canirequire

canirequire › CommonJS › typescript

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

TypeScript is a language for application scale JavaScript development

Last verified Sep 9, 2026 against typescript@7.0.2. JSON

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

typescript ships CommonJS only. require("typescript") works everywhere. import "typescript" 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
7.0.2 (Jul 8, 2026)
Module format
CommonJS
Last CommonJS version
7.0.2
TypeScript types
@types/typescript
Node engines
>=16.20.0
Weekly downloads
244.7M
License
Apache-2.0

Does typescript@7.0.2 actually load? Runtime test results

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

Runtimerequire("typescript")import "typescript"
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 typescript

ES modules (import)

import typescript from "typescript";

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 typescript = require("typescript");

Module format by version

Derived from the type, main and exports fields of every stable release on npm (169 versions; the newest 60 shown).

VersionsFormatFirst published
4.0.7 – 7.0.2CommonJSFeb 10, 2021

Frequently asked

Is typescript ESM-only?

typescript@7.0.2 is a CommonJS package. typescript ships CommonJS only. require("typescript") works everywhere. import "typescript" 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 typescript with ES module syntax?

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

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

Does typescript ship TypeScript types?

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

Links

Other commonjs packages

Similar popularity