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Is cross-spawn ESM-only? Can you require() it?

Cross platform child_process#spawn and child_process#spawnSync

Last verified Sep 9, 2026 against cross-spawn@7.0.6. JSON

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

cross-spawn ships CommonJS only. require("cross-spawn") works everywhere. import "cross-spawn" 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.

Latest
7.0.6 (Nov 18, 2024)
Module format
CommonJS
Last CommonJS version
7.0.6
TypeScript types
@types/cross-spawn
Node engines
>= 8
Weekly downloads
212.2M
License
MIT

Does cross-spawn@7.0.6 actually load? Runtime test results

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

Runtimerequire("cross-spawn")import "cross-spawn"
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✓ works✓ works

How to import cross-spawn

ES modules (import)

import crossSpawn from "cross-spawn";

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 crossSpawn = require("cross-spawn");

Module format by version

Derived from the type, main and exports fields of every stable release on npm (58 versions; the newest 58 shown).

VersionsFormatFirst published
0.1.0 – 7.0.6CommonJSJun 30, 2014

Frequently asked

Is cross-spawn ESM-only?

cross-spawn@7.0.6 is a CommonJS package. cross-spawn ships CommonJS only. require("cross-spawn") works everywhere. import "cross-spawn" 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 cross-spawn with ES module syntax?

Yes. import crossSpawn from "cross-spawn" 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 cross-spawn work in Bun?

Yes. import "cross-spawn" loaded successfully in Bun 1.4 on Sep 9, 2026.

Does cross-spawn ship TypeScript types?

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

Links

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