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

Lightweight, beautiful and user-friendly prompts

Last verified Sep 9, 2026 against prompts@2.4.2. Markdown · JSON

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

prompts ships CommonJS only. require("prompts") works on every Node.js version we test (18, 20, 22, 24 and 26) and in Bun. The package declares Node.js >= 6. import "prompts" 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.

What to do

  1. require("prompts") works on every Node.js version we test (18, 20, 22, 24 and 26) and in Bun. The package declares Node.js >= 6.
  2. From ES modules use the default import: import prompts from "prompts"; then destructure. Named imports only work when Node.js can statically detect the exports.
  3. TypeScript: npm install -D @types/prompts
Latest
2.4.2 (Oct 7, 2021)
Module format
CommonJS
Last CommonJS version
2.4.2
TypeScript types
@types/prompts
Node engines
>= 6
Weekly downloads
53.9M
License
MIT

Does prompts@2.4.2 actually load? Runtime test results

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

Runtimerequire("prompts")import "prompts"
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 1.4.0✓ works✓ works

How to import prompts

ES modules (import)

import prompts from "prompts";

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 prompts = require("prompts");

Module format by version

Derived from the type, main and exports fields of every stable release on npm, corrected where a runtime test of that version contradicted them (35 versions; the newest 35 shown).

VersionsFormatFirst published
0.0.0 – 2.4.2CommonJSFeb 18, 2018

Frequently asked

Is prompts ESM-only?

prompts@2.4.2 is a CommonJS package. prompts ships CommonJS only. require("prompts") works on every Node.js version we test (18, 20, 22, 24 and 26) and in Bun. The package declares Node.js >= 6. import "prompts" 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 prompts with ES module syntax?

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

Yes. import "prompts" loaded successfully in Bun 1.4.0 on Sep 9, 2026.

Does prompts ship TypeScript types?

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

Links

Other commonjs packages

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