canirequire › CommonJS › optimist
Is optimist ESM-only? Can you require() it?
Light-weight option parsing with an argv hash. No optstrings attached.
Last verified Sep 9, 2026 against optimist@0.6.1. JSON
CommonJS CommonJS — require() works on every Node.js version
optimist ships CommonJS only. require("optimist") works everywhere. import "optimist" 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.
Does optimist@0.6.1 actually load? Runtime test results
Installed and executed on Sep 9, 2026 with require("optimist") from a CommonJS file and import "optimist" from an ES module.
| Runtime | require("optimist") | import "optimist" |
|---|---|---|
| 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 optimist
ES modules (import)
import optimist from "optimist";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 optimist = require("optimist");Module format by version
Derived from the type, main and exports fields of every stable release on npm (39 versions; the newest 39 shown).
| Versions | Format | First published |
|---|---|---|
| 0.0.1 – 0.6.1 | CommonJS | Dec 21, 2010 |
Frequently asked
Is optimist ESM-only?
optimist@0.6.1 is a CommonJS package. optimist ships CommonJS only. require("optimist") works everywhere. import "optimist" 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 optimist with ES module syntax?
Yes. import optimist from "optimist" 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 optimist work in Bun?
Yes. import "optimist" loaded successfully in Bun 1.4 on Sep 9, 2026.
Does optimist ship TypeScript types?
Not bundled. Install the community types with "npm install -D @types/optimist".
Links
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