If false then the stream will automatically end the writable side when the
readable side ends. Set initially by the allowHalfOpen constructor option,
which defaults to false.
This can be changed manually to change the half-open behavior of an existingDuplex stream instance, but must be changed before the 'end' event is
emitted.
v0.9.4
Readonly closedIs true after readable.destroy() has been called.
v8.0.0
Readonly erroredIs true if it is safe to call readable.read(), which means
the stream has not been destroyed or emitted 'error' or 'end'.
v11.4.0
Readonly Experimental readableReturns whether the stream was destroyed or errored before emitting 'end'.
v16.8.0
Readonly Experimental readableReturns whether 'data' has been emitted.
v16.7.0, v14.18.0
Readonly readableGetter for the property encoding of a given Readable stream. The encodingproperty can be set using the readable.setEncoding() method.
v12.7.0
Readonly readableBecomes true when 'end' event is emitted.
v12.9.0
Readonly readableThis property reflects the current state of a Readable stream as described
in the Three states section.
v9.4.0
Readonly readableReturns the value of highWaterMark passed when creating this Readable.
v9.3.0
Readonly readableThis property contains the number of bytes (or objects) in the queue
ready to be read. The value provides introspection data regarding
the status of the highWaterMark.
v9.4.0
Readonly readableGetter for the property objectMode of a given Readable stream.
v12.3.0
Readonly writableReadonly writableReadonly writableReadonly writableReadonly writableReadonly writableReadonly writableReadonly writableStatic Readonly captureStatic captureSets or gets the default captureRejection value for all emitters.
Static defaultStatic Readonly errorThis symbol shall be used to install a listener for only monitoring 'error'
events. Listeners installed using this symbol are called before the regular
'error' listeners are called.
Installing a listener using this symbol does not change the behavior once an
'error' event is emitted, therefore the process will still crash if no
regular 'error' listener is installed.
Optional [captureRest ...args: AnyRestOptional _constructOptional _writevThis method returns a new stream with chunks of the underlying stream paired with a counter
in the form [index, chunk]. The first index value is 0 and it increases by 1 for each chunk produced.
Optional options: Pick<ArrayOptions, "signal">a stream of indexed pairs.
v17.5.0
Destroy the stream. Optionally emit an 'error' event, and emit a 'close'event (unless emitClose is set to false). After this call, the readable
stream will release any internal resources and subsequent calls to push()will be ignored.
Once destroy() has been called any further calls will be a no-op and no
further errors except from _destroy() may be emitted as 'error'.
Implementors should not override this method, but instead implement readable._destroy().
Optional error: ErrorError which will be passed as payload in 'error' event
v8.0.0
This method returns a new stream with the first limit chunks dropped from the start.
the number of chunks to drop from the readable.
Optional options: Pick<ArrayOptions, "signal">a stream with limit chunks dropped from the start.
v17.5.0
Rest ...args: any[]Optional cb: (() => void)Optional cb: (() => void)Optional encoding: BufferEncodingOptional cb: (() => void)Returns an array listing the events for which the emitter has registered
listeners. The values in the array are strings or Symbols.
const EventEmitter = require('events');
const myEE = new EventEmitter();
myEE.on('foo', () => {});
myEE.on('bar', () => {});
const sym = Symbol('symbol');
myEE.on(sym, () => {});
console.log(myEE.eventNames());
// Prints: [ 'foo', 'bar', Symbol(symbol) ]
v6.0.0
This method is similar to Array.prototype.every and calls fn on each chunk in the stream
to check if all awaited return values are truthy value for fn. Once an fn call on a chunk
awaited return value is falsy, the stream is destroyed and the promise is fulfilled with false.
If all of the fn calls on the chunks return a truthy value, the promise is fulfilled with true.
a function to call on each chunk of the stream. Async or not.
Optional options: Pick<ArrayOptions, "signal">Optional options: ArrayOptionsa promise evaluating to true if fn returned a truthy value for every one of the chunks.
v17.5.0
Get record stream of queried records, applying the given filter function
This method is similar to Array.prototype.find and calls fn on each chunk in the stream
to find a chunk with a truthy value for fn. Once an fn call's awaited return value is truthy,
the stream is destroyed and the promise is fulfilled with value for which fn returned a truthy value.
