Elide for Node users

Elide runs JavaScript and TypeScript with Node APIs and npm packages. Check your application’s modules and framework before switching.

Check your application

For an HTTP app, start with framework compatibility: Hono has a runnable example; Express 5 has body-middleware limitations; Fastify 5 imports an unavailable module. Check the API Overview for other node:* modules your app imports.

The Compatibility Matrix reports API test-suite results. Run your application’s tests and exercise its request handlers to check the dependencies and code paths you use.

Run the same code

Terminal

bash

elide app.js                    # or: elide run app.js
elide app.ts                    # no compile step, no tsconfig.json
elide install --ecosystems=npm  # dependencies from package.json
elide test                      # node:test files

Built-ins load with or without the node: prefix.
CommonJS and ES modules both work.
http.createServer serves as in Node, as does a module that default-exports a fetch handler or calls Elide.serve({ fetch }).

For a complete first example, follow JavaScript and TypeScript. For a server, follow Build an HTTP service. If an installed package cannot be imported, see Module not found after elide install.

What changes

Node	Elide
`node app.js`	`elide app.js`
`npm install`	`elide install --ecosystems=npm`; plain `elide install` skips npm
`package-lock.json`	`aube-lock.yaml`
`npm run build`	`elide run build`
`npx tool`	`elide run tool` for a tool in `node_modules/.bin`; no download-and-run
`node --test`	`elide test`
`node --inspect app.js`	`elide run --debugger=cdp app.js`
`node --watch app.js`	No equivalent
`node --env-file=.env app.js`	Call `process.loadEnvFile()` in code
`node --permission --allow-fs-read=.`	`elide --allow-read=. app.js`; see Sandbox and Limits
`node:worker_threads`	Same module; `new Worker` honors only `workerData`, `eval`, `transferList` and `env`
`node:sqlite` `DatabaseSync`	`Database` from `elide:sqlite`; see SQLite

Elide does not set NODE_ENV.

Weaknesses

node:http2, node:cluster, node:inspector and node:wasi throw ERR_UNKNOWN_BUILTIN_MODULE.
https.createServer throws ERR_HTTPS_SERVER_UNSUPPORTED; terminate TLS in front of http.createServer.
No WebSocket global.
No bundler: elide web build transforms each file and keeps its imports.
No macOS Intel build; macOS releases are Apple Silicon only.

Benchmarks

Hello-world startup with hyperfine -N -w 10 -r 100 on a 24-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9965WX Linux workstation:

Runtime	Command	Mean
Node	`node hello.js`	11.70 ± 0.90 ms
Elide	`elide run hello.js`	1.43 ± 0.06 ms
Bun	`bun hello.js`	1.63 ± 0.18 ms
Deno	`deno run hello.js`	6.31 ± 0.30 ms

Elide’s measured mean is lower than Bun’s in this recording. In the separate non-pipelined HTTP comparison, Elide served 635,510 requests/s and Node 24.22.0 LTS served 123,519 requests/s with the same load and CPU budget. See HTTP serving for the settings, latency, and raw reports.

Versions, setup, and recordings: Benchmarks.

Strengths

Runs .ts, .mts and .cts files directly.
Scopes network access by host and subprocesses by command: --allow-net=api.example.com, --allow-run=git.
Limits workers, open files, heap and run time: --limit=workers=4, --limit=fds=128, --max-mem=512m, --timeout=30s.
Includes SQLite, PostgreSQL and MySQL drivers as elide:sqlite, elide:postgres and elide:mysql.