Node-RED: How to require Node.js native modules

This documentation is part of the Getting started guide. View the full guide here: How to get started with Node-RED.

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In Node-RED functions, trying to require a Node.js native module directly results in the error ReferenceError: require is not defined. This is because Node-RED does not allow you to require a Node.js module directly inside a function.

To resolve this, these modules have been integrated into the Node-RED global context. You can access them using context.global.

For example, if you need the crypto module, declare it like this:

const { crypto } = context.global;

The following Node.js modules are available: util, buffer, child_process, crypto, fs, os, http, http2, https, and zlib.