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node:child_process

Node.js child_process module, resolvable via both ESM import and CommonJS require (with or without the node: prefix).

Elide registers node:child_process as a built-in shim (NodeChildProcessModule), but its entry points are not yet implemented: every function throws an error whose code is ERR_METHOD_NOT_IMPLEMENTED. Native process creation is planned but not yet wired up. Importing the module succeeds; calling into it does not.

Status

ExportBehaviour
spawn, spawnSyncThrow ERR_METHOD_NOT_IMPLEMENTED
exec, execSyncThrow ERR_METHOD_NOT_IMPLEMENTED
execFile, execFileSyncThrow ERR_METHOD_NOT_IMPLEMENTED
forkThrows ERR_METHOD_NOT_IMPLEMENTED
ChildProcess (constructor)Throws ERR_METHOD_NOT_IMPLEMENTED
The module is registered in JavaScriptLang.initAllModules() and backed by an embedded shim (elide/js/node_child_process.js); the shim's entry points all raise coded ERR_METHOD_NOT_IMPLEMENTED errors until host subprocess support lands.

Example

javascript
import { spawn } from "node:child_process";

// The import resolves, but the call throws:
try {
  spawn("ls");
} catch (err) {
  err.code; // → "ERR_METHOD_NOT_IMPLEMENTED"
}

Host process primitives (not wired here)

Elide ships a host-internal process layer in dev.elide.lang.javascript.process.host (ProcessPrimitives, ProcessPrimitivesAsync, ProcessSignals, Stdio, Tty, Pty, ProcessException) — see Process primitives. These primitives are designed as the eventual backing for a native child_process, but they are not yet connected to node:child_process.

Specified surface (WebIDL contract)

A WebIDL contract for the module exists at protocol/webidl/node/child_process.webidl, and codegen emits an abstract namespace base plus a SpawnSyncResult dictionary. It describes the target API surface — execSync, execFileSync, spawnSync, exec, execFile, spawn, and fork (the last without a planned IPC channel) — for a future native implementation. No concrete class implements that base yet, and the @compat markers reflect intended, not present, compatibility.

See also