If all of the fn calls on the chunks return a falsy value, the promise is fulfilled with undefined.
a promise evaluating to the first chunk for which fn evaluated with a truthy value,
or undefined if no element was found.
v17.5.0
Optional options: Pick<ArrayOptions, "signal">Optional options: ArrayOptionsThis method returns a new stream by applying the given callback to each chunk of the stream and then flattening the result.
It is possible to return a stream or another iterable or async iterable from fn and the result streams will be merged (flattened) into the returned stream.
a function to map over every chunk in the stream. May be async. May be a stream or generator.
Optional options: Pick<ArrayOptions, "signal">Optional options: ArrayOptionsa stream flat-mapped with the function fn.
v17.5.0
This method allows iterating a stream. For each chunk in the stream the fn function will be called.
If the fn function returns a promise - that promise will be awaited.
This method is different from for await...of loops in that it can optionally process chunks concurrently.
In addition, a forEach iteration can only be stopped by having passed a signal option
and aborting the related AbortController while for await...of can be stopped with break or return.
In either case the stream will be destroyed.
This method is different from listening to the 'data' event in that it uses the readable event
in the underlying machinary and can limit the number of concurrent fn calls.
a function to call on each chunk of the stream. Async or not.
Optional options: Pick<ArrayOptions, "signal">Optional options: ArrayOptionsa promise for when the stream has finished.
v17.5.0
Returns the current max listener value for the EventEmitter which is either
set by emitter.setMaxListeners(n) or defaults to defaultMaxListeners.
v1.0.0
The readable.isPaused() method returns the current operating state of theReadable. This is used primarily by the mechanism that underlies thereadable.pipe() method. In most
typical cases, there will be no reason to
use this method directly.
const readable = new stream.Readable();
readable.isPaused(); // === false
readable.pause();
readable.isPaused(); // === true
readable.resume();
readable.isPaused(); // === false
v0.11.14
The iterator created by this method gives users the option to cancel the destruction
of the stream if the for await...of loop is exited by return, break, or throw,
or if the iterator should destroy the stream if the stream emitted an error during iteration.
Optional options: { Optional destroyWhen set to false, calling return on the async iterator,
or exiting a for await...of iteration using a break, return, or throw will not destroy the stream.
Default: true.
v16.3.0
Returns the number of listeners listening to the event named eventName.
If listener is provided, it will return how many times the listener
is found in the list of the listeners of the event.
The name of the event being listened for
Optional listener: FunctionThe event handler function
v3.2.0
Returns a copy of the array of listeners for the event named eventName.
server.on('connection', (stream) => {
console.log('someone connected!');
});
console.log(util.inspect(server.listeners('connection')));
// Prints: [ [Function] ]
v0.1.26
Alias for emitter.removeListener().
Rest ...args: any[]v10.0.0
Rest ...args: any[]The readable.pause() method will cause a stream in flowing mode to stop
emitting 'data' events, switching out of flowing mode. Any data that
becomes available will remain in the internal buffer.
const readable = getReadableStreamSomehow();
readable.on('data', (chunk) => {
console.log(`Received ${chunk.length} bytes of data.`);
readable.pause();
console.log('There will be no additional data for 1 second.');
setTimeout(() => {
console.log('Now data will start flowing again.');
readable.resume();
}, 1000);
});
The readable.pause() method has no effect if there is a 'readable'event listener.
v0.9.4
Rest ...args: any[]Rest ...args: any[]Returns a copy of the array of listeners for the event named eventName,
including any wrappers (such as those created by .once()).
const emitter = new EventEmitter();
emitter.once('log', () => console.log('log once'));
// Returns a new Array with a function `onceWrapper` which has a property
// `listener` which contains the original listener bound above
const listeners = emitter.rawListeners('log');
const logFnWrapper = listeners[0];
// Logs "log once" to the console and does not unbind the `once` event
logFnWrapper.listener();
// Logs "log once" to the console and removes the listener
logFnWrapper();
emitter.on('log', () => console.log('log persistently'));
// Will return a new Array with a single function bound by `.on()` above
const newListeners = emitter.rawListeners('log');
// Logs "log persistently" twice
newListeners[0]();
emitter.emit('log');
v9.4.0
The readable.read() method reads data out of the internal buffer and
returns it. If no data is available to be read, null is returned. By default,
the data is returned as a Buffer object unless an encoding has been
specified using the readable.setEncoding() method or the stream is operating
in object mode.
