
A file:
<URL> having encoded slash characters will result in an error on all
platforms:
import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
readFileSync(new URL('file:///C:/p/a/t/h/%2F'));
readFileSync(new URL('file:///C:/p/a/t/h/%2f'));
readFileSync(new URL('file:///p/a/t/h/%2F'));
readFileSync(new URL('file:///p/a/t/h/%2f'));
On Windows, file:
<URL>s having encoded backslash will result in an error:
import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
readFileSync(new URL('file:///C:/path/%5C'));
readFileSync(new URL('file:///C:/path/%5c'));
Buffer paths#
Paths specified using a <Buffer> are useful primarily on certain POSIX
operating systems that treat file paths as opaque byte sequences. On such
systems, it is possible for a single file path to contain sub-sequences that
use multiple character encodings. As with string paths, <Buffer> paths may
be relative or absolute:
Example using an absolute path on POSIX:
import { open } from 'node:fs/promises';
import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
let fd;
try {
fd = await open(Buffer.from('/open/some/file.txt'), 'r');
} finally {
await fd.close();
}
Per-drive working directories on Windows#
On Windows, Node.js follows the concept of per-drive working directory. This
behavior can be observed when using a drive path without a backslash. For
example fs.readdirSync('C:\\')
can potentially return a different result than
fs.readdirSync('C:')
. For more information, see
this MSDN page.
File descriptors#
On POSIX systems, for every process, the kernel maintains a table of currently
open files and resources. Each open file is assigned a simple numeric
identifier called a file descriptor. At the system-level, all file system
operations use these file descriptors to identify and track each specific
file. Windows systems use a different but conceptually similar mechanism for
tracking resources. To simplify things for users, Node.js abstracts away the
differences between operating systems and assigns all open files a numeric file
descriptor.
The callback-based fs.open()
, and synchronous fs.openSync()
methods open a
file and allocate a new file descriptor. Once allocated, the file descriptor may
be used to read data from, write data to, or request information about the file.
Operating systems limit the number of file descriptors that may be open
at any given time so it is critical to close the descriptor when operations
are completed. Failure to do so will result in a memory leak that will
eventually cause an application to crash.
import { open, close, fstat } from 'node:fs';
function closeFd(fd) {
close(fd, (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
});
}
open('/open/some/file.txt', 'r', (err, fd) => {
if (err) throw err;
try {
fstat(fd, (err, stat) => {
if (err) {
closeFd(fd);
throw err;
}
closeFd(fd);
});
} catch (err) {
closeFd(fd);
throw err;
}
});
The promise-based APIs use a <FileHandle> object in place of the numeric
file descriptor. These objects are better managed by the system to ensure
that resources are not leaked. However, it is still required that they are
closed when operations are completed:
import { open } from 'node:fs/promises';
let file;
try {
file = await open('/open/some/file.txt', 'r');
const stat = await file.stat();
} finally {
await file.close();
}
Threadpool usage#
All callback and promise-based file system APIs (with the exception of
fs.FSWatcher()
) use libuv's threadpool. This can have surprising and negative
performance implications for some applications. See the
UV_THREADPOOL_SIZE
documentation for more information.
File system flags#
The following flags are available wherever the flag
option takes a
string.
-
'a'
: Open file for appending.
The file is created if it does not exist.
-
'ax'
: Like 'a'
but fails if the path exists.
-
'a+'
: Open file for reading and appending.
The file is created if it does not exist.
-
'ax+'
: Like 'a+'
but fails if the path exists.
-
'as'
: Open file for appending in synchronous mode.
The file is created if it does not exist.
-
'as+'
: Open file for reading and appending in synchronous mode.
The file is created if it does not exist.
-
'r'
: Open file for reading.
An exception occurs if the file does not exist.
-
'r+'
: Open file for reading and writing.
An exception occurs if the file does not exist.
-
'rs+'
: Open file for reading and writing in synchronous mode. Instructs
the operating system to bypass the local file system cache.
This is primarily useful for opening files on NFS mounts as it allows
skipping the potentially stale local cache. It has a very real impact on
I/O performance so using this flag is not recommended unless it is needed.
This doesn't turn fs.open()
or fsPromises.open()
into a synchronous
blocking call. If synchronous operation is desired, something like
fs.openSync()
should be used.
-
'w'
: Open file for writing.
The file is created (if it does not exist) or truncated (if it exists).
-
'wx'
: Like 'w'
but fails if the path exists.
-
'w+'
: Open file for reading and writing.
The file is created (if it does not exist) or truncated (if it exists).
-
'wx+'
: Like 'w+'
but fails if the path exists.
flag
can also be a number as documented by open(2)
; commonly used constants
are available from fs.constants
. On Windows, flags are translated to
their equivalent ones where applicable, e.g. O_WRONLY
to FILE_GENERIC_WRITE
,
or O_EXCL|O_CREAT
to CREATE_NEW
, as accepted by CreateFileW
.
The exclusive flag 'x'
(O_EXCL
flag in open(2)
) causes the operation to
return an error if the path already exists. On POSIX, if the path is a symbolic
link, using O_EXCL
returns an error even if the link is to a path that does
not exist. The exclusive flag might not work with network file systems.
On Linux, positional writes don't work when the file is opened in append mode.
The kernel ignores the position argument and always appends the data to
the end of the file.
Modifying a file rather than replacing it may require the flag
option to be
set to 'r+'
rather than the default 'w'
.
The behavior of some flags are platform-specific. As such, opening a directory
on macOS and Linux with the 'a+'
flag, as in the example below, will return an
error. In contrast, on Windows and FreeBSD, a file descriptor or a FileHandle
will be returned.
fs.open('<directory>', 'a+', (err, fd) => {
});
fs.open('<directory>', 'a+', (err, fd) => {
});
On Windows, opening an existing hidden file using the 'w'
flag (either
through fs.open()
, fs.writeFile()
, or fsPromises.open()
) will fail with
EPERM
. Existing hidden files can be opened for writing with the 'r+'
flag.
A call to fs.ftruncate()
or filehandle.truncate()
can be used to reset
the file contents.
HTTP#
Source Code: lib/http.js
To use the HTTP server and client one must require('node:http')
.
The HTTP interfaces in Node.js are designed to support many features
of the protocol which have been traditionally difficult to use.
In particular, large, possibly chunk-encoded, messages. The interface is
careful to never buffer entire requests or responses, so the
user is able to stream data.
HTTP message headers are represented by an object like this:
{ 'content-length': '123',
'content-type': 'text/plain',
'connection': 'keep-alive',
'host': 'example.com',
'accept': '*/*' }
Keys are lowercased. Values are not modified.
In order to support the full spectrum of possible HTTP applications, the Node.js
HTTP API is very low-level. It deals with stream handling and message
parsing only. It parses a message into headers and body but it does not
parse the actual headers or the body.
See message.headers
for details on how duplicate headers are handled.
The raw headers as they were received are retained in the rawHeaders
property, which is an array of [key, value, key2, value2, ...]
. For
example, the previous message header object might have a rawHeaders
list like the following:
[ 'ConTent-Length', '123456',
'content-LENGTH', '123',
'content-type', 'text/plain',
'CONNECTION', 'keep-alive',
'Host', 'example.com',
'accepT', '*/*' ]
Class: http.Agent
#
Added in: v0.3.4
An Agent
is responsible for managing connection persistence
and reuse for HTTP clients. It maintains a queue of pending requests
for a given host and port, reusing a single socket connection for each
until the queue is empty, at which time the socket is either destroyed
or put into a pool where it is kept to be used again for requests to the
same host and port. Whether it is destroyed or pooled depends on the
keepAlive
option.
Pooled connections have TCP Keep-Alive enabled for them, but servers may
still close idle connections, in which case they will be removed from the
pool and a new connection will be made when a new HTTP request is made for
that host and port. Servers may also refuse to allow multiple requests
over the same connection, in which case the connection will have to be
remade for every request and cannot be pooled. The Agent
will still make
the requests to that server, but each one will occur over a new connection.
When a connection is closed by the client or the server, it is removed
from the pool. Any unused sockets in the pool will be unrefed so as not
to keep the Node.js process running when there are no outstanding requests.
(see socket.unref()
).
It is good practice, to destroy()
an Agent
instance when it is no
longer in use, because unused sockets consume OS resources.
Sockets are removed from an agent when the socket emits either
a 'close'
event or an 'agentRemove'
event. When intending to keep one
HTTP request open for a long time without keeping it in the agent, something
like the following may be done:
http.get(options, (res) => {
}).on('socket', (socket) => {
socket.emit('agentRemove');
});
An agent may also be used for an individual request. By providing
{agent: false}
as an option to the http.get()
or http.request()
functions, a one-time use Agent
with default options will be used
for the client connection.
agent:false
:
http.get({
hostname: 'localhost',
port: 80,
path: '/',
agent: false
}, (res) => {
});
new Agent([options])
#
options
<Object> Set of configurable options to set on the agent.
Can have the following fields:
keepAlive
<boolean> Keep sockets around even when there are no
outstanding requests, so they can be used for future requests without
having to reestablish a TCP connection. Not to be confused with the
keep-alive
value of the Connection
header. The Connection: keep-alive
header is always sent when using an agent except when the Connection
header is explicitly specified or when the keepAlive
and maxSockets
options are respectively set to false
and Infinity
, in which case
Connection: close
will be used. Default: false
.
keepAliveMsecs
<number> When using the keepAlive
option, specifies
the initial delay
for TCP Keep-Alive packets. Ignored when the
keepAlive
option is false
or undefined
. Default: 1000
.
maxSockets
<number> Maximum number of sockets to allow per host.
If the same host opens multiple concurrent connections, each request
will use new socket until the maxSockets
value is reached.
If the host attempts to open more connections than maxSockets
,
the additional requests will enter into a pending request queue, and
will enter active connection state when an existing connection terminates.
This makes sure there are at most maxSockets
active connections at
any point in time, from a given host.
Default: Infinity
.
maxTotalSockets
<number> Maximum number of sockets allowed for
all hosts in total. Each request will use a new socket
until the maximum is reached.
Default: Infinity
.
maxFreeSockets
<number> Maximum number of sockets per host to leave open
in a free state. Only relevant if keepAlive
is set to true
.
Default: 256
.
scheduling
<string> Scheduling strategy to apply when picking
the next free socket to use. It can be 'fifo'
or 'lifo'
.
The main difference between the two scheduling strategies is that 'lifo'
selects the most recently used socket, while 'fifo'
selects
the least recently used socket.
In case of a low rate of request per second, the 'lifo'
scheduling
will lower the risk of picking a socket that might have been closed
by the server due to inactivity.
In case of a high rate of request per second,
the 'fifo'
scheduling will maximize the number of open sockets,
while the 'lifo'
scheduling will keep it as low as possible.
Default: 'lifo'
.
timeout
<number> Socket timeout in milliseconds.
This will set the timeout when the socket is created.
options
in socket.connect()
are also supported.
The default http.globalAgent
that is used by http.request()
has all
of these values set to their respective defaults.
To configure any of them, a custom http.Agent
instance must be created.
const http = require('node:http');
const keepAliveAgent = new http.Agent({ keepAlive: true });
options.agent = keepAliveAgent;
http.request(options, onResponseCallback);
agent.createConnection(options[, callback])
#
Added in: v0.11.4
Produces a socket/stream to be used for HTTP requests.
By default, this function is the same as net.createConnection()
. However,
custom agents may override this method in case greater flexibility is desired.
A socket/stream can be supplied in one of two ways: by returning the
socket/stream from this function, or by passing the socket/stream to callback
.
This method is guaranteed to return an instance of the <net.Socket> class,
a subclass of <stream.Duplex>, unless the user specifies a socket
type other than <net.Socket>.
callback
has a signature of (err, stream)
.
agent.keepSocketAlive(socket)
#
Added in: v8.1.0
Called when socket
is detached from a request and could be persisted by the
Agent
. Default behavior is to:
socket.setKeepAlive(true, this.keepAliveMsecs);
socket.unref();
return true;
This method can be overridden by a particular Agent
subclass. If this
method returns a falsy value, the socket will be destroyed instead of persisting
it for use with the next request.
The socket
argument can be an instance of <net.Socket>, a subclass of
<stream.Duplex>.
agent.reuseSocket(socket, request)
#
Added in: v8.1.0
Called when socket
is attached to request
after being persisted because of
the keep-alive options. Default behavior is to:
socket.ref();
This method can be overridden by a particular Agent
subclass.
The socket
argument can be an instance of <net.Socket>, a subclass of
<stream.Duplex>.
agent.destroy()
#
Added in: v0.11.4
Destroy any sockets that are currently in use by the agent.
It is usually not necessary to do this. However, if using an
agent with keepAlive
enabled, then it is best to explicitly shut down
the agent when it is no longer needed. Otherwise,
sockets might stay open for quite a long time before the server
terminates them.
agent.freeSockets
#
An object which contains arrays of sockets currently awaiting use by
the agent when keepAlive
is enabled. Do not modify.
Sockets in the freeSockets
list will be automatically destroyed and
removed from the array on 'timeout'
.
agent.getName([options])
#
options
<Object> A set of options providing information for name generation
host
<string> A domain name or IP address of the server to issue the
request to
port
<number> Port of remote server
localAddress
<string> Local interface to bind for network connections
when issuing the request
family
<integer> Must be 4 or 6 if this doesn't equal undefined
.
- Returns: <string>
Get a unique name for a set of request options, to determine whether a
connection can be reused. For an HTTP agent, this returns
host:port:localAddress
or host:port:localAddress:family
. For an HTTPS agent,
the name includes the CA, cert, ciphers, and other HTTPS/TLS-specific options
that determine socket reusability.
agent.maxFreeSockets
#
Added in: v0.11.7
By default set to 256. For agents with keepAlive
enabled, this
sets the maximum number of sockets that will be left open in the free
state.
agent.maxSockets
#
Added in: v0.3.6
By default set to Infinity
. Determines how many concurrent sockets the agent
can have open per origin. Origin is the returned value of agent.getName()
.
agent.maxTotalSockets
#
Added in: v14.5.0, v12.19.0
By default set to Infinity
. Determines how many concurrent sockets the agent
can have open. Unlike maxSockets
, this parameter applies across all origins.
agent.requests
#
An object which contains queues of requests that have not yet been assigned to
sockets. Do not modify.
agent.sockets
#
An object which contains arrays of sockets currently in use by the
agent. Do not modify.
Class: http.ClientRequest
#
Added in: v0.1.17
This object is created internally and returned from http.request()
. It
represents an in-progress request whose header has already been queued. The
header is still mutable using the setHeader(name, value)
,
getHeader(name)
, removeHeader(name)
API. The actual header will
be sent along with the first data chunk or when calling request.end()
.
To get the response, add a listener for 'response'
to the request object.
'response'
will be emitted from the request object when the response
headers have been received. The 'response'
event is executed with one
argument which is an instance of http.IncomingMessage
.
During the 'response'
event, one can add listeners to the
response object; particularly to listen for the 'data'
event.
If no 'response'
handler is added, then the response will be
entirely discarded. However, if a 'response'
event handler is added,
then the data from the response object must be consumed, either by
calling response.read()
whenever there is a 'readable'
event, or
by adding a 'data'
handler, or by calling the .resume()
method.
Until the data is consumed, the 'end'
event will not fire. Also, until
the data is read it will consume memory that can eventually lead to a
'process out of memory' error.
For backward compatibility, res
will only emit 'error'
if there is an
'error'
listener registered.
Set Content-Length
header to limit the response body size. Mismatching the
Content-Length
header value will result in an [Error
][] being thrown,
identified by code:
'ERR_HTTP_CONTENT_LENGTH_MISMATCH'
.
Content-Length
value should be in bytes, not characters. Use
Buffer.byteLength()
to determine the length of the body in bytes.
Event: 'abort'
#
Added in: v1.4.1Deprecated since: v16.12.0
Stability: 0 - Deprecated. Listen for the
'close'
event instead.
Emitted when the request has been aborted by the client. This event is only
emitted on the first call to abort()
.
Event: 'close'
#
Added in: v0.5.4
Indicates that the request is completed, or its underlying connection was
terminated prematurely (before the response completion).
Event: 'connect'
#
Added in: v0.7.0
Emitted each time a server responds to a request with a CONNECT
method. If
this event is not being listened for, clients receiving a CONNECT
method will
have their connections closed.
This event is guaranteed to be passed an instance of the <net.Socket> class,
a subclass of <stream.Duplex>, unless the user specifies a socket
type other than <net.Socket>.
A client and server pair demonstrating how to listen for the 'connect'
event:
const http = require('node:http');
const net = require('node:net');
const { URL } = require('node:url');
const proxy = http.createServer((req, res) => {
res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' });
res.end('okay');
});
proxy.on('connect', (req, clientSocket, head) => {
const { port, hostname } = new URL(`http://${req.url}`);
const serverSocket = net.connect(port || 80, hostname, () => {
clientSocket.write('HTTP/1.1 200 Connection Established\r\n' +
'Proxy-agent: Node.js-Proxy\r\n' +
'\r\n');
serverSocket.write(head);
serverSocket.pipe(clientSocket);
clientSocket.pipe(serverSocket);
});
});
proxy.listen(1337, '127.0.0.1', () => {
const options = {
port: 1337,
host: '127.0.0.1',
method: 'CONNECT',
path: 'www.google.com:80'
};
const req = http.request(options);
req.end();
req.on('connect', (res, socket, head) => {
console.log('got connected!');
socket.write('GET / HTTP/1.1\r\n' +
'Host: www.google.com:80\r\n' +
'Connection: close\r\n' +
'\r\n');
socket.on('data', (chunk) => {
console.log(chunk.toString());
});
socket.on('end', () => {
proxy.close();
});
});
});
Event: 'continue'
#
Added in: v0.3.2
Emitted when the server sends a '100 Continue' HTTP response, usually because
the request contained 'Expect: 100-continue'. This is an instruction that
the client should send the request body.
Event: 'finish'
#
Added in: v0.3.6
Emitted when the request has been sent. More specifically, this event is emitted
when the last segment of the response headers and body have been handed off to
the operating system for transmission over the network. It does not imply that
the server has received anything yet.
Event: 'information'
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Emitted when the server sends a 1xx intermediate response (excluding 101
Upgrade). The listeners of this event will receive an object containing the
HTTP version, status code, status message, key-value headers object,
and array with the raw header names followed by their respective values.
const http = require('node:http');
const options = {
host: '127.0.0.1',
port: 8080,
path: '/length_request'
};
const req = http.request(options);
req.end();
req.on('information', (info) => {
console.log(`Got information prior to main response: ${info.statusCode}`);
});
101 Upgrade statuses do not fire this event due to their break from the
traditional HTTP request/response chain, such as web sockets, in-place TLS
upgrades, or HTTP 2.0. To be notified of 101 Upgrade notices, listen for the
'upgrade'
event instead.
Event: 'response'
#
Added in: v0.1.0
Emitted when a response is received to this request. This event is emitted only
once.
Event: 'socket'
#
Added in: v0.5.3
This event is guaranteed to be passed an instance of the <net.Socket> class,
a subclass of <stream.Duplex>, unless the user specifies a socket
type other than <net.Socket>.
Event: 'timeout'
#
Added in: v0.7.8
Emitted when the underlying socket times out from inactivity. This only notifies
that the socket has been idle. The request must be destroyed manually.
See also: request.setTimeout()
.
Event: 'upgrade'
#
Added in: v0.1.94
Emitted each time a server responds to a request with an upgrade. If this
event is not being listened for and the response status code is 101 Switching
Protocols, clients receiving an upgrade header will have their connections
closed.
This event is guaranteed to be passed an instance of the <net.Socket> class,
a subclass of <stream.Duplex>, unless the user specifies a socket
type other than <net.Socket>.
A client server pair demonstrating how to listen for the 'upgrade'
event.
const http = require('node:http');
const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' });
res.end('okay');
});
server.on('upgrade', (req, socket, head) => {
socket.write('HTTP/1.1 101 Web Socket Protocol Handshake\r\n' +
'Upgrade: WebSocket\r\n' +
'Connection: Upgrade\r\n' +
'\r\n');
socket.pipe(socket);
});
server.listen(1337, '127.0.0.1', () => {
const options = {
port: 1337,
host: '127.0.0.1',
headers: {
'Connection': 'Upgrade',
'Upgrade': 'websocket'
}
};
const req = http.request(options);
req.end();
req.on('upgrade', (res, socket, upgradeHead) => {
console.log('got upgraded!');
socket.end();
process.exit(0);
});
});
request.abort()
#
Added in: v0.3.8Deprecated since: v14.1.0, v13.14.0
Marks the request as aborting. Calling this will cause remaining data
in the response to be dropped and the socket to be destroyed.
request.aborted
#
The request.aborted
property will be true
if the request has
been aborted.
request.connection
#
Added in: v0.3.0Deprecated since: v13.0.0
See request.socket
.
request.cork()
#
Added in: v13.2.0, v12.16.0
See writable.cork()
.
request.end([data[, encoding]][, callback])
#
Finishes sending the request. If any parts of the body are
unsent, it will flush them to the stream. If the request is
chunked, this will send the terminating '0\r\n\r\n'
.
If data
is specified, it is equivalent to calling
request.write(data, encoding)
followed by request.end(callback)
.
If callback
is specified, it will be called when the request stream
is finished.
request.destroy([error])
#
error
<Error> Optional, an error to emit with 'error'
event.
- Returns: <this>
Destroy the request. Optionally emit an 'error'
event,
and emit a 'close'
event. Calling this will cause remaining data
in the response to be dropped and the socket to be destroyed.
See writable.destroy()
for further details.
request.destroyed
#
Added in: v14.1.0, v13.14.0
Is true
after request.destroy()
has been called.
See writable.destroyed
for further details.
request.finished
#
Added in: v0.0.1Deprecated since: v13.4.0, v12.16.0
The request.finished
property will be true
if request.end()
has been called. request.end()
will automatically be called if the
request was initiated via http.get()
.
request.flushHeaders()
Added in: v1.6.0
Flushes the request headers.
For efficiency reasons, Node.js normally buffers the request headers until
request.end()
is called or the first chunk of request data is written. It
then tries to pack the request headers and data into a single TCP packet.
That's usually desired (it saves a TCP round-trip), but not when the first
data is not sent until possibly much later. request.flushHeaders()
bypasses
the optimization and kickstarts the request.
request.getHeader(name)
Added in: v1.6.0
Reads out a header on the request. The name is case-insensitive.
The type of the return value depends on the arguments provided to
request.setHeader()
.
request.setHeader('content-type', 'text/html');
request.setHeader('Content-Length', Buffer.byteLength(body));
request.setHeader('Cookie', ['type=ninja', 'language=javascript']);
const contentType = request.getHeader('Content-Type');
const contentLength = request.getHeader('Content-Length');
const cookie = request.getHeader('Cookie');
request.getHeaderNames()
Added in: v7.7.0
Returns an array containing the unique names of the current outgoing headers.
All header names are lowercase.
request.setHeader('Foo', 'bar');
request.setHeader('Cookie', ['foo=bar', 'bar=baz']);
const headerNames = request.getHeaderNames();
request.getHeaders()
Added in: v7.7.0
Returns a shallow copy of the current outgoing headers. Since a shallow copy
is used, array values may be mutated without additional calls to various
header-related http module methods. The keys of the returned object are the
header names and the values are the respective header values. All header names
are lowercase.
The object returned by the request.getHeaders()
method does not
prototypically inherit from the JavaScript Object
. This means that typical
Object
methods such as obj.toString()
, obj.hasOwnProperty()
, and others
are not defined and will not work.
request.setHeader('Foo', 'bar');
request.setHeader('Cookie', ['foo=bar', 'bar=baz']);
const headers = request.getHeaders();
request.getRawHeaderNames()
Added in: v15.13.0
Returns an array containing the unique names of the current outgoing raw
headers. Header names are returned with their exact casing being set.
request.setHeader('Foo', 'bar');
request.setHeader('Set-Cookie', ['foo=bar', 'bar=baz']);
const headerNames = request.getRawHeaderNames();
request.hasHeader(name)
Added in: v7.7.0
Returns true
if the header identified by name
is currently set in the
outgoing headers. The header name matching is case-insensitive.
const hasContentType = request.hasHeader('content-type');
request.maxHeadersCount
Limits maximum response headers count. If set to 0, no limit will be applied.
request.path
#
Added in: v0.4.0
request.method
#
Added in: v0.1.97
request.host
#
Added in: v14.5.0, v12.19.0
request.protocol
#
Added in: v14.5.0, v12.19.0
request.removeHeader(name)
Added in: v1.6.0
Removes a header that's already defined into headers object.
request.removeHeader('Content-Type');
request.reusedSocket
#
Added in: v13.0.0, v12.16.0
- <boolean> Whether the request is send through a reused socket.
When sending request through a keep-alive enabled agent, the underlying socket
might be reused. But if server closes connection at unfortunate time, client
may run into a 'ECONNRESET' error.
const http = require('node:http');
http
.createServer((req, res) => {
res.write('hello\n');
res.end();
})
.listen(3000);
setInterval(() => {
http.get('http://localhost:3000', { agent }, (res) => {
res.on('data', (data) => {
});
});
}, 5000);
By marking a request whether it reused socket or not, we can do
automatic error retry base on it.
const http = require('node:http');
const agent = new http.Agent({ keepAlive: true });
function retriableRequest() {
const req = http
.get('http://localhost:3000', { agent }, (res) => {
})
.on('error', (err) => {
if (req.reusedSocket && err.code === 'ECONNRESET') {
retriableRequest();
}
});
}
retriableRequest();
request.setHeader(name, value)
Added in: v1.6.0
Sets a single header value for headers object. If this header already exists in
the to-be-sent headers, its value will be replaced. Use an array of strings
here to send multiple headers with the same name. Non-string values will be
stored without modification. Therefore, request.getHeader()
may return
non-string values. However, the non-string values will be converted to strings
for network transmission.
request.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');
or
request.setHeader('Cookie', ['type=ninja', 'language=javascript']);
When the value is a string an exception will be thrown if it contains
characters outside the latin1
encoding.
If you need to pass UTF-8 characters in the value please encode the value
using the RFC 8187 standard.
const filename = 'Rock 🎵.txt';
request.setHeader('Content-Disposition', `attachment; filename*=utf-8''${encodeURIComponent(filename)}`);
request.setNoDelay([noDelay])
#
Added in: v0.5.9
Once a socket is assigned to this request and is connected
socket.setNoDelay()
will be called.
request.setSocketKeepAlive([enable][, initialDelay])
#
Added in: v0.5.9
Once a socket is assigned to this request and is connected
socket.setKeepAlive()
will be called.
request.setTimeout(timeout[, callback])
#
timeout
<number> Milliseconds before a request times out.
callback
<Function> Optional function to be called when a timeout occurs.
Same as binding to the 'timeout'
event.
- Returns: <http.ClientRequest>
Once a socket is assigned to this request and is connected
socket.setTimeout()
will be called.
request.socket
#
Added in: v0.3.0
Reference to the underlying socket. Usually users will not want to access
this property. In particular, the socket will not emit 'readable'
events
because of how the protocol parser attaches to the socket.
const http = require('node:http');
const options = {
host: 'www.google.com',
};
const req = http.get(options);
req.end();
req.once('response', (res) => {
const ip = req.socket.localAddress;
const port = req.socket.localPort;
console.log(`Your IP address is ${ip} and your source port is ${port}.`);
});
This property is guaranteed to be an instance of the <net.Socket> class,
a subclass of <stream.Duplex>, unless the user specified a socket
type other than <net.Socket>.
request.uncork()
#
Added in: v13.2.0, v12.16.0
See writable.uncork()
.
request.writableEnded
#
Added in: v12.9.0
Is true
after request.end()
has been called. This property
does not indicate whether the data has been flushed, for this use
request.writableFinished
instead.
request.writableFinished
#
Added in: v12.7.0
Is true
if all data has been flushed to the underlying system, immediately
before the 'finish'
event is emitted.
request.write(chunk[, encoding][, callback])
#
Added in: v0.1.29
Sends a chunk of the body. This method can be called multiple times. If no
Content-Length
is set, data will automatically be encoded in HTTP Chunked
transfer encoding, so that server knows when the data ends. The
Transfer-Encoding: chunked
header is added. Calling request.end()
is necessary to finish sending the request.
The encoding
argument is optional and only applies when chunk
is a string.
Defaults to 'utf8'
.
The callback
argument is optional and will be called when this chunk of data
is flushed, but only if the chunk is non-empty.
Returns true
if the entire data was flushed successfully to the kernel
buffer. Returns false
if all or part of the data was queued in user memory.
'drain'
will be emitted when the buffer is free again.
When write
function is called with empty string or buffer, it does
nothing and waits for more input.
Class: http.Server
#
Added in: v0.1.17
Event: 'checkContinue'
#
Added in: v0.3.0
Emitted each time a request with an HTTP Expect: 100-continue
is received.
If this event is not listened for, the server will automatically respond
with a 100 Continue
as appropriate.
Handling this event involves calling response.writeContinue()
if the
client should continue to send the request body, or generating an appropriate
HTTP response (e.g. 400 Bad Request) if the client should not continue to send
the request body.
When this event is emitted and handled, the 'request'
event will
not be emitted.
Event: 'checkExpectation'
#
Added in: v5.5.0
Emitted each time a request with an HTTP Expect
header is received, where the
value is not 100-continue
. If this event is not listened for, the server will
automatically respond with a 417 Expectation Failed
as appropriate.
When this event is emitted and handled, the 'request'
event will
not be emitted.
Event: 'clientError'
#
If a client connection emits an 'error'
event, it will be forwarded here.
Listener of this event is responsible for closing/destroying the underlying
socket. For example, one may wish to more gracefully close the socket with a
custom HTTP response instead of abruptly severing the connection.
This event is guaranteed to be passed an instance of the <net.Socket> class,
a subclass of <stream.Duplex>, unless the user specifies a socket
type other than <net.Socket>.
Default behavior is to try close the socket with a HTTP '400 Bad Request',
or a HTTP '431 Request Header Fields Too Large' in the case of a
HPE_HEADER_OVERFLOW
error. If the socket is not writable or has already
written data it is immediately destroyed.
socket
is the net.Socket
object that the error originated from.
const http = require('node:http');
const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
res.end();
});
server.on('clientError', (err, socket) => {
socket.end('HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request\r\n\r\n');
});
server.listen(8000);
When the 'clientError'
event occurs, there is no request
or response
object, so any HTTP response sent, including response headers and payload,
must be written directly to the socket
object. Care must be taken to
ensure the response is a properly formatted HTTP response message.
err
is an instance of Error
with two extra columns:
bytesParsed
: the bytes count of request packet that Node.js may have parsed
correctly;
rawPacket
: the raw packet of current request.
In some cases, the client has already received the response and/or the socket
has already been destroyed, like in case of ECONNRESET
errors. Before
trying to send data to the socket, it is better to check that it is still
writable.
server.on('clientError', (err, socket) => {
if (err.code === 'ECONNRESET' || !socket.writable) {
return;
}
socket.end('HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request\r\n\r\n');
});
Event: 'close'
#
Added in: v0.1.4
Emitted when the server closes.
Event: 'connect'
#
Added in: v0.7.0
Emitted each time a client requests an HTTP CONNECT
method. If this event is
not listened for, then clients requesting a CONNECT
method will have their
connections closed.
This event is guaranteed to be passed an instance of the <net.Socket> class,
a subclass of <stream.Duplex>, unless the user specifies a socket
type other than <net.Socket>.
After this event is emitted, the request's socket will not have a 'data'
event listener, meaning it will need to be bound in order to handle data
sent to the server on that socket.
Event: 'connection'
#
Added in: v0.1.0
This event is emitted when a new TCP stream is established. socket
is
typically an object of type net.Socket
. Usually users will not want to
access this event. In particular, the socket will not emit 'readable'
events
because of how the protocol parser attaches to the socket. The socket
can
also be accessed at request.socket
.
This event can also be explicitly emitted by users to inject connections
into the HTTP server. In that case, any Duplex
stream can be passed.
If socket.setTimeout()
is called here, the timeout will be replaced with
server.keepAliveTimeout
when the socket has served a request (if
server.keepAliveTimeout
is non-zero).
This event is guaranteed to be passed an instance of the <net.Socket> class,
a subclass of <stream.Duplex>, unless the user specifies a socket
type other than <net.Socket>.
Event: 'dropRequest'
#
Added in: v16.17.0
When the number of requests on a socket reaches the threshold of
server.maxRequestsPerSocket
, the server will drop new requests
and emit 'dropRequest'
event instead, then send 503
to client.
Event: 'request'
#
Added in: v0.1.0
Emitted each time there is a request. There may be multiple requests
per connection (in the case of HTTP Keep-Alive connections).
Event: 'upgrade'
#
Emitted each time a client requests an HTTP upgrade. Listening to this event
is optional and clients cannot insist on a protocol change.
After this event is emitted, the request's socket will not have a 'data'
event listener, meaning it will need to be bound in order to handle data
sent to the server on that socket.
This event is guaranteed to be passed an instance of the <net.Socket> class,
a subclass of <stream.Duplex>, unless the user specifies a socket
type other than <net.Socket>.
server.close([callback])
#
Added in: v0.1.90
Stops the server from accepting new connections. See net.Server.close()
.
server.headersTimeout
Added in: v11.3.0, v10.14.0
Limit the amount of time the parser will wait to receive the complete HTTP
headers.
In case of inactivity, the rules defined in server.timeout
apply. However,
that inactivity based timeout would still allow the connection to be kept open
if the headers are being sent very slowly (by default, up to a byte per 2
minutes). In order to prevent this, whenever header data arrives an additional
check is made that more than server.headersTimeout
milliseconds has not
passed since the connection was established. If the check fails, a 'timeout'
event is emitted on the server object, and (by default) the socket is destroyed.
See server.timeout
for more information on how timeout behavior can be
customized.
server.listen()
#
Starts the HTTP server listening for connections.
This method is identical to server.listen()
from net.Server
.
server.listening
#
Added in: v5.7.0
- <boolean> Indicates whether or not the server is listening for connections.
server.maxHeadersCount
Added in: v0.7.0
Limits maximum incoming headers count. If set to 0, no limit will be applied.
server.requestTimeout
#
Added in: v14.11.0
Sets the timeout value in milliseconds for receiving the entire request from
the client.
If the timeout expires, the server responds with status 408 without
forwarding the request to the request listener and then closes the connection.
It must be set to a non-zero value (e.g. 120 seconds) to protect against
potential Denial-of-Service attacks in case the server is deployed without a
reverse proxy in front.
server.setTimeout([msecs][, callback])
#
Sets the timeout value for sockets, and emits a 'timeout'
event on
the Server object, passing the socket as an argument, if a timeout
occurs.
If there is a 'timeout'
event listener on the Server object, then it
will be called with the timed-out socket as an argument.
By default, the Server does not timeout sockets. However, if a callback
is assigned to the Server's 'timeout'
event, timeouts must be handled
explicitly.
server.maxRequestsPerSocket
#
Added in: v16.10.0
- <number> Requests per socket. Default: 0 (no limit)
The maximum number of requests socket can handle
before closing keep alive connection.
A value of 0
will disable the limit.
When the limit is reached it will set the Connection
header value to close
,
but will not actually close the connection, subsequent requests sent
after the limit is reached will get 503 Service Unavailable
as a response.
server.timeout
#
- <number> Timeout in milliseconds. Default: 0 (no timeout)
The number of milliseconds of inactivity before a socket is presumed
to have timed out.
A value of 0
will disable the timeout behavior on incoming connections.
The socket timeout logic is set up on connection, so changing this
value only affects new connections to the server, not any existing connections.
server.keepAliveTimeout
#
Added in: v8.0.0
- <number> Timeout in milliseconds. Default:
5000
(5 seconds).
The number of milliseconds of inactivity a server needs to wait for additional
incoming data, after it has finished writing the last response, before a socket
will be destroyed. If the server receives new data before the keep-alive
timeout has fired, it will reset the regular inactivity timeout, i.e.,
server.timeout
.
A value of 0
will disable the keep-alive timeout behavior on incoming
connections.
A value of 0
makes the http server behave similarly to Node.js versions prior
to 8.0.0, which did not have a keep-alive timeout.
The socket timeout logic is set up on connection, so changing this value only
affects new connections to the server, not any existing connections.
Class: http.ServerResponse
#
Added in: v0.1.17
This object is created internally by an HTTP server, not by the user. It is
passed as the second parameter to the 'request'
event.
Event: 'close'
#
Added in: v0.6.7
Indicates that the response is completed, or its underlying connection was
terminated prematurely (before the response completion).
Event: 'finish'
#
Added in: v0.3.6
Emitted when the response has been sent. More specifically, this event is
emitted when the last segment of the response headers and body have been
handed off to the operating system for transmission over the network. It
does not imply that the client has received anything yet.
response.addTrailers(headers)
Added in: v0.3.0
This method adds HTTP trailing headers (a header but at the end of the
message) to the response.
Trailers will only be emitted if chunked encoding is used for the
response; if it is not (e.g. if the request was HTTP/1.0), they will
be silently discarded.
HTTP requires the Trailer
header to be sent in order to
emit trailers, with a list of the header fields in its value. E.g.,
response.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain',
'Trailer': 'Content-MD5' });
response.write(fileData);
response.addTrailers({ 'Content-MD5': '7895bf4b8828b55ceaf47747b4bca667' });
response.end();
Attempting to set a header field name or value that contains invalid characters
will result in a TypeError
being thrown.
response.connection
#
Added in: v0.3.0Deprecated since: v13.0.0
See response.socket
.
response.cork()
#
Added in: v13.2.0, v12.16.0
See writable.cork()
.
response.end([data[, encoding]][, callback])
#
This method signals to the server that all of the response headers and body
have been sent; that server should consider this message complete.
The method, response.end()
, MUST be called on each response.
If data
is specified, it is similar in effect to calling
response.write(data, encoding)
followed by response.end(callback)
.
If callback
is specified, it will be called when the response stream
is finished.
response.finished
#
Added in: v0.0.2Deprecated since: v13.4.0, v12.16.0
The response.finished
property will be true
if response.end()
has been called.
response.flushHeaders()
Added in: v1.6.0
Flushes the response headers. See also: request.flushHeaders()
.
response.getHeader(name)
Added in: v0.4.0
Reads out a header that's already been queued but not sent to the client.
The name is case-insensitive. The type of the return value depends
on the arguments provided to response.setHeader()
.
response.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/html');
response.setHeader('Content-Length', Buffer.byteLength(body));
response.setHeader('Set-Cookie', ['type=ninja', 'language=javascript']);
const contentType = response.getHeader('content-type');
const contentLength = response.getHeader('Content-Length');
const setCookie = response.getHeader('set-cookie');
response.getHeaderNames()
Added in: v7.7.0
Returns an array containing the unique names of the current outgoing headers.
All header names are lowercase.
response.setHeader('Foo', 'bar');
response.setHeader('Set-Cookie', ['foo=bar', 'bar=baz']);
const headerNames = response.getHeaderNames();
response.getHeaders()
Added in: v7.7.0
Returns a shallow copy of the current outgoing headers. Since a shallow copy
is used, array values may be mutated without additional calls to various
header-related http module methods. The keys of the returned object are the
header names and the values are the respective header values. All header names
are lowercase.
The object returned by the response.getHeaders()
method does not
prototypically inherit from the JavaScript Object
. This means that typical
Object
methods such as obj.toString()
, obj.hasOwnProperty()
, and others
are not defined and will not work.
response.setHeader('Foo', 'bar');
response.setHeader('Set-Cookie', ['foo=bar', 'bar=baz']);
const headers = response.getHeaders();
response.hasHeader(name)
Added in: v7.7.0
Returns true
if the header identified by name
is currently set in the
outgoing headers. The header name matching is case-insensitive.
const hasContentType = response.hasHeader('content-type');
response.headersSent
Added in: v0.9.3
Boolean (read-only). True if headers were sent, false otherwise.
response.removeHeader(name)
Added in: v0.4.0
Removes a header that's queued for implicit sending.
response.removeHeader('Content-Encoding');
response.req
#
Added in: v15.7.0
A reference to the original HTTP request
object.
response.sendDate
#
Added in: v0.7.5
When true, the Date header will be automatically generated and sent in
the response if it is not already present in the headers. Defaults to true.
This should only be disabled for testing; HTTP requires the Date header
in responses.
response.setHeader(name, value)
Added in: v0.4.0
Returns the response object.
Sets a single header value for implicit headers. If this header already exists
in the to-be-sent headers, its value will be replaced. Use an array of strings
here to send multiple headers with the same name. Non-string values will be
stored without modification. Therefore, response.getHeader()
may return
non-string values. However, the non-string values will be converted to strings
for network transmission. The same response object is returned to the caller,
to enable call chaining.
response.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/html');
or
response.setHeader('Set-Cookie', ['type=ninja', 'language=javascript']);
Attempting to set a header field name or value that contains invalid characters
will result in a TypeError
being thrown.
When headers have been set with response.setHeader()
, they will be merged
with any headers passed to response.writeHead()
, with the headers passed
to response.writeHead()
given precedence.
const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/html');
res.setHeader('X-Foo', 'bar');
res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' });
res.end('ok');
});
If response.writeHead()
method is called and this method has not been
called, it will directly write the supplied header values onto the network
channel without caching internally, and the response.getHeader()
on the
header will not yield the expected result. If progressive population of headers
is desired with potential future retrieval and modification, use
response.setHeader()
instead of response.writeHead()
.
response.setTimeout(msecs[, callback])
#
Added in: v0.9.12
Sets the Socket's timeout value to msecs
. If a callback is
provided, then it is added as a listener on the 'timeout'
event on
the response object.
If no 'timeout'
listener is added to the request, the response, or
the server, then sockets are destroyed when they time out. If a handler is
assigned to the request, the response, or the server's 'timeout'
events,
timed out sockets must be handled explicitly.
response.socket
#
Added in: v0.3.0
Reference to the underlying socket. Usually users will not want to access
this property. In particular, the socket will not emit 'readable'
events
because of how the protocol parser attaches to the socket. After
response.end()
, the property is nulled.
const http = require('node:http');
const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
const ip = res.socket.remoteAddress;
const port = res.socket.remotePort;
res.end(`Your IP address is ${ip} and your source port is ${port}.`);
}).listen(3000);
This property is guaranteed to be an instance of the <net.Socket> class,
a subclass of <stream.Duplex>, unless the user specified a socket
type other than <net.Socket>.
response.statusCode
#
Added in: v0.4.0
When using implicit headers (not calling response.writeHead()
explicitly),
this property controls the status code that will be sent to the client when
the headers get flushed.
response.statusCode = 404;
After response header was sent to the client, this property indicates the
status code which was sent out.
response.statusMessage
#
Added in: v0.11.8
When using implicit headers (not calling response.writeHead()
explicitly),
this property controls the status message that will be sent to the client when
the headers get flushed. If this is left as undefined
then the standard
message for the status code will be used.
response.statusMessage = 'Not found';
After response header was sent to the client, this property indicates the
status message which was sent out.
response.uncork()
#
Added in: v13.2.0, v12.16.0
See writable.uncork()
.
response.writableEnded
#
Added in: v12.9.0
Is true
after response.end()
has been called. This property
does not indicate whether the data has been flushed, for this use
response.writableFinished
instead.
response.writableFinished
#
Added in: v12.7.0
Is true
if all data has been flushed to the underlying system, immediately
before the 'finish'
event is emitted.
response.write(chunk[, encoding][, callback])
#
Added in: v0.1.29
If this method is called and response.writeHead()
has not been called,
it will switch to implicit header mode and flush the implicit headers.
This sends a chunk of the response body. This method may
be called multiple times to provide successive parts of the body.
In the node:http
module, the response body is omitted when the
request is a HEAD request. Similarly, the 204
and 304
responses
must not include a message body.
chunk
can be a string or a buffer. If chunk
is a string,
the second parameter specifies how to encode it into a byte stream.
callback
will be called when this chunk of data is flushed.
This is the raw HTTP body and has nothing to do with higher-level multi-part
body encodings that may be used.
The first time response.write()
is called, it will send the buffered
header information and the first chunk of the body to the client. The second
time response.write()
is called, Node.js assumes data will be streamed,
and sends the new data separately. That is, the response is buffered up to the
first chunk of the body.
Returns true
if the entire data was flushed successfully to the kernel
buffer. Returns false
if all or part of the data was queued in user memory.
'drain'
will be emitted when the buffer is free again.
response.writeContinue()
#
Added in: v0.3.0
Sends a HTTP/1.1 100 Continue message to the client, indicating that
the request body should be sent. See the 'checkContinue'
event on
Server
.
response.writeHead(statusCode[, statusMessage][, headers])
Sends a response header to the request. The status code is a 3-digit HTTP
status code, like 404
. The last argument, headers
, are the response headers.
Optionally one can give a human-readable statusMessage
as the second
argument.
headers
may be an Array
where the keys and values are in the same list.
It is not a list of tuples. So, the even-numbered offsets are key values,
and the odd-numbered offsets are the associated values. The array is in the same
format as request.rawHeaders
.
Returns a reference to the ServerResponse
, so that calls can be chained.
const body = 'hello world';
response
.writeHead(200, {
'Content-Length': Buffer.byteLength(body),
'Content-Type': 'text/plain'
})
.end(body);
This method must only be called once on a message and it must
be called before response.end()
is called.
If response.write()
or response.end()
are called before calling
this, the implicit/mutable headers will be calculated and call this function.
When headers have been set with response.setHeader()
, they will be merged
with any headers passed to response.writeHead()
, with the headers passed
to response.writeHead()
given precedence.
If this method is called and response.setHeader()
has not been called,
it will directly write the supplied header values onto the network channel
without caching internally, and the response.getHeader()
on the header
will not yield the expected result. If progressive population of headers is
desired with potential future retrieval and modification, use
response.setHeader()
instead.
const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/html');
res.setHeader('X-Foo', 'bar');
res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' });
res.end('ok');
});
Content-Length
is read in bytes, not characters. Use
Buffer.byteLength()
to determine the length of the body in bytes. Node.js
will check whether Content-Length
and the length of the body which has
been transmitted are equal or not.
Attempting to set a header field name or value that contains invalid characters
will result in a [Error
][] being thrown.
response.writeProcessing()
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Sends a HTTP/1.1 102 Processing message to the client, indicating that
the request body should be sent.
Class: http.IncomingMessage
#
An IncomingMessage
object is created by http.Server
or
http.ClientRequest
and passed as the first argument to the 'request'
and 'response'
event respectively. It may be used to access response
status, headers, and data.
Different from its socket
value which is a subclass of <stream.Duplex>, the
IncomingMessage
itself extends <stream.Readable> and is created separately to
parse and emit the incoming HTTP headers and payload, as the underlying socket
may be reused multiple times in case of keep-alive.
Event: 'aborted'
#
Added in: v0.3.8Deprecated since: v16.12.0
Stability: 0 - Deprecated. Listen for
'close'
event instead.
Emitted when the request has been aborted.
Event: 'close'
#
Emitted when the request has been completed.
message.aborted
#
Added in: v10.1.0Deprecated since: v16.12.0
The message.aborted
property will be true
if the request has
been aborted.
message.complete
#
Added in: v0.3.0
The message.complete
property will be true
if a complete HTTP message has
been received and successfully parsed.
This property is particularly useful as a means of determining if a client or
server fully transmitted a message before a connection was terminated:
const req = http.request({
host: '127.0.0.1',
port: 8080,
method: 'POST'
}, (res) => {
res.resume();
res.on('end', () => {
if (!res.complete)
console.error(
'The connection was terminated while the message was still being sent');
});
});
message.connection
#
Added in: v0.1.90Deprecated since: v16.0.0
Alias for message.socket
.
message.destroy([error])
#
Calls destroy()
on the socket that received the IncomingMessage
. If error
is provided, an 'error'
event is emitted on the socket and error
is passed
as an argument to any listeners on the event.
message.headers
The request/response headers object.
Key-value pairs of header names and values. Header names are lower-cased.
console.log(request.headers);
Duplicates in raw headers are handled in the following ways, depending on the
header name:
- Duplicates of
age
, authorization
, content-length
, content-type
,
etag
, expires
, from
, host
, if-modified-since
, if-unmodified-since
,
last-modified
, location
, max-forwards
, proxy-authorization
, referer
,
retry-after
, server
, or user-agent
are discarded.
set-cookie
is always an array. Duplicates are added to the array.
- For duplicate
cookie
headers, the values are joined together with ;
.
- For all other headers, the values are joined together with
,
.
message.headersDistinct
Added in: v16.17.0
Similar to message.headers
, but there is no join logic and the values are
always arrays of strings, even for headers received just once.
console.log(request.headersDistinct);
message.httpVersion
#
Added in: v0.1.1
In case of server request, the HTTP version sent by the client. In the case of
client response, the HTTP version of the connected-to server.
Probably either '1.1'
or '1.0'
.
Also message.httpVersionMajor
is the first integer and
message.httpVersionMinor
is the second.
message.method
#
Added in: v0.1.1
Only valid for request obtained from http.Server
.
The request method as a string. Read only. Examples: 'GET'
, 'DELETE'
.
message.rawHeaders
Added in: v0.11.6
The raw request/response headers list exactly as they were received.
The keys and values are in the same list. It is not a
list of tuples. So, the even-numbered offsets are key values, and the
odd-numbered offsets are the associated values.
Header names are not lowercased, and duplicates are not merged.
console.log(request.rawHeaders);
message.rawTrailers
#
Added in: v0.11.6
The raw request/response trailer keys and values exactly as they were
received. Only populated at the 'end'
event.
message.setTimeout(msecs[, callback])
#
Added in: v0.5.9
Calls message.socket.setTimeout(msecs, callback)
.
message.socket
#
Added in: v0.3.0
The net.Socket
object associated with the connection.
With HTTPS support, use request.socket.getPeerCertificate()
to obtain the
client's authentication details.
This property is guaranteed to be an instance of the <net.Socket> class,
a subclass of <stream.Duplex>, unless the user specified a socket
type other than <net.Socket> or internally nulled.
message.statusCode
#
Added in: v0.1.1
Only valid for response obtained from http.ClientRequest
.
The 3-digit HTTP response status code. E.G. 404
.
message.statusMessage
#
Added in: v0.11.10
Only valid for response obtained from http.ClientRequest
.
The HTTP response status message (reason phrase). E.G. OK
or Internal Server Error
.
message.trailers
#
Added in: v0.3.0
The request/response trailers object. Only populated at the 'end'
event.
message.trailersDistinct
#
Added in: v16.17.0
Similar to message.trailers
, but there is no join logic and the values are
always arrays of strings, even for headers received just once.
Only populated at the 'end'
event.
message.url
#
Added in: v0.1.90
Only valid for request obtained from http.Server
.
Request URL string. This contains only the URL that is present in the actual
HTTP request. Take the following request:
GET /status?name=ryan HTTP/1.1
Accept: text/plain
To parse the URL into its parts:
new URL(request.url, `http://${request.headers.host}`);
When request.url
is '/status?name=ryan'
and request.headers.host
is
'localhost:3000'
:
$ node
> new URL(request.url, `http://${request.headers.host}`)
URL {
href: 'http://localhost:3000/status?name=ryan',
origin: 'http://localhost:3000',
protocol: 'http:',
username: '',
password: '',
host: 'localhost:3000',
hostname: 'localhost',
port: '3000',
pathname: '/status',
search: '?name=ryan',
searchParams: URLSearchParams { 'name' => 'ryan' },
hash: ''
}
Class: http.OutgoingMessage
#
Added in: v0.1.17
This class serves as the parent class of http.ClientRequest
and http.ServerResponse
. It is an abstract outgoing message from
the perspective of the participants of an HTTP transaction.
Event: 'drain'
#
Added in: v0.3.6
Emitted when the buffer of the message is free again.
Event: 'finish'
#
Added in: v0.1.17
Emitted when the transmission is finished successfully.
Event: 'prefinish'
#
Added in: v0.11.6
Emitted after outgoingMessage.end()
is called.
When the event is emitted, all data has been processed but not necessarily
completely flushed.
outgoingMessage.addTrailers(headers)
Added in: v0.3.0
Adds HTTP trailers (headers but at the end of the message) to the message.
Trailers will only be emitted if the message is chunked encoded. If not,
the trailers will be silently discarded.
HTTP requires the Trailer
header to be sent to emit trailers,
with a list of header field names in its value, e.g.
message.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain',
'Trailer': 'Content-MD5' });
message.write(fileData);
message.addTrailers({ 'Content-MD5': '7895bf4b8828b55ceaf47747b4bca667' });
message.end();
Attempting to set a header field name or value that contains invalid characters
will result in a TypeError
being thrown.
outgoingMessage.appendHeader(name, value)
Added in: v16.17.0
Append a single header value for the header object.
If the value is an array, this is equivalent of calling this method multiple
times.
If there were no previous value for the header, this is equivalent of calling
outgoingMessage.setHeader(name, value)
.
Depending of the value of options.uniqueHeaders
when the client request or the
server were created, this will end up in the header being sent multiple times or
a single time with values joined using ;
.
outgoingMessage.connection
#
Added in: v0.3.0Deprecated since: v15.12.0
Alias of outgoingMessage.socket
.
outgoingMessage.cork()
#
Added in: v13.2.0, v12.16.0
See writable.cork()
.
outgoingMessage.destroy([error])
#
Added in: v0.3.0
error
<Error> Optional, an error to emit with error
event
- Returns: <this>
Destroys the message. Once a socket is associated with the message
and is connected, that socket will be destroyed as well.
outgoingMessage.end(chunk[, encoding][, callback])
#
Finishes the outgoing message. If any parts of the body are unsent, it will
flush them to the underlying system. If the message is chunked, it will
send the terminating chunk 0\r\n\r\n
, and send the trailers (if any).
