Update minimum supported node version

sbc100 · sbc100 · commit 0b3b234192e4 · 2026-04-01T19:54:20.000-07:00
This change updates the minimum support node version for the generated
code and the for running the compiler to 18.20.4.

For the generated code this is a change from v12.22.9.

For the compiler this is a change from v18.3.

This new minimum is supported by both debian/stable and debian/oldstable
as well as the current Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat).
diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -106,11 +106,11 @@ commands:
             cat ~/emsdk/.emscripten
             echo "export PATH=\"$HOME/node-v${version}-linux-x64/bin:\$PATH\"" >> $BASH_ENV
   install-node-oldest:
-    description: "install node 12.22.9 (oldest)"
+    description: "install node 18.19.1 (oldest)"
     steps:
       - install-node-version:
           # Keep this in sync with `OLDEST_SUPPORTED_NODE` in `feature_matrix.py`
-          node_version: "12.22.9"
+          node_version: "18.19.1"
   install-node-lts:
     description: "install node 22.21.0 (current LTS)"
     steps:
@@ -962,16 +962,16 @@ jobs:
       # version.
       # Keep this in sync with MINIMUM_NODE_VERSION in tools/shared.py.
       - install-node-version:
-          node_version: "18.3.0"
+          node_version: "18.19.1"
       - run:
-          name: configure compiler to use 18.3.0
+          name: configure compiler to use 18.19.1
           command: echo "NODE_JS = '$(which node)'" >> ~/emsdk/.emscripten
       # Run some basic tests with the minimum version of node that we currently
       # support in the generated code.
       - install-node-oldest
       - run-tests:
-          title: "node (oldest / 12.22.9)"
-          extra-cflags: "-sMIN_NODE_VERSION=122209"
+          title: "node (oldest / 18.19.1)"
+          extra-cflags: "-sMIN_NODE_VERSION=181901"
           # We include most but not all of the nodefs and node rawfs tests here.
           # test_fs_nodefs_rw, test_fs_nodefs_statvfs, and test_unistd_io_nodefs_bigint fail.
           test_targets: "
diff --git a/ChangeLog.md b/ChangeLog.md
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ See docs/process.md for more on how version tagging works.
 - SDL3 port updated from 3.2.30 to 3.4.2 (#26572)
 - Fixed a race condition in syscall proxying that caused some hangs and ASan
   errors (#26582)
+- The minimum supported version of node (both for the running the generated
+  code and for running the compiler) was bumped to v18.19.1. (#26604)
 
 5.0.4 - 03/23/26
 ----------------
diff --git a/site/source/docs/tools_reference/settings_reference.rst b/site/source/docs/tools_reference/settings_reference.rst
@@ -2919,10 +2919,10 @@ MIN_NODE_VERSION
 Specifies minimum node version to target for the generated code.  This is
 distinct from the minimum version required to run the emscripten compiler.
 Version is encoded in MMmmVV, e.g. 181401 denotes Node 18.14.01.
-Minimum supported value is 122209, which was released 2022-01-11 (see
-feature_matrix.py). This version aligns with the Ubuntu TLS 22.04 (Jammy).
+Minimum supported value is 189101, which was released 2024-02-14 (see
+feature_matrix.py). This version aligns with the Ubuntu TLS 24.04 (Noble).
 
-Default value: 160000
+Default value: 181901
 
 .. _minimal_runtime:
 
diff --git a/src/babel-plugins/strip-node-prefix.mjs b/src/babel-plugins/strip-node-prefix.mjs
diff --git a/src/runtime_common.js b/src/runtime_common.js
@@ -136,18 +136,6 @@ function updateMemoryViews() {
 #endif
 }
 
-#if ENVIRONMENT_MAY_BE_NODE && MIN_NODE_VERSION < 160000
-// The performance global was added to node in v16.0.0:
-// https://nodejs.org/api/globals.html#performance
-if (ENVIRONMENT_IS_NODE) {
-  // This is needed for emscripten_get_now and for pthreads support which
-  // depends on it for accurate timing.
-  // Use `global` rather than `globalThis` here since older versions of node
-  // don't have `globalThis`.
-  global.performance ??= require('perf_hooks').performance;
-}
-#endif
-
 #if IMPORTED_MEMORY
 // In non-standalone/normal mode, we create the memory here.
 #include "runtime_init_memory.js"
diff --git a/src/settings.js b/src/settings.js
@@ -1920,9 +1920,9 @@ var MIN_CHROME_VERSION = 85;
 // Specifies minimum node version to target for the generated code.  This is
 // distinct from the minimum version required to run the emscripten compiler.
 // Version is encoded in MMmmVV, e.g. 181401 denotes Node 18.14.01.
-// Minimum supported value is 122209, which was released 2022-01-11 (see
-// feature_matrix.py). This version aligns with the Ubuntu TLS 22.04 (Jammy).
-var MIN_NODE_VERSION = 160000;
+// Minimum supported value is 189101, which was released 2024-02-14 (see
+// feature_matrix.py). This version aligns with the Ubuntu TLS 24.04 (Noble).
+var MIN_NODE_VERSION = 181901;
 
