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Is ansi-colors ESM-only? Can you require() it?

Easily add ANSI colors to your text and symbols in the terminal. A faster drop-in replacement for chalk, kleur and turbocolor (without the dependencies and rendering bugs).

Last verified Sep 9, 2026 against ansi-colors@4.1.3. Markdown · JSON

CommonJS CommonJS — require() works on every Node.js version we test

ansi-colors ships CommonJS only. require("ansi-colors") works on every Node.js version we test (18, 20, 22, 24 and 26) and in Bun. The package declares Node.js >=6. import "ansi-colors" also works because Node.js and Bun can import CommonJS from ES modules, but only the default export is guaranteed; named imports depend on Node's static analysis of the module.

What to do

  1. require("ansi-colors") works on every Node.js version we test (18, 20, 22, 24 and 26) and in Bun. The package declares Node.js >=6.
  2. From ES modules use the default import: import ansiColors from "ansi-colors"; then destructure. Named imports only work when Node.js can statically detect the exports.
  3. TypeScript: types are bundled; install nothing extra.
Latest
4.1.3 (May 16, 2022)
Module format
CommonJS
Last CommonJS version
4.1.3
TypeScript types
Bundled
Node engines
>=6
Weekly downloads
41.7M
License
MIT

Does ansi-colors@4.1.3 actually load? Runtime test results

Installed and executed on Sep 9, 2026 with require("ansi-colors") from a CommonJS file and import "ansi-colors" from an ES module.

Runtimerequire("ansi-colors")import "ansi-colors"
Node.js 18✓ works✓ works
Node.js 20✓ works✓ works
Node.js 22✓ works✓ works
Node.js 24✓ works✓ works
Node.js 26✓ works✓ works
Bun 1.4.0✓ works✓ works

How to import ansi-colors

ES modules (import)

import ansiColors from "ansi-colors";

Named imports from a CommonJS package only work when Node.js can statically detect them. If a named import fails, use the default import and destructure.

CommonJS (require)

const ansiColors = require("ansi-colors");

Module format by version

Derived from the type, main and exports fields of every stable release on npm, corrected where a runtime test of that version contradicted them (29 versions; the newest 29 shown).

VersionsFormatFirst published
0.1.0 – 4.1.3CommonJSNov 30, 2015

Frequently asked

Is ansi-colors ESM-only?

ansi-colors@4.1.3 is a CommonJS package. ansi-colors ships CommonJS only. require("ansi-colors") works on every Node.js version we test (18, 20, 22, 24 and 26) and in Bun. The package declares Node.js >=6. import "ansi-colors" also works because Node.js and Bun can import CommonJS from ES modules, but only the default export is guaranteed; named imports depend on Node's static analysis of the module.

Can I import ansi-colors with ES module syntax?

Yes. import ansiColors from "ansi-colors" works in Node.js and Bun because they support importing CommonJS modules. Named imports work only when Node.js can statically detect the exports.

Does ansi-colors work in Bun?

Yes. import "ansi-colors" loaded successfully in Bun 1.4.0 on Sep 9, 2026.

Does ansi-colors ship TypeScript types?

Yes. ansi-colors bundles its own type declarations; no @types package is needed.

Links

Other commonjs packages

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