If chunk
is specified, it is equivalent to calling
outgoingMessage.write(chunk, encoding)
, followed by
outgoingMessage.end(callback)
.
If callback
is provided, it will be called when the message is finished
(equivalent to a listener of the 'finish'
event).
outgoingMessage.flushHeaders()
Added in: v1.6.0
Flushes the message headers.
For efficiency reason, Node.js normally buffers the message headers
until outgoingMessage.end()
is called or the first chunk of message data
is written. It then tries to pack the headers and data into a single TCP
packet.
It is usually desired (it saves a TCP round-trip), but not when the first
data is not sent until possibly much later. outgoingMessage.flushHeaders()
bypasses the optimization and kickstarts the message.
outgoingMessage.getHeader(name)
Added in: v0.4.0
Gets the value of the HTTP header with the given name. If that header is not
set, the returned value will be undefined
.
outgoingMessage.getHeaderNames()
Added in: v7.7.0
Returns an array containing the unique names of the current outgoing headers.
All names are lowercase.
outgoingMessage.getHeaders()
Added in: v7.7.0
Returns a shallow copy of the current outgoing headers. Since a shallow
copy is used, array values may be mutated without additional calls to
various header-related HTTP module methods. The keys of the returned
object are the header names and the values are the respective header
values. All header names are lowercase.
The object returned by the outgoingMessage.getHeaders()
method does
not prototypically inherit from the JavaScript Object
. This means that
typical Object
methods such as obj.toString()
, obj.hasOwnProperty()
,
and others are not defined and will not work.
outgoingMessage.setHeader('Foo', 'bar');
outgoingMessage.setHeader('Set-Cookie', ['foo=bar', 'bar=baz']);
const headers = outgoingMessage.getHeaders();
outgoingMessage.hasHeader(name)
Added in: v7.7.0
Returns true
if the header identified by name
is currently set in the
outgoing headers. The header name is case-insensitive.
const hasContentType = outgoingMessage.hasHeader('content-type');
outgoingMessage.headersSent
Added in: v0.9.3
Read-only. true
if the headers were sent, otherwise false
.
outgoingMessage.pipe()
#
Added in: v9.0.0
Overrides the stream.pipe()
method inherited from the legacy Stream
class
which is the parent class of http.OutgoingMessage
.
Calling this method will throw an Error
because outgoingMessage
is a
write-only stream.
outgoingMessage.removeHeader(name)
Added in: v0.4.0
Removes a header that is queued for implicit sending.
outgoingMessage.removeHeader('Content-Encoding');
outgoingMessage.setHeader(name, value)
Added in: v0.4.0
Sets a single header value. If the header already exists in the to-be-sent
headers, its value will be replaced. Use an array of strings to send multiple
headers with the same name.
outgoingMessage.setTimeout(msesc[, callback])
#
Added in: v0.9.12
msesc
<number>
callback
<Function> Optional function to be called when a timeout
occurs. Same as binding to the timeout
event.
- Returns: <this>
Once a socket is associated with the message and is connected,
socket.setTimeout()
will be called with msecs
as the first parameter.
outgoingMessage.socket
#
Added in: v0.3.0
Reference to the underlying socket. Usually, users will not want to access
this property.
After calling outgoingMessage.end()
, this property will be nulled.
outgoingMessage.uncork()
#
Added in: v13.2.0, v12.16.0
See writable.uncork()
outgoingMessage.writableCorked
#
Added in: v13.2.0, v12.16.0
The number of times outgoingMessage.cork()
has been called.
outgoingMessage.writableEnded
#
Added in: v12.9.0
Is true
if outgoingMessage.end()
has been called. This property does
not indicate whether the data has been flushed. For that purpose, use
message.writableFinished
instead.
outgoingMessage.writableFinished
#
Added in: v12.7.0
Is true
if all data has been flushed to the underlying system.
outgoingMessage.writableHighWaterMark
#
Added in: v12.9.0
The highWaterMark
of the underlying socket if assigned. Otherwise, the default
buffer level when writable.write()
starts returning false (16384
).
outgoingMessage.writableLength
#
Added in: v12.9.0
The number of buffered bytes.
outgoingMessage.writableObjectMode
#
Added in: v12.9.0
Always false
.
outgoingMessage.write(chunk[, encoding][, callback])
#
Sends a chunk of the body. This method can be called multiple times.
The encoding
argument is only relevant when chunk
is a string. Defaults to
'utf8'
.
The callback
argument is optional and will be called when this chunk of data
is flushed.
Returns true
if the entire data was flushed successfully to the kernel
buffer. Returns false
if all or part of the data was queued in the user
memory. The 'drain'
event will be emitted when the buffer is free again.
http.METHODS
#
Added in: v0.11.8
A list of the HTTP methods that are supported by the parser.
http.STATUS_CODES
#
Added in: v0.1.22
A collection of all the standard HTTP response status codes, and the
short description of each. For example, http.STATUS_CODES[404] === 'Not Found'
.
http.createServer([options][, requestListener])
#
Returns a new instance of http.Server
.
The requestListener
is a function which is automatically
added to the 'request'
event.
const http = require('node:http');
const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' });
res.end(JSON.stringify({
data: 'Hello World!'
}));
});
server.listen(8000);
const http = require('node:http');
const server = http.createServer();
server.on('request', (request, res) => {
res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' });
res.end(JSON.stringify({
data: 'Hello World!'
}));
});
server.listen(8000);
http.get(options[, callback])
#
http.get(url[, options][, callback])
#
Since most requests are GET requests without bodies, Node.js provides this
convenience method. The only difference between this method and
http.request()
is that it sets the method to GET and calls req.end()
automatically. The callback must take care to consume the response
data for reasons stated in http.ClientRequest
section.
The callback
is invoked with a single argument that is an instance of
http.IncomingMessage
.
JSON fetching example:
http.get('http://localhost:8000/', (res) => {
const { statusCode } = res;
const contentType = res.headers['content-type'];
let error;
if (statusCode !== 200) {
error = new Error('Request Failed.\n' +
`Status Code: ${statusCode}`);
} else if (!/^application\/json/.test(contentType)) {
error = new Error('Invalid content-type.\n' +
`Expected application/json but received ${contentType}`);
}
if (error) {
console.error(error.message);
res.resume();
return;
}
res.setEncoding('utf8');
let rawData = '';
res.on('data', (chunk) => { rawData += chunk; });
res.on('end', () => {
try {
const parsedData = JSON.parse(rawData);
console.log(parsedData);
} catch (e) {
console.error(e.message);
}
});
}).on('error', (e) => {
console.error(`Got error: ${e.message}`);
});
const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' });
res.end(JSON.stringify({
data: 'Hello World!'
}));
});
server.listen(8000);
http.globalAgent
#
Added in: v0.5.9
Global instance of Agent
which is used as the default for all HTTP client
requests.
http.maxHeaderSize
Added in: v11.6.0, v10.15.0
Read-only property specifying the maximum allowed size of HTTP headers in bytes.
Defaults to 16 KiB. Configurable using the --max-http-header-size
CLI
option.
This can be overridden for servers and client requests by passing the
maxHeaderSize
option.
http.request(options[, callback])
#
http.request(url[, options][, callback])
#
url
<string> | <URL>
options
<Object>
agent
<http.Agent> | <boolean> Controls Agent
behavior. Possible
values:
undefined
(default): use http.globalAgent
for this host and port.
Agent
object: explicitly use the passed in Agent
.
false
: causes a new Agent
with default values to be used.
auth
<string> Basic authentication ('user:password'
) to compute an
Authorization header.
createConnection
<Function> A function that produces a socket/stream to
use for the request when the agent
option is not used. This can be used to
avoid creating a custom Agent
class just to override the default
createConnection
function. See agent.createConnection()
for more
details. Any Duplex
stream is a valid return value.
defaultPort
<number> Default port for the protocol. Default:
agent.defaultPort
if an Agent
is used, else undefined
.
family
<number> IP address family to use when resolving host
or
hostname
. Valid values are 4
or 6
. When unspecified, both IP v4 and
v6 will be used.
headers
<Object> An object containing request headers.
hints
<number> Optional dns.lookup()
hints.
host
<string> A domain name or IP address of the server to issue the
request to. Default: 'localhost'
.
hostname
<string> Alias for host
. To support url.parse()
,
hostname
will be used if both host
and hostname
are specified.
insecureHTTPParser
<boolean> Use an insecure HTTP parser that accepts
invalid HTTP headers when true
. Using the insecure parser should be
avoided. See --insecure-http-parser
for more information.
Default: false
localAddress
<string> Local interface to bind for network connections.
localPort
<number> Local port to connect from.
lookup
<Function> Custom lookup function. Default: dns.lookup()
.
maxHeaderSize
<number> Optionally overrides the value of
--max-http-header-size
(the maximum length of response headers in
bytes) for responses received from the server.
Default: 16384 (16 KiB).
method
<string> A string specifying the HTTP request method. Default:
'GET'
.
path
<string> Request path. Should include query string if any.
E.G. '/index.html?page=12'
. An exception is thrown when the request path
contains illegal characters. Currently, only spaces are rejected but that
may change in the future. Default: '/'
.
port
<number> Port of remote server. Default: defaultPort
if set,
else 80
.
protocol
<string> Protocol to use. Default: 'http:'
.
setHost
<boolean>: Specifies whether or not to automatically add the
Host
header. Defaults to true
.
signal
<AbortSignal>: An AbortSignal that may be used to abort an ongoing
request.
socketPath
<string> Unix domain socket. Cannot be used if one of host
or port
is specified, as those specify a TCP Socket.
timeout
<number>: A number specifying the socket timeout in milliseconds.
This will set the timeout before the socket is connected.
uniqueHeaders
<Array> A list of request headers that should be sent
only once. If the header's value is an array, the items will be joined
using ;
.
callback
<Function>
- Returns: <http.ClientRequest>
options
in socket.connect()
are also supported.
Node.js maintains several connections per server to make HTTP requests.
This function allows one to transparently issue requests.
url
can be a string or a URL
object. If url
is a
string, it is automatically parsed with new URL()
. If it is a URL
object, it will be automatically converted to an ordinary options
object.
If both url
and options
are specified, the objects are merged, with the
options
properties taking precedence.
The optional callback
parameter will be added as a one-time listener for
the 'response'
event.
http.request()
returns an instance of the http.ClientRequest
class. The ClientRequest
instance is a writable stream. If one needs to
upload a file with a POST request, then write to the ClientRequest
object.
const http = require('node:http');
const postData = JSON.stringify({
'msg': 'Hello World!'
});
const options = {
hostname: 'www.google.com',
port: 80,
path: '/upload',
method: 'POST',
headers: {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
'Content-Length': Buffer.byteLength(postData)
}
};
const req = http.request(options, (res) => {
console.log(`STATUS: ${res.statusCode}`);
console.log(`HEADERS: ${JSON.stringify(res.headers)}`);
res.setEncoding('utf8');
res.on('data', (chunk) => {
console.log(`BODY: ${chunk}`);
});
res.on('end', () => {
console.log('No more data in response.');
});
});
req.on('error', (e) => {
console.error(`problem with request: ${e.message}`);
});
req.write(postData);
req.end();
In the example req.end()
was called. With http.request()
one
must always call req.end()
to signify the end of the request -
even if there is no data being written to the request body.
If any error is encountered during the request (be that with DNS resolution,
TCP level errors, or actual HTTP parse errors) an 'error'
event is emitted
on the returned request object. As with all 'error'
events, if no listeners
are registered the error will be thrown.
There are a few special headers that should be noted.
-
Sending a 'Connection: keep-alive' will notify Node.js that the connection to
the server should be persisted until the next request.
-
Sending a 'Content-Length' header will disable the default chunked encoding.
-
Sending an 'Expect' header will immediately send the request headers.
Usually, when sending 'Expect: 100-continue', both a timeout and a listener
for the 'continue'
event should be set. See RFC 2616 Section 8.2.3 for more
information.
-
Sending an Authorization header will override using the auth
option
to compute basic authentication.
Example using a URL
as options
:
const options = new URL('http://abc:xyz@example.com');
const req = http.request(options, (res) => {
});
In a successful request, the following events will be emitted in the following
order:
'socket'
'response'
'data'
any number of times, on the res
object
('data'
will not be emitted at all if the response body is empty, for
instance, in most redirects)
'end'
on the res
object
'close'
In the case of a connection error, the following events will be emitted:
In the case of a premature connection close before the response is received,
the following events will be emitted in the following order:
'socket'
'error'
with an error with message 'Error: socket hang up'
and code
'ECONNRESET'
'close'
In the case of a premature connection close after the response is received,
the following events will be emitted in the following order:
'socket'
'response'
'data'
any number of times, on the res
object
- (connection closed here)
'aborted'
on the res
object
'error'
on the res
object with an error with message
'Error: aborted'
and code 'ECONNRESET'
.
'close'
'close'
on the res
object
If req.destroy()
is called before a socket is assigned, the following
events will be emitted in the following order:
- (
req.destroy()
called here)
'error'
with an error with message 'Error: socket hang up'
and code
'ECONNRESET'
'close'
If req.destroy()
is called before the connection succeeds, the following
events will be emitted in the following order:
'socket'
- (
req.destroy()
called here)
'error'
with an error with message 'Error: socket hang up'
and code
'ECONNRESET'
'close'
If req.destroy()
is called after the response is received, the following
events will be emitted in the following order:
'socket'
'response'
'data'
any number of times, on the res
object
- (
req.destroy()
called here)
'aborted'
on the res
object
'error'
on the res
object with an error with message
'Error: aborted'
and code 'ECONNRESET'
.
'close'
'close'
on the res
object
If req.abort()
is called before a socket is assigned, the following
events will be emitted in the following order:
- (
req.abort()
called here)
'abort'
'close'
If req.abort()
is called before the connection succeeds, the following
events will be emitted in the following order:
'socket'
- (
req.abort()
called here)
'abort'
'error'
with an error with message 'Error: socket hang up'
and code
'ECONNRESET'
'close'
If req.abort()
is called after the response is received, the following
events will be emitted in the following order:
'socket'
'response'
'data'
any number of times, on the res
object
- (
req.abort()
called here)
'abort'
'aborted'
on the res
object
'error'
on the res
object with an error with message
'Error: aborted'
and code 'ECONNRESET'
.
'close'
'close'
on the res
object
Setting the timeout
option or using the setTimeout()
function will
not abort the request or do anything besides add a 'timeout'
event.
Passing an AbortSignal
and then calling abort
on the corresponding
AbortController
will behave the same way as calling .destroy()
on the
request itself.
http.validateHeaderName(name)
Added in: v14.3.0
Performs the low-level validations on the provided name
that are done when
res.setHeader(name, value)
is called.
Passing illegal value as name
will result in a TypeError
being thrown,
identified by code: 'ERR_INVALID_HTTP_TOKEN'
.
It is not necessary to use this method before passing headers to an HTTP request
or response. The HTTP module will automatically validate such headers.
Examples:
Example:
const { validateHeaderName } = require('node:http');
try {
validateHeaderName('');
} catch (err) {
err instanceof TypeError;
err.code;
err.message;
}
http.validateHeaderValue(name, value)
Added in: v14.3.0
Performs the low-level validations on the provided value
that are done when
res.setHeader(name, value)
is called.
Passing illegal value as value
will result in a TypeError
being thrown.
- Undefined value error is identified by
code: 'ERR_HTTP_INVALID_HEADER_VALUE'
.
- Invalid value character error is identified by
code: 'ERR_INVALID_CHAR'
.
It is not necessary to use this method before passing headers to an HTTP request
or response. The HTTP module will automatically validate such headers.
Examples:
const { validateHeaderValue } = require('node:http');
try {
validateHeaderValue('x-my-header', undefined);
} catch (err) {
err instanceof TypeError;
err.code === 'ERR_HTTP_INVALID_HEADER_VALUE';
err.message;
}
try {
validateHeaderValue('x-my-header', 'oʊmɪɡə');
} catch (err) {
err instanceof TypeError;
err.code === 'ERR_INVALID_CHAR';
err.message;
}
http.setMaxIdleHTTPParsers
#
Added in: v16.18.0
Set the maximum number of idle HTTP parsers. Default: 1000
.
HTTP/2#
Source Code: lib/http2.js
The node:http2
module provides an implementation of the HTTP/2 protocol.
It can be accessed using:
const http2 = require('node:http2');
Determining if crypto support is unavailable#
It is possible for Node.js to be built without including support for the
node:crypto
module. In such cases, attempting to import
from node:http2
or
calling require('node:http2')
will result in an error being thrown.
When using CommonJS, the error thrown can be caught using try/catch:
let http2;
try {
http2 = require('node:http2');
} catch (err) {
console.log('http2 support is disabled!');
}
When using the lexical ESM import
keyword, the error can only be
caught if a handler for process.on('uncaughtException')
is registered
before any attempt to load the module is made (using, for instance,
a preload module).
When using ESM, if there is a chance that the code may be run on a build
of Node.js where crypto support is not enabled, consider using the
import()
function instead of the lexical import
keyword:
let http2;
try {
http2 = await import('node:http2');
} catch (err) {
console.log('http2 support is disabled!');
}
Core API#
The Core API provides a low-level interface designed specifically around
support for HTTP/2 protocol features. It is specifically not designed for
compatibility with the existing HTTP/1 module API. However,
the Compatibility API is.
The http2
Core API is much more symmetric between client and server than the
http
API. For instance, most events, like 'error'
, 'connect'
and
'stream'
, can be emitted either by client-side code or server-side code.
Server-side example#
The following illustrates a simple HTTP/2 server using the Core API.
Since there are no browsers known that support
unencrypted HTTP/2, the use of
http2.createSecureServer()
is necessary when communicating
with browser clients.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const server = http2.createSecureServer({
key: fs.readFileSync('localhost-privkey.pem'),
cert: fs.readFileSync('localhost-cert.pem')
});
server.on('error', (err) => console.error(err));
server.on('stream', (stream, headers) => {
stream.respond({
'content-type': 'text/html; charset=utf-8',
':status': 200
});
stream.end('<h1>Hello World</h1>');
});
server.listen(8443);
To generate the certificate and key for this example, run:
openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -sha256 -subj '/CN=localhost' \
-keyout localhost-privkey.pem -out localhost-cert.pem
Client-side example#
The following illustrates an HTTP/2 client:
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const client = http2.connect('https://localhost:8443', {
ca: fs.readFileSync('localhost-cert.pem')
});
client.on('error', (err) => console.error(err));
const req = client.request({ ':path': '/' });
req.on('response', (headers, flags) => {
for (const name in headers) {
console.log(`${name}: ${headers[name]}`);
}
});
req.setEncoding('utf8');
let data = '';
req.on('data', (chunk) => { data += chunk; });
req.on('end', () => {
console.log(`\n${data}`);
client.close();
});
req.end();
Class: Http2Session
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Instances of the http2.Http2Session
class represent an active communications
session between an HTTP/2 client and server. Instances of this class are not
intended to be constructed directly by user code.
Each Http2Session
instance will exhibit slightly different behaviors
depending on whether it is operating as a server or a client. The
http2session.type
property can be used to determine the mode in which an
Http2Session
is operating. On the server side, user code should rarely
have occasion to work with the Http2Session
object directly, with most
actions typically taken through interactions with either the Http2Server
or
Http2Stream
objects.
User code will not create Http2Session
instances directly. Server-side
Http2Session
instances are created by the Http2Server
instance when a
new HTTP/2 connection is received. Client-side Http2Session
instances are
created using the http2.connect()
method.
Http2Session
and sockets#
Every Http2Session
instance is associated with exactly one net.Socket
or
tls.TLSSocket
when it is created. When either the Socket
or the
Http2Session
are destroyed, both will be destroyed.
Because of the specific serialization and processing requirements imposed
by the HTTP/2 protocol, it is not recommended for user code to read data from
or write data to a Socket
instance bound to a Http2Session
. Doing so can
put the HTTP/2 session into an indeterminate state causing the session and
the socket to become unusable.
Once a Socket
has been bound to an Http2Session
, user code should rely
solely on the API of the Http2Session
.
Event: 'close'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'close'
event is emitted once the Http2Session
has been destroyed. Its
listener does not expect any arguments.
Event: 'connect'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'connect'
event is emitted once the Http2Session
has been successfully
connected to the remote peer and communication may begin.
User code will typically not listen for this event directly.
Event: 'error'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'error'
event is emitted when an error occurs during the processing of
an Http2Session
.
Event: 'frameError'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
type
<integer> The frame type.
code
<integer> The error code.
id
<integer> The stream id (or 0
if the frame isn't associated with a
stream).
The 'frameError'
event is emitted when an error occurs while attempting to
send a frame on the session. If the frame that could not be sent is associated
with a specific Http2Stream
, an attempt to emit a 'frameError'
event on the
Http2Stream
is made.
If the 'frameError'
event is associated with a stream, the stream will be
closed and destroyed immediately following the 'frameError'
event. If the
event is not associated with a stream, the Http2Session
will be shut down
immediately following the 'frameError'
event.
Event: 'goaway'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
errorCode
<number> The HTTP/2 error code specified in the GOAWAY
frame.
lastStreamID
<number> The ID of the last stream the remote peer successfully
processed (or 0
if no ID is specified).
opaqueData
<Buffer> If additional opaque data was included in the GOAWAY
frame, a Buffer
instance will be passed containing that data.
The 'goaway'
event is emitted when a GOAWAY
frame is received.
The Http2Session
instance will be shut down automatically when the 'goaway'
event is emitted.
Event: 'localSettings'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'localSettings'
event is emitted when an acknowledgment SETTINGS
frame
has been received.
When using http2session.settings()
to submit new settings, the modified
settings do not take effect until the 'localSettings'
event is emitted.
session.settings({ enablePush: false });
session.on('localSettings', (settings) => {
});
Event: 'ping'
#
Added in: v10.12.0
payload
<Buffer> The PING
frame 8-byte payload
The 'ping'
event is emitted whenever a PING
frame is received from the
connected peer.
Event: 'remoteSettings'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'remoteSettings'
event is emitted when a new SETTINGS
frame is received
from the connected peer.
session.on('remoteSettings', (settings) => {
});
Event: 'stream'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'stream'
event is emitted when a new Http2Stream
is created.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
session.on('stream', (stream, headers, flags) => {
const method = headers[':method'];
const path = headers[':path'];
stream.respond({
':status': 200,
'content-type': 'text/plain; charset=utf-8'
});
stream.write('hello ');
stream.end('world');
});
On the server side, user code will typically not listen for this event directly,
and would instead register a handler for the 'stream'
event emitted by the
net.Server
or tls.Server
instances returned by http2.createServer()
and
http2.createSecureServer()
, respectively, as in the example below:
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const server = http2.createServer();
server.on('stream', (stream, headers) => {
stream.respond({
'content-type': 'text/html; charset=utf-8',
':status': 200
});
stream.on('error', (error) => console.error(error));
stream.end('<h1>Hello World</h1>');
});
server.listen(80);
Even though HTTP/2 streams and network sockets are not in a 1:1 correspondence,
a network error will destroy each individual stream and must be handled on the
stream level, as shown above.
Event: 'timeout'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
After the http2session.setTimeout()
method is used to set the timeout period
for this Http2Session
, the 'timeout'
event is emitted if there is no
activity on the Http2Session
after the configured number of milliseconds.
Its listener does not expect any arguments.
session.setTimeout(2000);
session.on('timeout', () => { });
http2session.alpnProtocol
#
Added in: v9.4.0
Value will be undefined
if the Http2Session
is not yet connected to a
socket, h2c
if the Http2Session
is not connected to a TLSSocket
, or
will return the value of the connected TLSSocket
's own alpnProtocol
property.
http2session.close([callback])
#
Added in: v9.4.0
Gracefully closes the Http2Session
, allowing any existing streams to
complete on their own and preventing new Http2Stream
instances from being
created. Once closed, http2session.destroy()
might be called if there
are no open Http2Stream
instances.
If specified, the callback
function is registered as a handler for the
'close'
event.
http2session.closed
#
Added in: v9.4.0
Will be true
if this Http2Session
instance has been closed, otherwise
false
.
http2session.connecting
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Will be true
if this Http2Session
instance is still connecting, will be set
to false
before emitting connect
event and/or calling the http2.connect
callback.
http2session.destroy([error][, code])
#
Added in: v8.4.0
error
<Error> An Error
object if the Http2Session
is being destroyed
due to an error.
code
<number> The HTTP/2 error code to send in the final GOAWAY
frame.
If unspecified, and error
is not undefined, the default is INTERNAL_ERROR
,
otherwise defaults to NO_ERROR
.
Immediately terminates the Http2Session
and the associated net.Socket
or
tls.TLSSocket
.
Once destroyed, the Http2Session
will emit the 'close'
event. If error
is not undefined, an 'error'
event will be emitted immediately before the
'close'
event.
If there are any remaining open Http2Streams
associated with the
Http2Session
, those will also be destroyed.
http2session.destroyed
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Will be true
if this Http2Session
instance has been destroyed and must no
longer be used, otherwise false
.
http2session.encrypted
#
Added in: v9.4.0
Value is undefined
if the Http2Session
session socket has not yet been
connected, true
if the Http2Session
is connected with a TLSSocket
,
and false
if the Http2Session
is connected to any other kind of socket
or stream.
http2session.goaway([code[, lastStreamID[, opaqueData]]])
#
Added in: v9.4.0
code
<number> An HTTP/2 error code
lastStreamID
<number> The numeric ID of the last processed Http2Stream
opaqueData
<Buffer> | <TypedArray> | <DataView> A TypedArray
or DataView
instance containing additional data to be carried within the GOAWAY
frame.
Transmits a GOAWAY
frame to the connected peer without shutting down the
Http2Session
.
http2session.localSettings
#
Added in: v8.4.0
A prototype-less object describing the current local settings of this
Http2Session
. The local settings are local to this Http2Session
instance.
http2session.originSet
#
Added in: v9.4.0
If the Http2Session
is connected to a TLSSocket
, the originSet
property
will return an Array
of origins for which the Http2Session
may be
considered authoritative.
The originSet
property is only available when using a secure TLS connection.
http2session.pendingSettingsAck
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Indicates whether the Http2Session
is currently waiting for acknowledgment of
a sent SETTINGS
frame. Will be true
after calling the
http2session.settings()
method. Will be false
once all sent SETTINGS
frames have been acknowledged.
http2session.ping([payload, ]callback)
#
Added in: v8.9.3
Sends a PING
frame to the connected HTTP/2 peer. A callback
function must
be provided. The method will return true
if the PING
was sent, false
otherwise.
The maximum number of outstanding (unacknowledged) pings is determined by the
maxOutstandingPings
configuration option. The default maximum is 10.
If provided, the payload
must be a Buffer
, TypedArray
, or DataView
containing 8 bytes of data that will be transmitted with the PING
and
returned with the ping acknowledgment.
The callback will be invoked with three arguments: an error argument that will
be null
if the PING
was successfully acknowledged, a duration
argument
that reports the number of milliseconds elapsed since the ping was sent and the
acknowledgment was received, and a Buffer
containing the 8-byte PING
payload.
session.ping(Buffer.from('abcdefgh'), (err, duration, payload) => {
if (!err) {
console.log(`Ping acknowledged in ${duration} milliseconds`);
console.log(`With payload '${payload.toString()}'`);
}
});
If the payload
argument is not specified, the default payload will be the
64-bit timestamp (little endian) marking the start of the PING
duration.
http2session.ref()
#
Added in: v9.4.0
Calls ref()
on this Http2Session
instance's underlying net.Socket
.
http2session.remoteSettings
#
Added in: v8.4.0
A prototype-less object describing the current remote settings of this
Http2Session
. The remote settings are set by the connected HTTP/2 peer.
http2session.setLocalWindowSize(windowSize)
#
Added in: v15.3.0
Sets the local endpoint's window size.
The windowSize
is the total window size to set, not
the delta.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const server = http2.createServer();
const expectedWindowSize = 2 ** 20;
server.on('connect', (session) => {
session.setLocalWindowSize(expectedWindowSize);
});
http2session.setTimeout(msecs, callback)
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Used to set a callback function that is called when there is no activity on
the Http2Session
after msecs
milliseconds. The given callback
is
registered as a listener on the 'timeout'
event.
http2session.socket
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Returns a Proxy
object that acts as a net.Socket
(or tls.TLSSocket
) but
limits available methods to ones safe to use with HTTP/2.
destroy
, emit
, end
, pause
, read
, resume
, and write
will throw
an error with code ERR_HTTP2_NO_SOCKET_MANIPULATION
. See
Http2Session
and Sockets for more information.
setTimeout
method will be called on this Http2Session
.
All other interactions will be routed directly to the socket.
http2session.state
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Provides miscellaneous information about the current state of the
Http2Session
.
- <Object>
effectiveLocalWindowSize
<number> The current local (receive)
flow control window size for the Http2Session
.
effectiveRecvDataLength
<number> The current number of bytes
that have been received since the last flow control WINDOW_UPDATE
.
nextStreamID
<number> The numeric identifier to be used the
next time a new Http2Stream
is created by this Http2Session
.
localWindowSize
<number> The number of bytes that the remote peer can
send without receiving a WINDOW_UPDATE
.
lastProcStreamID
<number> The numeric id of the Http2Stream
for which a HEADERS
or DATA
frame was most recently received.
remoteWindowSize
<number> The number of bytes that this Http2Session
may send without receiving a WINDOW_UPDATE
.
outboundQueueSize
<number> The number of frames currently within the
outbound queue for this Http2Session
.
deflateDynamicTableSize
<number> The current size in bytes of the
outbound header compression state table.
inflateDynamicTableSize
<number> The current size in bytes of the
inbound header compression state table.
An object describing the current status of this Http2Session
.
http2session.settings([settings][, callback])
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Updates the current local settings for this Http2Session
and sends a new
SETTINGS
frame to the connected HTTP/2 peer.
Once called, the http2session.pendingSettingsAck
property will be true
while the session is waiting for the remote peer to acknowledge the new
settings.
The new settings will not become effective until the SETTINGS
acknowledgment
is received and the 'localSettings'
event is emitted. It is possible to send
multiple SETTINGS
frames while acknowledgment is still pending.
http2session.type
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The http2session.type
will be equal to
http2.constants.NGHTTP2_SESSION_SERVER
if this Http2Session
instance is a
server, and http2.constants.NGHTTP2_SESSION_CLIENT
if the instance is a
client.
http2session.unref()
#
Added in: v9.4.0
Calls unref()
on this Http2Session
instance's underlying net.Socket
.
Class: ServerHttp2Session
#
Added in: v8.4.0
serverhttp2session.altsvc(alt, originOrStream)
#
Added in: v9.4.0
alt
<string> A description of the alternative service configuration as
defined by RFC 7838.
originOrStream
<number> | <string> | <URL> | <Object> Either a URL string specifying
the origin (or an Object
with an origin
property) or the numeric
identifier of an active Http2Stream
as given by the http2stream.id
property.
Submits an ALTSVC
frame (as defined by RFC 7838) to the connected client.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const server = http2.createServer();
server.on('session', (session) => {
session.altsvc('h2=":8000"', 'https://example.org:80');
});
server.on('stream', (stream) => {
stream.session.altsvc('h2=":8000"', stream.id);
});
Sending an ALTSVC
frame with a specific stream ID indicates that the alternate
service is associated with the origin of the given Http2Stream
.
The alt
and origin string must contain only ASCII bytes and are
strictly interpreted as a sequence of ASCII bytes. The special value 'clear'
may be passed to clear any previously set alternative service for a given
domain.
When a string is passed for the originOrStream
argument, it will be parsed as
a URL and the origin will be derived. For instance, the origin for the
HTTP URL 'https://example.org/foo/bar'
is the ASCII string
'https://example.org'
. An error will be thrown if either the given string
cannot be parsed as a URL or if a valid origin cannot be derived.
A URL
object, or any object with an origin
property, may be passed as
originOrStream
, in which case the value of the origin
property will be
used. The value of the origin
property must be a properly serialized
ASCII origin.
Specifying alternative services#
The format of the alt
parameter is strictly defined by RFC 7838 as an
ASCII string containing a comma-delimited list of "alternative" protocols
associated with a specific host and port.
For example, the value 'h2="example.org:81"'
indicates that the HTTP/2
protocol is available on the host 'example.org'
on TCP/IP port 81. The
host and port must be contained within the quote ("
) characters.
Multiple alternatives may be specified, for instance: 'h2="example.org:81", h2=":82"'
.
The protocol identifier ('h2'
in the examples) may be any valid
ALPN Protocol ID.
The syntax of these values is not validated by the Node.js implementation and
are passed through as provided by the user or received from the peer.
serverhttp2session.origin(...origins)
#
Added in: v10.12.0
Submits an ORIGIN
frame (as defined by RFC 8336) to the connected client
to advertise the set of origins for which the server is capable of providing
authoritative responses.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const options = getSecureOptionsSomehow();
const server = http2.createSecureServer(options);
server.on('stream', (stream) => {
stream.respond();
stream.end('ok');
});
server.on('session', (session) => {
session.origin('https://example.com', 'https://example.org');
});
When a string is passed as an origin
, it will be parsed as a URL and the
origin will be derived. For instance, the origin for the HTTP URL
'https://example.org/foo/bar'
is the ASCII string
'https://example.org'
. An error will be thrown if either the given string
cannot be parsed as a URL or if a valid origin cannot be derived.
A URL
object, or any object with an origin
property, may be passed as
an origin
, in which case the value of the origin
property will be
used. The value of the origin
property must be a properly serialized
ASCII origin.
Alternatively, the origins
option may be used when creating a new HTTP/2
server using the http2.createSecureServer()
method:
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const options = getSecureOptionsSomehow();
options.origins = ['https://example.com', 'https://example.org'];
const server = http2.createSecureServer(options);
server.on('stream', (stream) => {
stream.respond();
stream.end('ok');
});
Class: ClientHttp2Session
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Event: 'altsvc'
#
Added in: v9.4.0
The 'altsvc'
event is emitted whenever an ALTSVC
frame is received by
the client. The event is emitted with the ALTSVC
value, origin, and stream
ID. If no origin
is provided in the ALTSVC
frame, origin
will
be an empty string.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const client = http2.connect('https://example.org');
client.on('altsvc', (alt, origin, streamId) => {
console.log(alt);
console.log(origin);
console.log(streamId);
});
Event: 'origin'
#
Added in: v10.12.0
The 'origin'
event is emitted whenever an ORIGIN
frame is received by
the client. The event is emitted with an array of origin
strings. The
http2session.originSet
will be updated to include the received
origins.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const client = http2.connect('https://example.org');
client.on('origin', (origins) => {
for (let n = 0; n < origins.length; n++)
console.log(origins[n]);
});
The 'origin'
event is only emitted when using a secure TLS connection.
clienthttp2session.request(headers[, options])
Added in: v8.4.0
For HTTP/2 Client Http2Session
instances only, the http2session.request()
creates and returns an Http2Stream
instance that can be used to send an
HTTP/2 request to the connected server.
When a ClientHttp2Session
is first created, the socket may not yet be
connected. if clienthttp2session.request()
is called during this time, the
actual request will be deferred until the socket is ready to go.
If the session
is closed before the actual request be executed, an
ERR_HTTP2_GOAWAY_SESSION
is thrown.
This method is only available if http2session.type
is equal to
http2.constants.NGHTTP2_SESSION_CLIENT
.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const clientSession = http2.connect('https://localhost:1234');
const {
HTTP2_HEADER_PATH,
HTTP2_HEADER_STATUS
} = http2.constants;
const req = clientSession.request({ [HTTP2_HEADER_PATH]: '/' });
req.on('response', (headers) => {
console.log(headers[HTTP2_HEADER_STATUS]);
req.on('data', (chunk) => { });
req.on('end', () => { });
});
When the options.waitForTrailers
option is set, the 'wantTrailers'
event
is emitted immediately after queuing the last chunk of payload data to be sent.
The http2stream.sendTrailers()
method can then be called to send trailing
headers to the peer.
When options.waitForTrailers
is set, the Http2Stream
will not automatically
close when the final DATA
frame is transmitted. User code must call either
http2stream.sendTrailers()
or http2stream.close()
to close the
Http2Stream
.
When options.signal
is set with an AbortSignal
and then abort
on the
corresponding AbortController
is called, the request will emit an 'error'
event with an AbortError
error.
The :method
and :path
pseudo-headers are not specified within headers
,
they respectively default to:
:method
= 'GET'
:path
= /
Class: Http2Stream
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Each instance of the Http2Stream
class represents a bidirectional HTTP/2
communications stream over an Http2Session
instance. Any single Http2Session
may have up to 231-1 Http2Stream
instances over its lifetime.
User code will not construct Http2Stream
instances directly. Rather, these
are created, managed, and provided to user code through the Http2Session
instance. On the server, Http2Stream
instances are created either in response
to an incoming HTTP request (and handed off to user code via the 'stream'
event), or in response to a call to the http2stream.pushStream()
method.
On the client, Http2Stream
instances are created and returned when either the
http2session.request()
method is called, or in response to an incoming
'push'
event.
The Http2Stream
class is a base for the ServerHttp2Stream
and
ClientHttp2Stream
classes, each of which is used specifically by either
the Server or Client side, respectively.
All Http2Stream
instances are Duplex
streams. The Writable
side of the
Duplex
is used to send data to the connected peer, while the Readable
side
is used to receive data sent by the connected peer.
The default text character encoding for an Http2Stream
is UTF-8. When using an
Http2Stream
to send text, use the 'content-type'
header to set the character
encoding.
stream.respond({
'content-type': 'text/html; charset=utf-8',
':status': 200
});
Http2Stream
Lifecycle#
Creation#
On the server side, instances of ServerHttp2Stream
are created either
when:
- A new HTTP/2
HEADERS
frame with a previously unused stream ID is received;
- The
http2stream.pushStream()
method is called.
On the client side, instances of ClientHttp2Stream
are created when the
http2session.request()
method is called.
On the client, the Http2Stream
instance returned by http2session.request()
may not be immediately ready for use if the parent Http2Session
has not yet
been fully established. In such cases, operations called on the Http2Stream
will be buffered until the 'ready'
event is emitted. User code should rarely,
if ever, need to handle the 'ready'
event directly. The ready status of an
Http2Stream
can be determined by checking the value of http2stream.id
. If
the value is undefined
, the stream is not yet ready for use.
Destruction#
All Http2Stream
instances are destroyed either when:
- An
RST_STREAM
frame for the stream is received by the connected peer,
and (for client streams only) pending data has been read.
- The
http2stream.close()
method is called, and (for client streams only)
pending data has been read.
- The
http2stream.destroy()
or http2session.destroy()
methods are called.
When an Http2Stream
instance is destroyed, an attempt will be made to send an
RST_STREAM
frame to the connected peer.
When the Http2Stream
instance is destroyed, the 'close'
event will
be emitted. Because Http2Stream
is an instance of stream.Duplex
, the
'end'
event will also be emitted if the stream data is currently flowing.
The 'error'
event may also be emitted if http2stream.destroy()
was called
with an Error
passed as the first argument.
After the Http2Stream
has been destroyed, the http2stream.destroyed
property will be true
and the http2stream.rstCode
property will specify the
RST_STREAM
error code. The Http2Stream
instance is no longer usable once
destroyed.
Event: 'aborted'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'aborted'
event is emitted whenever a Http2Stream
instance is
abnormally aborted in mid-communication.
Its listener does not expect any arguments.
The 'aborted'
event will only be emitted if the Http2Stream
writable side
has not been ended.
Event: 'close'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'close'
event is emitted when the Http2Stream
is destroyed. Once
this event is emitted, the Http2Stream
instance is no longer usable.
The HTTP/2 error code used when closing the stream can be retrieved using
the http2stream.rstCode
property. If the code is any value other than
NGHTTP2_NO_ERROR
(0
), an 'error'
event will have also been emitted.
Event: 'error'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'error'
event is emitted when an error occurs during the processing of
an Http2Stream
.
Event: 'frameError'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
type
<integer> The frame type.
code
<integer> The error code.
id
<integer> The stream id (or 0
if the frame isn't associated with a
stream).
The 'frameError'
event is emitted when an error occurs while attempting to
send a frame. When invoked, the handler function will receive an integer
argument identifying the frame type, and an integer argument identifying the
error code. The Http2Stream
instance will be destroyed immediately after the
'frameError'
event is emitted.
Event: 'ready'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'ready'
event is emitted when the Http2Stream
has been opened, has
been assigned an id
, and can be used. The listener does not expect any
arguments.
Event: 'timeout'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'timeout'
event is emitted after no activity is received for this
Http2Stream
within the number of milliseconds set using
http2stream.setTimeout()
.
Its listener does not expect any arguments.
Event: 'trailers'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'trailers'
event is emitted when a block of headers associated with
trailing header fields is received. The listener callback is passed the
HTTP/2 Headers Object and flags associated with the headers.
This event might not be emitted if http2stream.end()
is called
before trailers are received and the incoming data is not being read or
listened for.
stream.on('trailers', (headers, flags) => {
console.log(headers);
});
Event: 'wantTrailers'
#
Added in: v10.0.0
The 'wantTrailers'
event is emitted when the Http2Stream
has queued the
final DATA
frame to be sent on a frame and the Http2Stream
is ready to send
trailing headers. When initiating a request or response, the waitForTrailers
option must be set for this event to be emitted.
http2stream.aborted
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Set to true
if the Http2Stream
instance was aborted abnormally. When set,
the 'aborted'
event will have been emitted.
http2stream.bufferSize
#
Added in: v11.2.0, v10.16.0
This property shows the number of characters currently buffered to be written.
See net.Socket.bufferSize
for details.
http2stream.close(code[, callback])
#
Added in: v8.4.0
code
<number> Unsigned 32-bit integer identifying the error code.
Default: http2.constants.NGHTTP2_NO_ERROR
(0x00
).
callback
<Function> An optional function registered to listen for the
'close'
event.
Closes the Http2Stream
instance by sending an RST_STREAM
frame to the
connected HTTP/2 peer.
http2stream.closed
#
Added in: v9.4.0
Set to true
if the Http2Stream
instance has been closed.
http2stream.destroyed
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Set to true
if the Http2Stream
instance has been destroyed and is no longer
usable.
http2stream.endAfterHeaders
Added in: v10.11.0
Set to true
if the END_STREAM
flag was set in the request or response
HEADERS frame received, indicating that no additional data should be received
and the readable side of the Http2Stream
will be closed.
http2stream.id
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The numeric stream identifier of this Http2Stream
instance. Set to undefined
if the stream identifier has not yet been assigned.
http2stream.pending
#
Added in: v9.4.0
Set to true
if the Http2Stream
instance has not yet been assigned a
numeric stream identifier.
http2stream.priority(options)
#
Added in: v8.4.0
options
<Object>
exclusive
<boolean> When true
and parent
identifies a parent Stream,
this stream is made the sole direct dependency of the parent, with
all other existing dependents made a dependent of this stream. Default:
false
.
parent
<number> Specifies the numeric identifier of a stream this stream
is dependent on.
weight
<number> Specifies the relative dependency of a stream in relation
to other streams with the same parent
. The value is a number between 1
and 256
(inclusive).
silent
<boolean> When true
, changes the priority locally without
sending a PRIORITY
frame to the connected peer.
Updates the priority for this Http2Stream
instance.
http2stream.rstCode
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Set to the RST_STREAM
error code reported when the Http2Stream
is
destroyed after either receiving an RST_STREAM
frame from the connected peer,
calling http2stream.close()
, or http2stream.destroy()
. Will be
undefined
if the Http2Stream
has not been closed.
http2stream.sentHeaders
Added in: v9.5.0
An object containing the outbound headers sent for this Http2Stream
.
http2stream.sentInfoHeaders
Added in: v9.5.0
An array of objects containing the outbound informational (additional) headers
sent for this Http2Stream
.
http2stream.sentTrailers
#
Added in: v9.5.0
An object containing the outbound trailers sent for this HttpStream
.
http2stream.session
#
Added in: v8.4.0
A reference to the Http2Session
instance that owns this Http2Stream
. The
value will be undefined
after the Http2Stream
instance is destroyed.
http2stream.setTimeout(msecs, callback)
#
Added in: v8.4.0
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const client = http2.connect('http://example.org:8000');
const { NGHTTP2_CANCEL } = http2.constants;
const req = client.request({ ':path': '/' });
req.setTimeout(5000, () => req.close(NGHTTP2_CANCEL));
http2stream.state
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Provides miscellaneous information about the current state of the
Http2Stream
.
- <Object>
localWindowSize
<number> The number of bytes the connected peer may send
for this Http2Stream
without receiving a WINDOW_UPDATE
.
state
<number> A flag indicating the low-level current state of the
Http2Stream
as determined by nghttp2
.
localClose
<number> 1
if this Http2Stream
has been closed locally.
remoteClose
<number> 1
if this Http2Stream
has been closed
remotely.
sumDependencyWeight
<number> The sum weight of all Http2Stream
instances that depend on this Http2Stream
as specified using
PRIORITY
frames.
weight
<number> The priority weight of this Http2Stream
.
A current state of this Http2Stream
.
http2stream.sendTrailers(headers)
Added in: v10.0.0
Sends a trailing HEADERS
frame to the connected HTTP/2 peer. This method
will cause the Http2Stream
to be immediately closed and must only be
called after the 'wantTrailers'
event has been emitted. When sending a
request or sending a response, the options.waitForTrailers
option must be set
in order to keep the Http2Stream
open after the final DATA
frame so that
trailers can be sent.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const server = http2.createServer();
server.on('stream', (stream) => {
stream.respond(undefined, { waitForTrailers: true });
stream.on('wantTrailers', () => {
stream.sendTrailers({ xyz: 'abc' });
});
stream.end('Hello World');
});
The HTTP/1 specification forbids trailers from containing HTTP/2 pseudo-header
fields (e.g. ':method'
, ':path'
, etc).
Class: ClientHttp2Stream
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The ClientHttp2Stream
class is an extension of Http2Stream
that is
used exclusively on HTTP/2 Clients. Http2Stream
instances on the client
provide events such as 'response'
and 'push'
that are only relevant on
the client.
Event: 'continue'
#
Added in: v8.5.0
Emitted when the server sends a 100 Continue
status, usually because
the request contained Expect: 100-continue
. This is an instruction that
the client should send the request body.
Event: 'headers'
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'headers'
event is emitted when an additional block of headers is received
for a stream, such as when a block of 1xx
informational headers is received.
The listener callback is passed the HTTP/2 Headers Object and flags
associated with the headers.
stream.on('headers', (headers, flags) => {
console.log(headers);
});
Event: 'push'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'push'
event is emitted when response headers for a Server Push stream
are received. The listener callback is passed the HTTP/2 Headers Object and
flags associated with the headers.
stream.on('push', (headers, flags) => {
console.log(headers);
});
Event: 'response'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'response'
event is emitted when a response HEADERS
frame has been
received for this stream from the connected HTTP/2 server. The listener is
invoked with two arguments: an Object
containing the received
HTTP/2 Headers Object, and flags associated with the headers.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const client = http2.connect('https://localhost');
const req = client.request({ ':path': '/' });
req.on('response', (headers, flags) => {
console.log(headers[':status']);
});
Class: ServerHttp2Stream
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The ServerHttp2Stream
class is an extension of Http2Stream
that is
used exclusively on HTTP/2 Servers. Http2Stream
instances on the server
provide additional methods such as http2stream.pushStream()
and
http2stream.respond()
that are only relevant on the server.
http2stream.additionalHeaders(headers)
Added in: v8.4.0
Sends an additional informational HEADERS
frame to the connected HTTP/2 peer.
http2stream.headersSent
Added in: v8.4.0
True if headers were sent, false otherwise (read-only).
http2stream.pushAllowed
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Read-only property mapped to the SETTINGS_ENABLE_PUSH
flag of the remote
client's most recent SETTINGS
frame. Will be true
if the remote peer
accepts push streams, false
otherwise. Settings are the same for every
Http2Stream
in the same Http2Session
.
http2stream.pushStream(headers[, options], callback)
Added in: v8.4.0
headers
<HTTP/2 Headers Object>
options
<Object>
exclusive
<boolean> When true
and parent
identifies a parent Stream,
the created stream is made the sole direct dependency of the parent, with
all other existing dependents made a dependent of the newly created stream.
Default: false
.
parent
<number> Specifies the numeric identifier of a stream the newly
created stream is dependent on.
callback
<Function> Callback that is called once the push stream has been
initiated.
Initiates a push stream. The callback is invoked with the new Http2Stream
instance created for the push stream passed as the second argument, or an
Error
passed as the first argument.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const server = http2.createServer();
server.on('stream', (stream) => {
stream.respond({ ':status': 200 });
stream.pushStream({ ':path': '/' }, (err, pushStream, headers) => {
if (err) throw err;
pushStream.respond({ ':status': 200 });
pushStream.end('some pushed data');
});
stream.end('some data');
});
Setting the weight of a push stream is not allowed in the HEADERS
frame. Pass
a weight
value to http2stream.priority
with the silent
option set to
true
to enable server-side bandwidth balancing between concurrent streams.
Calling http2stream.pushStream()
from within a pushed stream is not permitted
and will throw an error.
http2stream.respond([headers[, options]])
headers
<HTTP/2 Headers Object>
options
<Object>
endStream
<boolean> Set to true
to indicate that the response will not
include payload data.
waitForTrailers
<boolean> When true
, the Http2Stream
will emit the
'wantTrailers'
event after the final DATA
frame has been sent.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const server = http2.createServer();
server.on('stream', (stream) => {
stream.respond({ ':status': 200 });
stream.end('some data');
});
Initiates a response. When the options.waitForTrailers
option is set, the
'wantTrailers'
event will be emitted immediately after queuing the last chunk
of payload data to be sent. The http2stream.sendTrailers()
method can then be
used to sent trailing header fields to the peer.
When options.waitForTrailers
is set, the Http2Stream
will not automatically
close when the final DATA
frame is transmitted. User code must call either
http2stream.sendTrailers()
or http2stream.close()
to close the
Http2Stream
.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const server = http2.createServer();
server.on('stream', (stream) => {
stream.respond({ ':status': 200 }, { waitForTrailers: true });
stream.on('wantTrailers', () => {
stream.sendTrailers({ ABC: 'some value to send' });
});
stream.end('some data');
});
http2stream.respondWithFD(fd[, headers[, options]])
Initiates a response whose data is read from the given file descriptor. No
validation is performed on the given file descriptor. If an error occurs while
attempting to read data using the file descriptor, the Http2Stream
will be
closed using an RST_STREAM
frame using the standard INTERNAL_ERROR
code.
When used, the Http2Stream
object's Duplex
interface will be closed
automatically.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const server = http2.createServer();
server.on('stream', (stream) => {
const fd = fs.openSync('/some/file', 'r');
const stat = fs.fstatSync(fd);
const headers = {
'content-length': stat.size,
'last-modified': stat.mtime.toUTCString(),
'content-type': 'text/plain; charset=utf-8'
};
stream.respondWithFD(fd, headers);
stream.on('close', () => fs.closeSync(fd));
});
The optional options.statCheck
function may be specified to give user code
an opportunity to set additional content headers based on the fs.Stat
details
of the given fd. If the statCheck
function is provided, the
http2stream.respondWithFD()
method will perform an fs.fstat()
call to
collect details on the provided file descriptor.
The offset
and length
options may be used to limit the response to a
specific range subset. This can be used, for instance, to support HTTP Range
requests.
The file descriptor or FileHandle
is not closed when the stream is closed,
so it will need to be closed manually once it is no longer needed.
Using the same file descriptor concurrently for multiple streams
is not supported and may result in data loss. Re-using a file descriptor
after a stream has finished is supported.
When the options.waitForTrailers
option is set, the 'wantTrailers'
event
will be emitted immediately after queuing the last chunk of payload data to be
sent. The http2stream.sendTrailers()
method can then be used to sent trailing
header fields to the peer.
When options.waitForTrailers
is set, the Http2Stream
will not automatically
close when the final DATA
frame is transmitted. User code must call either
http2stream.sendTrailers()
or http2stream.close()
to close the
Http2Stream
.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const server = http2.createServer();
server.on('stream', (stream) => {
const fd = fs.openSync('/some/file', 'r');
const stat = fs.fstatSync(fd);
const headers = {
'content-length': stat.size,
'last-modified': stat.mtime.toUTCString(),
'content-type': 'text/plain; charset=utf-8'
};
stream.respondWithFD(fd, headers, { waitForTrailers: true });
stream.on('wantTrailers', () => {
stream.sendTrailers({ ABC: 'some value to send' });
});
stream.on('close', () => fs.closeSync(fd));
});
http2stream.respondWithFile(path[, headers[, options]])
Sends a regular file as the response. The path
must specify a regular file
or an 'error'
event will be emitted on the Http2Stream
object.
When used, the Http2Stream
object's Duplex
interface will be closed
automatically.
The optional options.statCheck
function may be specified to give user code
an opportunity to set additional content headers based on the fs.Stat
details
of the given file:
If an error occurs while attempting to read the file data, the Http2Stream
will be closed using an RST_STREAM
frame using the standard INTERNAL_ERROR
code. If the onError
callback is defined, then it will be called. Otherwise
the stream will be destroyed.
Example using a file path:
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const server = http2.createServer();
server.on('stream', (stream) => {
function statCheck(stat, headers) {
headers['last-modified'] = stat.mtime.toUTCString();
}
function onError(err) {
try {
if (err.code === 'ENOENT') {
stream.respond({ ':status': 404 });
} else {
stream.respond({ ':status': 500 });
}
} catch (err) {
console.log(err);
}
stream.end();
}
stream.respondWithFile('/some/file',
{ 'content-type': 'text/plain; charset=utf-8' },
{ statCheck, onError });
});
The options.statCheck
function may also be used to cancel the send operation
by returning false
. For instance, a conditional request may check the stat
results to determine if the file has been modified to return an appropriate
304
response:
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const server = http2.createServer();
server.on('stream', (stream) => {
function statCheck(stat, headers) {
stream.respond({ ':status': 304 });
return false;
}
stream.respondWithFile('/some/file',
{ 'content-type': 'text/plain; charset=utf-8' },
{ statCheck });
});
The content-length
header field will be automatically set.
