Developers managing JavaScript runtimes have a new major version to evaluate. Node.js 26.0.0 brings the long-awaited Temporal API to the platform alongside an updated V8 engine, a refreshed HTTP client, and several long-flagged removals that will require code changes in some applications.

Temporal API ready for production code

Temporal, a date and time API designed to replace the aging Date object, is now available in Node.js without an experimental flag. The API offers richer handling of time zones, calendars, durations, and instants, and addresses long-standing complaints about JavaScript’s built-in date handling.

V8 jumps to 14.6, adds new language features

The bundled V8 JavaScript engine moves to version 14.6.202.33, the version shipping with Chromium 146. The upgrade introduces two TC39 proposals at the language level. The Upsert proposal adds getOrInsert() and getOrInsertComputed() methods to Map and WeakMap, simplifying the common pattern of reading a value or initializing it on first access. Iterator sequencing introduces Iterator.concat(), which joins multiple iterators into a single sequence.

NODE_MODULE_VERSION has been bumped to 147, meaning native add-ons compiled against earlier versions will need to be rebuilt.

Undici 8 powers HTTP requests

The built-in HTTP client based on Undici has been updated to version 8.0.2. The package underpins the global fetch() implementation in Node.js and handles HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2 traffic for many applications.

Removals require code review

Several APIs that have been deprecated for multiple release cycles are now gone. http.Server.prototype.writeHeader() has been removed; applications must use writeHead(). The legacy _stream_wrap, _stream_readable, _stream_writable, _stream_duplex, _stream_transform, and _stream_passthrough modules are also removed, along with the --experimental-transform-types flag for TypeScript transformation. The crypto deprecation DEP0182 reaches end-of-life status.

Additional APIs have been promoted to runtime deprecation, including module.register(), the stream-related DEP0201, and the crypto-related DEP0203 and DEP0204. Code paths using these will now emit warnings.

Build and platform changes

Compiling Node.js from source now requires GCC 13.2 or later, and Python 3.9 is not supported in the build toolchain. Builds for AIX and IBM i now target Power 9 hardware, dropping support for older Power processors. The supported Windows SDK version moves to 11. Maglev, a V8 mid-tier optimizing compiler, is now enabled for Linux on s390x.

Other changes

The KeyObject APIs gain support for raw key formats. The bundled SQLite integration enables the Percentile extension. ICU has been updated to version 78.3, and libuv to 1.52.1. The release also includes a fix for a V8 array index hash collision tracked as CVE-2026-21717.

Binaries for Windows, macOS, Linux, AIX, and several other platforms are available from the Node.js download page.

Download: Secure Foundations for AI Workloads on AWS