The optional size argument specifies a specific number of bytes to read. Ifsize bytes are not available to be read, null will be returned _unless_the stream has ended, in which
case all of the data remaining in the internal
buffer will be returned.
If the size argument is not specified, all of the data contained in the
internal buffer will be returned.
The size argument must be less than or equal to 1 GiB.
The readable.read() method should only be called on Readable streams
operating in paused mode. In flowing mode, readable.read() is called
automatically until the internal buffer is fully drained.
const readable = getReadableStreamSomehow();
// 'readable' may be triggered multiple times as data is buffered in
readable.on('readable', () => {
let chunk;
console.log('Stream is readable (new data received in buffer)');
// Use a loop to make sure we read all currently available data
while (null !== (chunk = readable.read())) {
console.log(`Read ${chunk.length} bytes of data...`);
}
});
// 'end' will be triggered once when there is no more data available
readable.on('end', () => {
console.log('Reached end of stream.');
});
Each call to readable.read() returns a chunk of data, or null. The chunks
are not concatenated. A while loop is necessary to consume all data
currently in the buffer. When reading a large file .read() may return null,
having consumed all buffered content so far, but there is still more data to
come not yet buffered. In this case a new 'readable' event will be emitted
when there is more data in the buffer. Finally the 'end' event will be
emitted when there is no more data to come.
Therefore to read a file's whole contents from a readable, it is necessary
to collect chunks across multiple 'readable' events:
const chunks = [];
readable.on('readable', () => {
let chunk;
while (null !== (chunk = readable.read())) {
chunks.push(chunk);
}
});
readable.on('end', () => {
const content = chunks.join('');
});
A Readable stream in object mode will always return a single item from
a call to readable.read(size), regardless of the value of thesize argument.
If the readable.read() method returns a chunk of data, a 'data' event will
also be emitted.
Calling read after the 'end' event has
been emitted will return null. No runtime error will be raised.
Optional size: numberOptional argument to specify how much data to read.
v0.9.4
This method calls fn on each chunk of the stream in order, passing it the result from the calculation on the previous element. It returns a promise for the final value of the reduction.
If no initial value is supplied the first chunk of the stream is used as the initial value.
If the stream is empty, the promise is rejected with a TypeError with the ERR_INVALID_ARGS code property.
The reducer function iterates the stream element-by-element which means that there is no concurrency parameter
or parallelism. To perform a reduce concurrently, you can extract the async function to readable.map method.
a reducer function to call over every chunk in the stream. Async or not.
Optional initial: undefinedthe initial value to use in the reduction.
Optional options: Pick<ArrayOptions, "signal">a promise for the final value of the reduction.
v17.5.0
Removes all listeners, or those of the specified eventName.
It is bad practice to remove listeners added elsewhere in the code,
particularly when the EventEmitter instance was created by some other
component or module (e.g. sockets or file streams).
Returns a reference to the EventEmitter, so that calls can be chained.
Optional event: string | symbolv0.1.26
Rest ...args: any[]The readable.resume() method causes an explicitly paused Readable stream to
resume emitting 'data' events, switching the stream into flowing mode.
The readable.resume() method can be used to fully consume the data from a
stream without actually processing any of that data:
getReadableStreamSomehow()
.resume()
.on('end', () => {
console.log('Reached the end, but did not read anything.');
});
The readable.resume() method has no effect if there is a 'readable'event listener.
v0.9.4
The readable.setEncoding() method sets the character encoding for
data read from the Readable stream.
By default, no encoding is assigned and stream data will be returned asBuffer objects. Setting an encoding causes the stream data
to be returned as strings of the specified encoding rather than as Bufferobjects. For instance, calling readable.setEncoding('utf8') will cause the
output data to be interpreted as UTF-8 data, and passed as strings. Callingreadable.setEncoding('hex') will cause the data to be encoded in hexadecimal
string format.
