Node.js 24 ships with V8 JavaScript engine 13.6, npm 11, async context upgrades, and more

Node.js 24 has landed, introducing a suite of notable updates and bug fixes aimed at both developers and maintainers. The highlight of this release is the upgrade to the V8 JavaScript engine version 13.6, enabling support for features such as Float16Array, explicit resource management, RegExp.escape, WebAssembly Memory64, and Error.isError. These changes expand the JavaScript capabilities available natively in Node.js.

This release also arrives bundled with npm 11, providing enhanced performance, improved security, and broader compatibility with the latest JavaScript packages. For users building more advanced asynchronous systems, AsyncLocalStorage now uses AsyncContextFrame by default, resulting in better performance and reliability for async context tracking.

The URLPattern API is now exposed globally, making pattern-based URL matching more accessible without the need for imports. Windows developers should note that Node.js has dropped Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC) support, and ClangCL is now required to compile Node.js, marking a significant shift in Windows build tooling.

Other enhancements include improvements to the experimental Permission Model, automatic subtest handling in the test runner module, and the inclusion of Undici 7, which brings performance and feature gains to the built-in HTTP client.