The offset
and length
options may be used to limit the response to a
specific range subset. This can be used, for instance, to support HTTP Range
requests.
The options.onError
function may also be used to handle all the errors
that could happen before the delivery of the file is initiated. The
default behavior is to destroy the stream.
When the options.waitForTrailers
option is set, the 'wantTrailers'
event
will be emitted immediately after queuing the last chunk of payload data to be
sent. The http2stream.sendTrailers()
method can then be used to sent trailing
header fields to the peer.
When options.waitForTrailers
is set, the Http2Stream
will not automatically
close when the final DATA
frame is transmitted. User code must call either
http2stream.sendTrailers()
or http2stream.close()
to close the
Http2Stream
.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const server = http2.createServer();
server.on('stream', (stream) => {
stream.respondWithFile('/some/file',
{ 'content-type': 'text/plain; charset=utf-8' },
{ waitForTrailers: true });
stream.on('wantTrailers', () => {
stream.sendTrailers({ ABC: 'some value to send' });
});
});
Class: Http2Server
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Instances of Http2Server
are created using the http2.createServer()
function. The Http2Server
class is not exported directly by the
node:http2
module.
Event: 'checkContinue'
#
Added in: v8.5.0
If a 'request'
listener is registered or http2.createServer()
is
supplied a callback function, the 'checkContinue'
event is emitted each time
a request with an HTTP Expect: 100-continue
is received. If this event is
not listened for, the server will automatically respond with a status
100 Continue
as appropriate.
Handling this event involves calling response.writeContinue()
if the
client should continue to send the request body, or generating an appropriate
HTTP response (e.g. 400 Bad Request) if the client should not continue to send
the request body.
When this event is emitted and handled, the 'request'
event will
not be emitted.
Event: 'connection'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
This event is emitted when a new TCP stream is established. socket
is
typically an object of type net.Socket
. Usually users will not want to
access this event.
This event can also be explicitly emitted by users to inject connections
into the HTTP server. In that case, any Duplex
stream can be passed.
Event: 'request'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Emitted each time there is a request. There may be multiple requests
per session. See the Compatibility API.
Event: 'session'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'session'
event is emitted when a new Http2Session
is created by the
Http2Server
.
Event: 'sessionError'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'sessionError'
event is emitted when an 'error'
event is emitted by
an Http2Session
object associated with the Http2Server
.
Event: 'stream'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'stream'
event is emitted when a 'stream'
event has been emitted by
an Http2Session
associated with the server.
See also Http2Session
's 'stream'
event.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const {
HTTP2_HEADER_METHOD,
HTTP2_HEADER_PATH,
HTTP2_HEADER_STATUS,
HTTP2_HEADER_CONTENT_TYPE
} = http2.constants;
const server = http2.createServer();
server.on('stream', (stream, headers, flags) => {
const method = headers[HTTP2_HEADER_METHOD];
const path = headers[HTTP2_HEADER_PATH];
stream.respond({
[HTTP2_HEADER_STATUS]: 200,
[HTTP2_HEADER_CONTENT_TYPE]: 'text/plain; charset=utf-8'
});
stream.write('hello ');
stream.end('world');
});
Event: 'timeout'
#
The 'timeout'
event is emitted when there is no activity on the Server for
a given number of milliseconds set using http2server.setTimeout()
.
Default: 0 (no timeout)
server.close([callback])
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Stops the server from establishing new sessions. This does not prevent new
request streams from being created due to the persistent nature of HTTP/2
sessions. To gracefully shut down the server, call http2session.close()
on
all active sessions.
If callback
is provided, it is not invoked until all active sessions have been
closed, although the server has already stopped allowing new sessions. See
net.Server.close()
for more details.
server.setTimeout([msecs][, callback])
#
Used to set the timeout value for http2 server requests,
and sets a callback function that is called when there is no activity
on the Http2Server
after msecs
milliseconds.
The given callback is registered as a listener on the 'timeout'
event.
In case if callback
is not a function, a new ERR_INVALID_CALLBACK
error will be thrown.
server.timeout
#
- <number> Timeout in milliseconds. Default: 0 (no timeout)
The number of milliseconds of inactivity before a socket is presumed
to have timed out.
A value of 0
will disable the timeout behavior on incoming connections.
The socket timeout logic is set up on connection, so changing this
value only affects new connections to the server, not any existing connections.
server.updateSettings([settings])
#
Added in: v15.1.0
Used to update the server with the provided settings.
Throws ERR_HTTP2_INVALID_SETTING_VALUE
for invalid settings
values.
Throws ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE
for invalid settings
argument.
Class: Http2SecureServer
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Instances of Http2SecureServer
are created using the
http2.createSecureServer()
function. The Http2SecureServer
class is not
exported directly by the node:http2
module.
Event: 'checkContinue'
#
Added in: v8.5.0
If a 'request'
listener is registered or http2.createSecureServer()
is supplied a callback function, the 'checkContinue'
event is emitted each
time a request with an HTTP Expect: 100-continue
is received. If this event
is not listened for, the server will automatically respond with a status
100 Continue
as appropriate.
Handling this event involves calling response.writeContinue()
if the
client should continue to send the request body, or generating an appropriate
HTTP response (e.g. 400 Bad Request) if the client should not continue to send
the request body.
When this event is emitted and handled, the 'request'
event will
not be emitted.
Event: 'connection'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
This event is emitted when a new TCP stream is established, before the TLS
handshake begins. socket
is typically an object of type net.Socket
.
Usually users will not want to access this event.
This event can also be explicitly emitted by users to inject connections
into the HTTP server. In that case, any Duplex
stream can be passed.
Event: 'request'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Emitted each time there is a request. There may be multiple requests
per session. See the Compatibility API.
Event: 'session'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'session'
event is emitted when a new Http2Session
is created by the
Http2SecureServer
.
Event: 'sessionError'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'sessionError'
event is emitted when an 'error'
event is emitted by
an Http2Session
object associated with the Http2SecureServer
.
Event: 'stream'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'stream'
event is emitted when a 'stream'
event has been emitted by
an Http2Session
associated with the server.
See also Http2Session
's 'stream'
event.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const {
HTTP2_HEADER_METHOD,
HTTP2_HEADER_PATH,
HTTP2_HEADER_STATUS,
HTTP2_HEADER_CONTENT_TYPE
} = http2.constants;
const options = getOptionsSomehow();
const server = http2.createSecureServer(options);
server.on('stream', (stream, headers, flags) => {
const method = headers[HTTP2_HEADER_METHOD];
const path = headers[HTTP2_HEADER_PATH];
stream.respond({
[HTTP2_HEADER_STATUS]: 200,
[HTTP2_HEADER_CONTENT_TYPE]: 'text/plain; charset=utf-8'
});
stream.write('hello ');
stream.end('world');
});
Event: 'timeout'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'timeout'
event is emitted when there is no activity on the Server for
a given number of milliseconds set using http2secureServer.setTimeout()
.
Default: 2 minutes.
Event: 'unknownProtocol'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'unknownProtocol'
event is emitted when a connecting client fails to
negotiate an allowed protocol (i.e. HTTP/2 or HTTP/1.1). The event handler
receives the socket for handling. If no listener is registered for this event,
the connection is terminated. A timeout may be specified using the
'unknownProtocolTimeout'
option passed to http2.createSecureServer()
.
See the Compatibility API.
server.close([callback])
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Stops the server from establishing new sessions. This does not prevent new
request streams from being created due to the persistent nature of HTTP/2
sessions. To gracefully shut down the server, call http2session.close()
on
all active sessions.
If callback
is provided, it is not invoked until all active sessions have been
closed, although the server has already stopped allowing new sessions. See
tls.Server.close()
for more details.
server.setTimeout([msecs][, callback])
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Used to set the timeout value for http2 secure server requests,
and sets a callback function that is called when there is no activity
on the Http2SecureServer
after msecs
milliseconds.
The given callback is registered as a listener on the 'timeout'
event.
In case if callback
is not a function, a new ERR_INVALID_CALLBACK
error will be thrown.
server.timeout
#
- <number> Timeout in milliseconds. Default: 0 (no timeout)
The number of milliseconds of inactivity before a socket is presumed
to have timed out.
A value of 0
will disable the timeout behavior on incoming connections.
The socket timeout logic is set up on connection, so changing this
value only affects new connections to the server, not any existing connections.
server.updateSettings([settings])
#
Added in: v15.1.0
Used to update the server with the provided settings.
Throws ERR_HTTP2_INVALID_SETTING_VALUE
for invalid settings
values.
Throws ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE
for invalid settings
argument.
http2.createServer([options][, onRequestHandler])
#
options
<Object>
maxDeflateDynamicTableSize
<number> Sets the maximum dynamic table size
for deflating header fields. Default: 4Kib
.
maxSettings
<number> Sets the maximum number of settings entries per
SETTINGS
frame. The minimum value allowed is 1
. Default: 32
.
maxSessionMemory
<number> Sets the maximum memory that the Http2Session
is permitted to use. The value is expressed in terms of number of megabytes,
e.g. 1
equal 1 megabyte. The minimum value allowed is 1
.
This is a credit based limit, existing Http2Stream
s may cause this
limit to be exceeded, but new Http2Stream
instances will be rejected
while this limit is exceeded. The current number of Http2Stream
sessions,
the current memory use of the header compression tables, current data
queued to be sent, and unacknowledged PING
and SETTINGS
frames are all
counted towards the current limit. Default: 10
.
maxHeaderListPairs
<number> Sets the maximum number of header entries.
This is similar to server.maxHeadersCount
or
request.maxHeadersCount
in the node:http
module. The minimum value
is 4
. Default: 128
.
maxOutstandingPings
<number> Sets the maximum number of outstanding,
unacknowledged pings. Default: 10
.
maxSendHeaderBlockLength
<number> Sets the maximum allowed size for a
serialized, compressed block of headers. Attempts to send headers that
exceed this limit will result in a 'frameError'
event being emitted
and the stream being closed and destroyed.
While this sets the maximum allowed size to the entire block of headers,
nghttp2
(the internal http2 library) has a limit of 65536
for each decompressed key/value pair.
paddingStrategy
<number> The strategy used for determining the amount of
padding to use for HEADERS
and DATA
frames. Default:
http2.constants.PADDING_STRATEGY_NONE
. Value may be one of:
http2.constants.PADDING_STRATEGY_NONE
: No padding is applied.
http2.constants.PADDING_STRATEGY_MAX
: The maximum amount of padding,
determined by the internal implementation, is applied.
http2.constants.PADDING_STRATEGY_ALIGNED
: Attempts to apply enough
padding to ensure that the total frame length, including the 9-byte
header, is a multiple of 8. For each frame, there is a maximum allowed
number of padding bytes that is determined by current flow control state
and settings. If this maximum is less than the calculated amount needed to
ensure alignment, the maximum is used and the total frame length is not
necessarily aligned at 8 bytes.
peerMaxConcurrentStreams
<number> Sets the maximum number of concurrent
streams for the remote peer as if a SETTINGS
frame had been received. Will
be overridden if the remote peer sets its own value for
maxConcurrentStreams
. Default: 100
.
maxSessionInvalidFrames
<integer> Sets the maximum number of invalid
frames that will be tolerated before the session is closed.
Default: 1000
.
maxSessionRejectedStreams
<integer> Sets the maximum number of rejected
upon creation streams that will be tolerated before the session is closed.
Each rejection is associated with an NGHTTP2_ENHANCE_YOUR_CALM
error that should tell the peer to not open any more streams, continuing
to open streams is therefore regarded as a sign of a misbehaving peer.
Default: 100
.
settings
<HTTP/2 Settings Object> The initial settings to send to the
remote peer upon connection.
Http1IncomingMessage
<http.IncomingMessage> Specifies the
IncomingMessage
class to used for HTTP/1 fallback. Useful for extending
the original http.IncomingMessage
. Default: http.IncomingMessage
.
Http1ServerResponse
<http.ServerResponse> Specifies the ServerResponse
class to used for HTTP/1 fallback. Useful for extending the original
http.ServerResponse
. Default: http.ServerResponse
.
Http2ServerRequest
<http2.Http2ServerRequest> Specifies the
Http2ServerRequest
class to use.
Useful for extending the original Http2ServerRequest
.
Default: Http2ServerRequest
.
Http2ServerResponse
<http2.Http2ServerResponse> Specifies the
Http2ServerResponse
class to use.
Useful for extending the original Http2ServerResponse
.
Default: Http2ServerResponse
.
unknownProtocolTimeout
<number> Specifies a timeout in milliseconds that
a server should wait when an 'unknownProtocol'
is emitted. If the
socket has not been destroyed by that time the server will destroy it.
Default: 10000
.
- ...: Any
net.createServer()
option can be provided.
onRequestHandler
<Function> See Compatibility API
- Returns: <Http2Server>
Returns a net.Server
instance that creates and manages Http2Session
instances.
Since there are no browsers known that support
unencrypted HTTP/2, the use of
http2.createSecureServer()
is necessary when communicating
with browser clients.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const server = http2.createServer();
server.on('stream', (stream, headers) => {
stream.respond({
'content-type': 'text/html; charset=utf-8',
':status': 200
});
stream.end('<h1>Hello World</h1>');
});
server.listen(80);
http2.createSecureServer(options[, onRequestHandler])
#
options
<Object>
allowHTTP1
<boolean> Incoming client connections that do not support
HTTP/2 will be downgraded to HTTP/1.x when set to true
.
See the 'unknownProtocol'
event. See ALPN negotiation.
Default: false
.
maxDeflateDynamicTableSize
<number> Sets the maximum dynamic table size
for deflating header fields. Default: 4Kib
.
maxSettings
<number> Sets the maximum number of settings entries per
SETTINGS
frame. The minimum value allowed is 1
. Default: 32
.
maxSessionMemory
<number> Sets the maximum memory that the Http2Session
is permitted to use. The value is expressed in terms of number of megabytes,
e.g. 1
equal 1 megabyte. The minimum value allowed is 1
. This is a
credit based limit, existing Http2Stream
s may cause this
limit to be exceeded, but new Http2Stream
instances will be rejected
while this limit is exceeded. The current number of Http2Stream
sessions,
the current memory use of the header compression tables, current data
queued to be sent, and unacknowledged PING
and SETTINGS
frames are all
counted towards the current limit. Default: 10
.
maxHeaderListPairs
<number> Sets the maximum number of header entries.
This is similar to server.maxHeadersCount
or
request.maxHeadersCount
in the node:http
module. The minimum value
is 4
. Default: 128
.
maxOutstandingPings
<number> Sets the maximum number of outstanding,
unacknowledged pings. Default: 10
.
maxSendHeaderBlockLength
<number> Sets the maximum allowed size for a
serialized, compressed block of headers. Attempts to send headers that
exceed this limit will result in a 'frameError'
event being emitted
and the stream being closed and destroyed.
paddingStrategy
<number> Strategy used for determining the amount of
padding to use for HEADERS
and DATA
frames. Default:
http2.constants.PADDING_STRATEGY_NONE
. Value may be one of:
http2.constants.PADDING_STRATEGY_NONE
: No padding is applied.
http2.constants.PADDING_STRATEGY_MAX
: The maximum amount of padding,
determined by the internal implementation, is applied.
http2.constants.PADDING_STRATEGY_ALIGNED
: Attempts to apply enough
padding to ensure that the total frame length, including the
9-byte header, is a multiple of 8. For each frame, there is a maximum
allowed number of padding bytes that is determined by current flow control
state and settings. If this maximum is less than the calculated amount
needed to ensure alignment, the maximum is used and the total frame length
is not necessarily aligned at 8 bytes.
peerMaxConcurrentStreams
<number> Sets the maximum number of concurrent
streams for the remote peer as if a SETTINGS
frame had been received. Will
be overridden if the remote peer sets its own value for
maxConcurrentStreams
. Default: 100
.
maxSessionInvalidFrames
<integer> Sets the maximum number of invalid
frames that will be tolerated before the session is closed.
Default: 1000
.
maxSessionRejectedStreams
<integer> Sets the maximum number of rejected
upon creation streams that will be tolerated before the session is closed.
Each rejection is associated with an NGHTTP2_ENHANCE_YOUR_CALM
error that should tell the peer to not open any more streams, continuing
to open streams is therefore regarded as a sign of a misbehaving peer.
Default: 100
.
settings
<HTTP/2 Settings Object> The initial settings to send to the
remote peer upon connection.
- ...: Any
tls.createServer()
options can be provided. For
servers, the identity options (pfx
or key
/cert
) are usually required.
origins
<string[]> An array of origin strings to send within an ORIGIN
frame immediately following creation of a new server Http2Session
.
unknownProtocolTimeout
<number> Specifies a timeout in milliseconds that
a server should wait when an 'unknownProtocol'
event is emitted. If
the socket has not been destroyed by that time the server will destroy it.
Default: 10000
.
onRequestHandler
<Function> See Compatibility API
- Returns: <Http2SecureServer>
Returns a tls.Server
instance that creates and manages Http2Session
instances.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const options = {
key: fs.readFileSync('server-key.pem'),
cert: fs.readFileSync('server-cert.pem')
};
const server = http2.createSecureServer(options);
server.on('stream', (stream, headers) => {
stream.respond({
'content-type': 'text/html; charset=utf-8',
':status': 200
});
stream.end('<h1>Hello World</h1>');
});
server.listen(80);
http2.connect(authority[, options][, listener])
#
authority
<string> | <URL> The remote HTTP/2 server to connect to. This must
be in the form of a minimal, valid URL with the http://
or https://
prefix, host name, and IP port (if a non-default port is used). Userinfo
(user ID and password), path, querystring, and fragment details in the
URL will be ignored.
options
<Object>
maxDeflateDynamicTableSize
<number> Sets the maximum dynamic table size
for deflating header fields. Default: 4Kib
.
maxSettings
<number> Sets the maximum number of settings entries per
SETTINGS
frame. The minimum value allowed is 1
. Default: 32
.
maxSessionMemory
<number> Sets the maximum memory that the Http2Session
is permitted to use. The value is expressed in terms of number of megabytes,
e.g. 1
equal 1 megabyte. The minimum value allowed is 1
.
This is a credit based limit, existing Http2Stream
s may cause this
limit to be exceeded, but new Http2Stream
instances will be rejected
while this limit is exceeded. The current number of Http2Stream
sessions,
the current memory use of the header compression tables, current data
queued to be sent, and unacknowledged PING
and SETTINGS
frames are all
counted towards the current limit. Default: 10
.
maxHeaderListPairs
<number> Sets the maximum number of header entries.
This is similar to server.maxHeadersCount
or
request.maxHeadersCount
in the node:http
module. The minimum value
is 1
. Default: 128
.
maxOutstandingPings
<number> Sets the maximum number of outstanding,
unacknowledged pings. Default: 10
.
maxReservedRemoteStreams
<number> Sets the maximum number of reserved push
streams the client will accept at any given time. Once the current number of
currently reserved push streams exceeds reaches this limit, new push streams
sent by the server will be automatically rejected. The minimum allowed value
is 0. The maximum allowed value is 232-1. A negative value sets
this option to the maximum allowed value. Default: 200
.
maxSendHeaderBlockLength
<number> Sets the maximum allowed size for a
serialized, compressed block of headers. Attempts to send headers that
exceed this limit will result in a 'frameError'
event being emitted
and the stream being closed and destroyed.
paddingStrategy
<number> Strategy used for determining the amount of
padding to use for HEADERS
and DATA
frames. Default:
http2.constants.PADDING_STRATEGY_NONE
. Value may be one of:
http2.constants.PADDING_STRATEGY_NONE
: No padding is applied.
http2.constants.PADDING_STRATEGY_MAX
: The maximum amount of padding,
determined by the internal implementation, is applied.
http2.constants.PADDING_STRATEGY_ALIGNED
: Attempts to apply enough
padding to ensure that the total frame length, including the
9-byte header, is a multiple of 8. For each frame, there is a maximum
allowed number of padding bytes that is determined by current flow control
state and settings. If this maximum is less than the calculated amount
needed to ensure alignment, the maximum is used and the total frame length
is not necessarily aligned at 8 bytes.
peerMaxConcurrentStreams
<number> Sets the maximum number of concurrent
streams for the remote peer as if a SETTINGS
frame had been received. Will
be overridden if the remote peer sets its own value for
maxConcurrentStreams
. Default: 100
.
protocol
<string> The protocol to connect with, if not set in the
authority
. Value may be either 'http:'
or 'https:'
. Default:
'https:'
settings
<HTTP/2 Settings Object> The initial settings to send to the
remote peer upon connection.
createConnection
<Function> An optional callback that receives the URL
instance passed to connect
and the options
object, and returns any
Duplex
stream that is to be used as the connection for this session.
- ...: Any
net.connect()
or tls.connect()
options can be provided.
unknownProtocolTimeout
<number> Specifies a timeout in milliseconds that
a server should wait when an 'unknownProtocol'
event is emitted. If
the socket has not been destroyed by that time the server will destroy it.
Default: 10000
.
listener
<Function> Will be registered as a one-time listener of the
'connect'
event.
- Returns: <ClientHttp2Session>
Returns a ClientHttp2Session
instance.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const client = http2.connect('https://localhost:1234');
client.close();
http2.constants
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Error codes for RST_STREAM
and GOAWAY
#
Value | Name | Constant |
---|
0x00 | No Error | http2.constants.NGHTTP2_NO_ERROR |
0x01 | Protocol Error | http2.constants.NGHTTP2_PROTOCOL_ERROR |
0x02 | Internal Error | http2.constants.NGHTTP2_INTERNAL_ERROR |
0x03 | Flow Control Error | http2.constants.NGHTTP2_FLOW_CONTROL_ERROR |
0x04 | Settings Timeout | http2.constants.NGHTTP2_SETTINGS_TIMEOUT |
0x05 | Stream Closed | http2.constants.NGHTTP2_STREAM_CLOSED |
0x06 | Frame Size Error | http2.constants.NGHTTP2_FRAME_SIZE_ERROR |
0x07 | Refused Stream | http2.constants.NGHTTP2_REFUSED_STREAM |
0x08 | Cancel | http2.constants.NGHTTP2_CANCEL |
0x09 | Compression Error | http2.constants.NGHTTP2_COMPRESSION_ERROR |
0x0a | Connect Error | http2.constants.NGHTTP2_CONNECT_ERROR |
0x0b | Enhance Your Calm | http2.constants.NGHTTP2_ENHANCE_YOUR_CALM |
0x0c | Inadequate Security | http2.constants.NGHTTP2_INADEQUATE_SECURITY |
0x0d | HTTP/1.1 Required | http2.constants.NGHTTP2_HTTP_1_1_REQUIRED |
The 'timeout'
event is emitted when there is no activity on the Server for
a given number of milliseconds set using http2server.setTimeout()
.
http2.getDefaultSettings()
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Returns an object containing the default settings for an Http2Session
instance. This method returns a new object instance every time it is called
so instances returned may be safely modified for use.
http2.getPackedSettings([settings])
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Returns a Buffer
instance containing serialized representation of the given
HTTP/2 settings as specified in the HTTP/2 specification. This is intended
for use with the HTTP2-Settings
header field.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const packed = http2.getPackedSettings({ enablePush: false });
console.log(packed.toString('base64'));
http2.getUnpackedSettings(buf)
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Returns a HTTP/2 Settings Object containing the deserialized settings from
the given Buffer
as generated by http2.getPackedSettings()
.
http2.sensitiveHeaders
Added in: v15.0.0
This symbol can be set as a property on the HTTP/2 headers object with an array
value in order to provide a list of headers considered sensitive.
See Sensitive headers for more details.
Headers object
Headers are represented as own-properties on JavaScript objects. The property
keys will be serialized to lower-case. Property values should be strings (if
they are not they will be coerced to strings) or an Array
of strings (in order
to send more than one value per header field).
const headers = {
':status': '200',
'content-type': 'text-plain',
'ABC': ['has', 'more', 'than', 'one', 'value']
};
stream.respond(headers);
Header objects passed to callback functions will have a null
prototype. This
means that normal JavaScript object methods such as
Object.prototype.toString()
and Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty()
will
not work.
For incoming headers:
- The
:status
header is converted to number
.
- Duplicates of
:status
, :method
, :authority
, :scheme
, :path
,
:protocol
, age
, authorization
, access-control-allow-credentials
,
access-control-max-age
, access-control-request-method
, content-encoding
,
content-language
, content-length
, content-location
, content-md5
,
content-range
, content-type
, date
, dnt
, etag
, expires
, from
,
host
, if-match
, if-modified-since
, if-none-match
, if-range
,
if-unmodified-since
, last-modified
, location
, max-forwards
,
proxy-authorization
, range
, referer
,retry-after
, tk
,
upgrade-insecure-requests
, user-agent
or x-content-type-options
are
discarded.
set-cookie
is always an array. Duplicates are added to the array.
- For duplicate
cookie
headers, the values are joined together with '; '.
- For all other headers, the values are joined together with ', '.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const server = http2.createServer();
server.on('stream', (stream, headers) => {
console.log(headers[':path']);
console.log(headers.ABC);
});
Sensitive headers
HTTP2 headers can be marked as sensitive, which means that the HTTP/2
header compression algorithm will never index them. This can make sense for
header values with low entropy and that may be considered valuable to an
attacker, for example Cookie
or Authorization
. To achieve this, add
the header name to the [http2.sensitiveHeaders]
property as an array:
const headers = {
':status': '200',
'content-type': 'text-plain',
'cookie': 'some-cookie',
'other-sensitive-header': 'very secret data',
[http2.sensitiveHeaders]: ['cookie', 'other-sensitive-header']
};
stream.respond(headers);
For some headers, such as Authorization
and short Cookie
headers,
this flag is set automatically.
This property is also set for received headers. It will contain the names of
all headers marked as sensitive, including ones marked that way automatically.
Settings object#
The http2.getDefaultSettings()
, http2.getPackedSettings()
,
http2.createServer()
, http2.createSecureServer()
,
http2session.settings()
, http2session.localSettings
, and
http2session.remoteSettings
APIs either return or receive as input an
object that defines configuration settings for an Http2Session
object.
These objects are ordinary JavaScript objects containing the following
properties.
headerTableSize
<number> Specifies the maximum number of bytes used for
header compression. The minimum allowed value is 0. The maximum allowed value
is 232-1. Default: 4096
.
enablePush
<boolean> Specifies true
if HTTP/2 Push Streams are to be
permitted on the Http2Session
instances. Default: true
.
initialWindowSize
<number> Specifies the sender's initial window size in
bytes for stream-level flow control. The minimum allowed value is 0. The
maximum allowed value is 232-1. Default: 65535
.
maxFrameSize
<number> Specifies the size in bytes of the largest frame
payload. The minimum allowed value is 16,384. The maximum allowed value is
224-1. Default: 16384
.
maxConcurrentStreams
<number> Specifies the maximum number of concurrent
streams permitted on an Http2Session
. There is no default value which
implies, at least theoretically, 232-1 streams may be open
concurrently at any given time in an Http2Session
. The minimum value
is 0. The maximum allowed value is 232-1. Default:
4294967295
.
maxHeaderListSize
<number> Specifies the maximum size (uncompressed octets)
of header list that will be accepted. The minimum allowed value is 0. The
maximum allowed value is 232-1. Default: 65535
.
maxHeaderSize
<number> Alias for maxHeaderListSize
.
enableConnectProtocol
<boolean> Specifies true
if the "Extended Connect
Protocol" defined by RFC 8441 is to be enabled. This setting is only
meaningful if sent by the server. Once the enableConnectProtocol
setting
has been enabled for a given Http2Session
, it cannot be disabled.
Default: false
.
All additional properties on the settings object are ignored.
Error handling#
There are several types of error conditions that may arise when using the
node:http2
module:
Validation errors occur when an incorrect argument, option, or setting value is
passed in. These will always be reported by a synchronous throw
.
State errors occur when an action is attempted at an incorrect time (for
instance, attempting to send data on a stream after it has closed). These will
be reported using either a synchronous throw
or via an 'error'
event on
the Http2Stream
, Http2Session
or HTTP/2 Server objects, depending on where
and when the error occurs.
Internal errors occur when an HTTP/2 session fails unexpectedly. These will be
reported via an 'error'
event on the Http2Session
or HTTP/2 Server objects.
Protocol errors occur when various HTTP/2 protocol constraints are violated.
These will be reported using either a synchronous throw
or via an 'error'
event on the Http2Stream
, Http2Session
or HTTP/2 Server objects, depending
on where and when the error occurs.
Invalid character handling in header names and values#
The HTTP/2 implementation applies stricter handling of invalid characters in
HTTP header names and values than the HTTP/1 implementation.
Header field names are case-insensitive and are transmitted over the wire
strictly as lower-case strings. The API provided by Node.js allows header
names to be set as mixed-case strings (e.g. Content-Type
) but will convert
those to lower-case (e.g. content-type
) upon transmission.
Header field-names must only contain one or more of the following ASCII
characters: a
-z
, A
-Z
, 0
-9
, !
, #
, $
, %
, &
, '
, *
, +
,
-
, .
, ^
, _
, `
(backtick), |
, and ~
.
Using invalid characters within an HTTP header field name will cause the
stream to be closed with a protocol error being reported.
Header field values are handled with more leniency but should not contain
new-line or carriage return characters and should be limited to US-ASCII
characters, per the requirements of the HTTP specification.
Push streams on the client#
To receive pushed streams on the client, set a listener for the 'stream'
event on the ClientHttp2Session
:
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const client = http2.connect('http://localhost');
client.on('stream', (pushedStream, requestHeaders) => {
pushedStream.on('push', (responseHeaders) => {
});
pushedStream.on('data', (chunk) => { });
});
const req = client.request({ ':path': '/' });
Supporting the CONNECT
method#
The CONNECT
method is used to allow an HTTP/2 server to be used as a proxy
for TCP/IP connections.
A simple TCP Server:
const net = require('node:net');
const server = net.createServer((socket) => {
let name = '';
socket.setEncoding('utf8');
socket.on('data', (chunk) => name += chunk);
socket.on('end', () => socket.end(`hello ${name}`));
});
server.listen(8000);
An HTTP/2 CONNECT proxy:
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const { NGHTTP2_REFUSED_STREAM } = http2.constants;
const net = require('node:net');
const proxy = http2.createServer();
proxy.on('stream', (stream, headers) => {
if (headers[':method'] !== 'CONNECT') {
stream.close(NGHTTP2_REFUSED_STREAM);
return;
}
const auth = new URL(`tcp://${headers[':authority']}`);
const socket = net.connect(auth.port, auth.hostname, () => {
stream.respond();
socket.pipe(stream);
stream.pipe(socket);
});
socket.on('error', (error) => {
stream.close(http2.constants.NGHTTP2_CONNECT_ERROR);
});
});
proxy.listen(8001);
An HTTP/2 CONNECT client:
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const client = http2.connect('http://localhost:8001');
const req = client.request({
':method': 'CONNECT',
':authority': `localhost:${port}`
});
req.on('response', (headers) => {
console.log(headers[http2.constants.HTTP2_HEADER_STATUS]);
});
let data = '';
req.setEncoding('utf8');
req.on('data', (chunk) => data += chunk);
req.on('end', () => {
console.log(`The server says: ${data}`);
client.close();
});
req.end('Jane');
The extended CONNECT
protocol#
RFC 8441 defines an "Extended CONNECT Protocol" extension to HTTP/2 that
may be used to bootstrap the use of an Http2Stream
using the CONNECT
method as a tunnel for other communication protocols (such as WebSockets).
The use of the Extended CONNECT Protocol is enabled by HTTP/2 servers by using
the enableConnectProtocol
setting:
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const settings = { enableConnectProtocol: true };
const server = http2.createServer({ settings });
Once the client receives the SETTINGS
frame from the server indicating that
the extended CONNECT may be used, it may send CONNECT
requests that use the
':protocol'
HTTP/2 pseudo-header:
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const client = http2.connect('http://localhost:8080');
client.on('remoteSettings', (settings) => {
if (settings.enableConnectProtocol) {
const req = client.request({ ':method': 'CONNECT', ':protocol': 'foo' });
}
});
Compatibility API#
The Compatibility API has the goal of providing a similar developer experience
of HTTP/1 when using HTTP/2, making it possible to develop applications
that support both HTTP/1 and HTTP/2. This API targets only the
public API of the HTTP/1. However many modules use internal
methods or state, and those are not supported as it is a completely
different implementation.
The following example creates an HTTP/2 server using the compatibility
API:
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const server = http2.createServer((req, res) => {
res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/html');
res.setHeader('X-Foo', 'bar');
res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain; charset=utf-8' });
res.end('ok');
});
In order to create a mixed HTTPS and HTTP/2 server, refer to the
ALPN negotiation section.
Upgrading from non-tls HTTP/1 servers is not supported.
The HTTP/2 compatibility API is composed of Http2ServerRequest
and
Http2ServerResponse
. They aim at API compatibility with HTTP/1, but
they do not hide the differences between the protocols. As an example,
the status message for HTTP codes is ignored.
ALPN negotiation#
ALPN negotiation allows supporting both HTTPS and HTTP/2 over
the same socket. The req
and res
objects can be either HTTP/1 or
HTTP/2, and an application must restrict itself to the public API of
HTTP/1, and detect if it is possible to use the more advanced
features of HTTP/2.
The following example creates a server that supports both protocols:
const { createSecureServer } = require('node:http2');
const { readFileSync } = require('node:fs');
const cert = readFileSync('./cert.pem');
const key = readFileSync('./key.pem');
const server = createSecureServer(
{ cert, key, allowHTTP1: true },
onRequest
).listen(4443);
function onRequest(req, res) {
const { socket: { alpnProtocol } } = req.httpVersion === '2.0' ?
req.stream.session : req;
res.writeHead(200, { 'content-type': 'application/json' });
res.end(JSON.stringify({
alpnProtocol,
httpVersion: req.httpVersion
}));
}
The 'request'
event works identically on both HTTPS and
HTTP/2.
Class: http2.Http2ServerRequest
#
Added in: v8.4.0
A Http2ServerRequest
object is created by http2.Server
or
http2.SecureServer
and passed as the first argument to the
'request'
event. It may be used to access a request status, headers, and
data.
Event: 'aborted'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The 'aborted'
event is emitted whenever a Http2ServerRequest
instance is
abnormally aborted in mid-communication.
The 'aborted'
event will only be emitted if the Http2ServerRequest
writable
side has not been ended.
Event: 'close'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Indicates that the underlying Http2Stream
was closed.
Just like 'end'
, this event occurs only once per response.
request.aborted
#
Added in: v10.1.0
The request.aborted
property will be true
if the request has
been aborted.
request.authority
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The request authority pseudo header field. Because HTTP/2 allows requests
to set either :authority
or host
, this value is derived from
req.headers[':authority']
if present. Otherwise, it is derived from
req.headers['host']
.
request.complete
#
Added in: v12.10.0
The request.complete
property will be true
if the request has
been completed, aborted, or destroyed.
request.connection
#
Added in: v8.4.0Deprecated since: v13.0.0
See request.socket
.
request.destroy([error])
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Calls destroy()
on the Http2Stream
that received
the Http2ServerRequest
. If error
is provided, an 'error'
event
is emitted and error
is passed as an argument to any listeners on the event.
It does nothing if the stream was already destroyed.
request.headers
Added in: v8.4.0
The request/response headers object.
Key-value pairs of header names and values. Header names are lower-cased.
console.log(request.headers);
See HTTP/2 Headers Object.
In HTTP/2, the request path, host name, protocol, and method are represented as
special headers prefixed with the :
character (e.g. ':path'
). These special
headers will be included in the request.headers
object. Care must be taken not
to inadvertently modify these special headers or errors may occur. For instance,
removing all headers from the request will cause errors to occur:
removeAllHeaders(request.headers);
assert(request.url);
request.httpVersion
#
Added in: v8.4.0
In case of server request, the HTTP version sent by the client. In the case of
client response, the HTTP version of the connected-to server. Returns
'2.0'
.
Also message.httpVersionMajor
is the first integer and
message.httpVersionMinor
is the second.
request.method
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The request method as a string. Read-only. Examples: 'GET'
, 'DELETE'
.
request.rawHeaders
Added in: v8.4.0
The raw request/response headers list exactly as they were received.
The keys and values are in the same list. It is not a
list of tuples. So, the even-numbered offsets are key values, and the
odd-numbered offsets are the associated values.
Header names are not lowercased, and duplicates are not merged.
console.log(request.rawHeaders);
request.rawTrailers
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The raw request/response trailer keys and values exactly as they were
received. Only populated at the 'end'
event.
request.scheme
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The request scheme pseudo header field indicating the scheme
portion of the target URL.
request.setTimeout(msecs, callback)
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Sets the Http2Stream
's timeout value to msecs
. If a callback is
provided, then it is added as a listener on the 'timeout'
event on
the response object.
If no 'timeout'
listener is added to the request, the response, or
the server, then Http2Stream
s are destroyed when they time out. If a
handler is assigned to the request, the response, or the server's 'timeout'
events, timed out sockets must be handled explicitly.
request.socket
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Returns a Proxy
object that acts as a net.Socket
(or tls.TLSSocket
) but
applies getters, setters, and methods based on HTTP/2 logic.
destroyed
, readable
, and writable
properties will be retrieved from and
set on request.stream
.
destroy
, emit
, end
, on
and once
methods will be called on
request.stream
.
setTimeout
method will be called on request.stream.session
.
pause
, read
, resume
, and write
will throw an error with code
ERR_HTTP2_NO_SOCKET_MANIPULATION
. See Http2Session
and Sockets for
more information.
All other interactions will be routed directly to the socket. With TLS support,
use request.socket.getPeerCertificate()
to obtain the client's
authentication details.
request.stream
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The Http2Stream
object backing the request.
request.trailers
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The request/response trailers object. Only populated at the 'end'
event.
request.url
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Request URL string. This contains only the URL that is present in the actual
HTTP request. If the request is:
GET /status?name=ryan HTTP/1.1
Accept: text/plain
Then request.url
will be:
'/status?name=ryan'
To parse the url into its parts, new URL()
can be used:
$ node
> new URL('/status?name=ryan', 'http://example.com')
URL {
href: 'http://example.com/status?name=ryan',
origin: 'http://example.com',
protocol: 'http:',
username: '',
password: '',
host: 'example.com',
hostname: 'example.com',
port: '',
pathname: '/status',
search: '?name=ryan',
searchParams: URLSearchParams { 'name' => 'ryan' },
hash: ''
}
Class: http2.Http2ServerResponse
#
Added in: v8.4.0
This object is created internally by an HTTP server, not by the user. It is
passed as the second parameter to the 'request'
event.
Event: 'close'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Indicates that the underlying Http2Stream
was terminated before
response.end()
was called or able to flush.
Event: 'finish'
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Emitted when the response has been sent. More specifically, this event is
emitted when the last segment of the response headers and body have been
handed off to the HTTP/2 multiplexing for transmission over the network. It
does not imply that the client has received anything yet.
After this event, no more events will be emitted on the response object.
response.addTrailers(headers)
Added in: v8.4.0
This method adds HTTP trailing headers (a header but at the end of the
message) to the response.
Attempting to set a header field name or value that contains invalid characters
will result in a TypeError
being thrown.
response.connection
#
Added in: v8.4.0Deprecated since: v13.0.0
See response.socket
.
response.createPushResponse(headers, callback)
Added in: v8.4.0
headers
<HTTP/2 Headers Object> An object describing the headers
callback
<Function> Called once http2stream.pushStream()
is finished,
or either when the attempt to create the pushed Http2Stream
has failed or
has been rejected, or the state of Http2ServerRequest
is closed prior to
calling the http2stream.pushStream()
method
Call http2stream.pushStream()
with the given headers, and wrap the
given Http2Stream
on a newly created Http2ServerResponse
as the callback
parameter if successful. When Http2ServerRequest
is closed, the callback is
called with an error ERR_HTTP2_INVALID_STREAM
.
response.end([data[, encoding]][, callback])
#
This method signals to the server that all of the response headers and body
have been sent; that server should consider this message complete.
The method, response.end()
, MUST be called on each response.
If data
is specified, it is equivalent to calling
response.write(data, encoding)
followed by response.end(callback)
.
If callback
is specified, it will be called when the response stream
is finished.
response.finished
#
Added in: v8.4.0Deprecated since: v13.4.0, v12.16.0
Boolean value that indicates whether the response has completed. Starts
as false
. After response.end()
executes, the value will be true
.
response.getHeader(name)
Added in: v8.4.0
Reads out a header that has already been queued but not sent to the client.
The name is case-insensitive.
const contentType = response.getHeader('content-type');
response.getHeaderNames()
Added in: v8.4.0
Returns an array containing the unique names of the current outgoing headers.
All header names are lowercase.
response.setHeader('Foo', 'bar');
response.setHeader('Set-Cookie', ['foo=bar', 'bar=baz']);
const headerNames = response.getHeaderNames();
response.getHeaders()
Added in: v8.4.0
Returns a shallow copy of the current outgoing headers. Since a shallow copy
is used, array values may be mutated without additional calls to various
header-related http module methods. The keys of the returned object are the
header names and the values are the respective header values. All header names
are lowercase.
The object returned by the response.getHeaders()
method does not
prototypically inherit from the JavaScript Object
. This means that typical
Object
methods such as obj.toString()
, obj.hasOwnProperty()
, and others
are not defined and will not work.
response.setHeader('Foo', 'bar');
response.setHeader('Set-Cookie', ['foo=bar', 'bar=baz']);
const headers = response.getHeaders();
response.hasHeader(name)
Added in: v8.4.0
Returns true
if the header identified by name
is currently set in the
outgoing headers. The header name matching is case-insensitive.
const hasContentType = response.hasHeader('content-type');
response.headersSent
Added in: v8.4.0
True if headers were sent, false otherwise (read-only).
response.removeHeader(name)
Added in: v8.4.0
Removes a header that has been queued for implicit sending.
response.removeHeader('Content-Encoding');
response.req
#
Added in: v15.7.0
A reference to the original HTTP2 request
object.
response.sendDate
#
Added in: v8.4.0
When true, the Date header will be automatically generated and sent in
the response if it is not already present in the headers. Defaults to true.
This should only be disabled for testing; HTTP requires the Date header
in responses.
response.setHeader(name, value)
Added in: v8.4.0
Sets a single header value for implicit headers. If this header already exists
in the to-be-sent headers, its value will be replaced. Use an array of strings
here to send multiple headers with the same name.
response.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/html; charset=utf-8');
or
response.setHeader('Set-Cookie', ['type=ninja', 'language=javascript']);
Attempting to set a header field name or value that contains invalid characters
will result in a TypeError
being thrown.
When headers have been set with response.setHeader()
, they will be merged
with any headers passed to response.writeHead()
, with the headers passed
to response.writeHead()
given precedence.
const server = http2.createServer((req, res) => {
res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/html; charset=utf-8');
res.setHeader('X-Foo', 'bar');
res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain; charset=utf-8' });
res.end('ok');
});
response.setTimeout(msecs[, callback])
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Sets the Http2Stream
's timeout value to msecs
. If a callback is
provided, then it is added as a listener on the 'timeout'
event on
the response object.
If no 'timeout'
listener is added to the request, the response, or
the server, then Http2Stream
s are destroyed when they time out. If a
handler is assigned to the request, the response, or the server's 'timeout'
events, timed out sockets must be handled explicitly.
response.socket
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Returns a Proxy
object that acts as a net.Socket
(or tls.TLSSocket
) but
applies getters, setters, and methods based on HTTP/2 logic.
destroyed
, readable
, and writable
properties will be retrieved from and
set on response.stream
.
destroy
, emit
, end
, on
and once
methods will be called on
response.stream
.
setTimeout
method will be called on response.stream.session
.
pause
, read
, resume
, and write
will throw an error with code
ERR_HTTP2_NO_SOCKET_MANIPULATION
. See Http2Session
and Sockets for
more information.
All other interactions will be routed directly to the socket.
const http2 = require('node:http2');
const server = http2.createServer((req, res) => {
const ip = req.socket.remoteAddress;
const port = req.socket.remotePort;
res.end(`Your IP address is ${ip} and your source port is ${port}.`);
}).listen(3000);
response.statusCode
#
Added in: v8.4.0
When using implicit headers (not calling response.writeHead()
explicitly),
this property controls the status code that will be sent to the client when
the headers get flushed.
response.statusCode = 404;
After response header was sent to the client, this property indicates the
status code which was sent out.
response.statusMessage
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Status message is not supported by HTTP/2 (RFC 7540 8.1.2.4). It returns
an empty string.
response.stream
#
Added in: v8.4.0
The Http2Stream
object backing the response.
response.writableEnded
#
Added in: v12.9.0
Is true
after response.end()
has been called. This property
does not indicate whether the data has been flushed, for this use
writable.writableFinished
instead.
response.write(chunk[, encoding][, callback])
#
Added in: v8.4.0
If this method is called and response.writeHead()
has not been called,
it will switch to implicit header mode and flush the implicit headers.
This sends a chunk of the response body. This method may
be called multiple times to provide successive parts of the body.
In the node:http
module, the response body is omitted when the
request is a HEAD request. Similarly, the 204
and 304
responses
must not include a message body.
chunk
can be a string or a buffer. If chunk
is a string,
the second parameter specifies how to encode it into a byte stream.
By default the encoding
is 'utf8'
. callback
will be called when this chunk
of data is flushed.
This is the raw HTTP body and has nothing to do with higher-level multi-part
body encodings that may be used.
The first time response.write()
is called, it will send the buffered
header information and the first chunk of the body to the client. The second
time response.write()
is called, Node.js assumes data will be streamed,
and sends the new data separately. That is, the response is buffered up to the
first chunk of the body.
Returns true
if the entire data was flushed successfully to the kernel
buffer. Returns false
if all or part of the data was queued in user memory.
'drain'
will be emitted when the buffer is free again.
response.writeContinue()
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Sends a status 100 Continue
to the client, indicating that the request body
should be sent. See the 'checkContinue'
event on Http2Server
and
Http2SecureServer
.
response.writeHead(statusCode[, statusMessage][, headers])
Sends a response header to the request. The status code is a 3-digit HTTP
status code, like 404
. The last argument, headers
, are the response headers.
Returns a reference to the Http2ServerResponse
, so that calls can be chained.
For compatibility with HTTP/1, a human-readable statusMessage
may be
passed as the second argument. However, because the statusMessage
has no
meaning within HTTP/2, the argument will have no effect and a process warning
will be emitted.
const body = 'hello world';
response.writeHead(200, {
'Content-Length': Buffer.byteLength(body),
'Content-Type': 'text/plain; charset=utf-8',
});
Content-Length
is given in bytes not characters. The
Buffer.byteLength()
API may be used to determine the number of bytes in a
given encoding. On outbound messages, Node.js does not check if Content-Length
and the length of the body being transmitted are equal or not. However, when
receiving messages, Node.js will automatically reject messages when the
Content-Length
does not match the actual payload size.
This method may be called at most one time on a message before
response.end()
is called.
If response.write()
or response.end()
are called before calling
this, the implicit/mutable headers will be calculated and call this function.
When headers have been set with response.setHeader()
, they will be merged
with any headers passed to response.writeHead()
, with the headers passed
to response.writeHead()
given precedence.
const server = http2.createServer((req, res) => {
res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/html; charset=utf-8');
res.setHeader('X-Foo', 'bar');
res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain; charset=utf-8' });
res.end('ok');
});
Attempting to set a header field name or value that contains invalid characters
will result in a TypeError
being thrown.
Collecting HTTP/2 performance metrics#
The Performance Observer API can be used to collect basic performance
metrics for each Http2Session
and Http2Stream
instance.
const { PerformanceObserver } = require('node:perf_hooks');
const obs = new PerformanceObserver((items) => {
const entry = items.getEntries()[0];
console.log(entry.entryType);
if (entry.name === 'Http2Session') {
} else if (entry.name === 'Http2Stream') {
}
});
obs.observe({ entryTypes: ['http2'] });
The entryType
property of the PerformanceEntry
will be equal to 'http2'
.
The name
property of the PerformanceEntry
will be equal to either
'Http2Stream'
or 'Http2Session'
.
If name
is equal to Http2Stream
, the PerformanceEntry
will contain the
following additional properties:
bytesRead
<number> The number of DATA
frame bytes received for this
Http2Stream
.
bytesWritten
<number> The number of DATA
frame bytes sent for this
Http2Stream
.
id
<number> The identifier of the associated Http2Stream
timeToFirstByte
<number> The number of milliseconds elapsed between the
PerformanceEntry
startTime
and the reception of the first DATA
frame.
timeToFirstByteSent
<number> The number of milliseconds elapsed between
the PerformanceEntry
startTime
and sending of the first DATA
frame.
timeToFirstHeader
<number> The number of milliseconds elapsed between the
PerformanceEntry
startTime
and the reception of the first header.
If name
is equal to Http2Session
, the PerformanceEntry
will contain the
following additional properties:
bytesRead
<number> The number of bytes received for this Http2Session
.
bytesWritten
<number> The number of bytes sent for this Http2Session
.
framesReceived
<number> The number of HTTP/2 frames received by the
Http2Session
.
framesSent
<number> The number of HTTP/2 frames sent by the Http2Session
.
maxConcurrentStreams
<number> The maximum number of streams concurrently
open during the lifetime of the Http2Session
.
pingRTT
<number> The number of milliseconds elapsed since the transmission
of a PING
frame and the reception of its acknowledgment. Only present if
a PING
frame has been sent on the Http2Session
.
streamAverageDuration
<number> The average duration (in milliseconds) for
all Http2Stream
instances.
streamCount
<number> The number of Http2Stream
instances processed by
the Http2Session
.
type
<string> Either 'server'
or 'client'
to identify the type of
Http2Session
.
Note on :authority
and host
#
HTTP/2 requires requests to have either the :authority
pseudo-header
or the host
header. Prefer :authority
when constructing an HTTP/2
request directly, and host
when converting from HTTP/1 (in proxies,
for instance).
The compatibility API falls back to host
if :authority
is not
present. See request.authority
for more information. However,
if you don't use the compatibility API (or use req.headers
directly),
you need to implement any fall-back behavior yourself.
Process#
Source Code: lib/process.js
The process
object provides information about, and control over, the current
Node.js process.
import process from 'node:process';
const process = require('node:process');
Process events#
The process
object is an instance of EventEmitter
.
Event: 'beforeExit'
#
Added in: v0.11.12
The 'beforeExit'
event is emitted when Node.js empties its event loop and has
no additional work to schedule. Normally, the Node.js process will exit when
there is no work scheduled, but a listener registered on the 'beforeExit'
event can make asynchronous calls, and thereby cause the Node.js process to
continue.
The listener callback function is invoked with the value of
process.exitCode
passed as the only argument.
The 'beforeExit'
event is not emitted for conditions causing explicit
termination, such as calling process.exit()
or uncaught exceptions.
The 'beforeExit'
should not be used as an alternative to the 'exit'
event
unless the intention is to schedule additional work.
import process from 'node:process';
process.on('beforeExit', (code) => {
console.log('Process beforeExit event with code: ', code);
});
process.on('exit', (code) => {
console.log('Process exit event with code: ', code);
});
console.log('This message is displayed first.');
const process = require('node:process');
process.on('beforeExit', (code) => {
console.log('Process beforeExit event with code: ', code);
});
process.on('exit', (code) => {
console.log('Process exit event with code: ', code);
});
console.log('This message is displayed first.');
Event: 'disconnect'
#
Added in: v0.7.7
If the Node.js process is spawned with an IPC channel (see the Child Process
and Cluster documentation), the 'disconnect'
event will be emitted when
the IPC channel is closed.
Event: 'exit'
#
Added in: v0.1.7
The 'exit'
event is emitted when the Node.js process is about to exit as a
result of either:
- The
process.exit()
method being called explicitly;
- The Node.js event loop no longer having any additional work to perform.
There is no way to prevent the exiting of the event loop at this point, and once
all 'exit'
listeners have finished running the Node.js process will terminate.
The listener callback function is invoked with the exit code specified either
by the process.exitCode
property, or the exitCode
argument passed to the
process.exit()
method.
import process from 'node:process';
process.on('exit', (code) => {
console.log(`About to exit with code: ${code}`);
});
const process = require('node:process');
process.on('exit', (code) => {
console.log(`About to exit with code: ${code}`);
});
Listener functions must only perform synchronous operations. The Node.js
process will exit immediately after calling the 'exit'
event listeners
causing any additional work still queued in the event loop to be abandoned.
In the following example, for instance, the timeout will never occur:
import process from 'node:process';
process.on('exit', (code) => {
setTimeout(() => {
console.log('This will not run');
}, 0);
});
const process = require('node:process');
process.on('exit', (code) => {
setTimeout(() => {
console.log('This will not run');
}, 0);
});
Event: 'message'
#
Added in: v0.5.10
If the Node.js process is spawned with an IPC channel (see the Child Process
and Cluster documentation), the 'message'
event is emitted whenever a
message sent by a parent process using childprocess.send()
is received by
the child process.
The message goes through serialization and parsing. The resulting message might
not be the same as what is originally sent.
If the serialization
option was set to advanced
used when spawning the
process, the message
argument can contain data that JSON is not able
to represent.
See Advanced serialization for child_process
for more details.
Event: 'multipleResolves'
#
Added in: v10.12.0Deprecated since: v16.15.0
type
<string> The resolution type. One of 'resolve'
or 'reject'
.
promise
<Promise> The promise that resolved or rejected more than once.
value
<any> The value with which the promise was either resolved or
rejected after the original resolve.
The 'multipleResolves'
event is emitted whenever a Promise
has been either:
- Resolved more than once.
- Rejected more than once.
