canirequire

canirequire › CommonJS › bootstrap

Is bootstrap ESM-only? Can you require() it?

The most popular front-end framework for developing responsive, mobile first projects on the web.

Last verified Sep 9, 2026 against bootstrap@5.3.8. JSON

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

bootstrap ships CommonJS only. require("bootstrap") works everywhere. import "bootstrap" 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.

It also declares a "module" field, so bundlers such as webpack, Vite and esbuild pick up an ESM build for tree-shaking.

Latest
5.3.8 (Aug 26, 2025)
Module format
CommonJS
Last CommonJS version
5.3.8
TypeScript types
@types/bootstrap
Node engines
not declared
Weekly downloads
5.6M
License
MIT

Does bootstrap@5.3.8 actually load? Runtime test results

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

Runtimerequire("bootstrap")import "bootstrap"
Node.js 18✗ failsReferenceError✗ failsReferenceError
Node.js 20✗ failsReferenceError✗ failsReferenceError
Node.js 22✗ failsReferenceError✗ failsReferenceError
Node.js 24✗ failsReferenceError✗ failsReferenceError
Node.js 26✗ failsReferenceError✗ failsReferenceError
Bun 1.4✗ failsReferenceError✗ failsReferenceError

A failing require() on a CommonJS package usually means the package needs a browser/DOM global, a peer dependency, or a native binary that is not available in a bare Node.js process.

How to import bootstrap

ES modules (import)

import bootstrap from "bootstrap";

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 bootstrap = require("bootstrap");

Module format by version

Derived from the type, main and exports fields of every stable release on npm (50 versions; the newest 50 shown).

VersionsFormatFirst published
0.0.1 – 5.3.8CommonJSAug 28, 2011

Frequently asked

Is bootstrap ESM-only?

bootstrap@5.3.8 is a CommonJS package. bootstrap ships CommonJS only. require("bootstrap") works everywhere. import "bootstrap" 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 bootstrap with ES module syntax?

Yes. import bootstrap from "bootstrap" 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 bootstrap work in Bun?

Importing bootstrap failed in Bun 1.4 on Sep 9, 2026: ReferenceError: document is not defined

Does bootstrap ship TypeScript types?

Not bundled. Install the community types with "npm install -D @types/bootstrap".

Links

Other commonjs packages

Similar popularity