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Is side-channel ESM-only? Can you require() it?

Store information about any JS value in a side channel. Uses WeakMap if available.

Last verified Sep 9, 2026 against side-channel@1.1.1. JSON

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

side-channel ships CommonJS only. require("side-channel") works everywhere. import "side-channel" 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
1.1.1 (Jun 8, 2026)
Module format
CommonJS
Last CommonJS version
1.1.1
TypeScript types
Bundled
Node engines
>= 0.4
Weekly downloads
151.4M
License
MIT

Does side-channel@1.1.1 actually load? Runtime test results

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

Runtimerequire("side-channel")import "side-channel"
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 side-channel

ES modules (import)

import sideChannel from "side-channel";

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 sideChannel = require("side-channel");

Module format by version

Derived from the type, main and exports fields of every stable release on npm (8 versions; the newest 8 shown).

VersionsFormatFirst published
1.0.1 – 1.1.1CommonJSDec 2, 2019

Frequently asked

Is side-channel ESM-only?

side-channel@1.1.1 is a CommonJS package. side-channel ships CommonJS only. require("side-channel") works everywhere. import "side-channel" 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 side-channel with ES module syntax?

Yes. import sideChannel from "side-channel" 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 side-channel work in Bun?

Yes. import "side-channel" loaded successfully in Bun 1.4 on Sep 9, 2026.

Does side-channel ship TypeScript types?

Yes. side-channel bundles its own type declarations; no @types package is needed.

Links

Other commonjs packages

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