The Readable stream will properly handle multi-byte characters delivered
through the stream that would otherwise become improperly decoded if simply
pulled from the stream as Buffer objects.
const readable = getReadableStreamSomehow();
readable.setEncoding('utf8');
readable.on('data', (chunk) => {
assert.equal(typeof chunk, 'string');
console.log('Got %d characters of string data:', chunk.length);
});
The encoding to use.
v0.9.4
By default EventEmitters will print a warning if more than 10 listeners are
added for a particular event. This is a useful default that helps finding
memory leaks. The emitter.setMaxListeners() method allows the limit to be
modified for this specific EventEmitter instance. The value can be set toInfinity (or 0) to indicate an unlimited number of listeners.
Returns a reference to the EventEmitter, so that calls can be chained.
v0.3.5
This method is similar to Array.prototype.some and calls fn on each chunk in the stream
until the awaited return value is true (or any truthy value). Once an fn call on a chunk
awaited return value is truthy, the stream is destroyed and the promise is fulfilled with true.
If none of the fn calls on the chunks return a truthy value, the promise is fulfilled with false.
a function to call on each chunk of the stream. Async or not.
Optional options: Pick<ArrayOptions, "signal">Optional options: ArrayOptionsa promise evaluating to true if fn returned a truthy value for at least one of the chunks.
v17.5.0
This method allows easily obtaining the contents of a stream.
As this method reads the entire stream into memory, it negates the benefits of streams. It's intended for interoperability and convenience, not as the primary way to consume streams.
Optional options: Pick<ArrayOptions, "signal">a promise containing an array with the contents of the stream.
v17.5.0
The readable.unpipe() method detaches a Writable stream previously attached
using the pipe method.
If the destination is not specified, then all pipes are detached.
If the destination is specified, but no pipe is set up for it, then
the method does nothing.
const fs = require('fs');
const readable = getReadableStreamSomehow();
const writable = fs.createWriteStream('file.txt');
// All the data from readable goes into 'file.txt',
// but only for the first second.
readable.pipe(writable);
setTimeout(() => {
console.log('Stop writing to file.txt.');
readable.unpipe(writable);
console.log('Manually close the file stream.');
writable.end();
}, 1000);
Optional destination: WritableStreamOptional specific stream to unpipe
v0.9.4
Passing chunk as null signals the end of the stream (EOF) and behaves the
same as readable.push(null), after which no more data can be written. The EOF
signal is put at the end of the buffer and any buffered data will still be
flushed.
The readable.unshift() method pushes a chunk of data back into the internal
buffer. This is useful in certain situations where a stream is being consumed by
code that needs to "un-consume" some amount of data that it has optimistically
pulled out of the source, so that the data can be passed on to some other party.
The stream.unshift(chunk) method cannot be called after the 'end' event
has been emitted or a runtime error will be thrown.
Developers using stream.unshift() often should consider switching to
use of a Transform stream instead. See the API for stream implementers section for more information.
// Pull off a header delimited by \n\n.
// Use unshift() if we get too much.
// Call the callback with (error, header, stream).
const { StringDecoder } = require('string_decoder');
function parseHeader(stream, callback) {
stream.on('error', callback);
stream.on('readable', onReadable);
const decoder = new StringDecoder('utf8');
let header = '';
function onReadable() {
let chunk;
while (null !== (chunk = stream.read())) {
const str = decoder.write(chunk);
if (str.includes('\n\n')) {
// Found the header boundary.
const split = str.split(/\n\n/);
header += split.shift();
const remaining = split.join('\n\n');
const buf = Buffer.from(remaining, 'utf8');
stream.removeListener('error', callback);
// Remove the 'readable' listener before unshifting.
stream.removeListener('readable', onReadable);
if (buf.length)
stream.unshift(buf);
// Now the body of the message can be read from the stream.
callback(null, header, stream);
return;
}
// Still reading the header.
header += str;
}
}
}
Unlike push, stream.unshift(chunk) will not
end the reading process by resetting the internal reading state of the stream.
This can cause unexpected results if readable.unshift() is called during a
read (i.e. from within a _read implementation on a
custom stream). Following the call to readable.unshift() with an immediate push will reset the reading state appropriately,
however it is best to simply avoid calling readable.unshift() while in the
process of performing a read.