 // If true, uses minimal sized runtime without POSIX features, Module,
 // preRun/preInit/etc., Emscripten built-in XHR loading or library_browser.js.
diff --git a/test/codesize/test_codesize_hello_O0.json b/test/codesize/test_codesize_hello_O0.json
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 {
-  "a.out.js": 24261,
-  "a.out.js.gz": 8714,
+  "a.out.js": 24262,
+  "a.out.js.gz": 8723,
   "a.out.nodebug.wasm": 14850,
   "a.out.nodebug.wasm.gz": 7311,
-  "total": 39111,
-  "total_gz": 16025,
+  "total": 39112,
+  "total_gz": 16034,
   "sent": [
     "fd_write"
   ],
diff --git a/test/codesize/test_codesize_minimal_O0.expected.js b/test/codesize/test_codesize_minimal_O0.expected.js
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@
   // Note: We use a typeof check here instead of optional chaining using
   // globalThis because older browsers might not have globalThis defined.
   var currentNodeVersion = typeof process !== 'undefined' && process.versions?.node ? humanReadableVersionToPacked(process.versions.node) : TARGET_NOT_SUPPORTED;
-  if (currentNodeVersion < 160000) {
-    throw new Error(`This emscripten-generated code requires node v${ packedVersionToHumanReadable(160000) } (detected v${packedVersionToHumanReadable(currentNodeVersion)})`);
+  if (currentNodeVersion < 181901) {
+    throw new Error(`This emscripten-generated code requires node v${ packedVersionToHumanReadable(181901) } (detected v${packedVersionToHumanReadable(currentNodeVersion)})`);
   }
 
   var userAgent = typeof navigator !== 'undefined' && navigator.userAgent;
diff --git a/test/codesize/test_codesize_minimal_O0.json b/test/codesize/test_codesize_minimal_O0.json
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 {
-  "a.out.js": 19452,
-  "a.out.js.gz": 6998,
+  "a.out.js": 19453,
+  "a.out.js.gz": 7007,
   "a.out.nodebug.wasm": 1015,
   "a.out.nodebug.wasm.gz": 602,
-  "total": 20467,
-  "total_gz": 7600,
+  "total": 20468,
+  "total_gz": 7609,
   "sent": [],
   "imports": [],
   "exports": [
diff --git a/test/codesize/test_unoptimized_code_size.json b/test/codesize/test_unoptimized_code_size.json
@@ -1,16 +1,16 @@
 {
   "hello_world.js": 57078,
-  "hello_world.js.gz": 17753,
+  "hello_world.js.gz": 17757,
   "hello_world.wasm": 14850,
   "hello_world.wasm.gz": 7311,
   "no_asserts.js": 26654,
   "no_asserts.js.gz": 8901,
   "no_asserts.wasm": 12010,
   "no_asserts.wasm.gz": 5880,
   "strict.js": 54896,
-  "strict.js.gz": 17061,
+  "strict.js.gz": 17065,
   "strict.wasm": 14850,
   "strict.wasm.gz": 7311,
   "total": 180338,
-  "total_gz": 64217
+  "total_gz": 64225
 }
diff --git a/test/common.py b/test/common.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 import line_endings
 from retryable_unittest import RetryableTestCase
 
-from tools import building, config, feature_matrix, shared, utils
+from tools import building, config, shared, utils
 from tools.feature_matrix import Feature
 from tools.settings import COMPILE_TIME_SETTINGS
 from tools.shared import DEBUG, EMCC, EMXX, get_canonical_temp_dir
@@ -147,15 +147,6 @@ def record_flaky_test(test_name, attempt_count, max_attempts, exception_msg):
     f.write(f'{test_name}\n')
 
