Node.js introduces node: protocol imports

Node.js recently introduced a node: protocol for built-in modules. Built-in node modules can now be imported by prefixing the node: protocol prefix.

So, what previously used to be

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import * as fs from 'fs/promises';

can now be imported as

import * as fs from 'node:fs/promises';

Benefits

• More explicit protocol makes it more readable and also makes it clear that a built-in module is being imported. Since there are a lot of built-in ones, this extra information is useful for beginners or for someone who might not know about one of them.
• It reduces the risk of a module present in node_modules overriding the newer imports.

It is currently supported:

• In Node.js starting:
  • v16.0.0, v14.18.0 (ESM import and CommonJS require())
  • v14.13.1, v12.20.0 (only ESM import)
• In TypeScript by the latest versions of @types/node.