Chunk of data to unshift onto the read queue. For streams not operating in object mode, chunk must be a string, Buffer, Uint8Array or null. For object mode
streams, chunk may be any JavaScript value.
Optional encoding: BufferEncodingEncoding of string chunks. Must be a valid Buffer encoding, such as 'utf8' or 'ascii'.
v0.9.11
Prior to Node.js 0.10, streams did not implement the entire stream module API
as it is currently defined. (See Compatibility for more information.)
When using an older Node.js library that emits 'data' events and has a pause method that is advisory only, thereadable.wrap() method can be used to create a Readable
stream that uses
the old stream as its data source.
It will rarely be necessary to use readable.wrap() but the method has been
provided as a convenience for interacting with older Node.js applications and
libraries.
const { OldReader } = require('./old-api-module.js');
const { Readable } = require('stream');
const oreader = new OldReader();
const myReader = new Readable().wrap(oreader);
myReader.on('readable', () => {
myReader.read(); // etc.
});
An "old style" readable stream
v0.9.4
Optional encoding: BufferEncodingOptional cb: ((error) => void)Optional cb: ((error) => void)Static addExperimental Listens once to the abort event on the provided signal.
Listening to the abort event on abort signals is unsafe and may
lead to resource leaks since another third party with the signal can
call e.stopImmediatePropagation(). Unfortunately Node.js cannot change
this since it would violate the web standard. Additionally, the original
API makes it easy to forget to remove listeners.
This API allows safely using AbortSignals in Node.js APIs by solving these
two issues by listening to the event such that stopImmediatePropagation does
not prevent the listener from running.
Returns a disposable so that it may be unsubscribed from more easily.
import { addAbortListener } from 'node:events';
function example(signal) {
let disposable;
try {
signal.addEventListener('abort', (e) => e.stopImmediatePropagation());
disposable = addAbortListener(signal, (e) => {
// Do something when signal is aborted.
});
} finally {
disposable?.[Symbol.dispose]();
}
}
Disposable that removes the abort listener.
v18.18.0
Static filterStatic fromA utility method for creating duplex streams.
Stream converts writable stream into writable Duplex and readable stream
to Duplex.Blob converts into readable Duplex.string converts into readable Duplex.ArrayBuffer converts into readable Duplex.AsyncIterable converts into a readable Duplex. Cannot yield null.AsyncGeneratorFunction converts into a readable/writable transform
Duplex. Must take a source AsyncIterable as first parameter. Cannot yield
null.AsyncFunction converts into a writable Duplex. Must return
either null or undefinedObject ({ writable, readable }) converts readable and
writable into Stream and then combines them into Duplex where the
Duplex will write to the writable and read from the readable.Promise converts into readable Duplex. Value null is ignored.v16.8.0
Static fromStatic getReturns a copy of the array of listeners for the event named eventName.
For EventEmitters this behaves exactly the same as calling .listeners on
the emitter.
For EventTargets this is the only way to get the event listeners for the
event target. This is useful for debugging and diagnostic purposes.
const { getEventListeners, EventEmitter } = require('events');
{
const ee = new EventEmitter();
const listener = () => console.log('Events are fun');
ee.on('foo', listener);
getEventListeners(ee, 'foo'); // [listener]
}
{
const et = new EventTarget();
const listener = () => console.log('Events are fun');
et.addEventListener('foo', listener);
getEventListeners(et, 'foo'); // [listener]
}
v15.2.0, v14.17.0
Static getReturns the currently set max amount of listeners.
For EventEmitters this behaves exactly the same as calling .getMaxListeners on
the emitter.
For EventTargets this is the only way to get the max event listeners for the
event target. If the number of event handlers on a single EventTarget exceeds
the max set, the EventTarget will print a warning.
import { getMaxListeners, setMaxListeners, EventEmitter } from 'node:events';
{
const ee = new EventEmitter();
console.log(getMaxListeners(ee)); // 10
setMaxListeners(11, ee);
console.log(getMaxListeners(ee)); // 11
}
{
const et = new EventTarget();
console.log(getMaxListeners(et)); // 10
setMaxListeners(11, et);
console.log(getMaxListeners(et)); // 11
}
v18.17.0
Static isStatic listenerA class method that returns the number of listeners for the given eventNameregistered on the given emitter.
const { EventEmitter, listenerCount } = require('events');
const myEmitter = new EventEmitter();
myEmitter.on('event', () => {});
myEmitter.on('event', () => {});
console.log(listenerCount(myEmitter, 'event'));
// Prints: 2
The emitter to query
The event name
v0.9.12
Since v3.2.0 - Use listenerCount instead.