 
-def node_bigint_flags(node_version):
-  # The --experimental-wasm-bigint flag was added in v12, and then removed (enabled by default)
-  # in v16.
-  if node_version and node_version < (16, 0, 0):
-    return ['--experimental-wasm-bigint']
-  else:
-    return []
-
-
 @contextlib.contextmanager
 def env_modify(updates):
   """A context manager that updates os.environ."""
@@ -457,11 +448,7 @@ def require_pthreads(self):
     if self.get_setting('MINIMAL_RUNTIME'):
       self.skipTest('non-browser pthreads not yet supported with MINIMAL_RUNTIME')
     for engine in self.js_engines:
-      if engine_is_node(engine):
-        if not self.try_require_node_version(16, 0, 0):
-          self.fail('node v16 required to run this test')
-        return
-      elif engine_is_bun(engine) or engine_is_deno(engine):
+      if engine_is_node(engine) or engine_is_bun(engine) or engine_is_deno(engine):
         self.require_engine(engine)
         return
     self.fail('no JS engine found capable of running pthreads')
@@ -531,23 +518,6 @@ def try_require_node_version(self, major, minor=0, revision=0):
     self.require_engine(nodejs)
     return True
 
-  def require_simd(self):
-    if 'EMTEST_SKIP_SIMD' in os.environ:
-      self.skipTest('test requires node >= 16 or d8 (and EMTEST_SKIP_SIMD is set)')
-    if self.is_browser_test():
-      return
-
-    if self.try_require_node_version(16):
-      return
-
-    v8 = get_v8()
-    if v8:
-      self.cflags.append('-sENVIRONMENT=shell')
-      self.require_engine(v8)
-      return
-
-    self.fail('either d8 or node >= 16 required to run wasm64 tests.  Use EMTEST_SKIP_SIMD to skip')
-
   def require_wasm_legacy_eh(self):
     if 'EMTEST_SKIP_WASM_LEGACY_EH' in os.environ:
       self.skipTest('test requires node >= 17 or d8 (and EMTEST_SKIP_WASM_LEGACY_EH is set)')
@@ -701,13 +671,6 @@ def setUp(self):
     nodejs = get_nodejs()
     if nodejs:
       node_version = shared.get_node_version(nodejs)
-      if node_version < (13, 0, 0):
-        self.node_args.append('--unhandled-rejections=strict')
-      elif node_version < (15, 0, 0):
-        # Opt in to node v15 default behaviour:
-        # https://nodejs.org/api/cli.html#cli_unhandled_rejections_mode
-        self.node_args.append('--unhandled-rejections=throw')
-      self.node_args += node_bigint_flags(node_version)
 
       # If the version we are running tests in is lower than the version that
       # emcc targets then we need to tell emcc to target that older version.
@@ -719,12 +682,6 @@ def setUp(self):
       )
       if node_version < emcc_min_node_version:
         self.cflags.append('-sMIN_NODE_VERSION=%02d%02d%02d' % node_version)
-        self.cflags.append('-Wno-transpile')
-
-      # This allows much of the test suite to be run on older versions of node that don't
-      # support wasm bigint integration
-      if node_version[0] < feature_matrix.min_browser_versions[feature_matrix.Feature.JS_BIGINT_INTEGRATION]['node'] / 10000:
-        self.cflags.append('-sWASM_BIGINT=0')
 
     self.v8_args = ['--wasm-staging']
     self.env = {}
diff --git a/test/test_core.py b/test/test_core.py
@@ -138,7 +138,6 @@ def wasm_simd(func):
 
   @wraps(func)
   def decorated(self, *args, **kwargs):
-    self.require_simd()
     if self.is_wasm2js():
       self.skipTest('wasm2js only supports MVP for now')
     if '-O3' in self.cflags:
diff --git a/test/test_other.py b/test/test_other.py
@@ -13418,10 +13418,6 @@ def test_node_prefix_transpile(self):
     content = read_file('a.out.js')
     self.assertContained('node:', content)
 