- Rejected after resolve.
- Resolved after reject.
This is useful for tracking potential errors in an application while using the
Promise
constructor, as multiple resolutions are silently swallowed. However,
the occurrence of this event does not necessarily indicate an error. For
example, Promise.race()
can trigger a 'multipleResolves'
event.
Because of the unreliability of the event in cases like the
Promise.race()
example above it has been deprecated.
import process from 'node:process';
process.on('multipleResolves', (type, promise, reason) => {
console.error(type, promise, reason);
setImmediate(() => process.exit(1));
});
async function main() {
try {
return await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
resolve('First call');
resolve('Swallowed resolve');
reject(new Error('Swallowed reject'));
});
} catch {
throw new Error('Failed');
}
}
main().then(console.log);
const process = require('node:process');
process.on('multipleResolves', (type, promise, reason) => {
console.error(type, promise, reason);
setImmediate(() => process.exit(1));
});
async function main() {
try {
return await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
resolve('First call');
resolve('Swallowed resolve');
reject(new Error('Swallowed reject'));
});
} catch {
throw new Error('Failed');
}
}
main().then(console.log);
Event: 'rejectionHandled'
#
Added in: v1.4.1
The 'rejectionHandled'
event is emitted whenever a Promise
has been rejected
and an error handler was attached to it (using promise.catch()
, for
example) later than one turn of the Node.js event loop.
The Promise
object would have previously been emitted in an
'unhandledRejection'
event, but during the course of processing gained a
rejection handler.
There is no notion of a top level for a Promise
chain at which rejections can
always be handled. Being inherently asynchronous in nature, a Promise
rejection can be handled at a future point in time, possibly much later than
the event loop turn it takes for the 'unhandledRejection'
event to be emitted.
Another way of stating this is that, unlike in synchronous code where there is
an ever-growing list of unhandled exceptions, with Promises there can be a
growing-and-shrinking list of unhandled rejections.
In synchronous code, the 'uncaughtException'
event is emitted when the list of
unhandled exceptions grows.
In asynchronous code, the 'unhandledRejection'
event is emitted when the list
of unhandled rejections grows, and the 'rejectionHandled'
event is emitted
when the list of unhandled rejections shrinks.
import process from 'node:process';
const unhandledRejections = new Map();
process.on('unhandledRejection', (reason, promise) => {
unhandledRejections.set(promise, reason);
});
process.on('rejectionHandled', (promise) => {
unhandledRejections.delete(promise);
});
const process = require('node:process');
const unhandledRejections = new Map();
process.on('unhandledRejection', (reason, promise) => {
unhandledRejections.set(promise, reason);
});
process.on('rejectionHandled', (promise) => {
unhandledRejections.delete(promise);
});
In this example, the unhandledRejections
Map
will grow and shrink over time,
reflecting rejections that start unhandled and then become handled. It is
possible to record such errors in an error log, either periodically (which is
likely best for long-running application) or upon process exit (which is likely
most convenient for scripts).
Event: 'uncaughtException'
#
err
<Error> The uncaught exception.
origin
<string> Indicates if the exception originates from an unhandled
rejection or from a synchronous error. Can either be 'uncaughtException'
or
'unhandledRejection'
. The latter is used when an exception happens in a
Promise
based async context (or if a Promise
is rejected) and
--unhandled-rejections
flag set to strict
or throw
(which is the
default) and the rejection is not handled, or when a rejection happens during
the command line entry point's ES module static loading phase.
The 'uncaughtException'
event is emitted when an uncaught JavaScript
exception bubbles all the way back to the event loop. By default, Node.js
handles such exceptions by printing the stack trace to stderr
and exiting
with code 1, overriding any previously set process.exitCode
.
Adding a handler for the 'uncaughtException'
event overrides this default
behavior. Alternatively, change the process.exitCode
in the
'uncaughtException'
handler which will result in the process exiting with the
provided exit code. Otherwise, in the presence of such handler the process will
exit with 0.
import process from 'node:process';
process.on('uncaughtException', (err, origin) => {
fs.writeSync(
process.stderr.fd,
`Caught exception: ${err}\n` +
`Exception origin: ${origin}`
);
});
setTimeout(() => {
console.log('This will still run.');
}, 500);
nonexistentFunc();
console.log('This will not run.');
const process = require('node:process');
process.on('uncaughtException', (err, origin) => {
fs.writeSync(
process.stderr.fd,
`Caught exception: ${err}\n` +
`Exception origin: ${origin}`
);
});
setTimeout(() => {
console.log('This will still run.');
}, 500);
nonexistentFunc();
console.log('This will not run.');
It is possible to monitor 'uncaughtException'
events without overriding the
default behavior to exit the process by installing a
'uncaughtExceptionMonitor'
listener.
Warning: Using 'uncaughtException'
correctly#
'uncaughtException'
is a crude mechanism for exception handling
intended to be used only as a last resort. The event should not be used as
an equivalent to On Error Resume Next
. Unhandled exceptions inherently mean
that an application is in an undefined state. Attempting to resume application
code without properly recovering from the exception can cause additional
unforeseen and unpredictable issues.
Exceptions thrown from within the event handler will not be caught. Instead the
process will exit with a non-zero exit code and the stack trace will be printed.
This is to avoid infinite recursion.
Attempting to resume normally after an uncaught exception can be similar to
pulling out the power cord when upgrading a computer. Nine out of ten
times, nothing happens. But the tenth time, the system becomes corrupted.
The correct use of 'uncaughtException'
is to perform synchronous cleanup
of allocated resources (e.g. file descriptors, handles, etc) before shutting
down the process. It is not safe to resume normal operation after
'uncaughtException'
.
To restart a crashed application in a more reliable way, whether
'uncaughtException'
is emitted or not, an external monitor should be employed
in a separate process to detect application failures and recover or restart as
needed.
Event: 'uncaughtExceptionMonitor'
#
Added in: v13.7.0, v12.17.0
err
<Error> The uncaught exception.
origin
<string> Indicates if the exception originates from an unhandled
rejection or from synchronous errors. Can either be 'uncaughtException'
or
'unhandledRejection'
. The latter is used when an exception happens in a
Promise
based async context (or if a Promise
is rejected) and
--unhandled-rejections
flag set to strict
or throw
(which is the
default) and the rejection is not handled, or when a rejection happens during
the command line entry point's ES module static loading phase.
The 'uncaughtExceptionMonitor'
event is emitted before an
'uncaughtException'
event is emitted or a hook installed via
process.setUncaughtExceptionCaptureCallback()
is called.
Installing an 'uncaughtExceptionMonitor'
listener does not change the behavior
once an 'uncaughtException'
event is emitted. The process will
still crash if no 'uncaughtException'
listener is installed.
import process from 'node:process';
process.on('uncaughtExceptionMonitor', (err, origin) => {
MyMonitoringTool.logSync(err, origin);
});
nonexistentFunc();
const process = require('node:process');
process.on('uncaughtExceptionMonitor', (err, origin) => {
MyMonitoringTool.logSync(err, origin);
});
nonexistentFunc();
Event: 'unhandledRejection'
#
reason
<Error> | <any> The object with which the promise was rejected
(typically an Error
object).
promise
<Promise> The rejected promise.
The 'unhandledRejection'
event is emitted whenever a Promise
is rejected and
no error handler is attached to the promise within a turn of the event loop.
When programming with Promises, exceptions are encapsulated as "rejected
promises". Rejections can be caught and handled using promise.catch()
and
are propagated through a Promise
chain. The 'unhandledRejection'
event is
useful for detecting and keeping track of promises that were rejected whose
rejections have not yet been handled.
import process from 'node:process';
process.on('unhandledRejection', (reason, promise) => {
console.log('Unhandled Rejection at:', promise, 'reason:', reason);
});
somePromise.then((res) => {
return reportToUser(JSON.pasre(res));
});
const process = require('node:process');
process.on('unhandledRejection', (reason, promise) => {
console.log('Unhandled Rejection at:', promise, 'reason:', reason);
});
somePromise.then((res) => {
return reportToUser(JSON.pasre(res));
});
The following will also trigger the 'unhandledRejection'
event to be
emitted:
import process from 'node:process';
function SomeResource() {
this.loaded = Promise.reject(new Error('Resource not yet loaded!'));
}
const resource = new SomeResource();
const process = require('node:process');
function SomeResource() {
this.loaded = Promise.reject(new Error('Resource not yet loaded!'));
}
const resource = new SomeResource();
In this example case, it is possible to track the rejection as a developer error
as would typically be the case for other 'unhandledRejection'
events. To
address such failures, a non-operational
.catch(() => { })
handler may be attached to
resource.loaded
, which would prevent the 'unhandledRejection'
event from
being emitted.
Event: 'warning'
#
Added in: v6.0.0
warning
<Error> Key properties of the warning are:
name
<string> The name of the warning. Default: 'Warning'
.
message
<string> A system-provided description of the warning.
stack
<string> A stack trace to the location in the code where the warning
was issued.
The 'warning'
event is emitted whenever Node.js emits a process warning.
A process warning is similar to an error in that it describes exceptional
conditions that are being brought to the user's attention. However, warnings
are not part of the normal Node.js and JavaScript error handling flow.
Node.js can emit warnings whenever it detects bad coding practices that could
lead to sub-optimal application performance, bugs, or security vulnerabilities.
import process from 'node:process';
process.on('warning', (warning) => {
console.warn(warning.name);
console.warn(warning.message);
console.warn(warning.stack);
});
const process = require('node:process');
process.on('warning', (warning) => {
console.warn(warning.name);
console.warn(warning.message);
console.warn(warning.stack);
});
By default, Node.js will print process warnings to stderr
. The --no-warnings
command-line option can be used to suppress the default console output but the
'warning'
event will still be emitted by the process
object.
The following example illustrates the warning that is printed to stderr
when
too many listeners have been added to an event:
$ node
> events.defaultMaxListeners = 1;
> process.on('foo', () => {});
> process.on('foo', () => {});
> (node:38638) MaxListenersExceededWarning: Possible EventEmitter memory leak
detected. 2 foo listeners added. Use emitter.setMaxListeners() to increase limit
In contrast, the following example turns off the default warning output and
adds a custom handler to the 'warning'
event:
$ node --no-warnings
> const p = process.on('warning', (warning) => console.warn('Do not do that!'));
> events.defaultMaxListeners = 1;
> process.on('foo', () => {});
> process.on('foo', () => {});
> Do not do that!
The --trace-warnings
command-line option can be used to have the default
console output for warnings include the full stack trace of the warning.
Launching Node.js using the --throw-deprecation
command-line flag will
cause custom deprecation warnings to be thrown as exceptions.
Using the --trace-deprecation
command-line flag will cause the custom
deprecation to be printed to stderr
along with the stack trace.
Using the --no-deprecation
command-line flag will suppress all reporting
of the custom deprecation.
The *-deprecation
command-line flags only affect warnings that use the name
'DeprecationWarning'
.
Event: 'worker'
#
Added in: v16.2.0
The 'worker'
event is emitted after a new <Worker> thread has been created.
Emitting custom warnings#
See the process.emitWarning()
method for issuing
custom or application-specific warnings.
Node.js warning names#
There are no strict guidelines for warning types (as identified by the name
property) emitted by Node.js. New types of warnings can be added at any time.
A few of the warning types that are most common include:
'DeprecationWarning'
- Indicates use of a deprecated Node.js API or feature.
Such warnings must include a 'code'
property identifying the
deprecation code.
'ExperimentalWarning'
- Indicates use of an experimental Node.js API or
feature. Such features must be used with caution as they may change at any
time and are not subject to the same strict semantic-versioning and long-term
support policies as supported features.
'MaxListenersExceededWarning'
- Indicates that too many listeners for a
given event have been registered on either an EventEmitter
or EventTarget
.
This is often an indication of a memory leak.
'TimeoutOverflowWarning'
- Indicates that a numeric value that cannot fit
within a 32-bit signed integer has been provided to either the setTimeout()
or setInterval()
functions.
'UnsupportedWarning'
- Indicates use of an unsupported option or feature
that will be ignored rather than treated as an error. One example is use of
the HTTP response status message when using the HTTP/2 compatibility API.
Signal events#
Signal events will be emitted when the Node.js process receives a signal. Please
refer to signal(7)
for a listing of standard POSIX signal names such as
'SIGINT'
, 'SIGHUP'
, etc.
Signals are not available on Worker
threads.
The signal handler will receive the signal's name ('SIGINT'
,
'SIGTERM'
, etc.) as the first argument.
The name of each event will be the uppercase common name for the signal (e.g.
'SIGINT'
for SIGINT
signals).
import process from 'node:process';
process.stdin.resume();
process.on('SIGINT', () => {
console.log('Received SIGINT. Press Control-D to exit.');
});
function handle(signal) {
console.log(`Received ${signal}`);
}
process.on('SIGINT', handle);
process.on('SIGTERM', handle);
const process = require('node:process');
process.stdin.resume();
process.on('SIGINT', () => {
console.log('Received SIGINT. Press Control-D to exit.');
});
function handle(signal) {
console.log(`Received ${signal}`);
}
process.on('SIGINT', handle);
process.on('SIGTERM', handle);
'SIGUSR1'
is reserved by Node.js to start the debugger. It's possible to
install a listener but doing so might interfere with the debugger.
'SIGTERM'
and 'SIGINT'
have default handlers on non-Windows platforms that
reset the terminal mode before exiting with code 128 + signal number
. If one
of these signals has a listener installed, its default behavior will be
removed (Node.js will no longer exit).
'SIGPIPE'
is ignored by default. It can have a listener installed.
'SIGHUP'
is generated on Windows when the console window is closed, and on
other platforms under various similar conditions. See signal(7)
. It can have a
listener installed, however Node.js will be unconditionally terminated by
Windows about 10 seconds later. On non-Windows platforms, the default
behavior of SIGHUP
is to terminate Node.js, but once a listener has been
installed its default behavior will be removed.
'SIGTERM'
is not supported on Windows, it can be listened on.
'SIGINT'
from the terminal is supported on all platforms, and can usually be
generated with Ctrl+C (though this may be configurable).
It is not generated when terminal raw mode is enabled
and Ctrl+C is used.
'SIGBREAK'
is delivered on Windows when Ctrl+Break is
pressed. On non-Windows platforms, it can be listened on, but there is no way
to send or generate it.
'SIGWINCH'
is delivered when the console has been resized. On Windows, this
will only happen on write to the console when the cursor is being moved, or
when a readable tty is used in raw mode.
'SIGKILL'
cannot have a listener installed, it will unconditionally
terminate Node.js on all platforms.
'SIGSTOP'
cannot have a listener installed.
'SIGBUS'
, 'SIGFPE'
, 'SIGSEGV'
, and 'SIGILL'
, when not raised
artificially using kill(2)
, inherently leave the process in a state from
which it is not safe to call JS listeners. Doing so might cause the process
to stop responding.
0
can be sent to test for the existence of a process, it has no effect if
the process exists, but will throw an error if the process does not exist.
Windows does not support signals so has no equivalent to termination by signal,
but Node.js offers some emulation with process.kill()
, and
subprocess.kill()
:
- Sending
SIGINT
, SIGTERM
, and SIGKILL
will cause the unconditional
termination of the target process, and afterwards, subprocess will report that
the process was terminated by signal.
- Sending signal
0
can be used as a platform independent way to test for the
existence of a process.
process.abort()
#
Added in: v0.7.0
The process.abort()
method causes the Node.js process to exit immediately and
generate a core file.
This feature is not available in Worker
threads.
process.allowedNodeEnvironmentFlags
#
Added in: v10.10.0
The process.allowedNodeEnvironmentFlags
property is a special,
read-only Set
of flags allowable within the NODE_OPTIONS
environment variable.
process.allowedNodeEnvironmentFlags
extends Set
, but overrides
Set.prototype.has
to recognize several different possible flag
representations. process.allowedNodeEnvironmentFlags.has()
will
return true
in the following cases:
- Flags may omit leading single (
-
) or double (--
) dashes; e.g.,
inspect-brk
for --inspect-brk
, or r
for -r
.
- Flags passed through to V8 (as listed in
--v8-options
) may replace
one or more non-leading dashes for an underscore, or vice-versa;
e.g., --perf_basic_prof
, --perf-basic-prof
, --perf_basic-prof
,
etc.
- Flags may contain one or more equals (
=
) characters; all
characters after and including the first equals will be ignored;
e.g., --stack-trace-limit=100
.
- Flags must be allowable within
NODE_OPTIONS
.
When iterating over process.allowedNodeEnvironmentFlags
, flags will
appear only once; each will begin with one or more dashes. Flags
passed through to V8 will contain underscores instead of non-leading
dashes:
import { allowedNodeEnvironmentFlags } from 'node:process';
allowedNodeEnvironmentFlags.forEach((flag) => {
});
const { allowedNodeEnvironmentFlags } = require('node:process');
allowedNodeEnvironmentFlags.forEach((flag) => {
});
The methods add()
, clear()
, and delete()
of
process.allowedNodeEnvironmentFlags
do nothing, and will fail
silently.
If Node.js was compiled without NODE_OPTIONS
support (shown in
process.config
), process.allowedNodeEnvironmentFlags
will
contain what would have been allowable.
process.argv
#
Added in: v0.1.27
The process.argv
property returns an array containing the command-line
arguments passed when the Node.js process was launched. The first element will
be process.execPath
. See process.argv0
if access to the original value
of argv[0]
is needed. The second element will be the path to the JavaScript
file being executed. The remaining elements will be any additional command-line
arguments.
For example, assuming the following script for process-args.js
:
import { argv } from 'node:process';
argv.forEach((val, index) => {
console.log(`${index}: ${val}`);
});
const { argv } = require('node:process');
argv.forEach((val, index) => {
console.log(`${index}: ${val}`);
});
Launching the Node.js process as:
$ node process-args.js one two=three four
Would generate the output:
0: /usr/local/bin/node
1: /Users/mjr/work/node/process-args.js
2: one
3: two=three
4: four
process.argv0
#
Added in: v6.4.0
The process.argv0
property stores a read-only copy of the original value of
argv[0]
passed when Node.js starts.
$ bash -c 'exec -a customArgv0 ./node'
> process.argv[0]
'/Volumes/code/external/node/out/Release/node'
> process.argv0
'customArgv0'
process.channel
#
If the Node.js process was spawned with an IPC channel (see the
Child Process documentation), the process.channel
property is a reference to the IPC channel. If no IPC channel exists, this
property is undefined
.
process.channel.ref()
#
Added in: v7.1.0
This method makes the IPC channel keep the event loop of the process
running if .unref()
has been called before.
Typically, this is managed through the number of 'disconnect'
and 'message'
listeners on the process
object. However, this method can be used to
explicitly request a specific behavior.
process.channel.unref()
#
Added in: v7.1.0
This method makes the IPC channel not keep the event loop of the process
running, and lets it finish even while the channel is open.
Typically, this is managed through the number of 'disconnect'
and 'message'
listeners on the process
object. However, this method can be used to
explicitly request a specific behavior.
process.chdir(directory)
#
Added in: v0.1.17
The process.chdir()
method changes the current working directory of the
Node.js process or throws an exception if doing so fails (for instance, if
the specified directory
does not exist).
import { chdir, cwd } from 'node:process';
console.log(`Starting directory: ${cwd()}`);
try {
chdir('/tmp');
console.log(`New directory: ${cwd()}`);
} catch (err) {
console.error(`chdir: ${err}`);
}
const { chdir, cwd } = require('node:process');
console.log(`Starting directory: ${cwd()}`);
try {
chdir('/tmp');
console.log(`New directory: ${cwd()}`);
} catch (err) {
console.error(`chdir: ${err}`);
}
This feature is not available in Worker
threads.
process.config
#
The process.config
property returns an Object
containing the JavaScript
representation of the configure options used to compile the current Node.js
executable. This is the same as the config.gypi
file that was produced when
running the ./configure
script.
An example of the possible output looks like:
{
target_defaults:
{ cflags: [],
default_configuration: 'Release',
defines: [],
include_dirs: [],
libraries: [] },
variables:
{
host_arch: 'x64',
napi_build_version: 5,
node_install_npm: 'true',
node_prefix: '',
node_shared_cares: 'false',
node_shared_http_parser: 'false',
node_shared_libuv: 'false',
node_shared_zlib: 'false',
node_use_dtrace: 'false',
node_use_openssl: 'true',
node_shared_openssl: 'false',
strict_aliasing: 'true',
target_arch: 'x64',
v8_use_snapshot: 1
}
}
The process.config
property is not read-only and there are existing
modules in the ecosystem that are known to extend, modify, or entirely replace
the value of process.config
.
Modifying the process.config
property, or any child-property of the
process.config
object has been deprecated. The process.config
will be made
read-only in a future release.
process.connected
#
Added in: v0.7.2
If the Node.js process is spawned with an IPC channel (see the Child Process
and Cluster documentation), the process.connected
property will return
true
so long as the IPC channel is connected and will return false
after
process.disconnect()
is called.
Once process.connected
is false
, it is no longer possible to send messages
over the IPC channel using process.send()
.
process.cpuUsage([previousValue])
#
Added in: v6.1.0
previousValue
<Object> A previous return value from calling
process.cpuUsage()
- Returns: <Object>
The process.cpuUsage()
method returns the user and system CPU time usage of
the current process, in an object with properties user
and system
, whose
values are microsecond values (millionth of a second). These values measure time
spent in user and system code respectively, and may end up being greater than
actual elapsed time if multiple CPU cores are performing work for this process.
The result of a previous call to process.cpuUsage()
can be passed as the
argument to the function, to get a diff reading.
import { cpuUsage } from 'node:process';
const startUsage = cpuUsage();
const now = Date.now();
while (Date.now() - now < 500);
console.log(cpuUsage(startUsage));
const { cpuUsage } = require('node:process');
const startUsage = cpuUsage();
const now = Date.now();
while (Date.now() - now < 500);
console.log(cpuUsage(startUsage));
process.disconnect()
#
Added in: v0.7.2
If the Node.js process is spawned with an IPC channel (see the Child Process
and Cluster documentation), the process.disconnect()
method will close the
IPC channel to the parent process, allowing the child process to exit gracefully
once there are no other connections keeping it alive.
The effect of calling process.disconnect()
is the same as calling
ChildProcess.disconnect()
from the parent process.
If the Node.js process was not spawned with an IPC channel,
process.disconnect()
will be undefined
.
process.dlopen(module, filename[, flags])
#
The process.dlopen()
method allows dynamically loading shared objects. It is
primarily used by require()
to load C++ Addons, and should not be used
directly, except in special cases. In other words, require()
should be
preferred over process.dlopen()
unless there are specific reasons such as
custom dlopen flags or loading from ES modules.
The flags
argument is an integer that allows to specify dlopen
behavior. See the os.constants.dlopen
documentation for details.
An important requirement when calling process.dlopen()
is that the module
instance must be passed. Functions exported by the C++ Addon are then
accessible via module.exports
.
The example below shows how to load a C++ Addon, named local.node
,
that exports a foo
function. All the symbols are loaded before
the call returns, by passing the RTLD_NOW
constant. In this example
the constant is assumed to be available.
import { dlopen } from 'node:process';
import { constants } from 'node:os';
import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
const module = { exports: {} };
dlopen(module, fileURLToPath(new URL('local.node', import.meta.url)),
constants.dlopen.RTLD_NOW);
module.exports.foo();
const { dlopen } = require('node:process');
const { constants } = require('node:os');
const { join } = require('node:path');
const module = { exports: {} };
dlopen(module, join(__dirname, 'local.node'), constants.dlopen.RTLD_NOW);
module.exports.foo();
process.emitWarning(warning[, options])
#
Added in: v8.0.0
warning
<string> | <Error> The warning to emit.
options
<Object>
type
<string> When warning
is a String
, type
is the name to use
for the type of warning being emitted. Default: 'Warning'
.
code
<string> A unique identifier for the warning instance being emitted.
ctor
<Function> When warning
is a String
, ctor
is an optional
function used to limit the generated stack trace. Default:
process.emitWarning
.
detail
<string> Additional text to include with the error.
The process.emitWarning()
method can be used to emit custom or application
specific process warnings. These can be listened for by adding a handler to the
'warning'
event.
import { emitWarning } from 'node:process';
emitWarning('Something happened!', {
code: 'MY_WARNING',
detail: 'This is some additional information'
});
const { emitWarning } = require('node:process');
emitWarning('Something happened!', {
code: 'MY_WARNING',
detail: 'This is some additional information'
});
In this example, an Error
object is generated internally by
process.emitWarning()
and passed through to the
'warning'
handler.
import process from 'node:process';
process.on('warning', (warning) => {
console.warn(warning.name);
console.warn(warning.message);
console.warn(warning.code);
console.warn(warning.stack);
console.warn(warning.detail);
});
const process = require('node:process');
process.on('warning', (warning) => {
console.warn(warning.name);
console.warn(warning.message);
console.warn(warning.code);
console.warn(warning.stack);
console.warn(warning.detail);
});
If warning
is passed as an Error
object, the options
argument is ignored.
process.emitWarning(warning[, type[, code]][, ctor])
#
Added in: v6.0.0
warning
<string> | <Error> The warning to emit.
type
<string> When warning
is a String
, type
is the name to use
for the type of warning being emitted. Default: 'Warning'
.
code
<string> A unique identifier for the warning instance being emitted.
ctor
<Function> When warning
is a String
, ctor
is an optional
function used to limit the generated stack trace. Default:
process.emitWarning
.
The process.emitWarning()
method can be used to emit custom or application
specific process warnings. These can be listened for by adding a handler to the
'warning'
event.
import { emitWarning } from 'node:process';
emitWarning('Something happened!');
const { emitWarning } = require('node:process');
emitWarning('Something happened!');
import { emitWarning } from 'node:process';
emitWarning('Something Happened!', 'CustomWarning');
const { emitWarning } = require('node:process');
emitWarning('Something Happened!', 'CustomWarning');
import { emitWarning } from 'node:process';
emitWarning('Something happened!', 'CustomWarning', 'WARN001');
const { emitWarning } = require('node:process');
process.emitWarning('Something happened!', 'CustomWarning', 'WARN001');
In each of the previous examples, an Error
object is generated internally by
process.emitWarning()
and passed through to the 'warning'
handler.
import process from 'node:process';
process.on('warning', (warning) => {
console.warn(warning.name);
console.warn(warning.message);
console.warn(warning.code);
console.warn(warning.stack);
});
const process = require('node:process');
process.on('warning', (warning) => {
console.warn(warning.name);
console.warn(warning.message);
console.warn(warning.code);
console.warn(warning.stack);
});
If warning
is passed as an Error
object, it will be passed through to the
'warning'
event handler unmodified (and the optional type
,
code
and ctor
arguments will be ignored):
import { emitWarning } from 'node:process';
const myWarning = new Error('Something happened!');
myWarning.name = 'CustomWarning';
myWarning.code = 'WARN001';
emitWarning(myWarning);
const { emitWarning } = require('node:process');
const myWarning = new Error('Something happened!');
myWarning.name = 'CustomWarning';
myWarning.code = 'WARN001';
emitWarning(myWarning);
A TypeError
is thrown if warning
is anything other than a string or Error
object.
While process warnings use Error
objects, the process warning
mechanism is not a replacement for normal error handling mechanisms.
The following additional handling is implemented if the warning type
is
'DeprecationWarning'
:
- If the
--throw-deprecation
command-line flag is used, the deprecation
warning is thrown as an exception rather than being emitted as an event.
- If the
--no-deprecation
command-line flag is used, the deprecation
warning is suppressed.
- If the
--trace-deprecation
command-line flag is used, the deprecation
warning is printed to stderr
along with the full stack trace.
Avoiding duplicate warnings#
As a best practice, warnings should be emitted only once per process. To do
so, place the emitWarning()
behind a boolean.
import { emitWarning } from 'node:process';
function emitMyWarning() {
if (!emitMyWarning.warned) {
emitMyWarning.warned = true;
emitWarning('Only warn once!');
}
}
emitMyWarning();
emitMyWarning();
const { emitWarning } = require('node:process');
function emitMyWarning() {
if (!emitMyWarning.warned) {
emitMyWarning.warned = true;
emitWarning('Only warn once!');
}
}
emitMyWarning();
emitMyWarning();
process.env
#
The process.env
property returns an object containing the user environment.
See environ(7)
.
An example of this object looks like:
{
TERM: 'xterm-256color',
SHELL: '/usr/local/bin/bash',
USER: 'maciej',
PATH: '~/.bin/:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin',
PWD: '/Users/maciej',
EDITOR: 'vim',
SHLVL: '1',
HOME: '/Users/maciej',
LOGNAME: 'maciej',
_: '/usr/local/bin/node'
}
It is possible to modify this object, but such modifications will not be
reflected outside the Node.js process, or (unless explicitly requested)
to other Worker
threads.
In other words, the following example would not work:
$ node -e 'process.env.foo = "bar"' && echo $foo
While the following will:
import { env } from 'node:process';
env.foo = 'bar';
console.log(env.foo);
const { env } = require('node:process');
env.foo = 'bar';
console.log(env.foo);
Assigning a property on process.env
will implicitly convert the value
to a string. This behavior is deprecated. Future versions of Node.js may
throw an error when the value is not a string, number, or boolean.
import { env } from 'node:process';
env.test = null;
console.log(env.test);
env.test = undefined;
console.log(env.test);
const { env } = require('node:process');
env.test = null;
console.log(env.test);
env.test = undefined;
console.log(env.test);
Use delete
to delete a property from process.env
.
import { env } from 'node:process';
env.TEST = 1;
delete env.TEST;
console.log(env.TEST);
const { env } = require('node:process');
env.TEST = 1;
delete env.TEST;
console.log(env.TEST);
On Windows operating systems, environment variables are case-insensitive.
import { env } from 'node:process';
env.TEST = 1;
console.log(env.test);
const { env } = require('node:process');
env.TEST = 1;
console.log(env.test);
Unless explicitly specified when creating a Worker
instance,
each Worker
thread has its own copy of process.env
, based on its
parent thread's process.env
, or whatever was specified as the env
option
to the Worker
constructor. Changes to process.env
will not be visible
across Worker
threads, and only the main thread can make changes that
are visible to the operating system or to native add-ons.
process.execArgv
#
Added in: v0.7.7
The process.execArgv
property returns the set of Node.js-specific command-line
options passed when the Node.js process was launched. These options do not
appear in the array returned by the process.argv
property, and do not
include the Node.js executable, the name of the script, or any options following
the script name. These options are useful in order to spawn child processes with
the same execution environment as the parent.
$ node --harmony script.js --version
Results in process.execArgv
:
['--harmony']
And process.argv
:
['/usr/local/bin/node', 'script.js', '--version']
Refer to Worker
constructor for the detailed behavior of worker
threads with this property.
process.execPath
#
Added in: v0.1.100
The process.execPath
property returns the absolute pathname of the executable
that started the Node.js process. Symbolic links, if any, are resolved.
'/usr/local/bin/node'
process.exit([code])
#
Added in: v0.1.13
The process.exit()
method instructs Node.js to terminate the process
synchronously with an exit status of code
. If code
is omitted, exit uses
either the 'success' code 0
or the value of process.exitCode
if it has been
set. Node.js will not terminate until all the 'exit'
event listeners are
called.
To exit with a 'failure' code:
import { exit } from 'node:process';
exit(1);
const { exit } = require('node:process');
exit(1);
The shell that executed Node.js should see the exit code as 1
.
Calling process.exit()
will force the process to exit as quickly as possible
even if there are still asynchronous operations pending that have not yet
completed fully, including I/O operations to process.stdout
and
process.stderr
.
In most situations, it is not actually necessary to call process.exit()
explicitly. The Node.js process will exit on its own if there is no additional
work pending in the event loop. The process.exitCode
property can be set to
tell the process which exit code to use when the process exits gracefully.
For instance, the following example illustrates a misuse of the
process.exit()
method that could lead to data printed to stdout being
truncated and lost:
import { exit } from 'node:process';
if (someConditionNotMet()) {
printUsageToStdout();
exit(1);
}
const { exit } = require('node:process');
if (someConditionNotMet()) {
printUsageToStdout();
exit(1);
}
The reason this is problematic is because writes to process.stdout
in Node.js
are sometimes asynchronous and may occur over multiple ticks of the Node.js
event loop. Calling process.exit()
, however, forces the process to exit
before those additional writes to stdout
can be performed.
Rather than calling process.exit()
directly, the code should set the
process.exitCode
and allow the process to exit naturally by avoiding
scheduling any additional work for the event loop:
import process from 'node:process';
if (someConditionNotMet()) {
printUsageToStdout();
process.exitCode = 1;
}
const process = require('node:process');
if (someConditionNotMet()) {
printUsageToStdout();
process.exitCode = 1;
}
If it is necessary to terminate the Node.js process due to an error condition,
throwing an uncaught error and allowing the process to terminate accordingly
is safer than calling process.exit()
.
In Worker
threads, this function stops the current thread rather
than the current process.
process.exitCode
#
Added in: v0.11.8
A number which will be the process exit code, when the process either
exits gracefully, or is exited via process.exit()
without specifying
a code.
Specifying a code to process.exit(code)
will override any
previous setting of process.exitCode
.
process.getActiveResourcesInfo()
#
Added in: v16.14.0
The process.getActiveResourcesInfo()
method returns an array of strings
containing the types of the active resources that are currently keeping the
event loop alive.
import { getActiveResourcesInfo } from 'node:process';
import { setTimeout } from 'node:timers';
console.log('Before:', getActiveResourcesInfo());
setTimeout(() => {}, 1000);
console.log('After:', getActiveResourcesInfo());
const { getActiveResourcesInfo } = require('node:process');
const { setTimeout } = require('node:timers');
console.log('Before:', getActiveResourcesInfo());
setTimeout(() => {}, 1000);
console.log('After:', getActiveResourcesInfo());
process.getegid()
#
Added in: v2.0.0
The process.getegid()
method returns the numerical effective group identity
of the Node.js process. (See getegid(2)
.)
import process from 'node:process';
if (process.getegid) {
console.log(`Current gid: ${process.getegid()}`);
}
const process = require('node:process');
if (process.getegid) {
console.log(`Current gid: ${process.getegid()}`);
}
This function is only available on POSIX platforms (i.e. not Windows or
Android).
process.geteuid()
#
Added in: v2.0.0
The process.geteuid()
method returns the numerical effective user identity of
the process. (See geteuid(2)
.)
import process from 'node:process';
if (process.geteuid) {
console.log(`Current uid: ${process.geteuid()}`);
}
const process = require('node:process');
if (process.geteuid) {
console.log(`Current uid: ${process.geteuid()}`);
}
This function is only available on POSIX platforms (i.e. not Windows or
Android).
process.getgid()
#
Added in: v0.1.31
The process.getgid()
method returns the numerical group identity of the
process. (See getgid(2)
.)
import process from 'node:process';
if (process.getgid) {
console.log(`Current gid: ${process.getgid()}`);
}
const process = require('node:process');
if (process.getgid) {
console.log(`Current gid: ${process.getgid()}`);
}
This function is only available on POSIX platforms (i.e. not Windows or
Android).
process.getgroups()
#
Added in: v0.9.4
The process.getgroups()
method returns an array with the supplementary group
IDs. POSIX leaves it unspecified if the effective group ID is included but
Node.js ensures it always is.
import process from 'node:process';
if (process.getgroups) {
console.log(process.getgroups());
}
const process = require('node:process');
if (process.getgroups) {
console.log(process.getgroups());
}
This function is only available on POSIX platforms (i.e. not Windows or
Android).
process.getuid()
#
Added in: v0.1.28
The process.getuid()
method returns the numeric user identity of the process.
(See getuid(2)
.)
import process from 'node:process';
if (process.getuid) {
console.log(`Current uid: ${process.getuid()}`);
}
const process = require('node:process');
if (process.getuid) {
console.log(`Current uid: ${process.getuid()}`);
}
This function is only available on POSIX platforms (i.e. not Windows or
Android).
process.hrtime([time])
#
Added in: v0.7.6
This is the legacy version of process.hrtime.bigint()
before bigint
was introduced in JavaScript.
The process.hrtime()
method returns the current high-resolution real time
in a [seconds, nanoseconds]
tuple Array
, where nanoseconds
is the
remaining part of the real time that can't be represented in second precision.
time
is an optional parameter that must be the result of a previous
process.hrtime()
call to diff with the current time. If the parameter
passed in is not a tuple Array
, a TypeError
will be thrown. Passing in a
user-defined array instead of the result of a previous call to
process.hrtime()
will lead to undefined behavior.
These times are relative to an arbitrary time in the
past, and not related to the time of day and therefore not subject to clock
drift. The primary use is for measuring performance between intervals:
import { hrtime } from 'node:process';
const NS_PER_SEC = 1e9;
const time = hrtime();
setTimeout(() => {
const diff = hrtime(time);
console.log(`Benchmark took ${diff[0] * NS_PER_SEC + diff[1]} nanoseconds`);
}, 1000);
const { hrtime } = require('node:process');
const NS_PER_SEC = 1e9;
const time = hrtime();
setTimeout(() => {
const diff = hrtime(time);
console.log(`Benchmark took ${diff[0] * NS_PER_SEC + diff[1]} nanoseconds`);
}, 1000);
process.hrtime.bigint()
#
Added in: v10.7.0
The bigint
version of the process.hrtime()
method returning the
current high-resolution real time in nanoseconds as a bigint
.
Unlike process.hrtime()
, it does not support an additional time
argument since the difference can just be computed directly
by subtraction of the two bigint
s.
import { hrtime } from 'node:process';
const start = hrtime.bigint();
setTimeout(() => {
const end = hrtime.bigint();
console.log(`Benchmark took ${end - start} nanoseconds`);
}, 1000);
const { hrtime } = require('node:process');
const start = hrtime.bigint();
setTimeout(() => {
const end = hrtime.bigint();
console.log(`Benchmark took ${end - start} nanoseconds`);
}, 1000);
process.initgroups(user, extraGroup)
Added in: v0.9.4
The process.initgroups()
method reads the /etc/group
file and initializes
the group access list, using all groups of which the user is a member. This is
a privileged operation that requires that the Node.js process either have root
access or the CAP_SETGID
capability.
Use care when dropping privileges:
import { getgroups, initgroups, setgid } from 'node:process';
console.log(getgroups());
initgroups('nodeuser', 1000);
console.log(getgroups());
setgid(1000);
console.log(getgroups());
const { getgroups, initgroups, setgid } = require('node:process');
console.log(getgroups());
initgroups('nodeuser', 1000);
console.log(getgroups());
setgid(1000);
console.log(getgroups());
This function is only available on POSIX platforms (i.e. not Windows or
Android).
This feature is not available in Worker
threads.
process.kill(pid[, signal])
#
Added in: v0.0.6
pid
<number> A process ID
signal
<string> | <number> The signal to send, either as a string or number.
Default: 'SIGTERM'
.
The process.kill()
method sends the signal
to the process identified by
pid
.
Signal names are strings such as 'SIGINT'
or 'SIGHUP'
. See Signal Events
and kill(2)
for more information.
This method will throw an error if the target pid
does not exist. As a special
case, a signal of 0
can be used to test for the existence of a process.
Windows platforms will throw an error if the pid
is used to kill a process
group.
Even though the name of this function is process.kill()
, it is really just a
signal sender, like the kill
system call. The signal sent may do something
other than kill the target process.
import process, { kill } from 'node:process';
process.on('SIGHUP', () => {
console.log('Got SIGHUP signal.');
});
setTimeout(() => {
console.log('Exiting.');
process.exit(0);
}, 100);
kill(process.pid, 'SIGHUP');
const process = require('node:process');
process.on('SIGHUP', () => {
console.log('Got SIGHUP signal.');
});
setTimeout(() => {
console.log('Exiting.');
process.exit(0);
}, 100);
process.kill(process.pid, 'SIGHUP');
When SIGUSR1
is received by a Node.js process, Node.js will start the
debugger. See Signal Events.
process.mainModule
#
Added in: v0.1.17Deprecated since: v14.0.0
The process.mainModule
property provides an alternative way of retrieving
require.main
. The difference is that if the main module changes at
runtime, require.main
may still refer to the original main module in
modules that were required before the change occurred. Generally, it's
safe to assume that the two refer to the same module.
As with require.main
, process.mainModule
will be undefined
if there
is no entry script.
process.memoryUsage()
#
Returns an object describing the memory usage of the Node.js process measured in
bytes.
import { memoryUsage } from 'node:process';
console.log(memoryUsage());
const { memoryUsage } = require('node:process');
console.log(memoryUsage());
heapTotal
and heapUsed
refer to V8's memory usage.
external
refers to the memory usage of C++ objects bound to JavaScript
objects managed by V8.
rss
, Resident Set Size, is the amount of space occupied in the main
memory device (that is a subset of the total allocated memory) for the
process, including all C++ and JavaScript objects and code.
arrayBuffers
refers to memory allocated for ArrayBuffer
s and
SharedArrayBuffer
s, including all Node.js Buffer
s.
This is also included in the external
value. When Node.js is used as an
embedded library, this value may be 0
because allocations for ArrayBuffer
s
may not be tracked in that case.
When using Worker
threads, rss
will be a value that is valid for the
entire process, while the other fields will only refer to the current thread.
The process.memoryUsage()
method iterates over each page to gather
information about memory usage which might be slow depending on the
program memory allocations.
process.memoryUsage.rss()
Added in: v15.6.0
The process.memoryUsage.rss()
method returns an integer representing the
Resident Set Size (RSS) in bytes.
The Resident Set Size, is the amount of space occupied in the main
memory device (that is a subset of the total allocated memory) for the
process, including all C++ and JavaScript objects and code.
This is the same value as the rss
property provided by process.memoryUsage()
but process.memoryUsage.rss()
is faster.
import { memoryUsage } from 'node:process';
console.log(memoryUsage.rss());
const { rss } = require('node:process');
console.log(memoryUsage.rss());
process.nextTick(callback[, ...args])
#
callback
<Function>
...args
<any> Additional arguments to pass when invoking the callback
process.nextTick()
adds callback
to the "next tick queue". This queue is
fully drained after the current operation on the JavaScript stack runs to
completion and before the event loop is allowed to continue. It's possible to
create an infinite loop if one were to recursively call process.nextTick()
.
See the Event Loop guide for more background.
import { nextTick } from 'node:process';
console.log('start');
nextTick(() => {
console.log('nextTick callback');
});
console.log('scheduled');
const { nextTick } = require('node:process');
console.log('start');
nextTick(() => {
console.log('nextTick callback');
});
console.log('scheduled');
This is important when developing APIs in order to give users the opportunity
to assign event handlers after an object has been constructed but before any
I/O has occurred:
import { nextTick } from 'node:process';
function MyThing(options) {
this.setupOptions(options);
nextTick(() => {
this.startDoingStuff();
});
}
const thing = new MyThing();
thing.getReadyForStuff();
const { nextTick } = require('node:process');
function MyThing(options) {
this.setupOptions(options);
nextTick(() => {
this.startDoingStuff();
});
}
const thing = new MyThing();
thing.getReadyForStuff();
It is very important for APIs to be either 100% synchronous or 100%
asynchronous. Consider this example:
function maybeSync(arg, cb) {
if (arg) {
cb();
return;
}
fs.stat('file', cb);
}
This API is hazardous because in the following case:
const maybeTrue = Math.random() > 0.5;
maybeSync(maybeTrue, () => {
foo();
});
bar();
It is not clear whether foo()
or bar()
will be called first.
The following approach is much better:
import { nextTick } from 'node:process';
function definitelyAsync(arg, cb) {
if (arg) {
nextTick(cb);
return;
}
fs.stat('file', cb);
}
const { nextTick } = require('node:process');
function definitelyAsync(arg, cb) {
if (arg) {
nextTick(cb);
return;
}
fs.stat('file', cb);
}
When to use queueMicrotask()
vs. process.nextTick()
#
The queueMicrotask()
API is an alternative to process.nextTick()
that
also defers execution of a function using the same microtask queue used to
execute the then, catch, and finally handlers of resolved promises. Within
Node.js, every time the "next tick queue" is drained, the microtask queue
is drained immediately after.
import { nextTick } from 'node:process';
Promise.resolve().then(() => console.log(2));
queueMicrotask(() => console.log(3));
nextTick(() => console.log(1));
const { nextTick } = require('node:process');
Promise.resolve().then(() => console.log(2));
queueMicrotask(() => console.log(3));
nextTick(() => console.log(1));
For most userland use cases, the queueMicrotask()
API provides a portable
and reliable mechanism for deferring execution that works across multiple
JavaScript platform environments and should be favored over process.nextTick()
.
In simple scenarios, queueMicrotask()
can be a drop-in replacement for
process.nextTick()
.
console.log('start');
queueMicrotask(() => {
console.log('microtask callback');
});
console.log('scheduled');
One note-worthy difference between the two APIs is that process.nextTick()
allows specifying additional values that will be passed as arguments to the
deferred function when it is called. Achieving the same result with
queueMicrotask()
requires using either a closure or a bound function:
function deferred(a, b) {
console.log('microtask', a + b);
}
console.log('start');
queueMicrotask(deferred.bind(undefined, 1, 2));
console.log('scheduled');
There are minor differences in the way errors raised from within the next tick
queue and microtask queue are handled. Errors thrown within a queued microtask
callback should be handled within the queued callback when possible. If they are
not, the process.on('uncaughtException')
event handler can be used to capture
and handle the errors.
When in doubt, unless the specific capabilities of process.nextTick()
are
needed, use queueMicrotask()
.
process.noDeprecation
#
Added in: v0.8.0
The process.noDeprecation
property indicates whether the --no-deprecation
flag is set on the current Node.js process. See the documentation for
the 'warning'
event and the
emitWarning()
method for more information about this
flag's behavior.
process.platform
#
Added in: v0.1.16
The process.platform
property returns a string identifying the operating
system platform for which the Node.js binary was compiled.
Currently possible values are:
'aix'
'darwin'
'freebsd'
'linux'
'openbsd'
'sunos'
'win32'
import { platform } from 'node:process';
console.log(`This platform is ${platform}`);
const { platform } = require('node:process');
console.log(`This platform is ${platform}`);
The value 'android'
may also be returned if the Node.js is built on the
Android operating system. However, Android support in Node.js
is experimental.
process.release
#
The process.release
property returns an Object
containing metadata related
to the current release, including URLs for the source tarball and headers-only
tarball.
process.release
contains the following properties:
name
<string> A value that will always be 'node'
.
sourceUrl
<string> an absolute URL pointing to a .tar.gz
file containing
the source code of the current release.
headersUrl
<string> an absolute URL pointing to a .tar.gz
file containing
only the source header files for the current release. This file is
significantly smaller than the full source file and can be used for compiling
Node.js native add-ons.
libUrl
<string> an absolute URL pointing to a node.lib
file matching the
architecture and version of the current release. This file is used for
compiling Node.js native add-ons. This property is only present on Windows
builds of Node.js and will be missing on all other platforms.
lts
<string> a string label identifying the LTS label for this release.
This property only exists for LTS releases and is undefined
for all other
release types, including Current releases.
Valid values include the LTS Release code names (including those
that are no longer supported).
'Dubnium'
for the 10.x LTS line beginning with 10.13.0.
'Erbium'
for the 12.x LTS line beginning with 12.13.0.
For other LTS Release code names, see Node.js Changelog Archive
{
name: 'node',
lts: 'Erbium',
sourceUrl: 'https://nodejs.org/download/release/v12.18.1/node-v12.18.1.tar.gz',
headersUrl: 'https://nodejs.org/download/release/v12.18.1/node-v12.18.1-headers.tar.gz',
libUrl: 'https://nodejs.org/download/release/v12.18.1/win-x64/node.lib'
}
In custom builds from non-release versions of the source tree, only the
name
property may be present. The additional properties should not be
relied upon to exist.
process.report
#
process.report
is an object whose methods are used to generate diagnostic
reports for the current process. Additional documentation is available in the
report documentation.
process.report.compact
#
Added in: v13.12.0, v12.17.0
Write reports in a compact format, single-line JSON, more easily consumable
by log processing systems than the default multi-line format designed for
human consumption.
import { report } from 'node:process';
console.log(`Reports are compact? ${report.compact}`);
const { report } = require('node:process');
console.log(`Reports are compact? ${report.compact}`);
process.report.directory
#
Directory where the report is written. The default value is the empty string,
indicating that reports are written to the current working directory of the
Node.js process.
import { report } from 'node:process';
console.log(`Report directory is ${report.directory}`);
const { report } = require('node:process');
console.log(`Report directory is ${report.directory}`);
process.report.filename
#
Filename where the report is written. If set to the empty string, the output
filename will be comprised of a timestamp, PID, and sequence number. The default
value is the empty string.
If the value of process.report.filename
is set to 'stdout'
or 'stderr'
,
the report is written to the stdout or stderr of the process respectively.
import { report } from 'node:process';
console.log(`Report filename is ${report.filename}`);
const { report } = require('node:process');
console.log(`Report filename is ${report.filename}`);
process.report.getReport([err])
#
err
<Error> A custom error used for reporting the JavaScript stack.
- Returns: <Object>
Returns a JavaScript Object representation of a diagnostic report for the
running process. The report's JavaScript stack trace is taken from err
, if
present.
import { report } from 'node:process';
const data = report.getReport();
console.log(data.header.nodejsVersion);
import fs from 'node:fs';
fs.writeFileSync('my-report.log', util.inspect(data), 'utf8');
const { report } = require('node:process');
const data = report.getReport();
console.log(data.header.nodejsVersion);
const fs = require('node:fs');
fs.writeFileSync('my-report.log', util.inspect(data), 'utf8');
Additional documentation is available in the report documentation.
process.report.reportOnFatalError
#
If true
, a diagnostic report is generated on fatal errors, such as out of
memory errors or failed C++ assertions.
import { report } from 'node:process';
console.log(`Report on fatal error: ${report.reportOnFatalError}`);
const { report } = require('node:process');
console.log(`Report on fatal error: ${report.reportOnFatalError}`);
process.report.reportOnSignal
#
If true
, a diagnostic report is generated when the process receives the
signal specified by process.report.signal
.
import { report } from 'node:process';
console.log(`Report on signal: ${report.reportOnSignal}`);
const { report } = require('node:process');
console.log(`Report on signal: ${report.reportOnSignal}`);
process.report.reportOnUncaughtException
#
If true
, a diagnostic report is generated on uncaught exception.
import { report } from 'node:process';
console.log(`Report on exception: ${report.reportOnUncaughtException}`);
const { report } = require('node:process');
console.log(`Report on exception: ${report.reportOnUncaughtException}`);
process.report.signal
#
The signal used to trigger the creation of a diagnostic report. Defaults to
'SIGUSR2'
.
import { report } from 'node:process';
console.log(`Report signal: ${report.signal}`);
const { report } = require('node:process');
console.log(`Report signal: ${report.signal}`);
process.report.writeReport([filename][, err])
#
-
filename
<string> Name of the file where the report is written. This
should be a relative path, that will be appended to the directory specified in
process.report.directory
, or the current working directory of the Node.js
process, if unspecified.
-
err
<Error> A custom error used for reporting the JavaScript stack.
-
Returns: <string> Returns the filename of the generated report.
Writes a diagnostic report to a file. If filename
is not provided, the default
filename includes the date, time, PID, and a sequence number. The report's
JavaScript stack trace is taken from err
, if present.
If the value of filename
is set to 'stdout'
or 'stderr'
, the report is
written to the stdout or stderr of the process respectively.
import { report } from 'node:process';
report.writeReport();
const { report } = require('node:process');
report.writeReport();
Additional documentation is available in the report documentation.
process.send(message[, sendHandle[, options]][, callback])
#
Added in: v0.5.9
message
<Object>
sendHandle
<net.Server> | <net.Socket>
options
<Object> used to parameterize the sending of certain types of
handles.options
supports the following properties:
keepOpen
<boolean> A value that can be used when passing instances of
net.Socket
. When true
, the socket is kept open in the sending process.
Default: false
.
callback
<Function>
- Returns: <boolean>
If Node.js is spawned with an IPC channel, the process.send()
method can be
used to send messages to the parent process. Messages will be received as a
'message'
event on the parent's ChildProcess
object.
If Node.js was not spawned with an IPC channel, process.send
will be
undefined
.
The message goes through serialization and parsing. The resulting message might
not be the same as what is originally sent.
process.setegid(id)
#
Added in: v2.0.0
The process.setegid()
method sets the effective group identity of the process.
(See setegid(2)
.) The id
can be passed as either a numeric ID or a group
name string. If a group name is specified, this method blocks while resolving
the associated a numeric ID.
import process from 'node:process';
if (process.getegid && process.setegid) {
console.log(`Current gid: ${process.getegid()}`);
try {
process.setegid(501);
console.log(`New gid: ${process.getegid()}`);
} catch (err) {
console.log(`Failed to set gid: ${err}`);
}
}
const process = require('node:process');
if (process.getegid && process.setegid) {
console.log(`Current gid: ${process.getegid()}`);
try {
process.setegid(501);
console.log(`New gid: ${process.getegid()}`);
} catch (err) {
console.log(`Failed to set gid: ${err}`);
}
}
This function is only available on POSIX platforms (i.e. not Windows or
Android).
This feature is not available in Worker
threads.
process.seteuid(id)
#
Added in: v2.0.0
The process.seteuid()
method sets the effective user identity of the process.
(See seteuid(2)
.) The id
can be passed as either a numeric ID or a username
string. If a username is specified, the method blocks while resolving the
associated numeric ID.
import process from 'node:process';
if (process.geteuid && process.seteuid) {
console.log(`Current uid: ${process.geteuid()}`);
try {
process.seteuid(501);
console.log(`New uid: ${process.geteuid()}`);
} catch (err) {
console.log(`Failed to set uid: ${err}`);
}
}
const process = require('node:process');
if (process.geteuid && process.seteuid) {
console.log(`Current uid: ${process.geteuid()}`);
try {
process.seteuid(501);
console.log(`New uid: ${process.geteuid()}`);
} catch (err) {
console.log(`Failed to set uid: ${err}`);
}
}
This function is only available on POSIX platforms (i.e. not Windows or
Android).
