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Is fast-levenshtein ESM-only? Can you require() it?

Efficient implementation of Levenshtein algorithm with locale-specific collator support.

Last verified Sep 9, 2026 against fast-levenshtein@3.0.0. JSON

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

fast-levenshtein ships CommonJS only. require("fast-levenshtein") works everywhere. import "fast-levenshtein" 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
3.0.0 (Jul 22, 2020)
Module format
CommonJS
Last CommonJS version
3.0.0
TypeScript types
@types/fast-levenshtein
Node engines
not declared
Weekly downloads
99.6M
License
MIT

Does fast-levenshtein@3.0.0 actually load? Runtime test results

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

Runtimerequire("fast-levenshtein")import "fast-levenshtein"
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 fast-levenshtein

ES modules (import)

import fastLevenshtein from "fast-levenshtein";

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 fastLevenshtein = require("fast-levenshtein");

Module format by version

Derived from the type, main and exports fields of every stable release on npm (20 versions; the newest 20 shown).

VersionsFormatFirst published
1.0.0 – 3.0.0CommonJSApr 18, 2013

Frequently asked

Is fast-levenshtein ESM-only?

fast-levenshtein@3.0.0 is a CommonJS package. fast-levenshtein ships CommonJS only. require("fast-levenshtein") works everywhere. import "fast-levenshtein" 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 fast-levenshtein with ES module syntax?

Yes. import fastLevenshtein from "fast-levenshtein" 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 fast-levenshtein work in Bun?

Yes. import "fast-levenshtein" loaded successfully in Bun 1.4 on Sep 9, 2026.

Does fast-levenshtein ship TypeScript types?

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

Links

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