canirequire › CommonJS › json5
Is json5 ESM-only? Can you require() it?
JSON for Humans
Last verified Sep 9, 2026 against json5@2.2.3. JSON
CommonJS CommonJS — require() works on every Node.js version
json5 ships CommonJS only. require("json5") works everywhere. import "json5" 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.
Does json5@2.2.3 actually load? Runtime test results
Installed and executed on Sep 9, 2026 with require("json5") from a CommonJS file and import "json5" from an ES module.
| Runtime | require("json5") | import "json5" |
|---|---|---|
| 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 json5
ES modules (import)
import json5 from "json5";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 json5 = require("json5");Module format by version
Derived from the type, main and exports fields of every stable release on npm (20 versions; the newest 20 shown).
| Versions | Format | First published |
|---|---|---|
| 0.0.0 – 2.2.3 | CommonJS | May 27, 2012 |
Frequently asked
Is json5 ESM-only?
json5@2.2.3 is a CommonJS package. json5 ships CommonJS only. require("json5") works everywhere. import "json5" 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 json5 with ES module syntax?
Yes. import json5 from "json5" 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 json5 work in Bun?
Yes. import "json5" loaded successfully in Bun 1.4 on Sep 9, 2026.
Does json5 ship TypeScript types?
Yes. json5 bundles its own type declarations; no @types package is needed.
Links
Other commonjs packages
- debug 4.4.3CommonJS
- semver 7.8.5CommonJS
- ms 2.1.3CommonJS
- picomatch 4.0.7CommonJS
- ajv 8.20.0CommonJS
- source-map 0.8.0CommonJS
- react-is 19.2.8CommonJS
- readable-stream 4.7.0CommonJS
Similar popularity
- resolve-from 5.0.0CommonJS
- cliui 9.0.1ESM-only
- cross-spawn 7.0.6CommonJS
- resolve 1.22.12CommonJS
- whatwg-url 17.1.0CommonJS
- path-exists 5.0.0ESM-only
- entities 8.1.0ESM-only
- picocolors 1.1.1CommonJS