This feature is not available in Worker
threads.
process.setgid(id)
#
Added in: v0.1.31
The process.setgid()
method sets the group identity of the process. (See
setgid(2)
.) The id
can be passed as either a numeric ID or a group name
string. If a group name is specified, this method blocks while resolving the
associated numeric ID.
import process from 'node:process';
if (process.getgid && process.setgid) {
console.log(`Current gid: ${process.getgid()}`);
try {
process.setgid(501);
console.log(`New gid: ${process.getgid()}`);
} catch (err) {
console.log(`Failed to set gid: ${err}`);
}
}
const process = require('node:process');
if (process.getgid && process.setgid) {
console.log(`Current gid: ${process.getgid()}`);
try {
process.setgid(501);
console.log(`New gid: ${process.getgid()}`);
} catch (err) {
console.log(`Failed to set gid: ${err}`);
}
}
This function is only available on POSIX platforms (i.e. not Windows or
Android).
This feature is not available in Worker
threads.
process.setgroups(groups)
#
Added in: v0.9.4
The process.setgroups()
method sets the supplementary group IDs for the
Node.js process. This is a privileged operation that requires the Node.js
process to have root
or the CAP_SETGID
capability.
The groups
array can contain numeric group IDs, group names, or both.
import process from 'node:process';
if (process.getgroups && process.setgroups) {
try {
process.setgroups([501]);
console.log(process.getgroups());
} catch (err) {
console.log(`Failed to set groups: ${err}`);
}
}
const process = require('node:process');
if (process.getgroups && process.setgroups) {
try {
process.setgroups([501]);
console.log(process.getgroups());
} catch (err) {
console.log(`Failed to set groups: ${err}`);
}
}
This function is only available on POSIX platforms (i.e. not Windows or
Android).
This feature is not available in Worker
threads.
process.setuid(id)
#
Added in: v0.1.28
The process.setuid(id)
method sets the user identity of the process. (See
setuid(2)
.) The id
can be passed as either a numeric ID or a username string.
If a username is specified, the method blocks while resolving the associated
numeric ID.
import process from 'node:process';
if (process.getuid && process.setuid) {
console.log(`Current uid: ${process.getuid()}`);
try {
process.setuid(501);
console.log(`New uid: ${process.getuid()}`);
} catch (err) {
console.log(`Failed to set uid: ${err}`);
}
}
const process = require('node:process');
if (process.getuid && process.setuid) {
console.log(`Current uid: ${process.getuid()}`);
try {
process.setuid(501);
console.log(`New uid: ${process.getuid()}`);
} catch (err) {
console.log(`Failed to set uid: ${err}`);
}
}
This function is only available on POSIX platforms (i.e. not Windows or
Android).
This feature is not available in Worker
threads.
process.setSourceMapsEnabled(val)
#
Added in: v16.6.0
This function enables or disables the Source Map v3 support for
stack traces.
It provides same features as launching Node.js process with commandline options
--enable-source-maps
.
Only source maps in JavaScript files that are loaded after source maps has been
enabled will be parsed and loaded.
process.setUncaughtExceptionCaptureCallback(fn)
#
Added in: v9.3.0
The process.setUncaughtExceptionCaptureCallback()
function sets a function
that will be invoked when an uncaught exception occurs, which will receive the
exception value itself as its first argument.
If such a function is set, the 'uncaughtException'
event will
not be emitted. If --abort-on-uncaught-exception
was passed from the
command line or set through v8.setFlagsFromString()
, the process will
not abort. Actions configured to take place on exceptions such as report
generations will be affected too
To unset the capture function,
process.setUncaughtExceptionCaptureCallback(null)
may be used. Calling this
method with a non-null
argument while another capture function is set will
throw an error.
Using this function is mutually exclusive with using the deprecated
domain
built-in module.
process.stderr
#
The process.stderr
property returns a stream connected to
stderr
(fd 2
). It is a net.Socket
(which is a Duplex
stream) unless fd 2
refers to a file, in which case it is
a Writable stream.
process.stderr
differs from other Node.js streams in important ways. See
note on process I/O for more information.
process.stderr.fd
#
This property refers to the value of underlying file descriptor of
process.stderr
. The value is fixed at 2
. In Worker
threads,
this field does not exist.
process.stdin
#
The process.stdin
property returns a stream connected to
stdin
(fd 0
). It is a net.Socket
(which is a Duplex
stream) unless fd 0
refers to a file, in which case it is
a Readable stream.
For details of how to read from stdin
see readable.read()
.
As a Duplex stream, process.stdin
can also be used in "old" mode that
is compatible with scripts written for Node.js prior to v0.10.
For more information see Stream compatibility.
In "old" streams mode the stdin
stream is paused by default, so one
must call process.stdin.resume()
to read from it. Note also that calling
process.stdin.resume()
itself would switch stream to "old" mode.
process.stdin.fd
#
This property refers to the value of underlying file descriptor of
process.stdin
. The value is fixed at 0
. In Worker
threads,
this field does not exist.
process.stdout
#
The process.stdout
property returns a stream connected to
stdout
(fd 1
). It is a net.Socket
(which is a Duplex
stream) unless fd 1
refers to a file, in which case it is
a Writable stream.
For example, to copy process.stdin
to process.stdout
:
import { stdin, stdout } from 'node:process';
stdin.pipe(stdout);
const { stdin, stdout } = require('node:process');
stdin.pipe(stdout);
process.stdout
differs from other Node.js streams in important ways. See
note on process I/O for more information.
process.stdout.fd
#
This property refers to the value of underlying file descriptor of
process.stdout
. The value is fixed at 1
. In Worker
threads,
this field does not exist.
A note on process I/O#
process.stdout
and process.stderr
differ from other Node.js streams in
important ways:
- They are used internally by
console.log()
and console.error()
,
respectively.
- Writes may be synchronous depending on what the stream is connected to
and whether the system is Windows or POSIX:
- Files: synchronous on Windows and POSIX
- TTYs (Terminals): asynchronous on Windows, synchronous on POSIX
- Pipes (and sockets): synchronous on Windows, asynchronous on POSIX
These behaviors are partly for historical reasons, as changing them would
create backward incompatibility, but they are also expected by some users.
Synchronous writes avoid problems such as output written with console.log()
or
console.error()
being unexpectedly interleaved, or not written at all if
process.exit()
is called before an asynchronous write completes. See
process.exit()
for more information.
Warning: Synchronous writes block the event loop until the write has
completed. This can be near instantaneous in the case of output to a file, but
under high system load, pipes that are not being read at the receiving end, or
with slow terminals or file systems, it's possible for the event loop to be
blocked often enough and long enough to have severe negative performance
impacts. This may not be a problem when writing to an interactive terminal
session, but consider this particularly careful when doing production logging to
the process output streams.
To check if a stream is connected to a TTY context, check the isTTY
property.
For instance:
$ node -p "Boolean(process.stdin.isTTY)"
true
$ echo "foo" | node -p "Boolean(process.stdin.isTTY)"
false
$ node -p "Boolean(process.stdout.isTTY)"
true
$ node -p "Boolean(process.stdout.isTTY)" | cat
false
See the TTY documentation for more information.
process.throwDeprecation
#
Added in: v0.9.12
The initial value of process.throwDeprecation
indicates whether the
--throw-deprecation
flag is set on the current Node.js process.
process.throwDeprecation
is mutable, so whether or not deprecation
warnings result in errors may be altered at runtime. See the
documentation for the 'warning'
event and the
emitWarning()
method for more information.
$ node --throw-deprecation -p "process.throwDeprecation"
true
$ node -p "process.throwDeprecation"
undefined
$ node
> process.emitWarning('test', 'DeprecationWarning');
undefined
> (node:26598) DeprecationWarning: test
> process.throwDeprecation = true;
true
> process.emitWarning('test', 'DeprecationWarning');
Thrown:
[DeprecationWarning: test] { name: 'DeprecationWarning' }
process.title
#
Added in: v0.1.104
The process.title
property returns the current process title (i.e. returns
the current value of ps
). Assigning a new value to process.title
modifies
the current value of ps
.
When a new value is assigned, different platforms will impose different maximum
length restrictions on the title. Usually such restrictions are quite limited.
For instance, on Linux and macOS, process.title
is limited to the size of the
binary name plus the length of the command-line arguments because setting the
process.title
overwrites the argv
memory of the process. Node.js v0.8
allowed for longer process title strings by also overwriting the environ
memory but that was potentially insecure and confusing in some (rather obscure)
cases.
Assigning a value to process.title
might not result in an accurate label
within process manager applications such as macOS Activity Monitor or Windows
Services Manager.
process.traceDeprecation
#
Added in: v0.8.0
The process.traceDeprecation
property indicates whether the
--trace-deprecation
flag is set on the current Node.js process. See the
documentation for the 'warning'
event and the
emitWarning()
method for more information about this
flag's behavior.
process.umask()
#
Stability: 0 - Deprecated. Calling
process.umask()
with no argument causes
the process-wide umask to be written twice. This introduces a race condition
between threads, and is a potential security vulnerability. There is no safe,
cross-platform alternative API.
process.umask()
returns the Node.js process's file mode creation mask. Child
processes inherit the mask from the parent process.
process.umask(mask)
#
Added in: v0.1.19
process.umask(mask)
sets the Node.js process's file mode creation mask. Child
processes inherit the mask from the parent process. Returns the previous mask.
import { umask } from 'node:process';
const newmask = 0o022;
const oldmask = umask(newmask);
console.log(
`Changed umask from ${oldmask.toString(8)} to ${newmask.toString(8)}`
);
const { umask } = require('node:process');
const newmask = 0o022;
const oldmask = umask(newmask);
console.log(
`Changed umask from ${oldmask.toString(8)} to ${newmask.toString(8)}`
);
In Worker
threads, process.umask(mask)
will throw an exception.
process.uptime()
#
Added in: v0.5.0
The process.uptime()
method returns the number of seconds the current Node.js
process has been running.
The return value includes fractions of a second. Use Math.floor()
to get whole
seconds.
process.version
#
Added in: v0.1.3
The process.version
property contains the Node.js version string.
import { version } from 'node:process';
console.log(`Version: ${version}`);
const { version } = require('node:process');
console.log(`Version: ${version}`);
To get the version string without the prepended v, use
process.versions.node
.
process.versions
#
The process.versions
property returns an object listing the version strings of
Node.js and its dependencies. process.versions.modules
indicates the current
ABI version, which is increased whenever a C++ API changes. Node.js will refuse
to load modules that were compiled against a different module ABI version.
import { versions } from 'node:process';
console.log(versions);
const { versions } = require('node:process');
console.log(versions);
Will generate an object similar to:
{ node: '11.13.0',
v8: '7.0.276.38-node.18',
uv: '1.27.0',
zlib: '1.2.11',
brotli: '1.0.7',
ares: '1.15.0',
modules: '67',
nghttp2: '1.34.0',
napi: '4',
llhttp: '1.1.1',
openssl: '1.1.1b',
cldr: '34.0',
icu: '63.1',
tz: '2018e',
unicode: '11.0' }
Exit codes#
Node.js will normally exit with a 0
status code when no more async
operations are pending. The following status codes are used in other
cases:
1
Uncaught Fatal Exception: There was an uncaught exception,
and it was not handled by a domain or an 'uncaughtException'
event
handler.
2
: Unused (reserved by Bash for builtin misuse)
3
Internal JavaScript Parse Error: The JavaScript source code
internal in the Node.js bootstrapping process caused a parse error. This
is extremely rare, and generally can only happen during development
of Node.js itself.
4
Internal JavaScript Evaluation Failure: The JavaScript
source code internal in the Node.js bootstrapping process failed to
return a function value when evaluated. This is extremely rare, and
generally can only happen during development of Node.js itself.
5
Fatal Error: There was a fatal unrecoverable error in V8.
Typically a message will be printed to stderr with the prefix FATAL ERROR
.
6
Non-function Internal Exception Handler: There was an
uncaught exception, but the internal fatal exception handler
function was somehow set to a non-function, and could not be called.
7
Internal Exception Handler Run-Time Failure: There was an
uncaught exception, and the internal fatal exception handler
function itself threw an error while attempting to handle it. This
can happen, for example, if an 'uncaughtException'
or
domain.on('error')
handler throws an error.
8
: Unused. In previous versions of Node.js, exit code 8 sometimes
indicated an uncaught exception.
9
Invalid Argument: Either an unknown option was specified,
or an option requiring a value was provided without a value.
10
Internal JavaScript Run-Time Failure: The JavaScript
source code internal in the Node.js bootstrapping process threw an error
when the bootstrapping function was called. This is extremely rare,
and generally can only happen during development of Node.js itself.
12
Invalid Debug Argument: The --inspect
and/or --inspect-brk
options were set, but the port number chosen was invalid or unavailable.
13
Unfinished Top-Level Await: await
was used outside of a function
in the top-level code, but the passed Promise
never resolved.
>128
Signal Exits: If Node.js receives a fatal signal such as
SIGKILL
or SIGHUP
, then its exit code will be 128
plus the
value of the signal code. This is a standard POSIX practice, since
exit codes are defined to be 7-bit integers, and signal exits set
the high-order bit, and then contain the value of the signal code.
For example, signal SIGABRT
has value 6
, so the expected exit
code will be 128
+ 6
, or 134
.
Source Code: lib/stream.js
A stream is an abstract interface for working with streaming data in Node.js.
The node:stream
module provides an API for implementing the stream interface.
There are many stream objects provided by Node.js. For instance, a
request to an HTTP server and process.stdout
are both stream instances.
Streams can be readable, writable, or both. All streams are instances of
EventEmitter
.
To access the node:stream
module:
const stream = require('node:stream');
The node:stream
module is useful for creating new types of stream instances.
It is usually not necessary to use the node:stream
module to consume streams.
Organization of this document#
This document contains two primary sections and a third section for notes. The
first section explains how to use existing streams within an application. The
second section explains how to create new types of streams.
Types of streams#
There are four fundamental stream types within Node.js:
Additionally, this module includes the utility functions
stream.pipeline()
, stream.finished()
, stream.Readable.from()
and stream.addAbortSignal()
.
Streams Promises API#
Added in: v15.0.0
The stream/promises
API provides an alternative set of asynchronous utility
functions for streams that return Promise
objects rather than using
callbacks. The API is accessible via require('node:stream/promises')
or require('node:stream').promises
.
Object mode#
All streams created by Node.js APIs operate exclusively on strings and Buffer
(or Uint8Array
) objects. It is possible, however, for stream implementations
to work with other types of JavaScript values (with the exception of null
,
which serves a special purpose within streams). Such streams are considered to
operate in "object mode".
Stream instances are switched into object mode using the objectMode
option
when the stream is created. Attempting to switch an existing stream into
object mode is not safe.
Buffering#
Both Writable
and Readable
streams will store data in an internal
buffer.
The amount of data potentially buffered depends on the highWaterMark
option
passed into the stream's constructor. For normal streams, the highWaterMark
option specifies a total number of bytes. For streams operating
in object mode, the highWaterMark
specifies a total number of objects.
Data is buffered in Readable
streams when the implementation calls
stream.push(chunk)
. If the consumer of the Stream does not
call stream.read()
, the data will sit in the internal
queue until it is consumed.
Once the total size of the internal read buffer reaches the threshold specified
by highWaterMark
, the stream will temporarily stop reading data from the
underlying resource until the data currently buffered can be consumed (that is,
the stream will stop calling the internal readable._read()
method that is
used to fill the read buffer).
Data is buffered in Writable
streams when the
writable.write(chunk)
method is called repeatedly. While the
total size of the internal write buffer is below the threshold set by
highWaterMark
, calls to writable.write()
will return true
. Once
the size of the internal buffer reaches or exceeds the highWaterMark
, false
will be returned.
A key goal of the stream
API, particularly the stream.pipe()
method,
is to limit the buffering of data to acceptable levels such that sources and
destinations of differing speeds will not overwhelm the available memory.
The highWaterMark
option is a threshold, not a limit: it dictates the amount
of data that a stream buffers before it stops asking for more data. It does not
enforce a strict memory limitation in general. Specific stream implementations
may choose to enforce stricter limits but doing so is optional.
Because Duplex
and Transform
streams are both Readable
and
Writable
, each maintains two separate internal buffers used for reading and
writing, allowing each side to operate independently of the other while
maintaining an appropriate and efficient flow of data. For example,
net.Socket
instances are Duplex
streams whose Readable
side allows
consumption of data received from the socket and whose Writable
side allows
writing data to the socket. Because data may be written to the socket at a
faster or slower rate than data is received, each side should
operate (and buffer) independently of the other.
The mechanics of the internal buffering are an internal implementation detail
and may be changed at any time. However, for certain advanced implementations,
the internal buffers can be retrieved using writable.writableBuffer
or
readable.readableBuffer
. Use of these undocumented properties is discouraged.
API for stream consumers#
Almost all Node.js applications, no matter how simple, use streams in some
manner. The following is an example of using streams in a Node.js application
that implements an HTTP server:
const http = require('node:http');
const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
let body = '';
req.setEncoding('utf8');
req.on('data', (chunk) => {
body += chunk;
});
req.on('end', () => {
try {
const data = JSON.parse(body);
res.write(typeof data);
res.end();
} catch (er) {
res.statusCode = 400;
return res.end(`error: ${er.message}`);
}
});
});
server.listen(1337);
Writable
streams (such as res
in the example) expose methods such as
write()
and end()
that are used to write data onto the stream.
Readable
streams use the EventEmitter
API for notifying application
code when data is available to be read off the stream. That available data can
be read from the stream in multiple ways.
Both Writable
and Readable
streams use the EventEmitter
API in
various ways to communicate the current state of the stream.
Duplex
and Transform
streams are both Writable
and
Readable
.
Applications that are either writing data to or consuming data from a stream
are not required to implement the stream interfaces directly and will generally
have no reason to call require('node:stream')
.
Developers wishing to implement new types of streams should refer to the
section API for stream implementers.
Writable streams#
Writable streams are an abstraction for a destination to which data is
written.
Examples of Writable
streams include:
Some of these examples are actually Duplex
streams that implement the
Writable
interface.
All Writable
streams implement the interface defined by the
stream.Writable
class.
While specific instances of Writable
streams may differ in various ways,
all Writable
streams follow the same fundamental usage pattern as illustrated
in the example below:
const myStream = getWritableStreamSomehow();
myStream.write('some data');
myStream.write('some more data');
myStream.end('done writing data');
Class: stream.Writable
#
Added in: v0.9.4
Event: 'close'
#
The 'close'
event is emitted when the stream and any of its underlying
resources (a file descriptor, for example) have been closed. The event indicates
that no more events will be emitted, and no further computation will occur.
A Writable
stream will always emit the 'close'
event if it is
created with the emitClose
option.
Event: 'drain'
#
Added in: v0.9.4
If a call to stream.write(chunk)
returns false
, the
'drain'
event will be emitted when it is appropriate to resume writing data
to the stream.
function writeOneMillionTimes(writer, data, encoding, callback) {
let i = 1000000;
write();
function write() {
let ok = true;
do {
i--;
if (i === 0) {
writer.write(data, encoding, callback);
} else {
ok = writer.write(data, encoding);
}
} while (i > 0 && ok);
if (i > 0) {
writer.once('drain', write);
}
}
}
Event: 'error'
#
Added in: v0.9.4
The 'error'
event is emitted if an error occurred while writing or piping
data. The listener callback is passed a single Error
argument when called.
The stream is closed when the 'error'
event is emitted unless the
autoDestroy
option was set to false
when creating the
stream.
After 'error'
, no further events other than 'close'
should be emitted
(including 'error'
events).
Event: 'finish'
#
Added in: v0.9.4
The 'finish'
event is emitted after the stream.end()
method
has been called, and all data has been flushed to the underlying system.
const writer = getWritableStreamSomehow();
for (let i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
writer.write(`hello, #${i}!\n`);
}
writer.on('finish', () => {
console.log('All writes are now complete.');
});
writer.end('This is the end\n');
Event: 'pipe'
#
Added in: v0.9.4
The 'pipe'
event is emitted when the stream.pipe()
method is called on
a readable stream, adding this writable to its set of destinations.
const writer = getWritableStreamSomehow();
const reader = getReadableStreamSomehow();
writer.on('pipe', (src) => {
console.log('Something is piping into the writer.');
assert.equal(src, reader);
});
reader.pipe(writer);
Event: 'unpipe'
#
Added in: v0.9.4
The 'unpipe'
event is emitted when the stream.unpipe()
method is called
on a Readable
stream, removing this Writable
from its set of
destinations.
This is also emitted in case this Writable
stream emits an error when a
Readable
stream pipes into it.
const writer = getWritableStreamSomehow();
const reader = getReadableStreamSomehow();
writer.on('unpipe', (src) => {
console.log('Something has stopped piping into the writer.');
assert.equal(src, reader);
});
reader.pipe(writer);
reader.unpipe(writer);
writable.cork()
#
Added in: v0.11.2
The writable.cork()
method forces all written data to be buffered in memory.
The buffered data will be flushed when either the stream.uncork()
or
stream.end()
methods are called.
The primary intent of writable.cork()
is to accommodate a situation in which
several small chunks are written to the stream in rapid succession. Instead of
immediately forwarding them to the underlying destination, writable.cork()
buffers all the chunks until writable.uncork()
is called, which will pass them
all to writable._writev()
, if present. This prevents a head-of-line blocking
situation where data is being buffered while waiting for the first small chunk
to be processed. However, use of writable.cork()
without implementing
writable._writev()
may have an adverse effect on throughput.
See also: writable.uncork()
, writable._writev()
.
writable.destroy([error])
#
error
<Error> Optional, an error to emit with 'error'
event.
- Returns: <this>
Destroy the stream. Optionally emit an 'error'
event, and emit a 'close'
event (unless emitClose
is set to false
). After this call, the writable
stream has ended and subsequent calls to write()
or end()
will result in
an ERR_STREAM_DESTROYED
error.
This is a destructive and immediate way to destroy a stream. Previous calls to
write()
may not have drained, and may trigger an ERR_STREAM_DESTROYED
error.
Use end()
instead of destroy if data should flush before close, or wait for
the 'drain'
event before destroying the stream.
const { Writable } = require('node:stream');
const myStream = new Writable();
const fooErr = new Error('foo error');
myStream.destroy(fooErr);
myStream.on('error', (fooErr) => console.error(fooErr.message));
const { Writable } = require('node:stream');
const myStream = new Writable();
myStream.destroy();
myStream.on('error', function wontHappen() {});
const { Writable } = require('node:stream');
const myStream = new Writable();
myStream.destroy();
myStream.write('foo', (error) => console.error(error.code));
Once destroy()
has been called any further calls will be a no-op and no
further errors except from _destroy()
may be emitted as 'error'
.
Implementors should not override this method,
but instead implement writable._destroy()
.
writable.destroyed
#
Added in: v8.0.0
Is true
after writable.destroy()
has been called.
const { Writable } = require('node:stream');
const myStream = new Writable();
console.log(myStream.destroyed);
myStream.destroy();
console.log(myStream.destroyed);
writable.end([chunk[, encoding]][, callback])
#
chunk
<string> | <Buffer> | <Uint8Array> | <any> Optional data to write. For streams
not operating in object mode, chunk
must be a string, Buffer
or
Uint8Array
. For object mode streams, chunk
may be any JavaScript value
other than null
.
encoding
<string> The encoding if chunk
is a string
callback
<Function> Callback for when the stream is finished.
- Returns: <this>
Calling the writable.end()
method signals that no more data will be written
to the Writable
. The optional chunk
and encoding
arguments allow one
final additional chunk of data to be written immediately before closing the
stream.
Calling the stream.write()
method after calling
stream.end()
will raise an error.
const fs = require('node:fs');
const file = fs.createWriteStream('example.txt');
file.write('hello, ');
file.end('world!');
writable.setDefaultEncoding(encoding)
#
The writable.setDefaultEncoding()
method sets the default encoding
for a
Writable
stream.
writable.uncork()
#
Added in: v0.11.2
The writable.uncork()
method flushes all data buffered since
stream.cork()
was called.
When using writable.cork()
and writable.uncork()
to manage the buffering
of writes to a stream, defer calls to writable.uncork()
using
process.nextTick()
. Doing so allows batching of all
writable.write()
calls that occur within a given Node.js event loop phase.
stream.cork();
stream.write('some ');
stream.write('data ');
process.nextTick(() => stream.uncork());
If the writable.cork()
method is called multiple times on a stream, the
same number of calls to writable.uncork()
must be called to flush the buffered
data.
stream.cork();
stream.write('some ');
stream.cork();
stream.write('data ');
process.nextTick(() => {
stream.uncork();
stream.uncork();
});
See also: writable.cork()
.
writable.writable
#
Added in: v11.4.0
Is true
if it is safe to call writable.write()
, which means
the stream has not been destroyed, errored, or ended.
writable.writableAborted
#
Added in: v16.17.0
Returns whether the stream was destroyed or errored before emitting 'finish'
.
writable.writableEnded
#
Added in: v12.9.0
Is true
after writable.end()
has been called. This property
does not indicate whether the data has been flushed, for this use
writable.writableFinished
instead.
writable.writableCorked
#
Added in: v13.2.0, v12.16.0
Number of times writable.uncork()
needs to be
called in order to fully uncork the stream.
writable.writableFinished
#
Added in: v12.6.0
Is set to true
immediately before the 'finish'
event is emitted.
writable.writableHighWaterMark
#
Added in: v9.3.0
Return the value of highWaterMark
passed when creating this Writable
.
writable.writableLength
#
Added in: v9.4.0
This property contains the number of bytes (or objects) in the queue
ready to be written. The value provides introspection data regarding
the status of the highWaterMark
.
writable.writableNeedDrain
#
Added in: v15.2.0
Is true
if the stream's buffer has been full and stream will emit 'drain'
.
writable.writableObjectMode
#
Added in: v12.3.0
Getter for the property objectMode
of a given Writable
stream.
writable.write(chunk[, encoding][, callback])
#
chunk
<string> | <Buffer> | <Uint8Array> | <any> Optional data to write. For streams
not operating in object mode, chunk
must be a string, Buffer
or
Uint8Array
. For object mode streams, chunk
may be any JavaScript value
other than null
.
encoding
<string> | <null> The encoding, if chunk
is a string. Default: 'utf8'
callback
<Function> Callback for when this chunk of data is flushed.
- Returns: <boolean>
false
if the stream wishes for the calling code to
wait for the 'drain'
event to be emitted before continuing to write
additional data; otherwise true
.
The writable.write()
method writes some data to the stream, and calls the
supplied callback
once the data has been fully handled. If an error
occurs, the callback
will be called with the error as its
first argument. The callback
is called asynchronously and before 'error'
is
emitted.
The return value is true
if the internal buffer is less than the
highWaterMark
configured when the stream was created after admitting chunk
.
If false
is returned, further attempts to write data to the stream should
stop until the 'drain'
event is emitted.
While a stream is not draining, calls to write()
will buffer chunk
, and
return false. Once all currently buffered chunks are drained (accepted for
delivery by the operating system), the 'drain'
event will be emitted.
Once write()
returns false, do not write more chunks
until the 'drain'
event is emitted. While calling write()
on a stream that
is not draining is allowed, Node.js will buffer all written chunks until
maximum memory usage occurs, at which point it will abort unconditionally.
Even before it aborts, high memory usage will cause poor garbage collector
performance and high RSS (which is not typically released back to the system,
even after the memory is no longer required). Since TCP sockets may never
drain if the remote peer does not read the data, writing a socket that is
not draining may lead to a remotely exploitable vulnerability.
Writing data while the stream is not draining is particularly
problematic for a Transform
, because the Transform
streams are paused
by default until they are piped or a 'data'
or 'readable'
event handler
is added.
If the data to be written can be generated or fetched on demand, it is
recommended to encapsulate the logic into a Readable
and use
stream.pipe()
. However, if calling write()
is preferred, it is
possible to respect backpressure and avoid memory issues using the
'drain'
event:
function write(data, cb) {
if (!stream.write(data)) {
stream.once('drain', cb);
} else {
process.nextTick(cb);
}
}
write('hello', () => {
console.log('Write completed, do more writes now.');
});
A Writable
stream in object mode will always ignore the encoding
argument.
Readable streams#
Readable streams are an abstraction for a source from which data is
consumed.
Examples of Readable
streams include:
All Readable
streams implement the interface defined by the
stream.Readable
class.
Two reading modes#
Readable
streams effectively operate in one of two modes: flowing and
paused. These modes are separate from object mode.
A Readable
stream can be in object mode or not, regardless of whether
it is in flowing mode or paused mode.
-
In flowing mode, data is read from the underlying system automatically
and provided to an application as quickly as possible using events via the
EventEmitter
interface.
-
In paused mode, the stream.read()
method must be called
explicitly to read chunks of data from the stream.
All Readable
streams begin in paused mode but can be switched to flowing
mode in one of the following ways:
The Readable
can switch back to paused mode using one of the following:
- If there are no pipe destinations, by calling the
stream.pause()
method.
- If there are pipe destinations, by removing all pipe destinations.
Multiple pipe destinations may be removed by calling the
stream.unpipe()
method.
The important concept to remember is that a Readable
will not generate data
until a mechanism for either consuming or ignoring that data is provided. If
the consuming mechanism is disabled or taken away, the Readable
will attempt
to stop generating the data.
For backward compatibility reasons, removing 'data'
event handlers will
not automatically pause the stream. Also, if there are piped destinations,
then calling stream.pause()
will not guarantee that the
stream will remain paused once those destinations drain and ask for more data.
If a Readable
is switched into flowing mode and there are no consumers
available to handle the data, that data will be lost. This can occur, for
instance, when the readable.resume()
method is called without a listener
attached to the 'data'
event, or when a 'data'
event handler is removed
from the stream.
Adding a 'readable'
event handler automatically makes the stream
stop flowing, and the data has to be consumed via
readable.read()
. If the 'readable'
event handler is
removed, then the stream will start flowing again if there is a
'data'
event handler.
Three states#
The "two modes" of operation for a Readable
stream are a simplified
abstraction for the more complicated internal state management that is happening
within the Readable
stream implementation.
Specifically, at any given point in time, every Readable
is in one of three
possible states:
readable.readableFlowing === null
readable.readableFlowing === false
readable.readableFlowing === true
When readable.readableFlowing
is null
, no mechanism for consuming the
stream's data is provided. Therefore, the stream will not generate data.
While in this state, attaching a listener for the 'data'
event, calling the
readable.pipe()
method, or calling the readable.resume()
method will switch
readable.readableFlowing
to true
, causing the Readable
to begin actively
emitting events as data is generated.
Calling readable.pause()
, readable.unpipe()
, or receiving backpressure
will cause the readable.readableFlowing
to be set as false
,
temporarily halting the flowing of events but not halting the generation of
data. While in this state, attaching a listener for the 'data'
event
will not switch readable.readableFlowing
to true
.
const { PassThrough, Writable } = require('node:stream');
const pass = new PassThrough();
const writable = new Writable();
pass.pipe(writable);
pass.unpipe(writable);
pass.on('data', (chunk) => { console.log(chunk.toString()); });
pass.write('ok');
pass.resume();
While readable.readableFlowing
is false
, data may be accumulating
within the stream's internal buffer.
Choose one API style#
The Readable
stream API evolved across multiple Node.js versions and provides
multiple methods of consuming stream data. In general, developers should choose
one of the methods of consuming data and should never use multiple methods
to consume data from a single stream. Specifically, using a combination
of on('data')
, on('readable')
, pipe()
, or async iterators could
lead to unintuitive behavior.
Class: stream.Readable
#
Added in: v0.9.4
Event: 'close'
#
The 'close'
event is emitted when the stream and any of its underlying
resources (a file descriptor, for example) have been closed. The event indicates
that no more events will be emitted, and no further computation will occur.
A Readable
stream will always emit the 'close'
event if it is
created with the emitClose
option.
Event: 'data'
#
Added in: v0.9.4
chunk
<Buffer> | <string> | <any> The chunk of data. For streams that are not
operating in object mode, the chunk will be either a string or Buffer
.
For streams that are in object mode, the chunk can be any JavaScript value
other than null
.
The 'data'
event is emitted whenever the stream is relinquishing ownership of
a chunk of data to a consumer. This may occur whenever the stream is switched
in flowing mode by calling readable.pipe()
, readable.resume()
, or by
attaching a listener callback to the 'data'
event. The 'data'
event will
also be emitted whenever the readable.read()
method is called and a chunk of
data is available to be returned.
Attaching a 'data'
event listener to a stream that has not been explicitly
paused will switch the stream into flowing mode. Data will then be passed as
soon as it is available.
The listener callback will be passed the chunk of data as a string if a default
encoding has been specified for the stream using the
readable.setEncoding()
method; otherwise the data will be passed as a
Buffer
.
const readable = getReadableStreamSomehow();
readable.on('data', (chunk) => {
console.log(`Received ${chunk.length} bytes of data.`);
});
Event: 'end'
#
Added in: v0.9.4
The 'end'
event is emitted when there is no more data to be consumed from
the stream.
The 'end'
event will not be emitted unless the data is completely
consumed. This can be accomplished by switching the stream into flowing mode,
or by calling stream.read()
repeatedly until all data has been
consumed.
const readable = getReadableStreamSomehow();
readable.on('data', (chunk) => {
console.log(`Received ${chunk.length} bytes of data.`);
});
readable.on('end', () => {
console.log('There will be no more data.');
});
Event: 'error'
#
Added in: v0.9.4
The 'error'
event may be emitted by a Readable
implementation at any time.
Typically, this may occur if the underlying stream is unable to generate data
due to an underlying internal failure, or when a stream implementation attempts
to push an invalid chunk of data.
The listener callback will be passed a single Error
object.
Event: 'pause'
#
Added in: v0.9.4
The 'pause'
event is emitted when stream.pause()
is called
and readableFlowing
is not false
.
Event: 'readable'
#
The 'readable'
event is emitted when there is data available to be read from
the stream or when the end of the stream has been reached. Effectively, the
'readable'
event indicates that the stream has new information. If data is
available, stream.read()
will return that data.
const readable = getReadableStreamSomehow();
readable.on('readable', function() {
let data;
while ((data = this.read()) !== null) {
console.log(data);
}
});
If the end of the stream has been reached, calling
stream.read()
will return null
and trigger the 'end'
event. This is also true if there never was any data to be read. For instance,
in the following example, foo.txt
is an empty file:
const fs = require('node:fs');
const rr = fs.createReadStream('foo.txt');
rr.on('readable', () => {
console.log(`readable: ${rr.read()}`);
});
rr.on('end', () => {
console.log('end');
});
The output of running this script is:
$ node test.js
readable: null
end
In some cases, attaching a listener for the 'readable'
event will cause some
amount of data to be read into an internal buffer.
In general, the readable.pipe()
and 'data'
event mechanisms are easier to
understand than the 'readable'
event. However, handling 'readable'
might
result in increased throughput.
If both 'readable'
and 'data'
are used at the same time, 'readable'
takes precedence in controlling the flow, i.e. 'data'
will be emitted
only when stream.read()
is called. The
readableFlowing
property would become false
.
If there are 'data'
listeners when 'readable'
is removed, the stream
will start flowing, i.e. 'data'
events will be emitted without calling
.resume()
.
Event: 'resume'
#
Added in: v0.9.4
The 'resume'
event is emitted when stream.resume()
is
called and readableFlowing
is not true
.
readable.destroy([error])
#
error
<Error> Error which will be passed as payload in 'error'
event
- Returns: <this>
Destroy the stream. Optionally emit an 'error'
event, and emit a 'close'
event (unless emitClose
is set to false
). After this call, the readable
stream will release any internal resources and subsequent calls to push()
will be ignored.
Once destroy()
has been called any further calls will be a no-op and no
further errors except from _destroy()
may be emitted as 'error'
.
Implementors should not override this method, but instead implement
readable._destroy()
.
readable.destroyed
#
Added in: v8.0.0
Is true
after readable.destroy()
has been called.
readable.isPaused()
#
Added in: v0.11.14
The readable.isPaused()
method returns the current operating state of the
Readable
. This is used primarily by the mechanism that underlies the
readable.pipe()
method. In most typical cases, there will be no reason to
use this method directly.
const readable = new stream.Readable();
readable.isPaused();
readable.pause();
readable.isPaused();
readable.resume();
readable.isPaused();
readable.pause()
#
Added in: v0.9.4
The readable.pause()
method will cause a stream in flowing mode to stop
emitting 'data'
events, switching out of flowing mode. Any data that
becomes available will remain in the internal buffer.
const readable = getReadableStreamSomehow();
readable.on('data', (chunk) => {
console.log(`Received ${chunk.length} bytes of data.`);
readable.pause();
console.log('There will be no additional data for 1 second.');
setTimeout(() => {
console.log('Now data will start flowing again.');
readable.resume();
}, 1000);
});
The readable.pause()
method has no effect if there is a 'readable'
event listener.
readable.pipe(destination[, options])
#
Added in: v0.9.4
The readable.pipe()
method attaches a Writable
stream to the readable
,
causing it to switch automatically into flowing mode and push all of its data
to the attached Writable
. The flow of data will be automatically managed
so that the destination Writable
stream is not overwhelmed by a faster
Readable
stream.
The following example pipes all of the data from the readable
into a file
named file.txt
:
const fs = require('node:fs');
const readable = getReadableStreamSomehow();
const writable = fs.createWriteStream('file.txt');
readable.pipe(writable);
It is possible to attach multiple Writable
streams to a single Readable
stream.
The readable.pipe()
method returns a reference to the destination stream
making it possible to set up chains of piped streams:
const fs = require('node:fs');
const zlib = require('node:zlib');
const r = fs.createReadStream('file.txt');
const z = zlib.createGzip();
const w = fs.createWriteStream('file.txt.gz');
r.pipe(z).pipe(w);
By default, stream.end()
is called on the destination Writable
stream when the source Readable
stream emits 'end'
, so that the
destination is no longer writable. To disable this default behavior, the end
option can be passed as false
, causing the destination stream to remain open:
reader.pipe(writer, { end: false });
reader.on('end', () => {
writer.end('Goodbye\n');
});
One important caveat is that if the Readable
stream emits an error during
processing, the Writable
destination is not closed automatically. If an
error occurs, it will be necessary to manually close each stream in order
to prevent memory leaks.
The process.stderr
and process.stdout
Writable
streams are never
closed until the Node.js process exits, regardless of the specified options.
readable.read([size])
#
Added in: v0.9.4
The readable.read()
method reads data out of the internal buffer and
returns it. If no data is available to be read, null
is returned. By default,
the data is returned as a Buffer
object unless an encoding has been
specified using the readable.setEncoding()
method or the stream is operating
in object mode.
The optional size
argument specifies a specific number of bytes to read. If
size
bytes are not available to be read, null
will be returned unless
the stream has ended, in which case all of the data remaining in the internal
buffer will be returned.
If the size
argument is not specified, all of the data contained in the
internal buffer will be returned.
The size
argument must be less than or equal to 1 GiB.
The readable.read()
method should only be called on Readable
streams
operating in paused mode. In flowing mode, readable.read()
is called
automatically until the internal buffer is fully drained.
const readable = getReadableStreamSomehow();
readable.on('readable', () => {
let chunk;
console.log('Stream is readable (new data received in buffer)');
while (null !== (chunk = readable.read())) {
console.log(`Read ${chunk.length} bytes of data...`);
}
});
readable.on('end', () => {
console.log('Reached end of stream.');
});
Each call to readable.read()
returns a chunk of data, or null
. The chunks
are not concatenated. A while
loop is necessary to consume all data
currently in the buffer. When reading a large file .read()
may return null
,
having consumed all buffered content so far, but there is still more data to
come not yet buffered. In this case a new 'readable'
event will be emitted
when there is more data in the buffer. Finally the 'end'
event will be
emitted when there is no more data to come.
Therefore to read a file's whole contents from a readable
, it is necessary
to collect chunks across multiple 'readable'
events:
const chunks = [];
readable.on('readable', () => {
let chunk;
while (null !== (chunk = readable.read())) {
chunks.push(chunk);
}
});
readable.on('end', () => {
const content = chunks.join('');
});
A Readable
stream in object mode will always return a single item from
a call to readable.read(size)
, regardless of the value of the
size
argument.
If the readable.read()
method returns a chunk of data, a 'data'
event will
also be emitted.
Calling stream.read([size])
after the 'end'
event has
been emitted will return null
. No runtime error will be raised.
readable.readable
#
Added in: v11.4.0
Is true
if it is safe to call readable.read()
, which means
the stream has not been destroyed or emitted 'error'
or 'end'
.
readable.readableAborted
#
Added in: v16.8.0
Returns whether the stream was destroyed or errored before emitting 'end'
.
readable.readableDidRead
#
Added in: v16.7.0
Returns whether 'data'
has been emitted.
readable.readableEncoding
#
Added in: v12.7.0
Getter for the property encoding
of a given Readable
stream. The encoding
property can be set using the readable.setEncoding()
method.
readable.readableEnded
#
Added in: v12.9.0
Becomes true
when 'end'
event is emitted.
readable.readableFlowing
#
Added in: v9.4.0
This property reflects the current state of a Readable
stream as described
in the Three states section.
readable.readableHighWaterMark
#
Added in: v9.3.0
Returns the value of highWaterMark
passed when creating this Readable
.
readable.readableLength
#
Added in: v9.4.0
This property contains the number of bytes (or objects) in the queue
ready to be read. The value provides introspection data regarding
the status of the highWaterMark
.
readable.readableObjectMode
#
Added in: v12.3.0
Getter for the property objectMode
of a given Readable
stream.
readable.resume()
#
The readable.resume()
method causes an explicitly paused Readable
stream to
resume emitting 'data'
events, switching the stream into flowing mode.
The readable.resume()
method can be used to fully consume the data from a
stream without actually processing any of that data:
getReadableStreamSomehow()
.resume()
.on('end', () => {
console.log('Reached the end, but did not read anything.');
});
The readable.resume()
method has no effect if there is a 'readable'
event listener.
readable.setEncoding(encoding)
#
Added in: v0.9.4
The readable.setEncoding()
method sets the character encoding for
data read from the Readable
stream.
By default, no encoding is assigned and stream data will be returned as
Buffer
objects. Setting an encoding causes the stream data
to be returned as strings of the specified encoding rather than as Buffer
objects. For instance, calling readable.setEncoding('utf8')
will cause the
output data to be interpreted as UTF-8 data, and passed as strings. Calling
readable.setEncoding('hex')
will cause the data to be encoded in hexadecimal
string format.
The Readable
stream will properly handle multi-byte characters delivered
through the stream that would otherwise become improperly decoded if simply
pulled from the stream as Buffer
objects.
const readable = getReadableStreamSomehow();
readable.setEncoding('utf8');
readable.on('data', (chunk) => {
assert.equal(typeof chunk, 'string');
console.log('Got %d characters of string data:', chunk.length);
});
readable.unpipe([destination])
#
Added in: v0.9.4
The readable.unpipe()
method detaches a Writable
stream previously attached
using the stream.pipe()
method.
If the destination
is not specified, then all pipes are detached.
If the destination
is specified, but no pipe is set up for it, then
the method does nothing.
const fs = require('node:fs');
const readable = getReadableStreamSomehow();
const writable = fs.createWriteStream('file.txt');
readable.pipe(writable);
setTimeout(() => {
console.log('Stop writing to file.txt.');
readable.unpipe(writable);
console.log('Manually close the file stream.');
writable.end();
}, 1000);
readable.unshift(chunk[, encoding])
#
chunk
<Buffer> | <Uint8Array> | <string> | <null> | <any> Chunk of data to unshift onto the
read queue. For streams not operating in object mode, chunk
must be a
string, Buffer
, Uint8Array
, or null
. For object mode streams, chunk
may be any JavaScript value.
encoding
<string> Encoding of string chunks. Must be a valid
Buffer
encoding, such as 'utf8'
or 'ascii'
.
Passing chunk
as null
signals the end of the stream (EOF) and behaves the
same as readable.push(null)
, after which no more data can be written. The EOF
signal is put at the end of the buffer and any buffered data will still be
flushed.
The readable.unshift()
method pushes a chunk of data back into the internal
buffer. This is useful in certain situations where a stream is being consumed by
code that needs to "un-consume" some amount of data that it has optimistically
pulled out of the source, so that the data can be passed on to some other party.
The stream.unshift(chunk)
method cannot be called after the 'end'
event
has been emitted or a runtime error will be thrown.
Developers using stream.unshift()
often should consider switching to
use of a Transform
stream instead. See the API for stream implementers
section for more information.
const { StringDecoder } = require('node:string_decoder');
function parseHeader(stream, callback) {
stream.on('error', callback);
stream.on('readable', onReadable);
const decoder = new StringDecoder('utf8');
let header = '';
function onReadable() {
let chunk;
while (null !== (chunk = stream.read())) {
const str = decoder.write(chunk);
if (str.includes('\n\n')) {
const split = str.split(/\n\n/);
header += split.shift();
const remaining = split.join('\n\n');
const buf = Buffer.from(remaining, 'utf8');
stream.removeListener('error', callback);
stream.removeListener('readable', onReadable);
if (buf.length)
stream.unshift(buf);
callback(null, header, stream);
return;
}
header += str;
}
}
}
Unlike stream.push(chunk)
, stream.unshift(chunk)
will not
end the reading process by resetting the internal reading state of the stream.
This can cause unexpected results if readable.unshift()
is called during a
read (i.e. from within a stream._read()
implementation on a
custom stream). Following the call to readable.unshift()
with an immediate
stream.push('')
will reset the reading state appropriately,
however it is best to simply avoid calling readable.unshift()
while in the
process of performing a read.
readable.wrap(stream)
#
Added in: v0.9.4
Prior to Node.js 0.10, streams did not implement the entire node:stream
module API as it is currently defined. (See Compatibility for more
information.)
When using an older Node.js library that emits 'data'
events and has a
stream.pause()
method that is advisory only, the
readable.wrap()
method can be used to create a Readable
stream that uses
the old stream as its data source.
It will rarely be necessary to use readable.wrap()
but the method has been
provided as a convenience for interacting with older Node.js applications and
libraries.
const { OldReader } = require('./old-api-module.js');
const { Readable } = require('node:stream');
const oreader = new OldReader();
const myReader = new Readable().wrap(oreader);
myReader.on('readable', () => {
myReader.read();
});
readable[Symbol.asyncIterator]()
#
const fs = require('node:fs');
async function print(readable) {
readable.setEncoding('utf8');
let data = '';
for await (const chunk of readable) {
data += chunk;
}
console.log(data);
}
print(fs.createReadStream('file')).catch(console.error);
If the loop terminates with a break
, return
, or a throw
, the stream will
be destroyed. In other terms, iterating over a stream will consume the stream
fully. The stream will be read in chunks of size equal to the highWaterMark
option. In the code example above, data will be in a single chunk if the file
has less then 64 KiB of data because no highWaterMark
option is provided to
fs.createReadStream()
.
readable.iterator([options])
#
Added in: v16.3.0
options
<Object>
destroyOnReturn
<boolean> When set to false
, calling return
on the
async iterator, or exiting a for await...of
iteration using a break
,
return
, or throw
will not destroy the stream. Default: true
.
destroyOnError
<boolean> When set to false
, if the stream emits an
error while it's being iterated, the iterator will not destroy the stream.
Default: true
.
- Returns: <AsyncIterator> to consume the stream.
The iterator created by this method gives users the option to cancel the
destruction of the stream if the for await...of
loop is exited by return
,
break
, or throw
, or if the iterator should destroy the stream if the stream
emitted an error during iteration.
const { Readable } = require('node:stream');
async function printIterator(readable) {
for await (const chunk of readable.iterator({ destroyOnReturn: false })) {
console.log(chunk);
break;
}
console.log(readable.destroyed);
for await (const chunk of readable.iterator({ destroyOnReturn: false })) {
console.log(chunk);
}
console.log(readable.destroyed);
}
async function printSymbolAsyncIterator(readable) {
for await (const chunk of readable) {
console.log(chunk);
break;
}
console.log(readable.destroyed);
}
async function showBoth() {
await printIterator(Readable.from([1, 2, 3]));
await printSymbolAsyncIterator(Readable.from([1, 2, 3]));
}
showBoth();
readable.map(fn[, options])
#
Added in: v16.14.0
fn
<Function> | <AsyncFunction> a function to map over every chunk in the
stream.
data
<any> a chunk of data from the stream.
options
<Object>
signal
<AbortSignal> aborted if the stream is destroyed allowing to
abort the fn
call early.
options
<Object>
concurrency
<number> the maximum concurrent invocation of fn
to call
on the stream at once. Default: 1
.
signal
<AbortSignal> allows destroying the stream if the signal is
aborted.
- Returns: <Readable> a stream mapped with the function
fn
.
This method allows mapping over the stream. The fn
function will be called
for every chunk in the stream. If the fn
function returns a promise - that
promise will be await
ed before being passed to the result stream.
import { Readable } from 'node:stream';
import { Resolver } from 'node:dns/promises';
for await (const chunk of Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]).map((x) => x * 2)) {
console.log(chunk);
}
const resolver = new Resolver();
const dnsResults = Readable.from([
'nodejs.org',
'openjsf.org',
'www.linuxfoundation.org',
]).map((domain) => resolver.resolve4(domain), { concurrency: 2 });
for await (const result of dnsResults) {
console.log(result);
}
readable.filter(fn[, options])
#
Added in: v16.14.0
fn
<Function> | <AsyncFunction> a function to filter chunks from the stream.
data
<any> a chunk of data from the stream.
options
<Object>
signal
<AbortSignal> aborted if the stream is destroyed allowing to
abort the fn
call early.
options
<Object>
concurrency
<number> the maximum concurrent invocation of fn
to call
on the stream at once. Default: 1
.
signal
<AbortSignal> allows destroying the stream if the signal is
aborted.
- Returns: <Readable> a stream filtered with the predicate
fn
.
This method allows filtering the stream. For each chunk in the stream the fn
function will be called and if it returns a truthy value, the chunk will be
passed to the result stream. If the fn
function returns a promise - that
promise will be await
ed.
import { Readable } from 'node:stream';
import { Resolver } from 'node:dns/promises';
for await (const chunk of Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]).filter((x) => x > 2)) {
console.log(chunk);
}
const resolver = new Resolver();
const dnsResults = Readable.from([
'nodejs.org',
'openjsf.org',
'www.linuxfoundation.org',
]).filter(async (domain) => {
const { address } = await resolver.resolve4(domain, { ttl: true });
return address.ttl > 60;
}, { concurrency: 2 });
for await (const result of dnsResults) {
console.log(result);
}
readable.forEach(fn[, options])
#
Added in: v16.15.0
fn
<Function> | <AsyncFunction> a function to call on each chunk of the stream.
data
<any> a chunk of data from the stream.
options
<Object>
signal
<AbortSignal> aborted if the stream is destroyed allowing to
abort the fn
call early.
options
<Object>
concurrency
<number> the maximum concurrent invocation of fn
to call
on the stream at once. Default: 1
.
signal
<AbortSignal> allows destroying the stream if the signal is
aborted.
- Returns: <Promise> a promise for when the stream has finished.
This method allows iterating a stream. For each chunk in the stream the
fn
function will be called. If the fn
function returns a promise - that
promise will be await
ed.
This method is different from for await...of
loops in that it can optionally
process chunks concurrently. In addition, a forEach
iteration can only be
stopped by having passed a signal
option and aborting the related
AbortController
while for await...of
can be stopped with break
or
return
. In either case the stream will be destroyed.
This method is different from listening to the 'data'
event in that it
uses the readable
event in the underlying machinary and can limit the
number of concurrent fn
calls.
import { Readable } from 'node:stream';
import { Resolver } from 'node:dns/promises';
for await (const chunk of Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]).filter((x) => x > 2)) {
console.log(chunk);
}
const resolver = new Resolver();
const dnsResults = await Readable.from([
'nodejs.org',
'openjsf.org',
'www.linuxfoundation.org',
]).map(async (domain) => {
const { address } = await resolver.resolve4(domain, { ttl: true });
return address;
}, { concurrency: 2 });
await dnsResults.forEach((result) => {
console.log(result);
});
console.log('done');
readable.toArray([options])
#
Added in: v16.15.0
options
<Object>
signal
<AbortSignal> allows cancelling the toArray operation if the
signal is aborted.
- Returns: <Promise> a promise containing an array with the contents of the
stream.
This method allows easily obtaining the contents of a stream.
As this method reads the entire stream into memory, it negates the benefits of
streams. It's intended for interoperability and convenience, not as the primary
way to consume streams.
import { Readable } from 'node:stream';
import { Resolver } from 'node:dns/promises';
await Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]).toArray();
const dnsResults = await Readable.from([
'nodejs.org',
'openjsf.org',
'www.linuxfoundation.org',
]).map(async (domain) => {
const { address } = await resolver.resolve4(domain, { ttl: true });
return address;
}, { concurrency: 2 }).toArray();
readable.some(fn[, options])
#
Added in: v16.15.0
fn
<Function> | <AsyncFunction> a function to call on each chunk of the stream.
data
<any> a chunk of data from the stream.
options
<Object>
signal
<AbortSignal> aborted if the stream is destroyed allowing to
abort the fn
call early.
options
<Object>
concurrency
<number> the maximum concurrent invocation of fn
to call
on the stream at once. Default: 1
.
signal
<AbortSignal> allows destroying the stream if the signal is
aborted.
- Returns: <Promise> a promise evaluating to
true
if fn
returned a truthy
value for at least one of the chunks.
This method is similar to Array.prototype.some
and calls fn
on each chunk
in the stream until the awaited return value is true
(or any truthy value).