-    self.run_process([EMCC, test_file('hello_world.c'), '-sEXPORT_ES6', '-sMIN_NODE_VERSION=150000', '-Wno-transpile'])
-    content = read_file('a.out.js')
-    self.assertNotContained('node:', content)
-
   def test_gmtime_noleak(self):
     # Confirm that gmtime_r does not leak when called in isolation.
     self.do_other_test('test_gmtime_noleak.c', cflags=['-fsanitize=leak'])
diff --git a/test/test_sanity.py b/test/test_sanity.py
@@ -313,8 +313,8 @@ def test_node(self):
                              ('v4.1.0', False),
                              ('v10.18.0', False),
                              ('v16.20.0', False),
-                             ('v18.3.0', True),
-                             ('v18.3.1-pre', True),
+                             ('v18.19.1', True),
+                             ('v18.19.1-pre', True),
                              ('cheez', False)):
       print(version, succeed)
       delete_file(SANITY_FILE)
diff --git a/tools/building.py b/tools/building.py
@@ -543,7 +543,6 @@ def transpile(filename):
   config = {
     'sourceType': 'script',
     'presets': ['@babel/preset-env'],
-    'plugins': [],
     'targets': {},
     'parserOpts': {
       # FIXME: Remove when updating to Babel 8, see:
@@ -559,7 +558,6 @@ def transpile(filename):
     config['targets']['safari'] = version_split(settings.MIN_SAFARI_VERSION)
   if settings.MIN_NODE_VERSION != UNSUPPORTED:
     config['targets']['node'] = version_split(settings.MIN_NODE_VERSION)
-    config['plugins'] = [path_from_root('src/babel-plugins/strip-node-prefix.mjs')]
   config_json = json.dumps(config, indent=2)
   outfile = shared.get_temp_files().get('babel.js').name
   config_file = shared.get_temp_files().get('babel_config.json').name
diff --git a/tools/feature_matrix.py b/tools/feature_matrix.py
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@
 OLDEST_SUPPORTED_CHROME = 74  # Released on 2019-04-23
 OLDEST_SUPPORTED_FIREFOX = 68  # Released on 2019-07-09
 OLDEST_SUPPORTED_SAFARI = 120200  # Released on 2019-03-25
-# 12.22.09 is the oldest version of node that we do any testing with.
+# This is the oldest version of node that we do any testing with.
 # Keep this in sync with the test-node-compat in .circleci/config.yml.
-OLDEST_SUPPORTED_NODE = 122209
+OLDEST_SUPPORTED_NODE = 181901
 
 
 class Feature(IntEnum):
diff --git a/tools/link.py b/tools/link.py
@@ -1371,18 +1371,17 @@ def limit_incoming_module_api():
     # Emscripten requires certain ES6+ constructs by default in library code
     # - (various ES6 operators available in all browsers listed below)
     # - https://caniuse.com/mdn-javascript_operators_nullish_coalescing:
-    #                                          FF:72 CHROME:80 SAFARI:13.1 NODE:14
+    #                                          FF:72 CHROME:80 SAFARI:13.1
     # - https://caniuse.com/mdn-javascript_operators_optional_chaining:
-    #                                          FF:74 CHROME:80 SAFARI:13.1 NODE:14
+    #                                          FF:74 CHROME:80 SAFARI:13.1
     # - https://caniuse.com/mdn-javascript_operators_logical_or_assignment:
-    #                                          FF:79 CHROME:85 SAFARI:14 NODE:16
+    #                                          FF:79 CHROME:85 SAFARI:14
     # Taking the highest requirements gives is our minimum:
-    #                             Max Version: FF:79 CHROME:85 SAFARI:14 NODE:16
+    #                             Max Version: FF:79 CHROME:85 SAFARI:14
     # TODO: replace this with feature matrix in the future.
     settings.TRANSPILE = (settings.MIN_FIREFOX_VERSION < 79 or
                           settings.MIN_CHROME_VERSION < 85 or
-                          settings.MIN_SAFARI_VERSION < 140000 or
-                          settings.MIN_NODE_VERSION < 160000)
+                          settings.MIN_SAFARI_VERSION < 140000)
 
   if settings.STB_IMAGE:
     settings.EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS += ['_stbi_load', '_stbi_load_from_memory', '_stbi_image_free']
diff --git a/tools/shared.py b/tools/shared.py
@@ -49,10 +49,11 @@
 # Minimum node version required to run the emscripten compiler.  This is
 # distinct from the minimum version required to execute the generated code
 # (settings.MIN_NODE_VERSION).
-# This is currently set to v18 since this is the version of node available
-# in debian/stable (bookworm).  We need at least v18.3.0 because we make
+# This is currently set to v18.19.1 since this is the version of node available
+# in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat) and older than the version availabler in
+# debian/oldstable (bookworm).  We need at least v18.3.0 because we make
 # use of util.parseArg which was added in v18.3.0.
-MINIMUM_NODE_VERSION = (18, 3, 0)
+MINIMUM_NODE_VERSION = (18, 19, 1)
 EXPECTED_LLVM_VERSION = 23
 
 # These get set by setup_temp_dirs
