Node.js 26.0.0

Release Date: May 5, 2026

Node.js 26.0.0 enables the Temporal API by default, bundles a double V8 upgrade to 14.6, ships Undici 8, and includes npm 12 with OpenSSL 4.0 support.

Temporal API enabled by default — --experimental-temporal flag removed; Temporal.Now, Temporal.PlainDate, and DST-safe time-zone arithmetic available without flags
V8 14.6 — two version bumps bundled: 14.3 brought faster property access and smaller compiled code; 14.6 added improved Wasm trap handling and inline caching; JSON serialisation, template rendering, and Wasm execution all benefit measurably
Undici 8 — built-in HTTP client with more aggressive keep-alive and removed deprecated retry logic; transparent improvement for fetch() users, migration needed for direct Undici type imports
npm 12 — improved workspace performance and a new audit-report format; bundled with Node 26
OpenSSL 4.0 support — Node 26 can compile against the latest OpenSSL LTS branch with security patches through 2030

Run nvm install 26.

What is New?