Node.js v18.20.5 documentation


Table of contents

Deprecated APIs#

Node.js APIs might be deprecated for any of the following reasons:

  • Use of the API is unsafe.
  • An improved alternative API is available.
  • Breaking changes to the API are expected in a future major release.

Node.js uses three kinds of Deprecations:

  • Documentation-only
  • Runtime
  • End-of-Life

A Documentation-only deprecation is one that is expressed only within the Node.js API docs. These generate no side-effects while running Node.js. Some Documentation-only deprecations trigger a runtime warning when launched with --pending-deprecation flag (or its alternative, NODE_PENDING_DEPRECATION=1 environment variable), similarly to Runtime deprecations below. Documentation-only deprecations that support that flag are explicitly labeled as such in the list of Deprecated APIs.

A Runtime deprecation will, by default, generate a process warning that will be printed to stderr the first time the deprecated API is used. When the --throw-deprecation command-line flag is used, a Runtime deprecation will cause an error to be thrown.

An End-of-Life deprecation is used when functionality is or will soon be removed from Node.js.

Revoking deprecations#

Occasionally, the deprecation of an API might be reversed. In such situations, this document will be updated with information relevant to the decision. However, the deprecation identifier will not be modified.

List of deprecated APIs#

DEP0001: http.OutgoingMessage.prototype.flush#

Type: End-of-Life

OutgoingMessage.prototype.flush() has been removed. Use OutgoingMessage.prototype.flushHeaders() instead.

DEP0002: require('_linklist')#

Type: End-of-Life

The _linklist module is deprecated. Please use a userland alternative.

DEP0003: _writableState.buffer#

Type: End-of-Life

The _writableState.buffer has been removed. Use _writableState.getBuffer() instead.

DEP0004: CryptoStream.prototype.readyState#

Type: End-of-Life

The CryptoStream.prototype.readyState property was removed.

DEP0005: Buffer() constructor#

Type: Runtime (supports --pending-deprecation)

The Buffer() function and new Buffer() constructor are deprecated due to API usability issues that can lead to accidental security issues.

As an alternative, use one of the following methods of constructing Buffer objects:

Without --pending-deprecation, runtime warnings occur only for code not in node_modules. This means there will not be deprecation warnings for Buffer() usage in dependencies. With --pending-deprecation, a runtime warning results no matter where the Buffer() usage occurs.

DEP0006: child_process options.customFds#

Type: End-of-Life

Within the child_process module's spawn(), fork(), and exec() methods, the options.customFds option is deprecated. The options.stdio option should be used instead.

DEP0007: Replace cluster worker.suicide with worker.exitedAfterDisconnect#

Type: End-of-Life

In an earlier version of the Node.js cluster, a boolean property with the name suicide was added to the Worker object. The intent of this property was to provide an indication of how and why the Worker instance exited. In Node.js 6.0.0, the old property was deprecated and replaced with a new worker.exitedAfterDisconnect property. The old property name did not precisely describe the actual semantics and was unnecessarily emotion-laden.

DEP0008: require('node:constants')#

Type: Documentation-only

The node:constants module is deprecated. When requiring access to constants relevant to specific Node.js builtin modules, developers should instead refer to the constants property exposed by the relevant module. For instance, require('node:fs').constants and require('node:os').constants.

DEP0009: crypto.pbkdf2 without digest#

Type: End-of-Life

Use of the crypto.pbkdf2() API without specifying a digest was deprecated in Node.js 6.0 because the method defaulted to using the non-recommended 'SHA1' digest. Previously, a deprecation warning was printed. Starting in Node.js 8.0.0, calling crypto.pbkdf2() or crypto.pbkdf2Sync() with digest set to undefined will throw a TypeError.

Beginning in Node.js v11.0.0, calling these functions with digest set to null would print a deprecation warning to align with the behavior when digest is undefined.

Now, however, passing either undefined or null will throw a TypeError.

DEP0010: crypto.createCredentials#

Type: End-of-Life

The crypto.createCredentials() API was removed. Please use tls.createSecureContext() instead.

DEP0011: crypto.Credentials#

Type: End-of-Life

The crypto.Credentials class was removed. Please use tls.SecureContext instead.

DEP0012: Domain.dispose#

Type: End-of-Life

Domain.dispose() has been removed. Recover from failed I/O actions explicitly via error event handlers set on the domain instead.

DEP0013: fs asynchronous function without callback#

Type: End-of-Life

Calling an asynchronous function without a callback throws a TypeError in Node.js 10.0.0 onwards. See https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/12562.

DEP0014: fs.read legacy String interface#

Type: End-of-Life

The fs.read() legacy String interface is deprecated. Use the Buffer API as mentioned in the documentation instead.

DEP0015: fs.readSync legacy String interface#

Type: End-of-Life

The fs.readSync() legacy String interface is deprecated. Use the Buffer API as mentioned in the documentation instead.

DEP0016: GLOBAL/root#

Type: End-of-Life

The GLOBAL and root aliases for the global property were deprecated in Node.js 6.0.0 and have since been removed.

DEP0017: Intl.v8BreakIterator#

Type: End-of-Life

Intl.v8BreakIterator was a non-standard extension and has been removed. See Intl.Segmenter.

DEP0018: Unhandled promise rejections#

Type: End-of-Life

Unhandled promise rejections are deprecated. By default, promise rejections that are not handled terminate the Node.js process with a non-zero exit code. To change the way Node.js treats unhandled rejections, use the --unhandled-rejections command-line option.

DEP0019: require('.') resolved outside directory#

Type: End-of-Life

In certain cases, require('.') could resolve outside the package directory. This behavior has been removed.

DEP0020: Server.connections#

Type: End-of-Life

The Server.connections property was deprecated in Node.js v0.9.7 and has been removed. Please use the Server.getConnections() method instead.

DEP0021: Server.listenFD#