How can I use an ES6 import in Node.js?

Question

I'm trying to get the hang of ES6 imports in Node.js and am trying to use the syntax provided in this example:

Cheatsheet Link

I'm looking through the support table, but I was not able to find what version supports the new import statements (I tried looking for the text import/require). I'm currently running Node.js 8.1.2 and also believe that since the cheatsheet is referring to .js files it should work with .js files.

As I run the code (taken from the cheatsheet's first example):

import { square, diag } from 'lib';

I get the error:

SyntaxError: Unexpected token import.

Reference to library I'm trying to import:

//------ lib.js ------
export const sqrt = Math.sqrt;
export function square(x) {
    return x * x;
}
export function diag(x, y) {
    return sqrt(square(x) + square(y));
}

What am I missing and how can I get node to recognize my import statement?

Answer 1

Node.js has included experimental support for ES6 support. Read more about here: https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v13.x/api/esm.html#esm_enabling.

TLDR;

Node.js >= v13

It's very simple in Node.js 13 and above. You need to either:

• Save the file with .mjs extension, or
• Add { "type": "module" } in the nearest package.json.

You only need to do one of the above to be able to use ECMAScript modules.

Node.js <= v12

If you are using Node.js version 8-12, save the file with ES6 modules with .mjs extension and run it like:

node --experimental-modules my-app.mjs