Once an fn
call on a chunk awaited return value is truthy, the stream is
destroyed and the promise is fulfilled with true
. If none of the fn
calls on the chunks return a truthy value, the promise is fulfilled with
false
.
import { Readable } from 'node:stream';
import { stat } from 'node:fs/promises';
await Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]).some((x) => x > 2);
await Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]).some((x) => x < 0);
const anyBigFile = await Readable.from([
'file1',
'file2',
'file3',
]).some(async (fileName) => {
const stats = await stat(fileName);
return stat.size > 1024 * 1024;
}, { concurrency: 2 });
console.log(anyBigFile);
console.log('done');
readable.find(fn[, options])
#
Added in: v16.17.0
fn
<Function> | <AsyncFunction> a function to call on each chunk of the stream.
data
<any> a chunk of data from the stream.
options
<Object>
signal
<AbortSignal> aborted if the stream is destroyed allowing to
abort the fn
call early.
options
<Object>
concurrency
<number> the maximum concurrent invocation of fn
to call
on the stream at once. Default: 1
.
signal
<AbortSignal> allows destroying the stream if the signal is
aborted.
- Returns: <Promise> a promise evaluating to the first chunk for which
fn
evaluated with a truthy value, or undefined
if no element was found.
This method is similar to Array.prototype.find
and calls fn
on each chunk
in the stream to find a chunk with a truthy value for fn
. Once an fn
call's
awaited return value is truthy, the stream is destroyed and the promise is
fulfilled with value for which fn
returned a truthy value. If all of the
fn
calls on the chunks return a falsy value, the promise is fulfilled with
undefined
.
import { Readable } from 'node:stream';
import { stat } from 'node:fs/promises';
await Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]).find((x) => x > 2);
await Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]).find((x) => x > 0);
await Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]).find((x) => x > 10);
const foundBigFile = await Readable.from([
'file1',
'file2',
'file3',
]).find(async (fileName) => {
const stats = await stat(fileName);
return stat.size > 1024 * 1024;
}, { concurrency: 2 });
console.log(foundBigFile);
console.log('done');
readable.every(fn[, options])
#
Added in: v16.15.0
fn
<Function> | <AsyncFunction> a function to call on each chunk of the stream.
data
<any> a chunk of data from the stream.
options
<Object>
signal
<AbortSignal> aborted if the stream is destroyed allowing to
abort the fn
call early.
options
<Object>
concurrency
<number> the maximum concurrent invocation of fn
to call
on the stream at once. Default: 1
.
signal
<AbortSignal> allows destroying the stream if the signal is
aborted.
- Returns: <Promise> a promise evaluating to
true
if fn
returned a truthy
value for all of the chunks.
This method is similar to Array.prototype.every
and calls fn
on each chunk
in the stream to check if all awaited return values are truthy value for fn
.
Once an fn
call on a chunk awaited return value is falsy, the stream is
destroyed and the promise is fulfilled with false
. If all of the fn
calls
on the chunks return a truthy value, the promise is fulfilled with true
.
import { Readable } from 'node:stream';
import { stat } from 'node:fs/promises';
await Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]).every((x) => x > 2);
await Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]).every((x) => x > 0);
const allBigFiles = await Readable.from([
'file1',
'file2',
'file3',
]).every(async (fileName) => {
const stats = await stat(fileName);
return stat.size > 1024 * 1024;
}, { concurrency: 2 });
console.log(allBigFiles);
console.log('done');
readable.flatMap(fn[, options])
#
Added in: v16.15.0
This method returns a new stream by applying the given callback to each
chunk of the stream and then flattening the result.
It is possible to return a stream or another iterable or async iterable from
fn
and the result streams will be merged (flattened) into the returned
stream.
import { Readable } from 'node:stream';
import { createReadStream } from 'node:fs';
for await (const chunk of Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]).flatMap((x) => [x, x])) {
console.log(chunk);
}
const concatResult = Readable.from([
'./1.mjs',
'./2.mjs',
'./3.mjs',
'./4.mjs',
]).flatMap((fileName) => createReadStream(fileName));
for await (const result of concatResult) {
console.log(result);
}
readable.drop(limit[, options])
#
Added in: v16.15.0
limit
<number> the number of chunks to drop from the readable.
options
<Object>
signal
<AbortSignal> allows destroying the stream if the signal is
aborted.
- Returns: <Readable> a stream with
limit
chunks dropped.
This method returns a new stream with the first limit
chunks dropped.
import { Readable } from 'node:stream';
await Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]).drop(2).toArray();
readable.take(limit[, options])
#
Added in: v16.15.0
limit
<number> the number of chunks to take from the readable.
options
<Object>
signal
<AbortSignal> allows destroying the stream if the signal is
aborted.
- Returns: <Readable> a stream with
limit
chunks taken.
This method returns a new stream with the first limit
chunks.
import { Readable } from 'node:stream';
await Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]).take(2).toArray();
readable.asIndexedPairs([options])
#
Added in: v16.15.0
This method returns a new stream with chunks of the underlying stream paired
with a counter in the form [index, chunk]
. The first index value is 0 and it
increases by 1 for each chunk produced.
import { Readable } from 'node:stream';
const pairs = await Readable.from(['a', 'b', 'c']).asIndexedPairs().toArray();
console.log(pairs);
readable.reduce(fn[, initial[, options]])
#
Added in: v16.15.0
fn
<Function> | <AsyncFunction> a reducer function to call over every chunk
in the stream.
previous
<any> the value obtained from the last call to fn
or the
initial
value if specified or the first chunk of the stream otherwise.
data
<any> a chunk of data from the stream.
options
<Object>
signal
<AbortSignal> aborted if the stream is destroyed allowing to
abort the fn
call early.
initial
<any> the initial value to use in the reduction.
options
<Object>
signal
<AbortSignal> allows destroying the stream if the signal is
aborted.
- Returns: <Promise> a promise for the final value of the reduction.
This method calls fn
on each chunk of the stream in order, passing it the
result from the calculation on the previous element. It returns a promise for
the final value of the reduction.
The reducer function iterates the stream element-by-element which means that
there is no concurrency
parameter or parallelism. To perform a reduce
concurrently, it can be chained to the readable.map
method.
If no initial
value is supplied the first chunk of the stream is used as the
initial value. If the stream is empty, the promise is rejected with a
TypeError
with the ERR_INVALID_ARGS
code property.
import { Readable } from 'node:stream';
const ten = await Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]).reduce((previous, data) => {
return previous + data;
});
console.log(ten);
Duplex and transform streams#
Class: stream.Duplex
#
Duplex streams are streams that implement both the Readable
and
Writable
interfaces.
Examples of Duplex
streams include:
duplex.allowHalfOpen
#
Added in: v0.9.4
If false
then the stream will automatically end the writable side when the
readable side ends. Set initially by the allowHalfOpen
constructor option,
which defaults to true
.
This can be changed manually to change the half-open behavior of an existing
Duplex
stream instance, but must be changed before the 'end'
event is
emitted.
Class: stream.Transform
#
Added in: v0.9.4
Transform streams are Duplex
streams where the output is in some way
related to the input. Like all Duplex
streams, Transform
streams
implement both the Readable
and Writable
interfaces.
Examples of Transform
streams include:
transform.destroy([error])
#
Destroy the stream, and optionally emit an 'error'
event. After this call, the
transform stream would release any internal resources.
Implementors should not override this method, but instead implement
readable._destroy()
.
The default implementation of _destroy()
for Transform
also emit 'close'
unless emitClose
is set in false.
Once destroy()
has been called, any further calls will be a no-op and no
further errors except from _destroy()
may be emitted as 'error'
.
stream.finished(stream[, options], callback)
#
stream
<Stream> A readable and/or writable stream.
options
<Object>
error
<boolean> If set to false
, then a call to emit('error', err)
is
not treated as finished. Default: true
.
readable
<boolean> When set to false
, the callback will be called when
the stream ends even though the stream might still be readable.
Default: true
.
writable
<boolean> When set to false
, the callback will be called when
the stream ends even though the stream might still be writable.
Default: true
.
signal
<AbortSignal> allows aborting the wait for the stream finish. The
underlying stream will not be aborted if the signal is aborted. The
callback will get called with an AbortError
. All registered
listeners added by this function will also be removed.
callback
<Function> A callback function that takes an optional error
argument.
- Returns: <Function> A cleanup function which removes all registered
listeners.
A function to get notified when a stream is no longer readable, writable
or has experienced an error or a premature close event.
const { finished } = require('node:stream');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const rs = fs.createReadStream('archive.tar');
finished(rs, (err) => {
if (err) {
console.error('Stream failed.', err);
} else {
console.log('Stream is done reading.');
}
});
rs.resume();
Especially useful in error handling scenarios where a stream is destroyed
prematurely (like an aborted HTTP request), and will not emit 'end'
or 'finish'
.
The finished
API provides promise version:
const { finished } = require('node:stream/promises');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const rs = fs.createReadStream('archive.tar');
async function run() {
await finished(rs);
console.log('Stream is done reading.');
}
run().catch(console.error);
rs.resume();
stream.finished()
leaves dangling event listeners (in particular
'error'
, 'end'
, 'finish'
and 'close'
) after callback
has been
invoked. The reason for this is so that unexpected 'error'
events (due to
incorrect stream implementations) do not cause unexpected crashes.
If this is unwanted behavior then the returned cleanup function needs to be
invoked in the callback:
const cleanup = finished(rs, (err) => {
cleanup();
});
stream.pipeline(source[, ...transforms], destination, callback)
#
stream.pipeline(streams, callback)
#
A module method to pipe between streams and generators forwarding errors and
properly cleaning up and provide a callback when the pipeline is complete.
const { pipeline } = require('node:stream');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const zlib = require('node:zlib');
pipeline(
fs.createReadStream('archive.tar'),
zlib.createGzip(),
fs.createWriteStream('archive.tar.gz'),
(err) => {
if (err) {
console.error('Pipeline failed.', err);
} else {
console.log('Pipeline succeeded.');
}
}
);
The pipeline
API provides a promise version, which can also
receive an options argument as the last parameter with a
signal
<AbortSignal> property. When the signal is aborted,
destroy
will be called on the underlying pipeline, with an
AbortError
.
const { pipeline } = require('node:stream/promises');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const zlib = require('node:zlib');
async function run() {
await pipeline(
fs.createReadStream('archive.tar'),
zlib.createGzip(),
fs.createWriteStream('archive.tar.gz')
);
console.log('Pipeline succeeded.');
}
run().catch(console.error);
To use an AbortSignal
, pass it inside an options object,
as the last argument:
const { pipeline } = require('node:stream/promises');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const zlib = require('node:zlib');
async function run() {
const ac = new AbortController();
const signal = ac.signal;
setTimeout(() => ac.abort(), 1);
await pipeline(
fs.createReadStream('archive.tar'),
zlib.createGzip(),
fs.createWriteStream('archive.tar.gz'),
{ signal },
);
}
run().catch(console.error);
The pipeline
API also supports async generators:
const { pipeline } = require('node:stream/promises');
const fs = require('node:fs');
async function run() {
await pipeline(
fs.createReadStream('lowercase.txt'),
async function* (source, { signal }) {
source.setEncoding('utf8');
for await (const chunk of source) {
yield await processChunk(chunk, { signal });
}
},
fs.createWriteStream('uppercase.txt')
);
console.log('Pipeline succeeded.');
}
run().catch(console.error);
Remember to handle the signal
argument passed into the async generator.
Especially in the case where the async generator is the source for the
pipeline (i.e. first argument) or the pipeline will never complete.
const { pipeline } = require('node:stream/promises');
const fs = require('node:fs');
async function run() {
await pipeline(
async function* ({ signal }) {
await someLongRunningfn({ signal });
yield 'asd';
},
fs.createWriteStream('uppercase.txt')
);
console.log('Pipeline succeeded.');
}
run().catch(console.error);
stream.pipeline()
will call stream.destroy(err)
on all streams except:
Readable
streams which have emitted 'end'
or 'close'
.
Writable
streams which have emitted 'finish'
or 'close'
.
stream.pipeline()
leaves dangling event listeners on the streams
after the callback
has been invoked. In the case of reuse of streams after
failure, this can cause event listener leaks and swallowed errors.
stream.pipeline()
closes all the streams when an error is raised.
The IncomingRequest
usage with pipeline
could lead to an unexpected behavior
once it would destroy the socket without sending the expected response.
See the example below:
const fs = require('node:fs');
const http = require('node:http');
const { pipeline } = require('node:stream');
const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
const fileStream = fs.createReadStream('./fileNotExist.txt');
pipeline(fileStream, res, (err) => {
if (err) {
console.log(err);
return res.end('error!!!');
}
});
});
stream.compose(...streams)
#
Added in: v16.9.0
Combines two or more streams into a Duplex
stream that writes to the
first stream and reads from the last. Each provided stream is piped into
the next, using stream.pipeline
. If any of the streams error then all
are destroyed, including the outer Duplex
stream.
Because stream.compose
returns a new stream that in turn can (and
should) be piped into other streams, it enables composition. In contrast,
when passing streams to stream.pipeline
, typically the first stream is
a readable stream and the last a writable stream, forming a closed
circuit.
If passed a Function
it must be a factory method taking a source
Iterable
.
import { compose, Transform } from 'node:stream';
const removeSpaces = new Transform({
transform(chunk, encoding, callback) {
callback(null, String(chunk).replace(' ', ''));
}
});
async function* toUpper(source) {
for await (const chunk of source) {
yield String(chunk).toUpperCase();
}
}
let res = '';
for await (const buf of compose(removeSpaces, toUpper).end('hello world')) {
res += buf;
}
console.log(res);
stream.compose
can be used to convert async iterables, generators and
functions into streams.
AsyncIterable
converts into a readable Duplex
. Cannot yield
null
.
AsyncGeneratorFunction
converts into a readable/writable transform Duplex
.
Must take a source AsyncIterable
as first parameter. Cannot yield
null
.
AsyncFunction
converts into a writable Duplex
. Must return
either null
or undefined
.
import { compose } from 'node:stream';
import { finished } from 'node:stream/promises';
const s1 = compose(async function*() {
yield 'Hello';
yield 'World';
}());
const s2 = compose(async function*(source) {
for await (const chunk of source) {
yield String(chunk).toUpperCase();
}
});
let res = '';
const s3 = compose(async function(source) {
for await (const chunk of source) {
res += chunk;
}
});
await finished(compose(s1, s2, s3));
console.log(res);
stream.Readable.from(iterable[, options])
#
Added in: v12.3.0, v10.17.0
iterable
<Iterable> Object implementing the Symbol.asyncIterator
or
Symbol.iterator
iterable protocol. Emits an 'error' event if a null
value is passed.
options
<Object> Options provided to new stream.Readable([options])
.
By default, Readable.from()
will set options.objectMode
to true
, unless
this is explicitly opted out by setting options.objectMode
to false
.
- Returns: <stream.Readable>
A utility method for creating readable streams out of iterators.
const { Readable } = require('node:stream');
async function * generate() {
yield 'hello';
yield 'streams';
}
const readable = Readable.from(generate());
readable.on('data', (chunk) => {
console.log(chunk);
});
Calling Readable.from(string)
or Readable.from(buffer)
will not have
the strings or buffers be iterated to match the other streams semantics
for performance reasons.
stream.Readable.isDisturbed(stream)
#
Added in: v16.8.0
Returns whether the stream has been read from or cancelled.
stream.isErrored(stream)
#
Added in: v16.14.0
Returns whether the stream has encountered an error.
stream.isReadable(stream)
#
Added in: v16.14.0
Returns whether the stream is readable.
stream.Readable.toWeb(streamReadable)
#
Added in: v17.0.0
stream.Writable.fromWeb(writableStream[, options])
#
Added in: v17.0.0
stream.Writable.toWeb(streamWritable)
#
Added in: v17.0.0
stream.Duplex.from(src)
#
Added in: v16.8.0
A utility method for creating duplex streams.
Stream
converts writable stream into writable Duplex
and readable stream
to Duplex
.
Blob
converts into readable Duplex
.
string
converts into readable Duplex
.
ArrayBuffer
converts into readable Duplex
.
AsyncIterable
converts into a readable Duplex
. Cannot yield
null
.
AsyncGeneratorFunction
converts into a readable/writable transform
Duplex
. Must take a source AsyncIterable
as first parameter. Cannot yield
null
.
AsyncFunction
converts into a writable Duplex
. Must return
either null
or undefined
Object ({ writable, readable })
converts readable
and
writable
into Stream
and then combines them into Duplex
where the
Duplex
will write to the writable
and read from the readable
.
Promise
converts into readable Duplex
. Value null
is ignored.
- Returns: <stream.Duplex>
stream.addAbortSignal(signal, stream)
#
Added in: v15.4.0
signal
<AbortSignal> A signal representing possible cancellation
stream
<Stream> a stream to attach a signal to
Attaches an AbortSignal to a readable or writeable stream. This lets code
control stream destruction using an AbortController
.
Calling abort
on the AbortController
corresponding to the passed
AbortSignal
will behave the same way as calling .destroy(new AbortError())
on the stream.
const fs = require('node:fs');
const controller = new AbortController();
const read = addAbortSignal(
controller.signal,
fs.createReadStream(('object.json'))
);
controller.abort();
Or using an AbortSignal
with a readable stream as an async iterable:
const controller = new AbortController();
setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 10_000);
const stream = addAbortSignal(
controller.signal,
fs.createReadStream(('object.json'))
);
(async () => {
try {
for await (const chunk of stream) {
await process(chunk);
}
} catch (e) {
if (e.name === 'AbortError') {
} else {
throw e;
}
}
})();
API for stream implementers#
The node:stream
module API has been designed to make it possible to easily
implement streams using JavaScript's prototypal inheritance model.
First, a stream developer would declare a new JavaScript class that extends one
of the four basic stream classes (stream.Writable
, stream.Readable
,
stream.Duplex
, or stream.Transform
), making sure they call the appropriate
parent class constructor:
const { Writable } = require('node:stream');
class MyWritable extends Writable {
constructor({ highWaterMark, ...options }) {
super({ highWaterMark });
}
}
When extending streams, keep in mind what options the user
can and should provide before forwarding these to the base constructor. For
example, if the implementation makes assumptions in regard to the
autoDestroy
and emitClose
options, do not allow the
user to override these. Be explicit about what
options are forwarded instead of implicitly forwarding all options.
The new stream class must then implement one or more specific methods, depending
on the type of stream being created, as detailed in the chart below:
The implementation code for a stream should never call the "public" methods
of a stream that are intended for use by consumers (as described in the
API for stream consumers section). Doing so may lead to adverse side effects
in application code consuming the stream.
Avoid overriding public methods such as write()
, end()
, cork()
,
uncork()
, read()
and destroy()
, or emitting internal events such
as 'error'
, 'data'
, 'end'
, 'finish'
and 'close'
through .emit()
.
Doing so can break current and future stream invariants leading to behavior
and/or compatibility issues with other streams, stream utilities, and user
expectations.
Simplified construction#
Added in: v1.2.0
For many simple cases, it is possible to create a stream without relying on
inheritance. This can be accomplished by directly creating instances of the
stream.Writable
, stream.Readable
, stream.Duplex
, or stream.Transform
objects and passing appropriate methods as constructor options.
const { Writable } = require('node:stream');
const myWritable = new Writable({
construct(callback) {
},
write(chunk, encoding, callback) {
},
destroy() {
}
});
Implementing a writable stream#
The stream.Writable
class is extended to implement a Writable
stream.
Custom Writable
streams must call the new stream.Writable([options])
constructor and implement the writable._write()
and/or writable._writev()
method.
new stream.Writable([options])
#
options
<Object>
highWaterMark
<number> Buffer level when
stream.write()
starts returning false
. Default:
16384
(16 KiB), or 16
for objectMode
streams.
decodeStrings
<boolean> Whether to encode string
s passed to
stream.write()
to Buffer
s (with the encoding
specified in the stream.write()
call) before passing
them to stream._write()
. Other types of data are not
converted (i.e. Buffer
s are not decoded into string
s). Setting to
false will prevent string
s from being converted. Default: true
.
defaultEncoding
<string> The default encoding that is used when no
encoding is specified as an argument to stream.write()
.
Default: 'utf8'
.
objectMode
<boolean> Whether or not the
stream.write(anyObj)
is a valid operation. When set,
it becomes possible to write JavaScript values other than string,
Buffer
or Uint8Array
if supported by the stream implementation.
Default: false
.
emitClose
<boolean> Whether or not the stream should emit 'close'
after it has been destroyed. Default: true
.
write
<Function> Implementation for the
stream._write()
method.
writev
<Function> Implementation for the
stream._writev()
method.
destroy
<Function> Implementation for the
stream._destroy()
method.
final
<Function> Implementation for the
stream._final()
method.
construct
<Function> Implementation for the
stream._construct()
method.
autoDestroy
<boolean> Whether this stream should automatically call
.destroy()
on itself after ending. Default: true
.
signal
<AbortSignal> A signal representing possible cancellation.
const { Writable } = require('node:stream');
class MyWritable extends Writable {
constructor(options) {
super(options);
}
}
Or, when using pre-ES6 style constructors:
const { Writable } = require('node:stream');
const util = require('node:util');
function MyWritable(options) {
if (!(this instanceof MyWritable))
return new MyWritable(options);
Writable.call(this, options);
}
util.inherits(MyWritable, Writable);
Or, using the simplified constructor approach:
const { Writable } = require('node:stream');
const myWritable = new Writable({
write(chunk, encoding, callback) {
},
writev(chunks, callback) {
}
});
Calling abort
on the AbortController
corresponding to the passed
AbortSignal
will behave the same way as calling .destroy(new AbortError())
on the writeable stream.
const { Writable } = require('node:stream');
const controller = new AbortController();
const myWritable = new Writable({
write(chunk, encoding, callback) {
},
writev(chunks, callback) {
},
signal: controller.signal
});
controller.abort();
writable._construct(callback)
#
Added in: v15.0.0
callback
<Function> Call this function (optionally with an error
argument) when the stream has finished initializing.
The _construct()
method MUST NOT be called directly. It may be implemented
by child classes, and if so, will be called by the internal Writable
class methods only.
This optional function will be called in a tick after the stream constructor
has returned, delaying any _write()
, _final()
and _destroy()
calls until
callback
is called. This is useful to initialize state or asynchronously
initialize resources before the stream can be used.
const { Writable } = require('node:stream');
const fs = require('node:fs');
class WriteStream extends Writable {
constructor(filename) {
super();
this.filename = filename;
this.fd = null;
}
_construct(callback) {
fs.open(this.filename, (err, fd) => {
if (err) {
callback(err);
} else {
this.fd = fd;
callback();
}
});
}
_write(chunk, encoding, callback) {
fs.write(this.fd, chunk, callback);
}
_destroy(err, callback) {
if (this.fd) {
fs.close(this.fd, (er) => callback(er || err));
} else {
callback(err);
}
}
}
writable._write(chunk, encoding, callback)
#
chunk
<Buffer> | <string> | <any> The Buffer
to be written, converted from the
string
passed to stream.write()
. If the stream's
decodeStrings
option is false
or the stream is operating in object mode,
the chunk will not be converted & will be whatever was passed to
stream.write()
.
encoding
<string> If the chunk is a string, then encoding
is the
character encoding of that string. If chunk is a Buffer
, or if the
stream is operating in object mode, encoding
may be ignored.
callback
<Function> Call this function (optionally with an error
argument) when processing is complete for the supplied chunk.
All Writable
stream implementations must provide a
writable._write()
and/or
writable._writev()
method to send data to the underlying
resource.
Transform
streams provide their own implementation of the
writable._write()
.
This function MUST NOT be called by application code directly. It should be
implemented by child classes, and called by the internal Writable
class
methods only.
The callback
function must be called synchronously inside of
writable._write()
or asynchronously (i.e. different tick) to signal either
that the write completed successfully or failed with an error.
The first argument passed to the callback
must be the Error
object if the
call failed or null
if the write succeeded.
All calls to writable.write()
that occur between the time writable._write()
is called and the callback
is called will cause the written data to be
buffered. When the callback
is invoked, the stream might emit a 'drain'
event. If a stream implementation is capable of processing multiple chunks of
data at once, the writable._writev()
method should be implemented.
If the decodeStrings
property is explicitly set to false
in the constructor
options, then chunk
will remain the same object that is passed to .write()
,
and may be a string rather than a Buffer
. This is to support implementations
that have an optimized handling for certain string data encodings. In that case,
the encoding
argument will indicate the character encoding of the string.
Otherwise, the encoding
argument can be safely ignored.
The writable._write()
method is prefixed with an underscore because it is
internal to the class that defines it, and should never be called directly by
user programs.
writable._writev(chunks, callback)
#
chunks
<Object[]> The data to be written. The value is an array of <Object>
that each represent a discrete chunk of data to write. The properties of
these objects are:
chunk
<Buffer> | <string> A buffer instance or string containing the data to
be written. The chunk
will be a string if the Writable
was created with
the decodeStrings
option set to false
and a string was passed to write()
.
encoding
<string> The character encoding of the chunk
. If chunk
is
a Buffer
, the encoding
will be 'buffer'
.
callback
<Function> A callback function (optionally with an error
argument) to be invoked when processing is complete for the supplied chunks.
This function MUST NOT be called by application code directly. It should be
implemented by child classes, and called by the internal Writable
class
methods only.
The writable._writev()
method may be implemented in addition or alternatively
to writable._write()
in stream implementations that are capable of processing
multiple chunks of data at once. If implemented and if there is buffered data
from previous writes, _writev()
will be called instead of _write()
.
The writable._writev()
method is prefixed with an underscore because it is
internal to the class that defines it, and should never be called directly by
user programs.
writable._destroy(err, callback)
#
Added in: v8.0.0
err
<Error> A possible error.
callback
<Function> A callback function that takes an optional error
argument.
The _destroy()
method is called by writable.destroy()
.
It can be overridden by child classes but it must not be called directly.
Furthermore, the callback
should not be mixed with async/await
once it is executed when a promise is resolved.
writable._final(callback)
#
Added in: v8.0.0
callback
<Function> Call this function (optionally with an error
argument) when finished writing any remaining data.
The _final()
method must not be called directly. It may be implemented
by child classes, and if so, will be called by the internal Writable
class methods only.
This optional function will be called before the stream closes, delaying the
'finish'
event until callback
is called. This is useful to close resources
or write buffered data before a stream ends.
Errors while writing#
Errors occurring during the processing of the writable._write()
,
writable._writev()
and writable._final()
methods must be propagated
by invoking the callback and passing the error as the first argument.
Throwing an Error
from within these methods or manually emitting an 'error'
event results in undefined behavior.
If a Readable
stream pipes into a Writable
stream when Writable
emits an
error, the Readable
stream will be unpiped.
const { Writable } = require('node:stream');
const myWritable = new Writable({
write(chunk, encoding, callback) {
if (chunk.toString().indexOf('a') >= 0) {
callback(new Error('chunk is invalid'));
} else {
callback();
}
}
});
An example writable stream#
The following illustrates a rather simplistic (and somewhat pointless) custom
Writable
stream implementation. While this specific Writable
stream instance
is not of any real particular usefulness, the example illustrates each of the
required elements of a custom Writable
stream instance:
const { Writable } = require('node:stream');
class MyWritable extends Writable {
_write(chunk, encoding, callback) {
if (chunk.toString().indexOf('a') >= 0) {
callback(new Error('chunk is invalid'));
} else {
callback();
}
}
}
Decoding buffers in a writable stream#
Decoding buffers is a common task, for instance, when using transformers whose
input is a string. This is not a trivial process when using multi-byte
characters encoding, such as UTF-8. The following example shows how to decode
multi-byte strings using StringDecoder
and Writable
.
const { Writable } = require('node:stream');
const { StringDecoder } = require('node:string_decoder');
class StringWritable extends Writable {
constructor(options) {
super(options);
this._decoder = new StringDecoder(options && options.defaultEncoding);
this.data = '';
}
_write(chunk, encoding, callback) {
if (encoding === 'buffer') {
chunk = this._decoder.write(chunk);
}
this.data += chunk;
callback();
}
_final(callback) {
this.data += this._decoder.end();
callback();
}
}
const euro = [[0xE2, 0x82], [0xAC]].map(Buffer.from);
const w = new StringWritable();
w.write('currency: ');
w.write(euro[0]);
w.end(euro[1]);
console.log(w.data);
Implementing a readable stream#
The stream.Readable
class is extended to implement a Readable
stream.
Custom Readable
streams must call the new stream.Readable([options])
constructor and implement the readable._read()
method.
new stream.Readable([options])
#
options
<Object>
highWaterMark
<number> The maximum number of bytes to store
in the internal buffer before ceasing to read from the underlying resource.
Default: 16384
(16 KiB), or 16
for objectMode
streams.
encoding
<string> If specified, then buffers will be decoded to
strings using the specified encoding. Default: null
.
objectMode
<boolean> Whether this stream should behave
as a stream of objects. Meaning that stream.read(n)
returns
a single value instead of a Buffer
of size n
. Default: false
.
emitClose
<boolean> Whether or not the stream should emit 'close'
after it has been destroyed. Default: true
.
read
<Function> Implementation for the stream._read()
method.
destroy
<Function> Implementation for the
stream._destroy()
method.
construct
<Function> Implementation for the
stream._construct()
method.
autoDestroy
<boolean> Whether this stream should automatically call
.destroy()
on itself after ending. Default: true
.
signal
<AbortSignal> A signal representing possible cancellation.
const { Readable } = require('node:stream');
class MyReadable extends Readable {
constructor(options) {
super(options);
}
}
Or, when using pre-ES6 style constructors:
const { Readable } = require('node:stream');
const util = require('node:util');
function MyReadable(options) {
if (!(this instanceof MyReadable))
return new MyReadable(options);
Readable.call(this, options);
}
util.inherits(MyReadable, Readable);
Or, using the simplified constructor approach:
const { Readable } = require('node:stream');
const myReadable = new Readable({
read(size) {
}
});
Calling abort
on the AbortController
corresponding to the passed
AbortSignal
will behave the same way as calling .destroy(new AbortError())
on the readable created.
const { Readable } = require('node:stream');
const controller = new AbortController();
const read = new Readable({
read(size) {
},
signal: controller.signal
});
controller.abort();
readable._construct(callback)
#
Added in: v15.0.0
callback
<Function> Call this function (optionally with an error
argument) when the stream has finished initializing.
The _construct()
method MUST NOT be called directly. It may be implemented
by child classes, and if so, will be called by the internal Readable
class methods only.
This optional function will be scheduled in the next tick by the stream
constructor, delaying any _read()
and _destroy()
calls until callback
is
called. This is useful to initialize state or asynchronously initialize
resources before the stream can be used.
const { Readable } = require('node:stream');
const fs = require('node:fs');
class ReadStream extends Readable {
constructor(filename) {
super();
this.filename = filename;
this.fd = null;
}
_construct(callback) {
fs.open(this.filename, (err, fd) => {
if (err) {
callback(err);
} else {
this.fd = fd;
callback();
}
});
}
_read(n) {
const buf = Buffer.alloc(n);
fs.read(this.fd, buf, 0, n, null, (err, bytesRead) => {
if (err) {
this.destroy(err);
} else {
this.push(bytesRead > 0 ? buf.slice(0, bytesRead) : null);
}
});
}
_destroy(err, callback) {
if (this.fd) {
fs.close(this.fd, (er) => callback(er || err));
} else {
callback(err);
}
}
}
readable._read(size)
#
Added in: v0.9.4
size
<number> Number of bytes to read asynchronously
This function MUST NOT be called by application code directly. It should be
implemented by child classes, and called by the internal Readable
class
methods only.
All Readable
stream implementations must provide an implementation of the
readable._read()
method to fetch data from the underlying resource.
When readable._read()
is called, if data is available from the resource,
the implementation should begin pushing that data into the read queue using the
this.push(dataChunk)
method. _read()
will be called again
after each call to this.push(dataChunk)
once the stream is
ready to accept more data. _read()
may continue reading from the resource and
pushing data until readable.push()
returns false
. Only when _read()
is
called again after it has stopped should it resume pushing additional data into
the queue.
Once the readable._read()
method has been called, it will not be called
again until more data is pushed through the readable.push()
method. Empty data such as empty buffers and strings will not cause
readable._read()
to be called.
The size
argument is advisory. For implementations where a "read" is a
single operation that returns data can use the size
argument to determine how
much data to fetch. Other implementations may ignore this argument and simply
provide data whenever it becomes available. There is no need to "wait" until
size
bytes are available before calling stream.push(chunk)
.
The readable._read()
method is prefixed with an underscore because it is
internal to the class that defines it, and should never be called directly by
user programs.
readable._destroy(err, callback)
#
Added in: v8.0.0
err
<Error> A possible error.
callback
<Function> A callback function that takes an optional error
argument.
The _destroy()
method is called by readable.destroy()
.
It can be overridden by child classes but it must not be called directly.
readable.push(chunk[, encoding])
#
chunk
<Buffer> | <Uint8Array> | <string> | <null> | <any> Chunk of data to push into the
read queue. For streams not operating in object mode, chunk
must be a
string, Buffer
or Uint8Array
. For object mode streams, chunk
may be
any JavaScript value.
encoding
<string> Encoding of string chunks. Must be a valid
Buffer
encoding, such as 'utf8'
or 'ascii'
.
- Returns: <boolean>
true
if additional chunks of data may continue to be
pushed; false
otherwise.
When chunk
is a Buffer
, Uint8Array
, or string
, the chunk
of data will
be added to the internal queue for users of the stream to consume.
Passing chunk
as null
signals the end of the stream (EOF), after which no
more data can be written.
When the Readable
is operating in paused mode, the data added with
readable.push()
can be read out by calling the
readable.read()
method when the 'readable'
event is
emitted.
When the Readable
is operating in flowing mode, the data added with
readable.push()
will be delivered by emitting a 'data'
event.
The readable.push()
method is designed to be as flexible as possible. For
example, when wrapping a lower-level source that provides some form of
pause/resume mechanism, and a data callback, the low-level source can be wrapped
by the custom Readable
instance:
class SourceWrapper extends Readable {
constructor(options) {
super(options);
this._source = getLowLevelSourceObject();
this._source.ondata = (chunk) => {
if (!this.push(chunk))
this._source.readStop();
};
this._source.onend = () => {
this.push(null);
};
}
_read(size) {
this._source.readStart();
}
}
The readable.push()
method is used to push the content
into the internal buffer. It can be driven by the readable._read()
method.
For streams not operating in object mode, if the chunk
parameter of
readable.push()
is undefined
, it will be treated as empty string or
buffer. See readable.push('')
for more information.
Errors while reading#
Errors occurring during processing of the readable._read()
must be
propagated through the readable.destroy(err)
method.
Throwing an Error
from within readable._read()
or manually emitting an
'error'
event results in undefined behavior.
const { Readable } = require('node:stream');
const myReadable = new Readable({
read(size) {
const err = checkSomeErrorCondition();
if (err) {
this.destroy(err);
} else {
}
}
});
An example counting stream#
The following is a basic example of a Readable
stream that emits the numerals
from 1 to 1,000,000 in ascending order, and then ends.
const { Readable } = require('node:stream');
class Counter extends Readable {
constructor(opt) {
super(opt);
this._max = 1000000;
this._index = 1;
}
_read() {
const i = this._index++;
if (i > this._max)
this.push(null);
else {
const str = String(i);
const buf = Buffer.from(str, 'ascii');
this.push(buf);
}
}
}
Implementing a duplex stream#
A Duplex
stream is one that implements both Readable
and
Writable
, such as a TCP socket connection.
Because JavaScript does not have support for multiple inheritance, the
stream.Duplex
class is extended to implement a Duplex
stream (as opposed
to extending the stream.Readable
and stream.Writable
classes).
The stream.Duplex
class prototypically inherits from stream.Readable
and
parasitically from stream.Writable
, but instanceof
will work properly for
both base classes due to overriding Symbol.hasInstance
on
stream.Writable
.
Custom Duplex
streams must call the new stream.Duplex([options])
constructor and implement both the readable._read()
and
writable._write()
methods.
new stream.Duplex(options)
#
options
<Object> Passed to both Writable
and Readable
constructors. Also has the following fields:
allowHalfOpen
<boolean> If set to false
, then the stream will
automatically end the writable side when the readable side ends.
Default: true
.
readable
<boolean> Sets whether the Duplex
should be readable.
Default: true
.
writable
<boolean> Sets whether the Duplex
should be writable.
Default: true
.
readableObjectMode
<boolean> Sets objectMode
for readable side of the
stream. Has no effect if objectMode
is true
. Default: false
.
writableObjectMode
<boolean> Sets objectMode
for writable side of the
stream. Has no effect if objectMode
is true
. Default: false
.
readableHighWaterMark
<number> Sets highWaterMark
for the readable side
of the stream. Has no effect if highWaterMark
is provided.
writableHighWaterMark
<number> Sets highWaterMark
for the writable side
of the stream. Has no effect if highWaterMark
is provided.
const { Duplex } = require('node:stream');
class MyDuplex extends Duplex {
constructor(options) {
super(options);
}
}
Or, when using pre-ES6 style constructors:
const { Duplex } = require('node:stream');
const util = require('node:util');
function MyDuplex(options) {
if (!(this instanceof MyDuplex))
return new MyDuplex(options);
Duplex.call(this, options);
}
util.inherits(MyDuplex, Duplex);
Or, using the simplified constructor approach:
const { Duplex } = require('node:stream');
const myDuplex = new Duplex({
read(size) {
},
write(chunk, encoding, callback) {
}
});
When using pipeline:
const { Transform, pipeline } = require('node:stream');
const fs = require('node:fs');
pipeline(
fs.createReadStream('object.json')
.setEncoding('utf8'),
new Transform({
decodeStrings: false,
construct(callback) {
this.data = '';
callback();
},
transform(chunk, encoding, callback) {
this.data += chunk;
callback();
},
flush(callback) {
try {
JSON.parse(this.data);
this.push(this.data);
callback();
} catch (err) {
callback(err);
}
}
}),
fs.createWriteStream('valid-object.json'),
(err) => {
if (err) {
console.error('failed', err);
} else {
console.log('completed');
}
}
);
An example duplex stream#
The following illustrates a simple example of a Duplex
stream that wraps a
hypothetical lower-level source object to which data can be written, and
from which data can be read, albeit using an API that is not compatible with
Node.js streams.
The following illustrates a simple example of a Duplex
stream that buffers
incoming written data via the Writable
interface that is read back out
via the Readable
interface.
const { Duplex } = require('node:stream');
const kSource = Symbol('source');
class MyDuplex extends Duplex {
constructor(source, options) {
super(options);
this[kSource] = source;
}
_write(chunk, encoding, callback) {
if (Buffer.isBuffer(chunk))
chunk = chunk.toString();
this[kSource].writeSomeData(chunk);
callback();
}
_read(size) {
this[kSource].fetchSomeData(size, (data, encoding) => {
this.push(Buffer.from(data, encoding));
});
}
}
The most important aspect of a Duplex
stream is that the Readable
and
Writable
sides operate independently of one another despite co-existing within
a single object instance.
Object mode duplex streams#
For Duplex
streams, objectMode
can be set exclusively for either the
Readable
or Writable
side using the readableObjectMode
and
writableObjectMode
options respectively.
In the following example, for instance, a new Transform
stream (which is a
type of Duplex
stream) is created that has an object mode Writable
side
that accepts JavaScript numbers that are converted to hexadecimal strings on
the Readable
side.
const { Transform } = require('node:stream');
const myTransform = new Transform({
writableObjectMode: true,
transform(chunk, encoding, callback) {
chunk |= 0;
const data = chunk.toString(16);
callback(null, '0'.repeat(data.length % 2) + data);
}
});
myTransform.setEncoding('ascii');
myTransform.on('data', (chunk) => console.log(chunk));
myTransform.write(1);
myTransform.write(10);
myTransform.write(100);
Implementing a transform stream#
A Transform
stream is a Duplex
stream where the output is computed
in some way from the input. Examples include zlib streams or crypto
streams that compress, encrypt, or decrypt data.
There is no requirement that the output be the same size as the input, the same
number of chunks, or arrive at the same time. For example, a Hash
stream will
only ever have a single chunk of output which is provided when the input is
ended. A zlib
stream will produce output that is either much smaller or much
larger than its input.
The stream.Transform
class is extended to implement a Transform
stream.
The stream.Transform
class prototypically inherits from stream.Duplex
and
implements its own versions of the writable._write()
and
readable._read()
methods. Custom Transform
implementations must
implement the transform._transform()
method and may
also implement the transform._flush()
method.
Care must be taken when using Transform
streams in that data written to the
stream can cause the Writable
side of the stream to become paused if the
output on the Readable
side is not consumed.
new stream.Transform([options])
#
options
<Object> Passed to both Writable
and Readable
constructors. Also has the following fields:
const { Transform } = require('node:stream');
class MyTransform extends Transform {
constructor(options) {
super(options);
}
}
Or, when using pre-ES6 style constructors:
const { Transform } = require('node:stream');
const util = require('node:util');
function MyTransform(options) {
if (!(this instanceof MyTransform))
return new MyTransform(options);
Transform.call(this, options);
}
util.inherits(MyTransform, Transform);
Or, using the simplified constructor approach:
const { Transform } = require('node:stream');
const myTransform = new Transform({
transform(chunk, encoding, callback) {
}
});
Event: 'end'
#
The 'end'
event is from the stream.Readable
class. The 'end'
event is
emitted after all data has been output, which occurs after the callback in
transform._flush()
has been called. In the case of an error,
'end'
should not be emitted.
Event: 'finish'
#
The 'finish'
event is from the stream.Writable
class. The 'finish'
event is emitted after stream.end()
is called and all chunks
have been processed by stream._transform()
. In the case
of an error, 'finish'
should not be emitted.
transform._flush(callback)
#
callback
<Function> A callback function (optionally with an error
argument and data) to be called when remaining data has been flushed.
This function MUST NOT be called by application code directly. It should be
implemented by child classes, and called by the internal Readable
class
methods only.
In some cases, a transform operation may need to emit an additional bit of
data at the end of the stream. For example, a zlib
compression stream will
store an amount of internal state used to optimally compress the output. When
the stream ends, however, that additional data needs to be flushed so that the
compressed data will be complete.
Custom Transform
implementations may implement the transform._flush()
method. This will be called when there is no more written data to be consumed,
but before the 'end'
event is emitted signaling the end of the
Readable
stream.
Within the transform._flush()
implementation, the transform.push()
method
may be called zero or more times, as appropriate. The callback
function must
be called when the flush operation is complete.
The transform._flush()
method is prefixed with an underscore because it is
internal to the class that defines it, and should never be called directly by
user programs.
transform._transform(chunk, encoding, callback)
#
chunk
<Buffer> | <string> | <any> The Buffer
to be transformed, converted from
the string
passed to stream.write()
. If the stream's
decodeStrings
option is false
or the stream is operating in object mode,
the chunk will not be converted & will be whatever was passed to
stream.write()
.
encoding
<string> If the chunk is a string, then this is the
encoding type. If chunk is a buffer, then this is the special
value 'buffer'
. Ignore it in that case.
callback
<Function> A callback function (optionally with an error
argument and data) to be called after the supplied chunk
has been
processed.
This function MUST NOT be called by application code directly. It should be
implemented by child classes, and called by the internal Readable
class
methods only.
All Transform
stream implementations must provide a _transform()
method to accept input and produce output. The transform._transform()
implementation handles the bytes being written, computes an output, then passes
that output off to the readable portion using the transform.push()
method.
The transform.push()
method may be called zero or more times to generate
output from a single input chunk, depending on how much is to be output
as a result of the chunk.
It is possible that no output is generated from any given chunk of input data.
The callback
function must be called only when the current chunk is completely
consumed. The first argument passed to the callback
must be an Error
object
if an error occurred while processing the input or null
otherwise. If a second
argument is passed to the callback
, it will be forwarded on to the
transform.push()
method. In other words, the following are equivalent:
transform.prototype._transform = function(data, encoding, callback) {
this.push(data);
callback();
};
transform.prototype._transform = function(data, encoding, callback) {
callback(null, data);
};
The transform._transform()
method is prefixed with an underscore because it
is internal to the class that defines it, and should never be called directly by
user programs.
transform._transform()
is never called in parallel; streams implement a
queue mechanism, and to receive the next chunk, callback
must be
called, either synchronously or asynchronously.
Class: stream.PassThrough
#
The stream.PassThrough
class is a trivial implementation of a Transform
stream that simply passes the input bytes across to the output. Its purpose is
primarily for examples and testing, but there are some use cases where
stream.PassThrough
is useful as a building block for novel sorts of streams.
Additional notes#
Streams compatibility with async generators and async iterators#
With the support of async generators and iterators in JavaScript, async
generators are effectively a first-class language-level stream construct at
this point.
Some common interop cases of using Node.js streams with async generators
and async iterators are provided below.
Consuming readable streams with async iterators#
(async function() {
for await (const chunk of readable) {
console.log(chunk);
}
})();
Async iterators register a permanent error handler on the stream to prevent any
unhandled post-destroy errors.
Creating readable streams with async generators#
A Node.js readable stream can be created from an asynchronous generator using
the Readable.from()
utility method:
const { Readable } = require('node:stream');
const ac = new AbortController();
const signal = ac.signal;
async function * generate() {
yield 'a';
await someLongRunningFn({ signal });
yield 'b';
yield 'c';
}
const readable = Readable.from(generate());
readable.on('close', () => {
ac.abort();
});
readable.on('data', (chunk) => {
console.log(chunk);
});
Piping to writable streams from async iterators#
When writing to a writable stream from an async iterator, ensure correct
handling of backpressure and errors. stream.pipeline()
abstracts away
the handling of backpressure and backpressure-related errors:
const fs = require('node:fs');
const { pipeline } = require('node:stream');
const { pipeline: pipelinePromise } = require('node:stream/promises');
const writable = fs.createWriteStream('./file');
const ac = new AbortController();
const signal = ac.signal;
const iterator = createIterator({ signal });
pipeline(iterator, writable, (err, value) => {
if (err) {
console.error(err);
} else {
console.log(value, 'value returned');
}
}).on('close', () => {
ac.abort();
});
pipelinePromise(iterator, writable)
.then((value) => {
console.log(value, 'value returned');
})
.catch((err) => {
console.error(err);
ac.abort();
});
Compatibility with older Node.js versions#
Prior to Node.js 0.10, the Readable
stream interface was simpler, but also
less powerful and less useful.
- Rather than waiting for calls to the
stream.read()
method,
'data'
events would begin emitting immediately. Applications that
would need to perform some amount of work to decide how to handle data
were required to store read data into buffers so the data would not be lost.
- The
stream.pause()
method was advisory, rather than
guaranteed. This meant that it was still necessary to be prepared to receive
'data'
events even when the stream was in a paused state.
In Node.js 0.10, the Readable
class was added. For backward
compatibility with older Node.js programs, Readable
streams switch into
"flowing mode" when a 'data'
event handler is added, or when the
stream.resume()
method is called. The effect is that, even
when not using the new stream.read()
method and
'readable'
event, it is no longer necessary to worry about losing
'data'
chunks.
While most applications will continue to function normally, this introduces an
edge case in the following conditions:
- No
'data'
event listener is added.
- The
stream.resume()
method is never called.
- The stream is not piped to any writable destination.
For example, consider the following code:
net.createServer((socket) => {
socket.on('end', () => {
socket.end('The message was received but was not processed.\n');
});
}).listen(1337);
Prior to Node.js 0.10, the incoming message data would be simply discarded.
However, in Node.js 0.10 and beyond, the socket remains paused forever.
The workaround in this situation is to call the
stream.resume()
method to begin the flow of data:
net.createServer((socket) => {
socket.on('end', () => {
socket.end('The message was received but was not processed.\n');
});
socket.resume();
}).listen(1337);
In addition to new Readable
streams switching into flowing mode,
pre-0.10 style streams can be wrapped in a Readable
class using the
readable.wrap()
method.
readable.read(0)
#
There are some cases where it is necessary to trigger a refresh of the
underlying readable stream mechanisms, without actually consuming any
data. In such cases, it is possible to call readable.read(0)
, which will
always return null
.
If the internal read buffer is below the highWaterMark
, and the
stream is not currently reading, then calling stream.read(0)
will trigger
a low-level stream._read()
call.
While most applications will almost never need to do this, there are
situations within Node.js where this is done, particularly in the
Readable
stream class internals.
readable.push('')
#
Use of readable.push('')
is not recommended.
Pushing a zero-byte string, Buffer
, or Uint8Array
to a stream that is not in
object mode has an interesting side effect. Because it is a call to
readable.push()
, the call will end the reading process.
However, because the argument is an empty string, no data is added to the
readable buffer so there is nothing for a user to consume.
highWaterMark
discrepancy after calling readable.setEncoding()
#
The use of readable.setEncoding()
will change the behavior of how the
highWaterMark
operates in non-object mode.
Typically, the size of the current buffer is measured against the
highWaterMark
in bytes. However, after setEncoding()
is called, the
comparison function will begin to measure the buffer's size in characters.
This is not a problem in common cases with latin1
or ascii
. But it is
advised to be mindful about this behavior when working with strings that could
contain multi-byte characters.
TLS (SSL)#
Source Code: lib/tls.js
The node:tls
module provides an implementation of the Transport Layer Security
(TLS) and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocols that is built on top of OpenSSL.
The module can be accessed using:
const tls = require('node:tls');
Determining if crypto support is unavailable#
It is possible for Node.js to be built without including support for the
node:crypto
module. In such cases, attempting to import
from tls
or
calling require('node:tls')
will result in an error being thrown.
When using CommonJS, the error thrown can be caught using try/catch:
let tls;
try {
tls = require('node:tls');
} catch (err) {
console.log('tls support is disabled!');
}
When using the lexical ESM import
keyword, the error can only be
caught if a handler for process.on('uncaughtException')
is registered
before any attempt to load the module is made (using, for instance,
a preload module).
When using ESM, if there is a chance that the code may be run on a build
of Node.js where crypto support is not enabled, consider using the
import()
function instead of the lexical import
keyword:
let tls;
try {
tls = await import('node:tls');
} catch (err) {
console.log('tls support is disabled!');
}
TLS/SSL concepts#
TLS/SSL is a set of protocols that rely on a public key infrastructure (PKI) to
enable secure communication between a client and a server. For most common
cases, each server must have a private key.
Private keys can be generated in multiple ways. The example below illustrates
use of the OpenSSL command-line interface to generate a 2048-bit RSA private
key:
openssl genrsa -out ryans-key.pem 2048
With TLS/SSL, all servers (and some clients) must have a certificate.
Certificates are public keys that correspond to a private key, and that are
digitally signed either by a Certificate Authority or by the owner of the
private key (such certificates are referred to as "self-signed"). The first
step to obtaining a certificate is to create a Certificate Signing Request
(CSR) file.
The OpenSSL command-line interface can be used to generate a CSR for a private
key:
openssl req -new -sha256 -key ryans-key.pem -out ryans-csr.pem
Once the CSR file is generated, it can either be sent to a Certificate
Authority for signing or used to generate a self-signed certificate.
Creating a self-signed certificate using the OpenSSL command-line interface
is illustrated in the example below:
openssl x509 -req -in ryans-csr.pem -signkey ryans-key.pem -out ryans-cert.pem
Once the certificate is generated, it can be used to generate a .pfx
or
.p12
file:
openssl pkcs12 -export -in ryans-cert.pem -inkey ryans-key.pem \
-certfile ca-cert.pem -out ryans.pfx
Where:
in
: is the signed certificate
inkey
: is the associated private key
certfile
: is a concatenation of all Certificate Authority (CA) certs into
a single file, e.g. cat ca1-cert.pem ca2-cert.pem > ca-cert.pem
Perfect forward secrecy#
The term forward secrecy or perfect forward secrecy describes a feature
of key-agreement (i.e., key-exchange) methods. That is, the server and client
keys are used to negotiate new temporary keys that are used specifically and
only for the current communication session. Practically, this means that even
if the server's private key is compromised, communication can only be decrypted
by eavesdroppers if the attacker manages to obtain the key-pair specifically
generated for the session.
Perfect forward secrecy is achieved by randomly generating a key pair for
key-agreement on every TLS/SSL handshake (in contrast to using the same key for
all sessions). Methods implementing this technique are called "ephemeral".
Currently two methods are commonly used to achieve perfect forward secrecy (note
the character "E" appended to the traditional abbreviations):
- DHE: An ephemeral version of the Diffie-Hellman key-agreement protocol.
- ECDHE: An ephemeral version of the Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman
key-agreement protocol.
To use perfect forward secrecy using DHE
with the node:tls
module, it is
required to generate Diffie-Hellman parameters and specify them with the
dhparam
option to tls.createSecureContext()
. The following illustrates
the use of the OpenSSL command-line interface to generate such parameters:
openssl dhparam -outform PEM -out dhparam.pem 2048
If using perfect forward secrecy using ECDHE
, Diffie-Hellman parameters are
not required and a default ECDHE curve will be used. The ecdhCurve
property
can be used when creating a TLS Server to specify the list of names of supported
curves to use, see tls.createServer()
for more info.
Perfect forward secrecy was optional up to TLSv1.2, but it is not optional for
TLSv1.3, because all TLSv1.3 cipher suites use ECDHE.
ALPN and SNI#
ALPN (Application-Layer Protocol Negotiation Extension) and
SNI (Server Name Indication) are TLS handshake extensions:
- ALPN: Allows the use of one TLS server for multiple protocols (HTTP, HTTP/2)
- SNI: Allows the use of one TLS server for multiple hostnames with different
certificates.
Pre-shared keys#
TLS-PSK support is available as an alternative to normal certificate-based
authentication. It uses a pre-shared key instead of certificates to
authenticate a TLS connection, providing mutual authentication.
TLS-PSK and public key infrastructure are not mutually exclusive. Clients and
servers can accommodate both, choosing either of them during the normal cipher
negotiation step.
