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

option parsing and help generation

Last verified Sep 9, 2026 against optionator@0.9.4. JSON

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

optionator ships CommonJS only. require("optionator") works everywhere. import "optionator" 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
0.9.4 (Apr 26, 2024)
Module format
CommonJS
Last CommonJS version
0.9.4
TypeScript types
None
Node engines
>= 0.8.0
Weekly downloads
102.4M
License
MIT

Does optionator@0.9.4 actually load? Runtime test results

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

Runtimerequire("optionator")import "optionator"
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 optionator

ES modules (import)

import optionator from "optionator";

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 optionator = require("optionator");

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
0.1.0 – 0.9.4CommonJSNov 2, 2013

Frequently asked

Is optionator ESM-only?

optionator@0.9.4 is a CommonJS package. optionator ships CommonJS only. require("optionator") works everywhere. import "optionator" 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 optionator with ES module syntax?

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

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

Does optionator ship TypeScript types?

No. optionator ships no type declarations and there is no @types package for it.

Links

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