Static mapStatic onconst { on, EventEmitter } = require('events');
(async () => {
const ee = new EventEmitter();
// Emit later on
process.nextTick(() => {
ee.emit('foo', 'bar');
ee.emit('foo', 42);
});
for await (const event of on(ee, 'foo')) {
// The execution of this inner block is synchronous and it
// processes one event at a time (even with await). Do not use
// if concurrent execution is required.
console.log(event); // prints ['bar'] [42]
}
// Unreachable here
})();
Returns an AsyncIterator that iterates eventName events. It will throw
if the EventEmitter emits 'error'. It removes all listeners when
exiting the loop. The value returned by each iteration is an array
composed of the emitted event arguments.
An AbortSignal can be used to cancel waiting on events:
const { on, EventEmitter } = require('events');
const ac = new AbortController();
(async () => {
const ee = new EventEmitter();
// Emit later on
process.nextTick(() => {
ee.emit('foo', 'bar');
ee.emit('foo', 42);
});
for await (const event of on(ee, 'foo', { signal: ac.signal })) {
// The execution of this inner block is synchronous and it
// processes one event at a time (even with await). Do not use
// if concurrent execution is required.
console.log(event); // prints ['bar'] [42]
}
// Unreachable here
})();
process.nextTick(() => ac.abort());
The name of the event being listened for
Optional options: StaticEventEmitterOptionsthat iterates eventName events emitted by the emitter
v13.6.0, v12.16.0
Static onceCreates a Promise that is fulfilled when the EventEmitter emits the given
event or that is rejected if the EventEmitter emits 'error' while waiting.
The Promise will resolve with an array of all the arguments emitted to the
given event.
This method is intentionally generic and works with the web platform EventTarget interface, which has no special'error' event
semantics and does not listen to the 'error' event.
const { once, EventEmitter } = require('events');
async function run() {
const ee = new EventEmitter();
process.nextTick(() => {
ee.emit('myevent', 42);
});
const [value] = await once(ee, 'myevent');
console.log(value);
const err = new Error('kaboom');
process.nextTick(() => {
ee.emit('error', err);
});
try {
await once(ee, 'myevent');
} catch (err) {
console.log('error happened', err);
}
}
run();
The special handling of the 'error' event is only used when events.once()is used to wait for another event. If events.once() is used to wait for the
'error' event itself, then it is treated as any other kind of event without
special handling:
const { EventEmitter, once } = require('events');
const ee = new EventEmitter();
once(ee, 'error')
.then(([err]) => console.log('ok', err.message))
.catch((err) => console.log('error', err.message));
ee.emit('error', new Error('boom'));
// Prints: ok boom
An AbortSignal can be used to cancel waiting for the event:
const { EventEmitter, once } = require('events');
const ee = new EventEmitter();
const ac = new AbortController();
async function foo(emitter, event, signal) {
try {
await once(emitter, event, { signal });
console.log('event emitted!');
} catch (error) {
if (error.name === 'AbortError') {
console.error('Waiting for the event was canceled!');
} else {
console.error('There was an error', error.message);
}
}
}
foo(ee, 'foo', ac.signal);
ac.abort(); // Abort waiting for the event
ee.emit('foo'); // Prints: Waiting for the event was canceled!
Optional options: StaticEventEmitterOptionsv11.13.0, v10.16.0
Optional options: StaticEventEmitterOptionsStatic recordStatic setconst {
setMaxListeners,
EventEmitter
} = require('events');
const target = new EventTarget();
const emitter = new EventEmitter();
setMaxListeners(5, target, emitter);
Optional n: numberA non-negative number. The maximum number of listeners per EventTarget event.
Rest ...eventTargets: (EventEmitter<DefaultEventMap> | _DOMEventTarget)[]v15.4.0
Static to
RecordStream.Parsable