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

ANSI escape codes for styling strings in the terminal

Last verified Sep 9, 2026 against ansi-styles@7.0.0. JSON

ESM-only ESM-only since 6.0.0 — last CommonJS version is 5.2.0

ansi-styles dropped its CommonJS build in 6.0.0 (April 2021). The last version you can require() on every Node.js version, including 18 and older, is 5.2.0, published Mar 31, 2021.

On Node.js 20.19+, 22.12+ and every newer release, require("ansi-styles") works anyway: Node can load synchronous ES modules through require(). Verified on Node 22, 24, 26. Node.js 18 and older still fail with ERR_REQUIRE_ESM.

ansi-styles@7.0.0 declares engines ">=22", so Node.js 18, 20 are outside its supported range regardless of module format.

Latest
7.0.0 (Jul 26, 2026)
Module format
ESM-only
Last CommonJS version
5.2.0
ESM-only since
6.0.0 (Apr 16, 2021)
TypeScript types
Bundled
Node engines
>=22
Weekly downloads
470.9M
License
MIT

Does ansi-styles@7.0.0 actually load? Runtime test results

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

Runtimerequire("ansi-styles")import "ansi-styles"
Node.js 18✗ failsERR_REQUIRE_ESM✗ failsSyntaxError
Node.js 20✓ works✓ works
Node.js 22✓ works✓ works
Node.js 24✓ works✓ works
Node.js 26✓ works✓ works
Bun 1.4✓ works✓ works

How to import ansi-styles

ES modules (import)

import ansiStyles from "ansi-styles";

CommonJS (require)

// Node.js 20.19+ / 22.12+ / newer (package has no top-level await):
const ansiStyles = require("ansi-styles");

// Any Node.js version:
const ansiStyles = await import("ansi-styles");

// Or pin the last CommonJS release:
// npm install ansi-styles@5.2.0

Module format by version

Derived from the type, main and exports fields of every stable release on npm (29 versions; the newest 29 shown).

VersionsFormatFirst published
6.0.0 – 7.0.0ESM-onlyApr 16, 2021
0.1.0 – 5.2.0CommonJSJul 31, 2013

Frequently asked

Is ansi-styles ESM-only?

ansi-styles@7.0.0 is ESM-only. ansi-styles dropped its CommonJS build in 6.0.0 (April 2021). The last version you can require() on every Node.js version, including 18 and older, is 5.2.0, published Mar 31, 2021.

Which version of ansi-styles still supports CommonJS / require()?

5.2.0 is the last version of ansi-styles with a CommonJS build. Install it with "npm install ansi-styles@5.2.0". Every version from 6.0.0 on is ESM-only.

How do I use ansi-styles from a CommonJS file?

Use a dynamic import: const mod = await import("ansi-styles"). On Node.js 20.19+, 22.12+ and newer, a plain require("ansi-styles") also works for ESM packages that do not use top-level await. Alternatively pin ansi-styles@5.2.0.

Does ansi-styles work in Bun?

Yes. import "ansi-styles" loaded successfully in Bun 1.4 on Sep 9, 2026.

Does ansi-styles ship TypeScript types?

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

Links

Other esm-only packages

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