TLS-PSK is only a good choice where means exist to securely share a
key with every connecting machine, so it does not replace the public key
infrastructure (PKI) for the majority of TLS uses.
The TLS-PSK implementation in OpenSSL has seen many security flaws in
recent years, mostly because it is used only by a minority of applications.
Please consider all alternative solutions before switching to PSK ciphers.
Upon generating PSK it is of critical importance to use sufficient entropy as
discussed in RFC 4086. Deriving a shared secret from a password or other
low-entropy sources is not secure.
PSK ciphers are disabled by default, and using TLS-PSK thus requires explicitly
specifying a cipher suite with the ciphers
option. The list of available
ciphers can be retrieved via openssl ciphers -v 'PSK'
. All TLS 1.3
ciphers are eligible for PSK but currently only those that use SHA256 digest are
supported they can be retrieved via openssl ciphers -v -s -tls1_3 -psk
.
According to the RFC 4279, PSK identities up to 128 bytes in length and
PSKs up to 64 bytes in length must be supported. As of OpenSSL 1.1.0
maximum identity size is 128 bytes, and maximum PSK length is 256 bytes.
The current implementation doesn't support asynchronous PSK callbacks due to the
limitations of the underlying OpenSSL API.
Client-initiated renegotiation attack mitigation#
The TLS protocol allows clients to renegotiate certain aspects of the TLS
session. Unfortunately, session renegotiation requires a disproportionate amount
of server-side resources, making it a potential vector for denial-of-service
attacks.
To mitigate the risk, renegotiation is limited to three times every ten minutes.
An 'error'
event is emitted on the tls.TLSSocket
instance when this
threshold is exceeded. The limits are configurable:
tls.CLIENT_RENEG_LIMIT
<number> Specifies the number of renegotiation
requests. Default: 3
.
tls.CLIENT_RENEG_WINDOW
<number> Specifies the time renegotiation window
in seconds. Default: 600
(10 minutes).
The default renegotiation limits should not be modified without a full
understanding of the implications and risks.
TLSv1.3 does not support renegotiation.
Session resumption#
Establishing a TLS session can be relatively slow. The process can be sped
up by saving and later reusing the session state. There are several mechanisms
to do so, discussed here from oldest to newest (and preferred).
Session identifiers#
Servers generate a unique ID for new connections and
send it to the client. Clients and servers save the session state. When
reconnecting, clients send the ID of their saved session state and if the server
also has the state for that ID, it can agree to use it. Otherwise, the server
will create a new session. See RFC 2246 for more information, page 23 and
30.
Resumption using session identifiers is supported by most web browsers when
making HTTPS requests.
For Node.js, clients wait for the 'session'
event to get the session data,
and provide the data to the session
option of a subsequent tls.connect()
to reuse the session. Servers must
implement handlers for the 'newSession'
and 'resumeSession'
events
to save and restore the session data using the session ID as the lookup key to
reuse sessions. To reuse sessions across load balancers or cluster workers,
servers must use a shared session cache (such as Redis) in their session
handlers.
Session tickets#
The servers encrypt the entire session state and send it
to the client as a "ticket". When reconnecting, the state is sent to the server
in the initial connection. This mechanism avoids the need for a server-side
session cache. If the server doesn't use the ticket, for any reason (failure
to decrypt it, it's too old, etc.), it will create a new session and send a new
ticket. See RFC 5077 for more information.
Resumption using session tickets is becoming commonly supported by many web
browsers when making HTTPS requests.
For Node.js, clients use the same APIs for resumption with session identifiers
as for resumption with session tickets. For debugging, if
tls.TLSSocket.getTLSTicket()
returns a value, the session data contains a
ticket, otherwise it contains client-side session state.
With TLSv1.3, be aware that multiple tickets may be sent by the server,
resulting in multiple 'session'
events, see 'session'
for more
information.
Single process servers need no specific implementation to use session tickets.
To use session tickets across server restarts or load balancers, servers must
all have the same ticket keys. There are three 16-byte keys internally, but the
tls API exposes them as a single 48-byte buffer for convenience.
It's possible to get the ticket keys by calling server.getTicketKeys()
on
one server instance and then distribute them, but it is more reasonable to
securely generate 48 bytes of secure random data and set them with the
ticketKeys
option of tls.createServer()
. The keys should be regularly
regenerated and server's keys can be reset with
server.setTicketKeys()
.
Session ticket keys are cryptographic keys, and they must be stored
securely. With TLS 1.2 and below, if they are compromised all sessions that
used tickets encrypted with them can be decrypted. They should not be stored
on disk, and they should be regenerated regularly.
If clients advertise support for tickets, the server will send them. The
server can disable tickets by supplying
require('node:constants').SSL_OP_NO_TICKET
in secureOptions
.
Both session identifiers and session tickets timeout, causing the server to
create new sessions. The timeout can be configured with the sessionTimeout
option of tls.createServer()
.
For all the mechanisms, when resumption fails, servers will create new sessions.
Since failing to resume the session does not cause TLS/HTTPS connection
failures, it is easy to not notice unnecessarily poor TLS performance. The
OpenSSL CLI can be used to verify that servers are resuming sessions. Use the
-reconnect
option to openssl s_client
, for example:
$ openssl s_client -connect localhost:443 -reconnect
Read through the debug output. The first connection should say "New", for
example:
New, TLSv1.2, Cipher is ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256
Subsequent connections should say "Reused", for example:
Reused, TLSv1.2, Cipher is ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256
Modifying the default TLS cipher suite#
Node.js is built with a default suite of enabled and disabled TLS ciphers. This
default cipher list can be configured when building Node.js to allow
distributions to provide their own default list.
The following command can be used to show the default cipher suite:
node -p crypto.constants.defaultCoreCipherList | tr ':' '\n'
TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
TLS_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256
TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256
ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256
ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384
ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384
DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256
ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256
DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256
ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384
DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384
ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256
DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256
HIGH
!aNULL
!eNULL
!EXPORT
!DES
!RC4
!MD5
!PSK
!SRP
!CAMELLIA
This default can be replaced entirely using the --tls-cipher-list
command-line switch (directly, or via the NODE_OPTIONS
environment
variable). For instance, the following makes ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:!RC4
the default TLS cipher suite:
node --tls-cipher-list='ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:!RC4' server.js
export NODE_OPTIONS=--tls-cipher-list='ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:!RC4'
node server.js
The default can also be replaced on a per client or server basis using the
ciphers
option from tls.createSecureContext()
, which is also available
in tls.createServer()
, tls.connect()
, and when creating new
tls.TLSSocket
s.
The ciphers list can contain a mixture of TLSv1.3 cipher suite names, the ones
that start with 'TLS_'
, and specifications for TLSv1.2 and below cipher
suites. The TLSv1.2 ciphers support a legacy specification format, consult
the OpenSSL cipher list format documentation for details, but those
specifications do not apply to TLSv1.3 ciphers. The TLSv1.3 suites can only
be enabled by including their full name in the cipher list. They cannot, for
example, be enabled or disabled by using the legacy TLSv1.2 'EECDH'
or
'!EECDH'
specification.
Despite the relative order of TLSv1.3 and TLSv1.2 cipher suites, the TLSv1.3
protocol is significantly more secure than TLSv1.2, and will always be chosen
over TLSv1.2 if the handshake indicates it is supported, and if any TLSv1.3
cipher suites are enabled.
The default cipher suite included within Node.js has been carefully
selected to reflect current security best practices and risk mitigation.
Changing the default cipher suite can have a significant impact on the security
of an application. The --tls-cipher-list
switch and ciphers
option should by
used only if absolutely necessary.
The default cipher suite prefers GCM ciphers for Chrome's 'modern
cryptography' setting and also prefers ECDHE and DHE ciphers for perfect
forward secrecy, while offering some backward compatibility.
Old clients that rely on insecure and deprecated RC4 or DES-based ciphers
(like Internet Explorer 6) cannot complete the handshaking process with
the default configuration. If these clients must be supported, the
TLS recommendations may offer a compatible cipher suite. For more details
on the format, see the OpenSSL cipher list format documentation.
There are only five TLSv1.3 cipher suites:
'TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384'
'TLS_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256'
'TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256'
'TLS_AES_128_CCM_SHA256'
'TLS_AES_128_CCM_8_SHA256'
The first three are enabled by default. The two CCM
-based suites are supported
by TLSv1.3 because they may be more performant on constrained systems, but they
are not enabled by default since they offer less security.
X509 certificate error codes#
Multiple functions can fail due to certificate errors that are reported by
OpenSSL. In such a case, the function provides an <Error> via its callback that
has the property code
which can take one of the following values:
'UNABLE_TO_GET_ISSUER_CERT'
: Unable to get issuer certificate.
'UNABLE_TO_GET_CRL'
: Unable to get certificate CRL.
'UNABLE_TO_DECRYPT_CERT_SIGNATURE'
: Unable to decrypt certificate's
signature.
'UNABLE_TO_DECRYPT_CRL_SIGNATURE'
: Unable to decrypt CRL's signature.
'UNABLE_TO_DECODE_ISSUER_PUBLIC_KEY'
: Unable to decode issuer public key.
'CERT_SIGNATURE_FAILURE'
: Certificate signature failure.
'CRL_SIGNATURE_FAILURE'
: CRL signature failure.
'CERT_NOT_YET_VALID'
: Certificate is not yet valid.
'CERT_HAS_EXPIRED'
: Certificate has expired.
'CRL_NOT_YET_VALID'
: CRL is not yet valid.
'CRL_HAS_EXPIRED'
: CRL has expired.
'ERROR_IN_CERT_NOT_BEFORE_FIELD'
: Format error in certificate's notBefore
field.
'ERROR_IN_CERT_NOT_AFTER_FIELD'
: Format error in certificate's notAfter
field.
'ERROR_IN_CRL_LAST_UPDATE_FIELD'
: Format error in CRL's lastUpdate field.
'ERROR_IN_CRL_NEXT_UPDATE_FIELD'
: Format error in CRL's nextUpdate field.
'OUT_OF_MEM'
: Out of memory.
'DEPTH_ZERO_SELF_SIGNED_CERT'
: Self signed certificate.
'SELF_SIGNED_CERT_IN_CHAIN'
: Self signed certificate in certificate chain.
'UNABLE_TO_GET_ISSUER_CERT_LOCALLY'
: Unable to get local issuer certificate.
'UNABLE_TO_VERIFY_LEAF_SIGNATURE'
: Unable to verify the first certificate.
'CERT_CHAIN_TOO_LONG'
: Certificate chain too long.
'CERT_REVOKED'
: Certificate revoked.
'INVALID_CA'
: Invalid CA certificate.
'PATH_LENGTH_EXCEEDED'
: Path length constraint exceeded.
'INVALID_PURPOSE'
: Unsupported certificate purpose.
'CERT_UNTRUSTED'
: Certificate not trusted.
'CERT_REJECTED'
: Certificate rejected.
'HOSTNAME_MISMATCH'
: Hostname mismatch.
Class: tls.CryptoStream
#
Added in: v0.3.4Deprecated since: v0.11.3
The tls.CryptoStream
class represents a stream of encrypted data. This class
is deprecated and should no longer be used.
cryptoStream.bytesWritten
#
Added in: v0.3.4Deprecated since: v0.11.3
The cryptoStream.bytesWritten
property returns the total number of bytes
written to the underlying socket including the bytes required for the
implementation of the TLS protocol.
Class: tls.SecurePair
#
Added in: v0.3.2Deprecated since: v0.11.3
Returned by tls.createSecurePair()
.
Event: 'secure'
#
Added in: v0.3.2Deprecated since: v0.11.3
The 'secure'
event is emitted by the SecurePair
object once a secure
connection has been established.
As with checking for the server
'secureConnection'
event, pair.cleartext.authorized
should be inspected to confirm whether the
certificate used is properly authorized.
Class: tls.Server
#
Added in: v0.3.2
Accepts encrypted connections using TLS or SSL.
Event: 'connection'
#
Added in: v0.3.2
This event is emitted when a new TCP stream is established, before the TLS
handshake begins. socket
is typically an object of type net.Socket
but
will not receive events unlike the socket created from the net.Server
'connection'
event. Usually users will not want to access this event.
This event can also be explicitly emitted by users to inject connections
into the TLS server. In that case, any Duplex
stream can be passed.
Event: 'keylog'
#
Added in: v12.3.0, v10.20.0
line
<Buffer> Line of ASCII text, in NSS SSLKEYLOGFILE
format.
tlsSocket
<tls.TLSSocket> The tls.TLSSocket
instance on which it was
generated.
The keylog
event is emitted when key material is generated or received by
a connection to this server (typically before handshake has completed, but not
necessarily). This keying material can be stored for debugging, as it allows
captured TLS traffic to be decrypted. It may be emitted multiple times for
each socket.
A typical use case is to append received lines to a common text file, which
is later used by software (such as Wireshark) to decrypt the traffic:
const logFile = fs.createWriteStream('/tmp/ssl-keys.log', { flags: 'a' });
server.on('keylog', (line, tlsSocket) => {
if (tlsSocket.remoteAddress !== '...')
return;
logFile.write(line);
});
Event: 'newSession'
#
The 'newSession'
event is emitted upon creation of a new TLS session. This may
be used to store sessions in external storage. The data should be provided to
the 'resumeSession'
callback.
The listener callback is passed three arguments when called:
sessionId
<Buffer> The TLS session identifier
sessionData
<Buffer> The TLS session data
callback
<Function> A callback function taking no arguments that must be
invoked in order for data to be sent or received over the secure connection.
Listening for this event will have an effect only on connections established
after the addition of the event listener.
Event: 'OCSPRequest'
#
Added in: v0.11.13
The 'OCSPRequest'
event is emitted when the client sends a certificate status
request. The listener callback is passed three arguments when called:
certificate
<Buffer> The server certificate
issuer
<Buffer> The issuer's certificate
callback
<Function> A callback function that must be invoked to provide
the results of the OCSP request.
The server's current certificate can be parsed to obtain the OCSP URL
and certificate ID; after obtaining an OCSP response, callback(null, resp)
is
then invoked, where resp
is a Buffer
instance containing the OCSP response.
Both certificate
and issuer
are Buffer
DER-representations of the
primary and issuer's certificates. These can be used to obtain the OCSP
certificate ID and OCSP endpoint URL.
Alternatively, callback(null, null)
may be called, indicating that there was
no OCSP response.
Calling callback(err)
will result in a socket.destroy(err)
call.
The typical flow of an OCSP request is as follows:
- Client connects to the server and sends an
'OCSPRequest'
(via the status
info extension in ClientHello).
- Server receives the request and emits the
'OCSPRequest'
event, calling the
listener if registered.
- Server extracts the OCSP URL from either the
certificate
or issuer
and
performs an OCSP request to the CA.
- Server receives
'OCSPResponse'
from the CA and sends it back to the client
via the callback
argument
- Client validates the response and either destroys the socket or performs a
handshake.
The issuer
can be null
if the certificate is either self-signed or the
issuer is not in the root certificates list. (An issuer may be provided
via the ca
option when establishing the TLS connection.)
Listening for this event will have an effect only on connections established
after the addition of the event listener.
An npm module like asn1.js may be used to parse the certificates.
Event: 'resumeSession'
#
Added in: v0.9.2
The 'resumeSession'
event is emitted when the client requests to resume a
previous TLS session. The listener callback is passed two arguments when
called:
sessionId
<Buffer> The TLS session identifier
callback
<Function> A callback function to be called when the prior session
has been recovered: callback([err[, sessionData]])
The event listener should perform a lookup in external storage for the
sessionData
saved by the 'newSession'
event handler using the given
sessionId
. If found, call callback(null, sessionData)
to resume the session.
If not found, the session cannot be resumed. callback()
must be called
without sessionData
so that the handshake can continue and a new session can
be created. It is possible to call callback(err)
to terminate the incoming
connection and destroy the socket.
Listening for this event will have an effect only on connections established
after the addition of the event listener.
The following illustrates resuming a TLS session:
const tlsSessionStore = {};
server.on('newSession', (id, data, cb) => {
tlsSessionStore[id.toString('hex')] = data;
cb();
});
server.on('resumeSession', (id, cb) => {
cb(null, tlsSessionStore[id.toString('hex')] || null);
});
Event: 'secureConnection'
#
Added in: v0.3.2
The 'secureConnection'
event is emitted after the handshaking process for a
new connection has successfully completed. The listener callback is passed a
single argument when called:
The tlsSocket.authorized
property is a boolean
indicating whether the
client has been verified by one of the supplied Certificate Authorities for the
server. If tlsSocket.authorized
is false
, then socket.authorizationError
is set to describe how authorization failed. Depending on the settings
of the TLS server, unauthorized connections may still be accepted.
The tlsSocket.alpnProtocol
property is a string that contains the selected
ALPN protocol. When ALPN has no selected protocol, tlsSocket.alpnProtocol
equals false
.
The tlsSocket.servername
property is a string containing the server name
requested via SNI.
Event: 'tlsClientError'
#
Added in: v6.0.0
The 'tlsClientError'
event is emitted when an error occurs before a secure
connection is established. The listener callback is passed two arguments when
called:
exception
<Error> The Error
object describing the error
tlsSocket
<tls.TLSSocket> The tls.TLSSocket
instance from which the
error originated.
server.addContext(hostname, context)
#
Added in: v0.5.3
hostname
<string> A SNI host name or wildcard (e.g. '*'
)
context
<Object> An object containing any of the possible properties
from the tls.createSecureContext()
options
arguments (e.g. key
,
cert
, ca
, etc).
The server.addContext()
method adds a secure context that will be used if
the client request's SNI name matches the supplied hostname
(or wildcard).
When there are multiple matching contexts, the most recently added one is
used.
server.address()
#
Added in: v0.6.0
Returns the bound address, the address family name, and port of the
server as reported by the operating system. See net.Server.address()
for
more information.
server.close([callback])
#
Added in: v0.3.2
callback
<Function> A listener callback that will be registered to listen
for the server instance's 'close'
event.
- Returns: <tls.Server>
The server.close()
method stops the server from accepting new connections.
This function operates asynchronously. The 'close'
event will be emitted
when the server has no more open connections.
server.getTicketKeys()
#
Added in: v3.0.0
- Returns: <Buffer> A 48-byte buffer containing the session ticket keys.
Returns the session ticket keys.
See Session Resumption for more information.
server.listen()
#
Starts the server listening for encrypted connections.
This method is identical to server.listen()
from net.Server
.
server.setSecureContext(options)
#
Added in: v11.0.0
The server.setSecureContext()
method replaces the secure context of an
existing server. Existing connections to the server are not interrupted.
server.setTicketKeys(keys)
#
Added in: v3.0.0
Sets the session ticket keys.
Changes to the ticket keys are effective only for future server connections.
Existing or currently pending server connections will use the previous keys.
See Session Resumption for more information.
Class: tls.TLSSocket
#
Added in: v0.11.4
Performs transparent encryption of written data and all required TLS
negotiation.
Instances of tls.TLSSocket
implement the duplex Stream interface.
Methods that return TLS connection metadata (e.g.
tls.TLSSocket.getPeerCertificate()
) will only return data while the
connection is open.
new tls.TLSSocket(socket[, options])
#
socket
<net.Socket> | <stream.Duplex>
On the server side, any Duplex
stream. On the client side, any
instance of net.Socket
(for generic Duplex
stream support
on the client side, tls.connect()
must be used).
options
<Object>
enableTrace
: See tls.createServer()
isServer
: The SSL/TLS protocol is asymmetrical, TLSSockets must know if
they are to behave as a server or a client. If true
the TLS socket will be
instantiated as a server. Default: false
.
server
<net.Server> A net.Server
instance.
requestCert
: Whether to authenticate the remote peer by requesting a
certificate. Clients always request a server certificate. Servers
(isServer
is true) may set requestCert
to true to request a client
certificate.
rejectUnauthorized
: See tls.createServer()
ALPNProtocols
: See tls.createServer()
SNICallback
: See tls.createServer()
session
<Buffer> A Buffer
instance containing a TLS session.
requestOCSP
<boolean> If true
, specifies that the OCSP status request
extension will be added to the client hello and an 'OCSPResponse'
event
will be emitted on the socket before establishing a secure communication
secureContext
: TLS context object created with
tls.createSecureContext()
. If a secureContext
is not provided, one
will be created by passing the entire options
object to
tls.createSecureContext()
.
- ...:
tls.createSecureContext()
options that are used if the
secureContext
option is missing. Otherwise, they are ignored.
Construct a new tls.TLSSocket
object from an existing TCP socket.
Event: 'keylog'
#
Added in: v12.3.0, v10.20.0
line
<Buffer> Line of ASCII text, in NSS SSLKEYLOGFILE
format.
The keylog
event is emitted on a tls.TLSSocket
when key material
is generated or received by the socket. This keying material can be stored
for debugging, as it allows captured TLS traffic to be decrypted. It may
be emitted multiple times, before or after the handshake completes.
A typical use case is to append received lines to a common text file, which
is later used by software (such as Wireshark) to decrypt the traffic:
const logFile = fs.createWriteStream('/tmp/ssl-keys.log', { flags: 'a' });
tlsSocket.on('keylog', (line) => logFile.write(line));
Event: 'OCSPResponse'
#
Added in: v0.11.13
The 'OCSPResponse'
event is emitted if the requestOCSP
option was set
when the tls.TLSSocket
was created and an OCSP response has been received.
The listener callback is passed a single argument when called:
response
<Buffer> The server's OCSP response
Typically, the response
is a digitally signed object from the server's CA that
contains information about server's certificate revocation status.
Event: 'secureConnect'
#
Added in: v0.11.4
The 'secureConnect'
event is emitted after the handshaking process for a new
connection has successfully completed. The listener callback will be called
regardless of whether or not the server's certificate has been authorized. It
is the client's responsibility to check the tlsSocket.authorized
property to
determine if the server certificate was signed by one of the specified CAs. If
tlsSocket.authorized === false
, then the error can be found by examining the
tlsSocket.authorizationError
property. If ALPN was used, the
tlsSocket.alpnProtocol
property can be checked to determine the negotiated
protocol.
The 'secureConnect'
event is not emitted when a <tls.TLSSocket> is created
using the new tls.TLSSocket()
constructor.
Event: 'session'
#
Added in: v11.10.0
The 'session'
event is emitted on a client tls.TLSSocket
when a new session
or TLS ticket is available. This may or may not be before the handshake is
complete, depending on the TLS protocol version that was negotiated. The event
is not emitted on the server, or if a new session was not created, for example,
when the connection was resumed. For some TLS protocol versions the event may be
emitted multiple times, in which case all the sessions can be used for
resumption.
On the client, the session
can be provided to the session
option of
tls.connect()
to resume the connection.
See Session Resumption for more information.
For TLSv1.2 and below, tls.TLSSocket.getSession()
can be called once
the handshake is complete. For TLSv1.3, only ticket-based resumption is allowed
by the protocol, multiple tickets are sent, and the tickets aren't sent until
after the handshake completes. So it is necessary to wait for the
'session'
event to get a resumable session. Applications
should use the 'session'
event instead of getSession()
to ensure
they will work for all TLS versions. Applications that only expect to
get or use one session should listen for this event only once:
tlsSocket.once('session', (session) => {
tls.connect({
session: session,
});
});
tlsSocket.address()
#
Added in: v0.11.4
Returns the bound address
, the address family
name, and port
of the
underlying socket as reported by the operating system:
{ port: 12346, family: 'IPv4', address: '127.0.0.1' }
.
tlsSocket.authorizationError
#
Added in: v0.11.4
Returns the reason why the peer's certificate was not been verified. This
property is set only when tlsSocket.authorized === false
.
tlsSocket.authorized
#
Added in: v0.11.4
This property is true
if the peer certificate was signed by one of the CAs
specified when creating the tls.TLSSocket
instance, otherwise false
.
tlsSocket.disableRenegotiation()
#
Added in: v8.4.0
Disables TLS renegotiation for this TLSSocket
instance. Once called, attempts
to renegotiate will trigger an 'error'
event on the TLSSocket
.
tlsSocket.enableTrace()
#
Added in: v12.2.0
When enabled, TLS packet trace information is written to stderr
. This can be
used to debug TLS connection problems.
The format of the output is identical to the output of
openssl s_client -trace
or openssl s_server -trace
. While it is produced by
OpenSSL's SSL_trace()
function, the format is undocumented, can change
without notice, and should not be relied on.
tlsSocket.encrypted
#
Added in: v0.11.4
Always returns true
. This may be used to distinguish TLS sockets from regular
net.Socket
instances.
tlsSocket.exportKeyingMaterial(length, label[, context])
#
Added in: v13.10.0, v12.17.0
Keying material is used for validations to prevent different kind of attacks in
network protocols, for example in the specifications of IEEE 802.1X.
Example
const keyingMaterial = tlsSocket.exportKeyingMaterial(
128,
'client finished');
See the OpenSSL SSL_export_keying_material
documentation for more
information.
tlsSocket.getCertificate()
#
Added in: v11.2.0
Returns an object representing the local certificate. The returned object has
some properties corresponding to the fields of the certificate.
See tls.TLSSocket.getPeerCertificate()
for an example of the certificate
structure.
If there is no local certificate, an empty object will be returned. If the
socket has been destroyed, null
will be returned.
tlsSocket.getCipher()
#
Returns an object containing information on the negotiated cipher suite.
For example, a TLSv1.2 protocol with AES256-SHA cipher:
{
"name": "AES256-SHA",
"standardName": "TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA",
"version": "SSLv3"
}
See
SSL_CIPHER_get_name
for more information.
tlsSocket.getEphemeralKeyInfo()
#
Added in: v5.0.0
Returns an object representing the type, name, and size of parameter of
an ephemeral key exchange in perfect forward secrecy on a client
connection. It returns an empty object when the key exchange is not
ephemeral. As this is only supported on a client socket; null
is returned
if called on a server socket. The supported types are 'DH'
and 'ECDH'
. The
name
property is available only when type is 'ECDH'
.
For example: { type: 'ECDH', name: 'prime256v1', size: 256 }
.
tlsSocket.getFinished()
#
Added in: v9.9.0
- Returns: <Buffer> | <undefined> The latest
Finished
message that has been
sent to the socket as part of a SSL/TLS handshake, or undefined
if
no Finished
message has been sent yet.
As the Finished
messages are message digests of the complete handshake
(with a total of 192 bits for TLS 1.0 and more for SSL 3.0), they can
be used for external authentication procedures when the authentication
provided by SSL/TLS is not desired or is not enough.
Corresponds to the SSL_get_finished
routine in OpenSSL and may be used
to implement the tls-unique
channel binding from RFC 5929.
tlsSocket.getPeerCertificate([detailed])
#
Added in: v0.11.4
detailed
<boolean> Include the full certificate chain if true
, otherwise
include just the peer's certificate.
- Returns: <Object> A certificate object.
Returns an object representing the peer's certificate. If the peer does not
provide a certificate, an empty object will be returned. If the socket has been
destroyed, null
will be returned.
If the full certificate chain was requested, each certificate will include an
issuerCertificate
property containing an object representing its issuer's
certificate.
Certificate object#
A certificate object has properties corresponding to the fields of the
certificate.
raw
<Buffer> The DER encoded X.509 certificate data.
subject
<Object> The certificate subject, described in terms of
Country (C
), StateOrProvince (ST
), Locality (L
), Organization (O
),
OrganizationalUnit (OU
), and CommonName (CN
). The CommonName is typically
a DNS name with TLS certificates. Example:
{C: 'UK', ST: 'BC', L: 'Metro', O: 'Node Fans', OU: 'Docs', CN: 'example.com'}
.
issuer
<Object> The certificate issuer, described in the same terms as the
subject
.
valid_from
<string> The date-time the certificate is valid from.
valid_to
<string> The date-time the certificate is valid to.
serialNumber
<string> The certificate serial number, as a hex string.
Example: 'B9B0D332A1AA5635'
.
fingerprint
<string> The SHA-1 digest of the DER encoded certificate. It is
returned as a :
separated hexadecimal string. Example: '2A:7A:C2:DD:...'
.
fingerprint256
<string> The SHA-256 digest of the DER encoded certificate.
It is returned as a :
separated hexadecimal string. Example:
'2A:7A:C2:DD:...'
.
fingerprint512
<string> The SHA-512 digest of the DER encoded certificate.
It is returned as a :
separated hexadecimal string. Example:
'2A:7A:C2:DD:...'
.
ext_key_usage
<Array> (Optional) The extended key usage, a set of OIDs.
subjectaltname
<string> (Optional) A string containing concatenated names
for the subject, an alternative to the subject
names.
infoAccess
<Array> (Optional) An array describing the AuthorityInfoAccess,
used with OCSP.
issuerCertificate
<Object> (Optional) The issuer certificate object. For
self-signed certificates, this may be a circular reference.
The certificate may contain information about the public key, depending on
the key type.
For RSA keys, the following properties may be defined:
bits
<number> The RSA bit size. Example: 1024
.
exponent
<string> The RSA exponent, as a string in hexadecimal number
notation. Example: '0x010001'
.
modulus
<string> The RSA modulus, as a hexadecimal string. Example:
'B56CE45CB7...'
.
pubkey
<Buffer> The public key.
For EC keys, the following properties may be defined:
pubkey
<Buffer> The public key.
bits
<number> The key size in bits. Example: 256
.
asn1Curve
<string> (Optional) The ASN.1 name of the OID of the elliptic
curve. Well-known curves are identified by an OID. While it is unusual, it is
possible that the curve is identified by its mathematical properties, in which
case it will not have an OID. Example: 'prime256v1'
.
nistCurve
<string> (Optional) The NIST name for the elliptic curve, if it
has one (not all well-known curves have been assigned names by NIST). Example:
'P-256'
.
Example certificate:
{ subject:
{ OU: [ 'Domain Control Validated', 'PositiveSSL Wildcard' ],
CN: '*.nodejs.org' },
issuer:
{ C: 'GB',
ST: 'Greater Manchester',
L: 'Salford',
O: 'COMODO CA Limited',
CN: 'COMODO RSA Domain Validation Secure Server CA' },
subjectaltname: 'DNS:*.nodejs.org, DNS:nodejs.org',
infoAccess:
{ 'CA Issuers - URI':
[ 'http://crt.comodoca.com/COMODORSADomainValidationSecureServerCA.crt' ],
'OCSP - URI': [ 'http://ocsp.comodoca.com' ] },
modulus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
exponent: '0x10001',
pubkey: <Buffer ... >,
valid_from: 'Aug 14 00:00:00 2017 GMT',
valid_to: 'Nov 20 23:59:59 2019 GMT',
fingerprint: '01:02:59:D9:C3:D2:0D:08:F7:82:4E:44:A4:B4:53:C5:E2:3A:87:4D',
fingerprint256: '69:AE:1A:6A:D4:3D:C6:C1:1B:EA:C6:23:DE:BA:2A:14:62:62:93:5C:7A:EA:06:41:9B:0B:BC:87:CE:48:4E:02',
fingerprint512: '19:2B:3E:C3:B3:5B:32:E8:AE:BB:78:97:27:E4:BA:6C:39:C9:92:79:4F:31:46:39:E2:70:E5:5F:89:42:17:C9:E8:64:CA:FF:BB:72:56:73:6E:28:8A:92:7E:A3:2A:15:8B:C2:E0:45:CA:C3:BC:EA:40:52:EC:CA:A2:68:CB:32',
ext_key_usage: [ '1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.1', '1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.2' ],
serialNumber: '66593D57F20CBC573E433381B5FEC280',
raw: <Buffer ... > }
tlsSocket.getPeerFinished()
#
Added in: v9.9.0
- Returns: <Buffer> | <undefined> The latest
Finished
message that is expected
or has actually been received from the socket as part of a SSL/TLS handshake,
or undefined
if there is no Finished
message so far.
As the Finished
messages are message digests of the complete handshake
(with a total of 192 bits for TLS 1.0 and more for SSL 3.0), they can
be used for external authentication procedures when the authentication
provided by SSL/TLS is not desired or is not enough.
Corresponds to the SSL_get_peer_finished
routine in OpenSSL and may be used
to implement the tls-unique
channel binding from RFC 5929.
tlsSocket.getPeerX509Certificate()
#
Added in: v15.9.0
Returns the peer certificate as an <X509Certificate> object.
If there is no peer certificate, or the socket has been destroyed,
undefined
will be returned.
tlsSocket.getProtocol()
#
Added in: v5.7.0
Returns a string containing the negotiated SSL/TLS protocol version of the
current connection. The value 'unknown'
will be returned for connected
sockets that have not completed the handshaking process. The value null
will
be returned for server sockets or disconnected client sockets.
Protocol versions are:
'SSLv3'
'TLSv1'
'TLSv1.1'
'TLSv1.2'
'TLSv1.3'
See the OpenSSL SSL_get_version
documentation for more information.
tlsSocket.getSession()
#
Added in: v0.11.4
Returns the TLS session data or undefined
if no session was
negotiated. On the client, the data can be provided to the session
option of
tls.connect()
to resume the connection. On the server, it may be useful
for debugging.
See Session Resumption for more information.
Note: getSession()
works only for TLSv1.2 and below. For TLSv1.3, applications
must use the 'session'
event (it also works for TLSv1.2 and below).
tlsSocket.getSharedSigalgs()
#
Added in: v12.11.0
- Returns: <Array> List of signature algorithms shared between the server and
the client in the order of decreasing preference.
See
SSL_get_shared_sigalgs
for more information.
tlsSocket.getTLSTicket()
#
Added in: v0.11.4
For a client, returns the TLS session ticket if one is available, or
undefined
. For a server, always returns undefined
.
It may be useful for debugging.
See Session Resumption for more information.
tlsSocket.getX509Certificate()
#
Added in: v15.9.0
Returns the local certificate as an <X509Certificate> object.
If there is no local certificate, or the socket has been destroyed,
undefined
will be returned.
tlsSocket.isSessionReused()
#
Added in: v0.5.6
- Returns: <boolean>
true
if the session was reused, false
otherwise.
See Session Resumption for more information.
tlsSocket.localAddress
#
Added in: v0.11.4
Returns the string representation of the local IP address.
tlsSocket.localPort
#
Added in: v0.11.4
Returns the numeric representation of the local port.
tlsSocket.remoteAddress
#
Added in: v0.11.4
Returns the string representation of the remote IP address. For example,
'74.125.127.100'
or '2001:4860:a005::68'
.
tlsSocket.remoteFamily
#
Added in: v0.11.4
Returns the string representation of the remote IP family. 'IPv4'
or 'IPv6'
.
tlsSocket.remotePort
#
Added in: v0.11.4
Returns the numeric representation of the remote port. For example, 443
.
tlsSocket.renegotiate(options, callback)
#
Added in: v0.11.8
-
options
<Object>
rejectUnauthorized
<boolean> If not false
, the server certificate is
verified against the list of supplied CAs. An 'error'
event is emitted if
verification fails; err.code
contains the OpenSSL error code. Default:
true
.
requestCert
-
callback
<Function> If renegotiate()
returned true
, callback is
attached once to the 'secure'
event. If renegotiate()
returned false
,
callback
will be called in the next tick with an error, unless the
tlsSocket
has been destroyed, in which case callback
will not be called
at all.
-
Returns: <boolean> true
if renegotiation was initiated, false
otherwise.
The tlsSocket.renegotiate()
method initiates a TLS renegotiation process.
Upon completion, the callback
function will be passed a single argument
that is either an Error
(if the request failed) or null
.
This method can be used to request a peer's certificate after the secure
connection has been established.
When running as the server, the socket will be destroyed with an error after
handshakeTimeout
timeout.
For TLSv1.3, renegotiation cannot be initiated, it is not supported by the
protocol.
tlsSocket.setMaxSendFragment(size)
#
Added in: v0.11.11
size
<number> The maximum TLS fragment size. The maximum value is 16384
.
Default: 16384
.
- Returns: <boolean>
The tlsSocket.setMaxSendFragment()
method sets the maximum TLS fragment size.
Returns true
if setting the limit succeeded; false
otherwise.
Smaller fragment sizes decrease the buffering latency on the client: larger
fragments are buffered by the TLS layer until the entire fragment is received
and its integrity is verified; large fragments can span multiple roundtrips
and their processing can be delayed due to packet loss or reordering. However,
smaller fragments add extra TLS framing bytes and CPU overhead, which may
decrease overall server throughput.
tls.checkServerIdentity(hostname, cert)
#
Verifies the certificate cert
is issued to hostname
.
Returns <Error> object, populating it with reason
, host
, and cert
on
failure. On success, returns <undefined>.
This function is intended to be used in combination with the
checkServerIdentity
option that can be passed to tls.connect()
and as
such operates on a certificate object. For other purposes, consider using
x509.checkHost()
instead.
This function can be overwritten by providing an alternative function as the
options.checkServerIdentity
option that is passed to tls.connect()
. The
overwriting function can call tls.checkServerIdentity()
of course, to augment
the checks done with additional verification.
This function is only called if the certificate passed all other checks, such as
being issued by trusted CA (options.ca
).
Earlier versions of Node.js incorrectly accepted certificates for a given
hostname
if a matching uniformResourceIdentifier
subject alternative name
was present (see CVE-2021-44531). Applications that wish to accept
uniformResourceIdentifier
subject alternative names can use a custom
options.checkServerIdentity
function that implements the desired behavior.
tls.connect(options[, callback])
#
options
<Object>
-
enableTrace
: See tls.createServer()
-
host
<string> Host the client should connect to. Default:
'localhost'
.
-
port
<number> Port the client should connect to.
-
path
<string> Creates Unix socket connection to path. If this option is
specified, host
and port
are ignored.
-
socket
<stream.Duplex> Establish secure connection on a given socket
rather than creating a new socket. Typically, this is an instance of
net.Socket
, but any Duplex
stream is allowed.
If this option is specified, path
, host
, and port
are ignored,
except for certificate validation. Usually, a socket is already connected
when passed to tls.connect()
, but it can be connected later.
Connection/disconnection/destruction of socket
is the user's
responsibility; calling tls.connect()
will not cause net.connect()
to be
called.
-
allowHalfOpen
<boolean> If set to false
, then the socket will
automatically end the writable side when the readable side ends. If the
socket
option is set, this option has no effect. See the allowHalfOpen
option of net.Socket
for details. Default: false
.
-
rejectUnauthorized
<boolean> If not false
, the server certificate is
verified against the list of supplied CAs. An 'error'
event is emitted if
verification fails; err.code
contains the OpenSSL error code. Default:
true
.
-
pskCallback
<Function>
- hint: <string> optional message sent from the server to help client
decide which identity to use during negotiation.
Always
null
if TLS 1.3 is used.
- Returns: <Object> in the form
{ psk: <Buffer|TypedArray|DataView>, identity: <string> }
or null
to stop the negotiation process. psk
must be
compatible with the selected cipher's digest.
identity
must use UTF-8 encoding.
When negotiating TLS-PSK (pre-shared keys), this function is called
with optional identity hint
provided by the server or null
in case of TLS 1.3 where hint
was removed.
It will be necessary to provide a custom tls.checkServerIdentity()
for the connection as the default one will try to check host name/IP
of the server against the certificate but that's not applicable for PSK
because there won't be a certificate present.
More information can be found in the RFC 4279.
-
ALPNProtocols
: <string[]> | <Buffer[]> | <TypedArray[]> | <DataView[]> | <Buffer> | <TypedArray> | <DataView>
An array of strings, Buffer
s, TypedArray
s, or DataView
s, or a
single Buffer
, TypedArray
, or DataView
containing the supported ALPN
protocols. Buffer
s should have the format [len][name][len][name]...
e.g. '\x08http/1.1\x08http/1.0'
, where the len
byte is the length of the
next protocol name. Passing an array is usually much simpler, e.g.
['http/1.1', 'http/1.0']
. Protocols earlier in the list have higher
preference than those later.
-
servername
: <string> Server name for the SNI (Server Name Indication) TLS
extension. It is the name of the host being connected to, and must be a host
name, and not an IP address. It can be used by a multi-homed server to
choose the correct certificate to present to the client, see the
SNICallback
option to tls.createServer()
.
-
checkServerIdentity(servername, cert)
<Function> A callback function
to be used (instead of the builtin tls.checkServerIdentity()
function)
when checking the server's host name (or the provided servername
when
explicitly set) against the certificate. This should return an <Error> if
verification fails. The method should return undefined
if the servername
and cert
are verified.
-
session
<Buffer> A Buffer
instance, containing TLS session.
-
minDHSize
<number> Minimum size of the DH parameter in bits to accept a
TLS connection. When a server offers a DH parameter with a size less
than minDHSize
, the TLS connection is destroyed and an error is thrown.
Default: 1024
.
-
highWaterMark
: <number> Consistent with the readable stream highWaterMark
parameter.
Default: 16 * 1024
.
-
secureContext
: TLS context object created with
tls.createSecureContext()
. If a secureContext
is not provided, one
will be created by passing the entire options
object to
tls.createSecureContext()
.
-
onread
<Object> If the socket
option is missing, incoming data is
stored in a single buffer
and passed to the supplied callback
when
data arrives on the socket, otherwise the option is ignored. See the
onread
option of net.Socket
for details.
-
...: tls.createSecureContext()
options that are used if the
secureContext
option is missing, otherwise they are ignored.
-
...: Any socket.connect()
option not already listed.
callback
<Function>
- Returns: <tls.TLSSocket>
The callback
function, if specified, will be added as a listener for the
'secureConnect'
event.
tls.connect()
returns a tls.TLSSocket
object.
Unlike the https
API, tls.connect()
does not enable the
SNI (Server Name Indication) extension by default, which may cause some
servers to return an incorrect certificate or reject the connection
altogether. To enable SNI, set the servername
option in addition
to host
.
The following illustrates a client for the echo server example from
tls.createServer()
:
const tls = require('node:tls');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const options = {
key: fs.readFileSync('client-key.pem'),
cert: fs.readFileSync('client-cert.pem'),
ca: [ fs.readFileSync('server-cert.pem') ],
checkServerIdentity: () => { return null; },
};
const socket = tls.connect(8000, options, () => {
console.log('client connected',
socket.authorized ? 'authorized' : 'unauthorized');
process.stdin.pipe(socket);
process.stdin.resume();
});
socket.setEncoding('utf8');
socket.on('data', (data) => {
console.log(data);
});
socket.on('end', () => {
console.log('server ends connection');
});
tls.connect(path[, options][, callback])
#
Added in: v0.11.3
Same as tls.connect()
except that path
can be provided
as an argument instead of an option.
A path option, if specified, will take precedence over the path argument.
tls.connect(port[, host][, options][, callback])
#
Added in: v0.11.3
Same as tls.connect()
except that port
and host
can be provided
as arguments instead of options.
A port or host option, if specified, will take precedence over any port or host
argument.
tls.createSecureContext([options])
#
options
<Object>
ca
<string> | <string[]> | <Buffer> | <Buffer[]> Optionally override the trusted CA
certificates. Default is to trust the well-known CAs curated by Mozilla.
Mozilla's CAs are completely replaced when CAs are explicitly specified
using this option. The value can be a string or Buffer
, or an Array
of
strings and/or Buffer
s. Any string or Buffer
can contain multiple PEM
CAs concatenated together. The peer's certificate must be chainable to a CA
trusted by the server for the connection to be authenticated. When using
certificates that are not chainable to a well-known CA, the certificate's CA
must be explicitly specified as a trusted or the connection will fail to
authenticate.
If the peer uses a certificate that doesn't match or chain to one of the
default CAs, use the ca
option to provide a CA certificate that the peer's
certificate can match or chain to.
For self-signed certificates, the certificate is its own CA, and must be
provided.
For PEM encoded certificates, supported types are "TRUSTED CERTIFICATE",
"X509 CERTIFICATE", and "CERTIFICATE".
See also tls.rootCertificates
.
cert
<string> | <string[]> | <Buffer> | <Buffer[]> Cert chains in PEM format. One
cert chain should be provided per private key. Each cert chain should
consist of the PEM formatted certificate for a provided private key
,
followed by the PEM formatted intermediate certificates (if any), in order,
and not including the root CA (the root CA must be pre-known to the peer,
see ca
). When providing multiple cert chains, they do not have to be in
the same order as their private keys in key
. If the intermediate
certificates are not provided, the peer will not be able to validate the
certificate, and the handshake will fail.
sigalgs
<string> Colon-separated list of supported signature algorithms.
The list can contain digest algorithms (SHA256
, MD5
etc.), public key
algorithms (RSA-PSS
, ECDSA
etc.), combination of both (e.g
'RSA+SHA384') or TLS v1.3 scheme names (e.g. rsa_pss_pss_sha512
).
See OpenSSL man pages
for more info.
ciphers
<string> Cipher suite specification, replacing the default. For
more information, see Modifying the default TLS cipher suite. Permitted
ciphers can be obtained via tls.getCiphers()
. Cipher names must be
uppercased in order for OpenSSL to accept them.
clientCertEngine
<string> Name of an OpenSSL engine which can provide the
client certificate.
crl
<string> | <string[]> | <Buffer> | <Buffer[]> PEM formatted CRLs (Certificate
Revocation Lists).
dhparam
<string> | <Buffer> Diffie-Hellman parameters, required for
perfect forward secrecy. Use openssl dhparam
to create the parameters.
The key length must be greater than or equal to 1024 bits or else an error
will be thrown. Although 1024 bits is permissible, use 2048 bits or larger
for stronger security. If omitted or invalid, the parameters are silently
discarded and DHE ciphers will not be available.
ecdhCurve
<string> A string describing a named curve or a colon separated
list of curve NIDs or names, for example P-521:P-384:P-256
, to use for
ECDH key agreement. Set to auto
to select the
curve automatically. Use crypto.getCurves()
to obtain a list of
available curve names. On recent releases, openssl ecparam -list_curves
will also display the name and description of each available elliptic curve.
Default: tls.DEFAULT_ECDH_CURVE
.
honorCipherOrder
<boolean> Attempt to use the server's cipher suite
preferences instead of the client's. When true
, causes
SSL_OP_CIPHER_SERVER_PREFERENCE
to be set in secureOptions
, see
OpenSSL Options for more information.
key
<string> | <string[]> | <Buffer> | <Buffer[]> | <Object[]> Private keys in PEM
format. PEM allows the option of private keys being encrypted. Encrypted
keys will be decrypted with options.passphrase
. Multiple keys using
different algorithms can be provided either as an array of unencrypted key
strings or buffers, or an array of objects in the form
{pem: <string|buffer>[, passphrase: <string>]}
. The object form can only
occur in an array. object.passphrase
is optional. Encrypted keys will be
decrypted with object.passphrase
if provided, or options.passphrase
if
it is not.
privateKeyEngine
<string> Name of an OpenSSL engine to get private key
from. Should be used together with privateKeyIdentifier
.
privateKeyIdentifier
<string> Identifier of a private key managed by
an OpenSSL engine. Should be used together with privateKeyEngine
.
Should not be set together with key
, because both options define a
private key in different ways.
maxVersion
<string> Optionally set the maximum TLS version to allow. One
of 'TLSv1.3'
, 'TLSv1.2'
, 'TLSv1.1'
, or 'TLSv1'
. Cannot be specified
along with the secureProtocol
option; use one or the other.
Default: tls.DEFAULT_MAX_VERSION
.
minVersion
<string> Optionally set the minimum TLS version to allow. One
of 'TLSv1.3'
, 'TLSv1.2'
, 'TLSv1.1'
, or 'TLSv1'
. Cannot be specified
along with the secureProtocol
option; use one or the other. Avoid
setting to less than TLSv1.2, but it may be required for
interoperability.
Default: tls.DEFAULT_MIN_VERSION
.
passphrase
<string> Shared passphrase used for a single private key and/or
a PFX.
pfx
<string> | <string[]> | <Buffer> | <Buffer[]> | <Object[]> PFX or PKCS12 encoded
private key and certificate chain. pfx
is an alternative to providing
key
and cert
individually. PFX is usually encrypted, if it is,
passphrase
will be used to decrypt it. Multiple PFX can be provided either
as an array of unencrypted PFX buffers, or an array of objects in the form
{buf: <string|buffer>[, passphrase: <string>]}
. The object form can only
occur in an array. object.passphrase
is optional. Encrypted PFX will be
decrypted with object.passphrase
if provided, or options.passphrase
if
it is not.
secureOptions
<number> Optionally affect the OpenSSL protocol behavior,
which is not usually necessary. This should be used carefully if at all!
Value is a numeric bitmask of the SSL_OP_*
options from
OpenSSL Options.
secureProtocol
<string> Legacy mechanism to select the TLS protocol
version to use, it does not support independent control of the minimum and
maximum version, and does not support limiting the protocol to TLSv1.3. Use
minVersion
and maxVersion
instead. The possible values are listed as
SSL_METHODS, use the function names as strings. For example,
use 'TLSv1_1_method'
to force TLS version 1.1, or 'TLS_method'
to allow
any TLS protocol version up to TLSv1.3. It is not recommended to use TLS
versions less than 1.2, but it may be required for interoperability.
Default: none, see minVersion
.
sessionIdContext
<string> Opaque identifier used by servers to ensure
session state is not shared between applications. Unused by clients.
ticketKeys
: <Buffer> 48-bytes of cryptographically strong pseudorandom
data. See Session Resumption for more information.
sessionTimeout
<number> The number of seconds after which a TLS session
created by the server will no longer be resumable. See
Session Resumption for more information. Default: 300
.
tls.createServer()
sets the default value of the honorCipherOrder
option
to true
, other APIs that create secure contexts leave it unset.
tls.createServer()
uses a 128 bit truncated SHA1 hash value generated
from process.argv
as the default value of the sessionIdContext
option, other
APIs that create secure contexts have no default value.
The tls.createSecureContext()
method creates a SecureContext
object. It is
usable as an argument to several tls
APIs, such as tls.createServer()
and server.addContext()
, but has no public methods.
A key is required for ciphers that use certificates. Either key
or
pfx
can be used to provide it.
If the ca
option is not given, then Node.js will default to using
Mozilla's publicly trusted list of CAs.
tls.createSecurePair([context][, isServer][, requestCert][, rejectUnauthorized][, options])
#
context
<Object> A secure context object as returned by
tls.createSecureContext()
isServer
<boolean> true
to specify that this TLS connection should be
opened as a server.
requestCert
<boolean> true
to specify whether a server should request a
certificate from a connecting client. Only applies when isServer
is true
.
rejectUnauthorized
<boolean> If not false
a server automatically reject
clients with invalid certificates. Only applies when isServer
is true
.
options
Creates a new secure pair object with two streams, one of which reads and writes
the encrypted data and the other of which reads and writes the cleartext data.
Generally, the encrypted stream is piped to/from an incoming encrypted data
stream and the cleartext one is used as a replacement for the initial encrypted
stream.
tls.createSecurePair()
returns a tls.SecurePair
object with cleartext
and
encrypted
stream properties.
Using cleartext
has the same API as tls.TLSSocket
.
The tls.createSecurePair()
method is now deprecated in favor of
tls.TLSSocket()
. For example, the code:
pair = tls.createSecurePair();
pair.encrypted.pipe(socket);
socket.pipe(pair.encrypted);
can be replaced by:
secureSocket = tls.TLSSocket(socket, options);
where secureSocket
has the same API as pair.cleartext
.
tls.createServer([options][, secureConnectionListener])
#
options
<Object>
-
ALPNProtocols
: <string[]> | <Buffer[]> | <TypedArray[]> | <DataView[]> | <Buffer> | <TypedArray> | <DataView>
An array of strings, Buffer
s, TypedArray
s, or DataView
s, or a single
Buffer
, TypedArray
, or DataView
containing the supported ALPN
protocols. Buffer
s should have the format [len][name][len][name]...
e.g. 0x05hello0x05world
, where the first byte is the length of the next
protocol name. Passing an array is usually much simpler, e.g.
['hello', 'world']
. (Protocols should be ordered by their priority.)
-
clientCertEngine
<string> Name of an OpenSSL engine which can provide the
client certificate.
-
enableTrace
<boolean> If true
, tls.TLSSocket.enableTrace()
will be
called on new connections. Tracing can be enabled after the secure
connection is established, but this option must be used to trace the secure
connection setup. Default: false
.
-
handshakeTimeout
<number> Abort the connection if the SSL/TLS handshake
does not finish in the specified number of milliseconds.
A 'tlsClientError'
is emitted on the tls.Server
object whenever
a handshake times out. Default: 120000
(120 seconds).
-
rejectUnauthorized
<boolean> If not false
the server will reject any
connection which is not authorized with the list of supplied CAs. This
option only has an effect if requestCert
is true
. Default: true
.
-
requestCert
<boolean> If true
the server will request a certificate from
clients that connect and attempt to verify that certificate. Default:
false
.
-
sessionTimeout
<number> The number of seconds after which a TLS session
created by the server will no longer be resumable. See
Session Resumption for more information. Default: 300
.
-
SNICallback(servername, callback)
<Function> A function that will be
called if the client supports SNI TLS extension. Two arguments will be
passed when called: servername
and callback
. callback
is an
error-first callback that takes two optional arguments: error
and ctx
.
ctx
, if provided, is a SecureContext
instance.
tls.createSecureContext()
can be used to get a proper SecureContext
.
If callback
is called with a falsy ctx
argument, the default secure
context of the server will be used. If SNICallback
wasn't provided the
default callback with high-level API will be used (see below).
-
ticketKeys
: <Buffer> 48-bytes of cryptographically strong pseudorandom
data. See Session Resumption for more information.
-
pskCallback
<Function>
- socket: <tls.TLSSocket> the server
tls.TLSSocket
instance for
this connection.
- identity: <string> identity parameter sent from the client.
- Returns: <Buffer> | <TypedArray> | <DataView> pre-shared key that must either be
a buffer or
null
to stop the negotiation process. Returned PSK must be
compatible with the selected cipher's digest.
