esm

The brilliantly simple, babel-less, bundle-less ECMAScript module loader.

esm is the world’s most advanced ECMAScript module loader. This fast, production ready, zero dependency loader is all you need to support ECMAScript modules in Node 6+. See the release post and video for details!

Install

New projects

Run npm init esm or yarn create esm.

💡 Use the -y flag to answer “yes” to all prompts.
Existing projects

Run npm i esm or yarn add esm.

Getting started

There are two ways to enable esm.

Enable esm for packages:

Use esm to load the main ES module and export it as CommonJS.

index.js

// Set options as a parameter, environment variable, or rc file.
require = require("esm")(module/*, options*/)
module.exports = require("./main.js")

main.js

// ESM syntax is supported.
export {}

💡 These files are automagically created with npm init esm or yarn create esm.

Enable esm for local runs:
```
node -r esm main.js
```
💡 Omit the filename to enable esm in the REPL.

Features

👏 By default, 💯 percent CJS interoperability is enabled so you can get stuff done.
🔒 .mjs files are limited to basic functionality without support for esm options.

Out of the box esm just works, no configuration necessary, and supports:

Passing all applicable test262 compliance tests
import/export
import.meta
Dynamic import
Live bindings
File URI scheme
Node stdin, --eval, --print flags
Node --check flag (Node 10+)

Options

Specify options with one of the following:

"esm" field in package.json
CJS/ESM in an .esmrc.js, .esmrc.cjs, or .esmrc.mjs file
JSON6 in an .esmrc or .esmrc.json file
JSON6 or file path in the ESM_OPTIONS environment variable
ESM_DISABLE_CACHE environment variable

{

"cjs":true

A boolean or object for toggling CJS features in ESM.

Features

`{`
`"cache":true`	A boolean for storing ES modules in `require.cache`.
`"esModule":true`	A boolean for `__esModule` interoperability.
`"extensions":true`	A boolean for respecting `require.extensions` in ESM.
`"mutableNamespace":true`	A boolean for mutable namespace objects.
`"namedExports":true`	A boolean for importing named exports of CJS modules.
`"paths":true`	A boolean for following CJS path rules in ESM.
`"vars":true`	A boolean for `__dirname`, `__filename`, and `require` in ESM.
`"dedefault":false`	A boolean for requiring ES modules without the dangling `require().default`.
`"topLevelReturn":false`	A boolean for top-level `return` support.
`}`

"mainFields":["main"]

An array of fields checked when importing a package.

"mode":"auto"

A string mode:

"auto" detect files with import, import.meta, export,
"use module", or .mjs as ESM.
"all" files besides those with "use script" or .cjs are treated as ESM.
"strict" to treat only .mjs files as ESM.

"await":false

A boolean for top-level await in modules without ESM exports. (Node 10+)

"force":false

A boolean to apply these options to all module loads.

"wasm":false

A boolean for WebAssembly module support. (Node 8+)

}

DevOpts

`{`
`"cache":true`	A boolean for toggling cache creation or a cache directory path.
`"sourceMap":false`	A boolean for including inline source maps.
`}`

Tips

Bundling

For bundlers like browserify+esmify, parcel-bundler, and webpack add a "module" field to package.json pointing to the main ES module.
```
"main": "index.js",
"module": "main.js"
```
💡 This is automagically done with npm init esm or yarn create esm.

Extensions

Enable esm for wallaby.js following their integration example.

Loading

Load esm before loaders/monitors like @babel/register, newrelic, sqreen, and ts-node.
Load esm for jasmine using the "helpers" field in jasmine.json:
```
"helpers": [
  "node_modules/esm"
]
```
Load esm with “node-args" options of:
- pm2: --node-args="-r esm"
Load esm with “require” options of ava, mocha, nodemon, nyc, qunit, tape, and webpack.

💡 Builtin require cannot sideload .mjs files. However, .js files can be sideloaded or .mjs files may be loaded with dynamic import.