Global ESM Loader

A custom loader for Node.js that automatically loads globally installed ESM modules.

Node.js does not load global ESM modules by default. It currently requires a custom Module Loader to bridge this gap.

This loader lets you import foo even when foo is only installed globally (e.g. via npm install -g foo), This loader supports both ESM and CommonJS packages.

Global CommonJS packages could be loaded using require() by setting NODE_PATH. However as more utility packages and their plugins transition to ESM-only distributions, this becomes impossible in some cases.

Using the loader as a local package

In the example below, a globally installed typescript package is used as an example to show how to import a global package. When calling Node.js, the --import option is used to pre-load the loader.

npm install --save-dev global-esm-loader
npm install -g typescript
node --import=global-esm-loader/register -e "import * as ts from 'typescript'; console.log(ts.version);"

Using the loader as a global package

Example for Windows:

npm install -g global-esm-loader
npm install -g typescript
node --import "file://%appdata%/npm/node_modules/global-esm-loader/dist/Loader.js" -e "import * as ts from 'typescript'; console.log(ts.version);"

Requirements

• Should work with Node.js >= v22.15, but has up to now only been tested with v24.11.
• Uses the Node custom ESM loader hooks (--import), which are still marked as experimental in Node.