When negotiating TLS-PSK (pre-shared keys), this function is called
with the identity provided by the client.
If the return value is null
the negotiation process will stop and an
"unknown_psk_identity" alert message will be sent to the other party.
If the server wishes to hide the fact that the PSK identity was not known,
the callback must provide some random data as psk
to make the connection
fail with "decrypt_error" before negotiation is finished.
PSK ciphers are disabled by default, and using TLS-PSK thus
requires explicitly specifying a cipher suite with the ciphers
option.
More information can be found in the RFC 4279.
-
pskIdentityHint
<string> optional hint to send to a client to help
with selecting the identity during TLS-PSK negotiation. Will be ignored
in TLS 1.3. Upon failing to set pskIdentityHint 'tlsClientError'
will be
emitted with 'ERR_TLS_PSK_SET_IDENTIY_HINT_FAILED'
code.
-
...: Any tls.createSecureContext()
option can be provided. For
servers, the identity options (pfx
, key
/cert
, or pskCallback
)
are usually required.
-
...: Any net.createServer()
option can be provided.
secureConnectionListener
<Function>
- Returns: <tls.Server>
Creates a new tls.Server
. The secureConnectionListener
, if provided, is
automatically set as a listener for the 'secureConnection'
event.
The ticketKeys
options is automatically shared between node:cluster
module
workers.
The following illustrates a simple echo server:
const tls = require('node:tls');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const options = {
key: fs.readFileSync('server-key.pem'),
cert: fs.readFileSync('server-cert.pem'),
requestCert: true,
ca: [ fs.readFileSync('client-cert.pem') ]
};
const server = tls.createServer(options, (socket) => {
console.log('server connected',
socket.authorized ? 'authorized' : 'unauthorized');
socket.write('welcome!\n');
socket.setEncoding('utf8');
socket.pipe(socket);
});
server.listen(8000, () => {
console.log('server bound');
});
The server can be tested by connecting to it using the example client from
tls.connect()
.
tls.getCiphers()
#
Added in: v0.10.2
Returns an array with the names of the supported TLS ciphers. The names are
lower-case for historical reasons, but must be uppercased to be used in
the ciphers
option of tls.createSecureContext()
.
Not all supported ciphers are enabled by default. See
Modifying the default TLS cipher suite.
Cipher names that start with 'tls_'
are for TLSv1.3, all the others are for
TLSv1.2 and below.
console.log(tls.getCiphers());
tls.rootCertificates
#
Added in: v12.3.0
An immutable array of strings representing the root certificates (in PEM format)
from the bundled Mozilla CA store as supplied by the current Node.js version.
The bundled CA store, as supplied by Node.js, is a snapshot of Mozilla CA store
that is fixed at release time. It is identical on all supported platforms.
tls.DEFAULT_ECDH_CURVE
#
The default curve name to use for ECDH key agreement in a tls server. The
default value is 'auto'
. See tls.createSecureContext()
for further
information.
tls.DEFAULT_MAX_VERSION
#
Added in: v11.4.0
- <string> The default value of the
maxVersion
option of
tls.createSecureContext()
. It can be assigned any of the supported TLS
protocol versions, 'TLSv1.3'
, 'TLSv1.2'
, 'TLSv1.1'
, or 'TLSv1'
.
Default: 'TLSv1.3'
, unless changed using CLI options. Using
--tls-max-v1.2
sets the default to 'TLSv1.2'
. Using --tls-max-v1.3
sets
the default to 'TLSv1.3'
. If multiple of the options are provided, the
highest maximum is used.
tls.DEFAULT_MIN_VERSION
#
Added in: v11.4.0
- <string> The default value of the
minVersion
option of
tls.createSecureContext()
. It can be assigned any of the supported TLS
protocol versions, 'TLSv1.3'
, 'TLSv1.2'
, 'TLSv1.1'
, or 'TLSv1'
.
Default: 'TLSv1.2'
, unless changed using CLI options. Using
--tls-min-v1.0
sets the default to 'TLSv1'
. Using --tls-min-v1.1
sets
the default to 'TLSv1.1'
. Using --tls-min-v1.3
sets the default to
'TLSv1.3'
. If multiple of the options are provided, the lowest minimum is
used.
Util#
Source Code: lib/util.js
The node:util
module supports the needs of Node.js internal APIs. Many of the
utilities are useful for application and module developers as well. To access
it:
const util = require('node:util');
util.callbackify(original)
#
Added in: v8.2.0
Takes an async
function (or a function that returns a Promise
) and returns a
function following the error-first callback style, i.e. taking
an (err, value) => ...
callback as the last argument. In the callback, the
first argument will be the rejection reason (or null
if the Promise
resolved), and the second argument will be the resolved value.
const util = require('node:util');
async function fn() {
return 'hello world';
}
const callbackFunction = util.callbackify(fn);
callbackFunction((err, ret) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(ret);
});
Will print:
hello world
The callback is executed asynchronously, and will have a limited stack trace.
If the callback throws, the process will emit an 'uncaughtException'
event, and if not handled will exit.
Since null
has a special meaning as the first argument to a callback, if a
wrapped function rejects a Promise
with a falsy value as a reason, the value
is wrapped in an Error
with the original value stored in a field named
reason
.
function fn() {
return Promise.reject(null);
}
const callbackFunction = util.callbackify(fn);
callbackFunction((err, ret) => {
err && Object.hasOwn(err, 'reason') && err.reason === null;
});
util.debuglog(section[, callback])
#
Added in: v0.11.3
section
<string> A string identifying the portion of the application for
which the debuglog
function is being created.
callback
<Function> A callback invoked the first time the logging function
is called with a function argument that is a more optimized logging function.
- Returns: <Function> The logging function
The util.debuglog()
method is used to create a function that conditionally
writes debug messages to stderr
based on the existence of the NODE_DEBUG
environment variable. If the section
name appears within the value of that
environment variable, then the returned function operates similar to
console.error()
. If not, then the returned function is a no-op.
const util = require('node:util');
const debuglog = util.debuglog('foo');
debuglog('hello from foo [%d]', 123);
If this program is run with NODE_DEBUG=foo
in the environment, then
it will output something like:
FOO 3245: hello from foo [123]
where 3245
is the process id. If it is not run with that
environment variable set, then it will not print anything.
The section
supports wildcard also:
const util = require('node:util');
const debuglog = util.debuglog('foo-bar');
debuglog('hi there, it\'s foo-bar [%d]', 2333);
if it is run with NODE_DEBUG=foo*
in the environment, then it will output
something like:
FOO-BAR 3257: hi there, it's foo-bar [2333]
Multiple comma-separated section
names may be specified in the NODE_DEBUG
environment variable: NODE_DEBUG=fs,net,tls
.
The optional callback
argument can be used to replace the logging function
with a different function that doesn't have any initialization or
unnecessary wrapping.
const util = require('node:util');
let debuglog = util.debuglog('internals', (debug) => {
debuglog = debug;
});
debuglog().enabled
#
Added in: v14.9.0
The util.debuglog().enabled
getter is used to create a test that can be used
in conditionals based on the existence of the NODE_DEBUG
environment variable.
If the section
name appears within the value of that environment variable,
then the returned value will be true
. If not, then the returned value will be
false
.
const util = require('node:util');
const enabled = util.debuglog('foo').enabled;
if (enabled) {
console.log('hello from foo [%d]', 123);
}
If this program is run with NODE_DEBUG=foo
in the environment, then it will
output something like:
hello from foo [123]
util.debug(section)
#
Added in: v14.9.0
Alias for util.debuglog
. Usage allows for readability of that doesn't imply
logging when only using util.debuglog().enabled
.
util.deprecate(fn, msg[, code])
#
The util.deprecate()
method wraps fn
(which may be a function or class) in
such a way that it is marked as deprecated.
const util = require('node:util');
exports.obsoleteFunction = util.deprecate(() => {
}, 'obsoleteFunction() is deprecated. Use newShinyFunction() instead.');
When called, util.deprecate()
will return a function that will emit a
DeprecationWarning
using the 'warning'
event. The warning will
be emitted and printed to stderr
the first time the returned function is
called. After the warning is emitted, the wrapped function is called without
emitting a warning.
If the same optional code
is supplied in multiple calls to util.deprecate()
,
the warning will be emitted only once for that code
.
const util = require('node:util');
const fn1 = util.deprecate(someFunction, someMessage, 'DEP0001');
const fn2 = util.deprecate(someOtherFunction, someOtherMessage, 'DEP0001');
fn1();
fn2();
If either the --no-deprecation
or --no-warnings
command-line flags are
used, or if the process.noDeprecation
property is set to true
prior to
the first deprecation warning, the util.deprecate()
method does nothing.
If the --trace-deprecation
or --trace-warnings
command-line flags are set,
or the process.traceDeprecation
property is set to true
, a warning and a
stack trace are printed to stderr
the first time the deprecated function is
called.
If the --throw-deprecation
command-line flag is set, or the
process.throwDeprecation
property is set to true
, then an exception will be
thrown when the deprecated function is called.
The --throw-deprecation
command-line flag and process.throwDeprecation
property take precedence over --trace-deprecation
and
process.traceDeprecation
.
util.format(format[, ...args])
#
format
<string> A printf
-like format string.
The util.format()
method returns a formatted string using the first argument
as a printf
-like format string which can contain zero or more format
specifiers. Each specifier is replaced with the converted value from the
corresponding argument. Supported specifiers are:
%s
: String
will be used to convert all values except BigInt
, Object
and -0
. BigInt
values will be represented with an n
and Objects that
have no user defined toString
function are inspected using util.inspect()
with options { depth: 0, colors: false, compact: 3 }
.
%d
: Number
will be used to convert all values except BigInt
and
Symbol
.
%i
: parseInt(value, 10)
is used for all values except BigInt
and
Symbol
.
%f
: parseFloat(value)
is used for all values expect Symbol
.
%j
: JSON. Replaced with the string '[Circular]'
if the argument contains
circular references.
%o
: Object
. A string representation of an object with generic JavaScript
object formatting. Similar to util.inspect()
with options
{ showHidden: true, showProxy: true }
. This will show the full object
including non-enumerable properties and proxies.
%O
: Object
. A string representation of an object with generic JavaScript
object formatting. Similar to util.inspect()
without options. This will show
the full object not including non-enumerable properties and proxies.
%c
: CSS
. This specifier is ignored and will skip any CSS passed in.
%%
: single percent sign ('%'
). This does not consume an argument.
- Returns: <string> The formatted string
If a specifier does not have a corresponding argument, it is not replaced:
util.format('%s:%s', 'foo');
Values that are not part of the format string are formatted using
util.inspect()
if their type is not string
.
If there are more arguments passed to the util.format()
method than the
number of specifiers, the extra arguments are concatenated to the returned
string, separated by spaces:
util.format('%s:%s', 'foo', 'bar', 'baz');
If the first argument does not contain a valid format specifier, util.format()
returns a string that is the concatenation of all arguments separated by spaces:
util.format(1, 2, 3);
If only one argument is passed to util.format()
, it is returned as it is
without any formatting:
util.format('%% %s');
util.format()
is a synchronous method that is intended as a debugging tool.
Some input values can have a significant performance overhead that can block the
event loop. Use this function with care and never in a hot code path.
util.formatWithOptions(inspectOptions, format[, ...args])
#
Added in: v10.0.0
This function is identical to util.format()
, except in that it takes
an inspectOptions
argument which specifies options that are passed along to
util.inspect()
.
util.formatWithOptions({ colors: true }, 'See object %O', { foo: 42 });
util.getSystemErrorName(err)
#
Added in: v9.7.0
Returns the string name for a numeric error code that comes from a Node.js API.
The mapping between error codes and error names is platform-dependent.
See Common System Errors for the names of common errors.
fs.access('file/that/does/not/exist', (err) => {
const name = util.getSystemErrorName(err.errno);
console.error(name);
});
util.getSystemErrorMap()
#
Added in: v16.0.0
Returns a Map of all system error codes available from the Node.js API.
The mapping between error codes and error names is platform-dependent.
See Common System Errors for the names of common errors.
fs.access('file/that/does/not/exist', (err) => {
const errorMap = util.getSystemErrorMap();
const name = errorMap.get(err.errno);
console.error(name);
});
util.inherits(constructor, superConstructor)
#
Stability: 3 - Legacy: Use ES2015 class syntax and
extends
keyword instead.
Usage of util.inherits()
is discouraged. Please use the ES6 class
and
extends
keywords to get language level inheritance support. Also note
that the two styles are semantically incompatible.
Inherit the prototype methods from one constructor into another. The
prototype of constructor
will be set to a new object created from
superConstructor
.
This mainly adds some input validation on top of
Object.setPrototypeOf(constructor.prototype, superConstructor.prototype)
.
As an additional convenience, superConstructor
will be accessible
through the constructor.super_
property.
const util = require('node:util');
const EventEmitter = require('node:events');
function MyStream() {
EventEmitter.call(this);
}
util.inherits(MyStream, EventEmitter);
MyStream.prototype.write = function(data) {
this.emit('data', data);
};
const stream = new MyStream();
console.log(stream instanceof EventEmitter);
console.log(MyStream.super_ === EventEmitter);
stream.on('data', (data) => {
console.log(`Received data: "${data}"`);
});
stream.write('It works!');
ES6 example using class
and extends
:
const EventEmitter = require('node:events');
class MyStream extends EventEmitter {
write(data) {
this.emit('data', data);
}
}
const stream = new MyStream();
stream.on('data', (data) => {
console.log(`Received data: "${data}"`);
});
stream.write('With ES6');
util.inspect(object[, options])
#
util.inspect(object[, showHidden[, depth[, colors]]])
#
object
<any> Any JavaScript primitive or Object
.
options
<Object>
showHidden
<boolean> If true
, object
's non-enumerable symbols and
properties are included in the formatted result. WeakMap
and
WeakSet
entries are also included as well as user defined prototype
properties (excluding method properties). Default: false
.
depth
<number> Specifies the number of times to recurse while formatting
object
. This is useful for inspecting large objects. To recurse up to
the maximum call stack size pass Infinity
or null
.
Default: 2
.
colors
<boolean> If true
, the output is styled with ANSI color
codes. Colors are customizable. See Customizing util.inspect
colors.
Default: false
.
customInspect
<boolean> If false
,
[util.inspect.custom](depth, opts, inspect)
functions are not invoked.
Default: true
.
showProxy
<boolean> If true
, Proxy
inspection includes
the target
and handler
objects. Default: false
.
maxArrayLength
<integer> Specifies the maximum number of Array
,
TypedArray
, Map
, Set
, WeakMap
,
and WeakSet
elements to include when formatting.
Set to null
or Infinity
to show all elements. Set to 0
or
negative to show no elements. Default: 100
.
maxStringLength
<integer> Specifies the maximum number of characters to
include when formatting. Set to null
or Infinity
to show all elements.
Set to 0
or negative to show no characters. Default: 10000
.
breakLength
<integer> The length at which input values are split across
multiple lines. Set to Infinity
to format the input as a single line
(in combination with compact
set to true
or any number >= 1
).
Default: 80
.
compact
<boolean> | <integer> Setting this to false
causes each object key
to be displayed on a new line. It will break on new lines in text that is
longer than breakLength
. If set to a number, the most n
inner elements
are united on a single line as long as all properties fit into
breakLength
. Short array elements are also grouped together. For more
information, see the example below. Default: 3
.
sorted
<boolean> | <Function> If set to true
or a function, all properties
of an object, and Set
and Map
entries are sorted in the resulting
string. If set to true
the default sort is used. If set to a function,
it is used as a compare function.
getters
<boolean> | <string> If set to true
, getters are inspected. If set
to 'get'
, only getters without a corresponding setter are inspected. If
set to 'set'
, only getters with a corresponding setter are inspected.
This might cause side effects depending on the getter function.
Default: false
.
numericSeparator
<boolean> If set to true
, an underscore is used to
separate every three digits in all bigints and numbers.
Default: false
.
- Returns: <string> The representation of
object
.
The util.inspect()
method returns a string representation of object
that is
intended for debugging. The output of util.inspect
may change at any time
and should not be depended upon programmatically. Additional options
may be
passed that alter the result.
util.inspect()
will use the constructor's name and/or @@toStringTag
to make
an identifiable tag for an inspected value.
class Foo {
get [Symbol.toStringTag]() {
return 'bar';
}
}
class Bar {}
const baz = Object.create(null, { [Symbol.toStringTag]: { value: 'foo' } });
util.inspect(new Foo());
util.inspect(new Bar());
util.inspect(baz);
Circular references point to their anchor by using a reference index:
const { inspect } = require('node:util');
const obj = {};
obj.a = [obj];
obj.b = {};
obj.b.inner = obj.b;
obj.b.obj = obj;
console.log(inspect(obj));
The following example inspects all properties of the util
object:
const util = require('node:util');
console.log(util.inspect(util, { showHidden: true, depth: null }));
The following example highlights the effect of the compact
option:
const util = require('node:util');
const o = {
a: [1, 2, [[
'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,\nconsectetur adipiscing elit, sed do ' +
'eiusmod \ntempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.',
'test',
'foo']], 4],
b: new Map([['za', 1], ['zb', 'test']])
};
console.log(util.inspect(o, { compact: true, depth: 5, breakLength: 80 }));
console.log(util.inspect(o, { compact: false, depth: 5, breakLength: 80 }));
The showHidden
option allows WeakMap
and WeakSet
entries to be
inspected. If there are more entries than maxArrayLength
, there is no
guarantee which entries are displayed. That means retrieving the same
WeakSet
entries twice may result in different output. Furthermore, entries
with no remaining strong references may be garbage collected at any time.
const { inspect } = require('node:util');
const obj = { a: 1 };
const obj2 = { b: 2 };
const weakSet = new WeakSet([obj, obj2]);
console.log(inspect(weakSet, { showHidden: true }));
The sorted
option ensures that an object's property insertion order does not
impact the result of util.inspect()
.
const { inspect } = require('node:util');
const assert = require('node:assert');
const o1 = {
b: [2, 3, 1],
a: '`a` comes before `b`',
c: new Set([2, 3, 1])
};
console.log(inspect(o1, { sorted: true }));
console.log(inspect(o1, { sorted: (a, b) => b.localeCompare(a) }));
const o2 = {
c: new Set([2, 1, 3]),
a: '`a` comes before `b`',
b: [2, 3, 1]
};
assert.strict.equal(
inspect(o1, { sorted: true }),
inspect(o2, { sorted: true })
);
The numericSeparator
option adds an underscore every three digits to all
numbers.
const { inspect } = require('node:util');
const thousand = 1_000;
const million = 1_000_000;
const bigNumber = 123_456_789n;
const bigDecimal = 1_234.123_45;
console.log(thousand, million, bigNumber, bigDecimal);
util.inspect()
is a synchronous method intended for debugging. Its maximum
output length is approximately 128 MiB. Inputs that result in longer output will
be truncated.
Customizing util.inspect
colors#
Color output (if enabled) of util.inspect
is customizable globally
via the util.inspect.styles
and util.inspect.colors
properties.
util.inspect.styles
is a map associating a style name to a color from
util.inspect.colors
.
The default styles and associated colors are:
bigint
: yellow
boolean
: yellow
date
: magenta
module
: underline
name
: (no styling)
null
: bold
number
: yellow
regexp
: red
special
: cyan
(e.g., Proxies
)
string
: green
symbol
: green
undefined
: grey
Color styling uses ANSI control codes that may not be supported on all
terminals. To verify color support use tty.hasColors()
.
Predefined control codes are listed below (grouped as "Modifiers", "Foreground
colors", and "Background colors").
Modifiers#
Modifier support varies throughout different terminals. They will mostly be
ignored, if not supported.
reset
- Resets all (color) modifiers to their defaults
- bold - Make text bold
- italic - Make text italic
- underline - Make text underlined
strikethrough - Puts a horizontal line through the center of the text
(Alias: strikeThrough
, crossedout
, crossedOut
)
hidden
- Prints the text, but makes it invisible (Alias: conceal)
- dim - Decreased color intensity (Alias:
faint
)
- overlined - Make text overlined
- blink - Hides and shows the text in an interval
- inverse - Swap foreground and
background colors (Alias:
swapcolors
, swapColors
)
- doubleunderline - Make text
double underlined (Alias:
doubleUnderline
)
- framed - Draw a frame around the text
Foreground colors#
black
red
green
yellow
blue
magenta
cyan
white
gray
(alias: grey
, blackBright
)
redBright
greenBright
yellowBright
blueBright
magentaBright
cyanBright
whiteBright
Background colors#
bgBlack
bgRed
bgGreen
bgYellow
bgBlue
bgMagenta
bgCyan
bgWhite
bgGray
(alias: bgGrey
, bgBlackBright
)
bgRedBright
bgGreenBright
bgYellowBright
bgBlueBright
bgMagentaBright
bgCyanBright
bgWhiteBright
Custom inspection functions on objects#
Objects may also define their own
[util.inspect.custom](depth, opts, inspect)
function,
which util.inspect()
will invoke and use the result of when inspecting
the object.
const util = require('node:util');
class Box {
constructor(value) {
this.value = value;
}
[util.inspect.custom](depth, options, inspect) {
if (depth < 0) {
return options.stylize('[Box]', 'special');
}
const newOptions = Object.assign({}, options, {
depth: options.depth === null ? null : options.depth - 1
});
const padding = ' '.repeat(5);
const inner = inspect(this.value, newOptions)
.replace(/\n/g, `\n${padding}`);
return `${options.stylize('Box', 'special')}< ${inner} >`;
}
}
const box = new Box(true);
util.inspect(box);
Custom [util.inspect.custom](depth, opts, inspect)
functions typically return
a string but may return a value of any type that will be formatted accordingly
by util.inspect()
.
const util = require('node:util');
const obj = { foo: 'this will not show up in the inspect() output' };
obj[util.inspect.custom] = (depth) => {
return { bar: 'baz' };
};
util.inspect(obj);
util.inspect.custom
#
- <symbol> that can be used to declare custom inspect functions.
In addition to being accessible through util.inspect.custom
, this
symbol is registered globally and can be
accessed in any environment as Symbol.for('nodejs.util.inspect.custom')
.
Using this allows code to be written in a portable fashion, so that the custom
inspect function is used in an Node.js environment and ignored in the browser.
The util.inspect()
function itself is passed as third argument to the custom
inspect function to allow further portability.
const customInspectSymbol = Symbol.for('nodejs.util.inspect.custom');
class Password {
constructor(value) {
this.value = value;
}
toString() {
return 'xxxxxxxx';
}
[customInspectSymbol](depth, inspectOptions, inspect) {
return `Password <${this.toString()}>`;
}
}
const password = new Password('r0sebud');
console.log(password);
See Custom inspection functions on Objects for more details.
util.inspect.defaultOptions
#
Added in: v6.4.0
The defaultOptions
value allows customization of the default options used by
util.inspect
. This is useful for functions like console.log
or
util.format
which implicitly call into util.inspect
. It shall be set to an
object containing one or more valid util.inspect()
options. Setting
option properties directly is also supported.
const util = require('node:util');
const arr = Array(101).fill(0);
console.log(arr);
util.inspect.defaultOptions.maxArrayLength = null;
console.log(arr);
util.isDeepStrictEqual(val1, val2)
#
Added in: v9.0.0
Returns true
if there is deep strict equality between val1
and val2
.
Otherwise, returns false
.
See assert.deepStrictEqual()
for more information about deep strict
equality.
util.parseArgs([config])
#
Provides a higher level API for command-line argument parsing than interacting
with process.argv
directly. Takes a specification for the expected arguments
and returns a structured object with the parsed options and positionals.
import { parseArgs } from 'node:util';
const args = ['-f', '--bar', 'b'];
const options = {
foo: {
type: 'boolean',
short: 'f'
},
bar: {
type: 'string'
}
};
const {
values,
positionals
} = parseArgs({ args, options });
console.log(values, positionals);
const { parseArgs } = require('node:util');
const args = ['-f', '--bar', 'b'];
const options = {
foo: {
type: 'boolean',
short: 'f'
},
bar: {
type: 'string'
}
};
const {
values,
positionals
} = parseArgs({ args, options });
console.log(values, positionals);
util.parseArgs
is experimental and behavior may change. Join the
conversation in pkgjs/parseargs to contribute to the design.
parseArgs
tokens
#
Detailed parse information is available for adding custom behaviours by
specifying tokens: true
in the configuration.
The returned tokens have properties describing:
- all tokens
kind
<string> One of 'option', 'positional', or 'option-terminator'.
index
<number> Index of element in args
containing token. So the
source argument for a token is args[token.index]
.
- option tokens
name
<string> Long name of option.
rawName
<string> How option used in args, like -f
of --foo
.
value
<string> | <undefined> Option value specified in args.
Undefined for boolean options.
inlineValue
<boolean> | <undefined> Whether option value specified inline,
like --foo=bar
.
- positional tokens
value
<string> The value of the positional argument in args (i.e. args[index]
).
- option-terminator token
The returned tokens are in the order encountered in the input args. Options
that appear more than once in args produce a token for each use. Short option
groups like -xy
expand to a token for each option. So -xxx
produces
three tokens.
For example to use the returned tokens to add support for a negated option
like --no-color
, the tokens can be reprocessed to change the value stored
for the negated option.
import { parseArgs } from 'node:util';
const options = {
'color': { type: 'boolean' },
'no-color': { type: 'boolean' },
'logfile': { type: 'string' },
'no-logfile': { type: 'boolean' },
};
const { values, tokens } = parseArgs({ options, tokens: true });
tokens
.filter((token) => token.kind === 'option')
.forEach((token) => {
if (token.name.startsWith('no-')) {
const positiveName = token.name.slice(3);
values[positiveName] = false;
delete values[token.name];
} else {
values[token.name] = token.value ?? true;
}
});
const color = values.color;
const logfile = values.logfile ?? 'default.log';
console.log({ logfile, color });
const { parseArgs } = require('node:util');
const options = {
'color': { type: 'boolean' },
'no-color': { type: 'boolean' },
'logfile': { type: 'string' },
'no-logfile': { type: 'boolean' },
};
const { values, tokens } = parseArgs({ options, tokens: true });
tokens
.filter((token) => token.kind === 'option')
.forEach((token) => {
if (token.name.startsWith('no-')) {
const positiveName = token.name.slice(3);
values[positiveName] = false;
delete values[token.name];
} else {
values[token.name] = token.value ?? true;
}
});
const color = values.color;
const logfile = values.logfile ?? 'default.log';
console.log({ logfile, color });
Example usage showing negated options, and when an option is used
multiple ways then last one wins.
$ node negate.js
{ logfile: 'default.log', color: undefined }
$ node negate.js --no-logfile --no-color
{ logfile: false, color: false }
$ node negate.js --logfile=test.log --color
{ logfile: 'test.log', color: true }
$ node negate.js --no-logfile --logfile=test.log --color --no-color
{ logfile: 'test.log', color: false }
util.promisify(original)
#
Added in: v8.0.0
Takes a function following the common error-first callback style, i.e. taking
an (err, value) => ...
callback as the last argument, and returns a version
that returns promises.
const util = require('node:util');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const stat = util.promisify(fs.stat);
stat('.').then((stats) => {
}).catch((error) => {
});
Or, equivalently using async function
s:
const util = require('node:util');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const stat = util.promisify(fs.stat);
async function callStat() {
const stats = await stat('.');
console.log(`This directory is owned by ${stats.uid}`);
}
If there is an original[util.promisify.custom]
property present, promisify
will return its value, see Custom promisified functions.
promisify()
assumes that original
is a function taking a callback as its
final argument in all cases. If original
is not a function, promisify()
will throw an error. If original
is a function but its last argument is not
an error-first callback, it will still be passed an error-first
callback as its last argument.
Using promisify()
on class methods or other methods that use this
may not
work as expected unless handled specially:
const util = require('node:util');
class Foo {
constructor() {
this.a = 42;
}
bar(callback) {
callback(null, this.a);
}
}
const foo = new Foo();
const naiveBar = util.promisify(foo.bar);
naiveBar.call(foo).then((a) => console.log(a));
const bindBar = naiveBar.bind(foo);
bindBar().then((a) => console.log(a));
Custom promisified functions#
Using the util.promisify.custom
symbol one can override the return value of
util.promisify()
:
const util = require('node:util');
function doSomething(foo, callback) {
}
doSomething[util.promisify.custom] = (foo) => {
return getPromiseSomehow();
};
const promisified = util.promisify(doSomething);
console.log(promisified === doSomething[util.promisify.custom]);
This can be useful for cases where the original function does not follow the
standard format of taking an error-first callback as the last argument.
For example, with a function that takes in
(foo, onSuccessCallback, onErrorCallback)
:
doSomething[util.promisify.custom] = (foo) => {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
doSomething(foo, resolve, reject);
});
};
If promisify.custom
is defined but is not a function, promisify()
will
throw an error.
util.promisify.custom
#
In addition to being accessible through util.promisify.custom
, this
symbol is registered globally and can be
accessed in any environment as Symbol.for('nodejs.util.promisify.custom')
.
For example, with a function that takes in
(foo, onSuccessCallback, onErrorCallback)
:
const kCustomPromisifiedSymbol = Symbol.for('nodejs.util.promisify.custom');
doSomething[kCustomPromisifiedSymbol] = (foo) => {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
doSomething(foo, resolve, reject);
});
};
util.stripVTControlCharacters(str)
Added in: v16.11.0
Returns str
with any ANSI escape codes removed.
console.log(util.stripVTControlCharacters('\u001B[4mvalue\u001B[0m'));
Class: util.TextDecoder
#
Added in: v8.3.0
An implementation of the WHATWG Encoding Standard TextDecoder
API.
const decoder = new TextDecoder();
const u8arr = new Uint8Array([72, 101, 108, 108, 111]);
console.log(decoder.decode(u8arr));
WHATWG supported encodings#
Per the WHATWG Encoding Standard, the encodings supported by the
TextDecoder
API are outlined in the tables below. For each encoding,
one or more aliases may be used.
Different Node.js build configurations support different sets of encodings.
(see Internationalization)
Encodings supported by default (with full ICU data)#
Encoding | Aliases |
---|
'ibm866' | '866' , 'cp866' , 'csibm866' |
'iso-8859-2' | 'csisolatin2' , 'iso-ir-101' , 'iso8859-2' , 'iso88592' , 'iso_8859-2' , 'iso_8859-2:1987' , 'l2' , 'latin2' |
'iso-8859-3' | 'csisolatin3' , 'iso-ir-109' , 'iso8859-3' , 'iso88593' , 'iso_8859-3' , 'iso_8859-3:1988' , 'l3' , 'latin3' |
'iso-8859-4' | 'csisolatin4' , 'iso-ir-110' , 'iso8859-4' , 'iso88594' , 'iso_8859-4' , 'iso_8859-4:1988' , 'l4' , 'latin4' |
'iso-8859-5' | 'csisolatincyrillic' , 'cyrillic' , 'iso-ir-144' , 'iso8859-5' , 'iso88595' , 'iso_8859-5' , 'iso_8859-5:1988' |
'iso-8859-6' | 'arabic' , 'asmo-708' , 'csiso88596e' , 'csiso88596i' , 'csisolatinarabic' , 'ecma-114' , 'iso-8859-6-e' , 'iso-8859-6-i' , 'iso-ir-127' , 'iso8859-6' , 'iso88596' , 'iso_8859-6' , 'iso_8859-6:1987' |
'iso-8859-7' | 'csisolatingreek' , 'ecma-118' , 'elot_928' , 'greek' , 'greek8' , 'iso-ir-126' , 'iso8859-7' , 'iso88597' , 'iso_8859-7' , 'iso_8859-7:1987' , 'sun_eu_greek' |
'iso-8859-8' | 'csiso88598e' , 'csisolatinhebrew' , 'hebrew' , 'iso-8859-8-e' , 'iso-ir-138' , 'iso8859-8' , 'iso88598' , 'iso_8859-8' , 'iso_8859-8:1988' , 'visual' |
'iso-8859-8-i' | 'csiso88598i' , 'logical' |
'iso-8859-10' | 'csisolatin6' , 'iso-ir-157' , 'iso8859-10' , 'iso885910' , 'l6' , 'latin6' |
'iso-8859-13' | 'iso8859-13' , 'iso885913' |
'iso-8859-14' | 'iso8859-14' , 'iso885914' |
'iso-8859-15' | 'csisolatin9' , 'iso8859-15' , 'iso885915' , 'iso_8859-15' , 'l9' |
'koi8-r' | 'cskoi8r' , 'koi' , 'koi8' , 'koi8_r' |
'koi8-u' | 'koi8-ru' |
'macintosh' | 'csmacintosh' , 'mac' , 'x-mac-roman' |
'windows-874' | 'dos-874' , 'iso-8859-11' , 'iso8859-11' , 'iso885911' , 'tis-620' |
'windows-1250' | 'cp1250' , 'x-cp1250' |
'windows-1251' | 'cp1251' , 'x-cp1251' |
'windows-1252' | 'ansi_x3.4-1968' , 'ascii' , 'cp1252' , 'cp819' , 'csisolatin1' , 'ibm819' , 'iso-8859-1' , 'iso-ir-100' , 'iso8859-1' , 'iso88591' , 'iso_8859-1' , 'iso_8859-1:1987' , 'l1' , 'latin1' , 'us-ascii' , 'x-cp1252' |
'windows-1253' | 'cp1253' , 'x-cp1253' |
'windows-1254' | 'cp1254' , 'csisolatin5' , 'iso-8859-9' , 'iso-ir-148' , 'iso8859-9' , 'iso88599' , 'iso_8859-9' , 'iso_8859-9:1989' , 'l5' , 'latin5' , 'x-cp1254' |
'windows-1255' | 'cp1255' , 'x-cp1255' |
'windows-1256' | 'cp1256' , 'x-cp1256' |
'windows-1257' | 'cp1257' , 'x-cp1257' |
'windows-1258' | 'cp1258' , 'x-cp1258' |
'x-mac-cyrillic' | 'x-mac-ukrainian' |
'gbk' | 'chinese' , 'csgb2312' , 'csiso58gb231280' , 'gb2312' , 'gb_2312' , 'gb_2312-80' , 'iso-ir-58' , 'x-gbk' |
'gb18030' | |
'big5' | 'big5-hkscs' , 'cn-big5' , 'csbig5' , 'x-x-big5' |
'euc-jp' | 'cseucpkdfmtjapanese' , 'x-euc-jp' |
'iso-2022-jp' | 'csiso2022jp' |
'shift_jis' | 'csshiftjis' , 'ms932' , 'ms_kanji' , 'shift-jis' , 'sjis' , 'windows-31j' , 'x-sjis' |
'euc-kr' | 'cseuckr' , 'csksc56011987' , 'iso-ir-149' , 'korean' , 'ks_c_5601-1987' , 'ks_c_5601-1989' , 'ksc5601' , 'ksc_5601' , 'windows-949' |
Encodings supported when Node.js is built with the small-icu
option#
Encoding | Aliases |
---|
'utf-8' | 'unicode-1-1-utf-8' , 'utf8' |
'utf-16le' | 'utf-16' |
'utf-16be' | |
Encodings supported when ICU is disabled#
Encoding | Aliases |
---|
'utf-8' | 'unicode-1-1-utf-8' , 'utf8' |
'utf-16le' | 'utf-16' |
The 'iso-8859-16'
encoding listed in the WHATWG Encoding Standard
is not supported.
new TextDecoder([encoding[, options]])
#
encoding
<string> Identifies the encoding
that this TextDecoder
instance
supports. Default: 'utf-8'
.
options
<Object>
fatal
<boolean> true
if decoding failures are fatal.
This option is not supported when ICU is disabled
(see Internationalization). Default: false
.
ignoreBOM
<boolean> When true
, the TextDecoder
will include the byte
order mark in the decoded result. When false
, the byte order mark will
be removed from the output. This option is only used when encoding
is
'utf-8'
, 'utf-16be'
, or 'utf-16le'
. Default: false
.
Creates a new TextDecoder
instance. The encoding
may specify one of the
supported encodings or an alias.
The TextDecoder
class is also available on the global object.
textDecoder.decode([input[, options]])
#
Decodes the input
and returns a string. If options.stream
is true
, any
incomplete byte sequences occurring at the end of the input
are buffered
internally and emitted after the next call to textDecoder.decode()
.
If textDecoder.fatal
is true
, decoding errors that occur will result in a
TypeError
being thrown.
textDecoder.encoding
#
The encoding supported by the TextDecoder
instance.
textDecoder.fatal
#
The value will be true
if decoding errors result in a TypeError
being
thrown.
textDecoder.ignoreBOM
#
The value will be true
if the decoding result will include the byte order
mark.
Class: util.TextEncoder
#
An implementation of the WHATWG Encoding Standard TextEncoder
API. All
instances of TextEncoder
only support UTF-8 encoding.
const encoder = new TextEncoder();
const uint8array = encoder.encode('this is some data');
The TextEncoder
class is also available on the global object.
textEncoder.encode([input])
#
UTF-8 encodes the input
string and returns a Uint8Array
containing the
encoded bytes.
textEncoder.encodeInto(src, dest)
#
UTF-8 encodes the src
string to the dest
Uint8Array and returns an object
containing the read Unicode code units and written UTF-8 bytes.
const encoder = new TextEncoder();
const src = 'this is some data';
const dest = new Uint8Array(10);
const { read, written } = encoder.encodeInto(src, dest);
textEncoder.encoding
#
The encoding supported by the TextEncoder
instance. Always set to 'utf-8'
.
util.toUSVString(string)
#
Added in: v16.8.0
Returns the string
after replacing any surrogate code points
(or equivalently, any unpaired surrogate code units) with the
Unicode "replacement character" U+FFFD.
util.types
#
util.types
provides type checks for different kinds of built-in objects.
Unlike instanceof
or Object.prototype.toString.call(value)
, these checks do
not inspect properties of the object that are accessible from JavaScript (like
their prototype), and usually have the overhead of calling into C++.
The result generally does not make any guarantees about what kinds of
properties or behavior a value exposes in JavaScript. They are primarily
useful for addon developers who prefer to do type checking in JavaScript.
The API is accessible via require('node:util').types
or require('node:util/types')
.
util.types.isAnyArrayBuffer(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in ArrayBuffer
or
SharedArrayBuffer
instance.
See also util.types.isArrayBuffer()
and
util.types.isSharedArrayBuffer()
.
util.types.isAnyArrayBuffer(new ArrayBuffer());
util.types.isAnyArrayBuffer(new SharedArrayBuffer());
util.types.isArrayBufferView(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is an instance of one of the ArrayBuffer
views, such as typed array objects or DataView
. Equivalent to
ArrayBuffer.isView()
.
util.types.isArrayBufferView(new Int8Array());
util.types.isArrayBufferView(Buffer.from('hello world'));
util.types.isArrayBufferView(new DataView(new ArrayBuffer(16)));
util.types.isArrayBufferView(new ArrayBuffer());
util.types.isArgumentsObject(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is an arguments
object.
function foo() {
util.types.isArgumentsObject(arguments);
}
util.types.isArrayBuffer(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in ArrayBuffer
instance.
This does not include SharedArrayBuffer
instances. Usually, it is
desirable to test for both; See util.types.isAnyArrayBuffer()
for that.
util.types.isArrayBuffer(new ArrayBuffer());
util.types.isArrayBuffer(new SharedArrayBuffer());
util.types.isAsyncFunction(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is an async function.
This only reports back what the JavaScript engine is seeing;
in particular, the return value may not match the original source code if
a transpilation tool was used.
util.types.isAsyncFunction(function foo() {});
util.types.isAsyncFunction(async function foo() {});
util.types.isBigInt64Array(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a BigInt64Array
instance.
util.types.isBigInt64Array(new BigInt64Array());
util.types.isBigInt64Array(new BigUint64Array());
util.types.isBigUint64Array(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a BigUint64Array
instance.
util.types.isBigUint64Array(new BigInt64Array());
util.types.isBigUint64Array(new BigUint64Array());
util.types.isBooleanObject(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a boolean object, e.g. created
by new Boolean()
.
util.types.isBooleanObject(false);
util.types.isBooleanObject(true);
util.types.isBooleanObject(new Boolean(false));
util.types.isBooleanObject(new Boolean(true));
util.types.isBooleanObject(Boolean(false));
util.types.isBooleanObject(Boolean(true));
util.types.isBoxedPrimitive(value)
#
Added in: v10.11.0
Returns true
if the value is any boxed primitive object, e.g. created
by new Boolean()
, new String()
or Object(Symbol())
.
For example:
util.types.isBoxedPrimitive(false);
util.types.isBoxedPrimitive(new Boolean(false));
util.types.isBoxedPrimitive(Symbol('foo'));
util.types.isBoxedPrimitive(Object(Symbol('foo')));
util.types.isBoxedPrimitive(Object(BigInt(5)));
util.types.isCryptoKey(value)
#
Added in: v16.2.0
Returns true
if value
is a <CryptoKey>, false
otherwise.
util.types.isDataView(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in DataView
instance.
const ab = new ArrayBuffer(20);
util.types.isDataView(new DataView(ab));
util.types.isDataView(new Float64Array());
See also ArrayBuffer.isView()
.
util.types.isDate(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in Date
instance.
util.types.isDate(new Date());
util.types.isExternal(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a native External
value.
A native External
value is a special type of object that contains a
raw C++ pointer (void*
) for access from native code, and has no other
properties. Such objects are created either by Node.js internals or native
addons. In JavaScript, they are frozen objects with a
null
prototype.
#include <js_native_api.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
napi_value result;
static napi_value MyNapi(napi_env env, napi_callback_info info) {
int* raw = (int*) malloc(1024);
napi_status status = napi_create_external(env, (void*) raw, NULL, NULL, &result);
if (status != napi_ok) {
napi_throw_error(env, NULL, "napi_create_external failed");
return NULL;
}
return result;
}
...
DECLARE_NAPI_PROPERTY("myNapi", MyNapi)
...
const native = require('napi_addon.node');
const data = native.myNapi();
util.types.isExternal(data);
util.types.isExternal(0);
util.types.isExternal(new String('foo'));
For further information on napi_create_external
, refer to
napi_create_external()
.
util.types.isFloat32Array(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in Float32Array
instance.
util.types.isFloat32Array(new ArrayBuffer());
util.types.isFloat32Array(new Float32Array());
util.types.isFloat32Array(new Float64Array());
util.types.isFloat64Array(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in Float64Array
instance.
util.types.isFloat64Array(new ArrayBuffer());
util.types.isFloat64Array(new Uint8Array());
util.types.isFloat64Array(new Float64Array());
util.types.isGeneratorFunction(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a generator function.
This only reports back what the JavaScript engine is seeing;
in particular, the return value may not match the original source code if
a transpilation tool was used.
util.types.isGeneratorFunction(function foo() {});
util.types.isGeneratorFunction(function* foo() {});
util.types.isGeneratorObject(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a generator object as returned from a
built-in generator function.
This only reports back what the JavaScript engine is seeing;
in particular, the return value may not match the original source code if
a transpilation tool was used.
function* foo() {}
const generator = foo();
util.types.isGeneratorObject(generator);
util.types.isInt8Array(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in Int8Array
instance.
util.types.isInt8Array(new ArrayBuffer());
util.types.isInt8Array(new Int8Array());
util.types.isInt8Array(new Float64Array());
util.types.isInt16Array(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in Int16Array
instance.
util.types.isInt16Array(new ArrayBuffer());
util.types.isInt16Array(new Int16Array());
util.types.isInt16Array(new Float64Array());
util.types.isInt32Array(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in Int32Array
instance.
util.types.isInt32Array(new ArrayBuffer());
util.types.isInt32Array(new Int32Array());
util.types.isInt32Array(new Float64Array());
util.types.isKeyObject(value)
#
Added in: v16.2.0
Returns true
if value
is a <KeyObject>, false
otherwise.
util.types.isMap(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in Map
instance.
util.types.isMap(new Map());
util.types.isMapIterator(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is an iterator returned for a built-in
Map
instance.
const map = new Map();
util.types.isMapIterator(map.keys());
util.types.isMapIterator(map.values());
util.types.isMapIterator(map.entries());
util.types.isMapIterator(map[Symbol.iterator]());
util.types.isModuleNamespaceObject(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is an instance of a Module Namespace Object.
import * as ns from './a.js';
util.types.isModuleNamespaceObject(ns);
util.types.isNativeError(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is an instance of a built-in Error
type.
util.types.isNativeError(new Error());
util.types.isNativeError(new TypeError());
util.types.isNativeError(new RangeError());
util.types.isNumberObject(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a number object, e.g. created
by new Number()
.
util.types.isNumberObject(0);
util.types.isNumberObject(new Number(0));
util.types.isPromise(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in Promise
.
util.types.isPromise(Promise.resolve(42));
util.types.isProxy(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a Proxy
instance.
const target = {};
const proxy = new Proxy(target, {});
util.types.isProxy(target);
util.types.isProxy(proxy);
util.types.isRegExp(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a regular expression object.
util.types.isRegExp(/abc/);
util.types.isRegExp(new RegExp('abc'));
util.types.isSet(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in Set
instance.
util.types.isSet(new Set());
util.types.isSetIterator(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is an iterator returned for a built-in
Set
instance.
const set = new Set();
util.types.isSetIterator(set.keys());
util.types.isSetIterator(set.values());
util.types.isSetIterator(set.entries());
util.types.isSetIterator(set[Symbol.iterator]());
util.types.isSharedArrayBuffer(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in SharedArrayBuffer
instance.
This does not include ArrayBuffer
instances. Usually, it is
desirable to test for both; See util.types.isAnyArrayBuffer()
for that.
util.types.isSharedArrayBuffer(new ArrayBuffer());
util.types.isSharedArrayBuffer(new SharedArrayBuffer());
util.types.isStringObject(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a string object, e.g. created
by new String()
.
util.types.isStringObject('foo');
util.types.isStringObject(new String('foo'));
util.types.isSymbolObject(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a symbol object, created
by calling Object()
on a Symbol
primitive.
const symbol = Symbol('foo');
util.types.isSymbolObject(symbol);
util.types.isSymbolObject(Object(symbol));
util.types.isTypedArray(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in TypedArray
instance.
util.types.isTypedArray(new ArrayBuffer());
util.types.isTypedArray(new Uint8Array());
util.types.isTypedArray(new Float64Array());
See also ArrayBuffer.isView()
.
util.types.isUint8Array(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in Uint8Array
instance.
util.types.isUint8Array(new ArrayBuffer());
util.types.isUint8Array(new Uint8Array());
util.types.isUint8Array(new Float64Array());
util.types.isUint8ClampedArray(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in Uint8ClampedArray
instance.
util.types.isUint8ClampedArray(new ArrayBuffer());
util.types.isUint8ClampedArray(new Uint8ClampedArray());
util.types.isUint8ClampedArray(new Float64Array());
util.types.isUint16Array(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in Uint16Array
instance.
util.types.isUint16Array(new ArrayBuffer());
util.types.isUint16Array(new Uint16Array());
util.types.isUint16Array(new Float64Array());
util.types.isUint32Array(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in Uint32Array
instance.
util.types.isUint32Array(new ArrayBuffer());
util.types.isUint32Array(new Uint32Array());
util.types.isUint32Array(new Float64Array());
util.types.isWeakMap(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in WeakMap
instance.
util.types.isWeakMap(new WeakMap());
util.types.isWeakSet(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0
Returns true
if the value is a built-in WeakSet
instance.
util.types.isWeakSet(new WeakSet());
util.types.isWebAssemblyCompiledModule(value)
#
Added in: v10.0.0Deprecated since: v14.0.0
Stability: 0 - Deprecated: Use
value instanceof WebAssembly.Module
instead.
Returns true
if the value is a built-in WebAssembly.Module
instance.
const module = new WebAssembly.Module(wasmBuffer);
util.types.isWebAssemblyCompiledModule(module);
Deprecated APIs#
The following APIs are deprecated and should no longer be used. Existing
applications and modules should be updated to find alternative approaches.
util._extend(target, source)
#
Added in: v0.7.5Deprecated since: v6.0.0
The util._extend()
method was never intended to be used outside of internal
Node.js modules. The community found and used it anyway.
It is deprecated and should not be used in new code. JavaScript comes with very
similar built-in functionality through Object.assign()
.
util.isArray(object)
#
Added in: v0.6.0Deprecated since: v4.0.0
Alias for Array.isArray()
.
Returns true
if the given object
is an Array
. Otherwise, returns false
.
const util = require('node:util');
util.isArray([]);
util.isArray(new Array());
util.isArray({});
util.isBoolean(object)
#
Added in: v0.11.5Deprecated since: v4.0.0
Stability: 0 - Deprecated: Use
typeof value === 'boolean'
instead.
Returns true
if the given object
is a Boolean
. Otherwise, returns false
.
const util = require('node:util');
util.isBoolean(1);
util.isBoolean(0);
util.isBoolean(false);
util.isBuffer(object)
#
Added in: v0.11.5Deprecated since: v4.0.0
Returns true
if the given object
is a Buffer
. Otherwise, returns false
.
const util = require('node:util');
util.isBuffer({ length: 0 });
util.isBuffer([]);
util.isBuffer(Buffer.from('hello world'));
util.isDate(object)
#
Added in: v0.6.0Deprecated since: v4.0.0
Returns true
if the given object
is a Date
. Otherwise, returns false
.
const util = require('node:util');
util.isDate(new Date());
util.isDate(Date());
util.isDate({});
util.isError(object)
#
Added in: v0.6.0Deprecated since: v4.0.0
Returns true
if the given object
is an Error
. Otherwise, returns
false
.
const util = require('node:util');
util.isError(new Error());
util.isError(new TypeError());
util.isError({ name: 'Error', message: 'an error occurred' });
This method relies on Object.prototype.toString()
behavior. It is
possible to obtain an incorrect result when the object
argument manipulates
@@toStringTag
.
const util = require('node:util');
const obj = { name: 'Error', message: 'an error occurred' };
util.isError(obj);
obj[Symbol.toStringTag] = 'Error';
util.isError(obj);
util.isFunction(object)
#
Added in: v0.11.5Deprecated since: v4.0.0
Stability: 0 - Deprecated: Use
typeof value === 'function'
instead.
Returns true
if the given object
is a Function
. Otherwise, returns
false
.
const util = require('node:util');
function Foo() {}
const Bar = () => {};
util.isFunction({});
util.isFunction(Foo);
util.isFunction(Bar);
util.isNull(object)
#
Added in: v0.11.5Deprecated since: v4.0.0
Returns true
if the given object
is strictly null
. Otherwise, returns
false
.
const util = require('node:util');
util.isNull(0);
util.isNull(undefined);
util.isNull(null);
util.isNullOrUndefined(object)
#
Added in: v0.11.5Deprecated since: v4.0.0
Stability: 0 - Deprecated: Use
value === undefined || value === null
instead.
Returns true
if the given object
is null
or undefined
. Otherwise,
returns false
.
const util = require('node:util');
util.isNullOrUndefined(0);
util.isNullOrUndefined(undefined);
util.isNullOrUndefined(null);
util.isNumber(object)
#
Added in: v0.11.5Deprecated since: v4.0.0
Stability: 0 - Deprecated: Use
typeof value === 'number'
instead.
Returns true
if the given object
is a Number
. Otherwise, returns false
.
const util = require('node:util');
util.isNumber(false);
util.isNumber(Infinity);
util.isNumber(0);
util.isNumber(NaN);
util.isObject(object)
#
Added in: v0.11.5Deprecated since: v4.0.0
Stability: 0 - Deprecated:
Use
value !== null && typeof value === 'object'
instead.
Returns true
if the given object
is strictly an Object
and not a
Function
(even though functions are objects in JavaScript).
Otherwise, returns false
.
const util = require('node:util');
util.isObject(5);
util.isObject(null);
util.isObject({});
util.isObject(() => {});
util.isPrimitive(object)
#
Added in: v0.11.5Deprecated since: v4.0.0
Stability: 0 - Deprecated: Use
(typeof value !== 'object' && typeof value !== 'function') || value === null
instead.
Returns true
if the given object
is a primitive type. Otherwise, returns
false
.
const util = require('node:util');
util.isPrimitive(5);
util.isPrimitive('foo');
util.isPrimitive(false);
util.isPrimitive(null);
util.isPrimitive(undefined);
util.isPrimitive({});
util.isPrimitive(() => {});
util.isPrimitive(/^$/);
util.isPrimitive(new Date());
util.isRegExp(object)
#
Added in: v0.6.0Deprecated since: v4.0.0
Returns true
if the given object
is a RegExp
. Otherwise, returns false
.
const util = require('node:util');
util.isRegExp(/some regexp/);
util.isRegExp(new RegExp('another regexp'));
util.isRegExp({});
util.isString(object)
#
Added in: v0.11.5Deprecated since: v4.0.0
Stability: 0 - Deprecated: Use
typeof value === 'string'
instead.
Returns true
if the given object
is a string
. Otherwise, returns false
.
const util = require('node:util');
util.isString('');
util.isString('foo');
util.isString(String('foo'));
util.isString(5);
util.isSymbol(object)
#
Added in: v0.11.5Deprecated since: v4.0.0
Stability: 0 - Deprecated: Use
typeof value === 'symbol'
instead.
Returns true
if the given object
is a Symbol
. Otherwise, returns false
.
const util = require('node:util');
util.isSymbol(5);
util.isSymbol('foo');
util.isSymbol(Symbol('foo'));
util.isUndefined(object)
#
Added in: v0.11.5Deprecated since: v4.0.0
Returns true
if the given object
is undefined
. Otherwise, returns false
.
const util = require('node:util');
const foo = undefined;
util.isUndefined(5);
util.isUndefined(foo);
util.isUndefined(null);
util.log(string)
#
Added in: v0.3.0Deprecated since: v6.0.0
Stability: 0 - Deprecated: Use a third party module instead.
The util.log()
method prints the given string
to stdout
with an included
timestamp.
const util = require('node:util');
util.log('Timestamped message.');