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

Browser-friendly inheritance fully compatible with standard node.js inherits()

Last verified Sep 9, 2026 against inherits@2.0.4. JSON

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

inherits ships CommonJS only. require("inherits") works everywhere. import "inherits" 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
2.0.4 (Jun 19, 2019)
Module format
CommonJS
Last CommonJS version
2.0.4
TypeScript types
@types/inherits
Node engines
not declared
Weekly downloads
178.5M
License
ISC

Does inherits@2.0.4 actually load? Runtime test results

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

Runtimerequire("inherits")import "inherits"
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 inherits

ES modules (import)

import inherits from "inherits";

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 inherits = require("inherits");

Module format by version

Derived from the type, main and exports fields of every stable release on npm (7 versions; the newest 7 shown).

VersionsFormatFirst published
1.0.0 – 2.0.4CommonJSApr 7, 2011

Frequently asked

Is inherits ESM-only?

inherits@2.0.4 is a CommonJS package. inherits ships CommonJS only. require("inherits") works everywhere. import "inherits" 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 inherits with ES module syntax?

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

Yes. import "inherits" loaded successfully in Bun 1.4 on Sep 9, 2026.

Does inherits ship TypeScript types?

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

Links

Other commonjs packages

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