Worker threads

The node:worker_threads module enables the use of threads that execute JavaScript in parallel. To access it:

import worker from 'node:worker_threads';

Workers (threads) are useful for performing CPU-intensive JavaScript operations. They do not help much with I/O-intensive work. The Node.js built-in asynchronous I/O operations are more efficient than Workers can be.

Unlike child_process or cluster, worker_threads can share memory. They do so by transferring ArrayBuffer instances or sharing SharedArrayBuffer instances.

import {
  Worker,
  isMainThread,
  parentPort,
  workerData,
} from 'node:worker_threads';

if (!isMainThread) {
  const { parse } = await import('some-js-parsing-library');
  const script = workerData;
  parentPort.postMessage(parse(script));
}

export default function parseJSAsync(script) {
  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
    const worker = new Worker(new URL(import.meta.url), {
      workerData: script,
    });
    worker.on('message', resolve);
    worker.on('error', reject);
    worker.on('exit', (code) => {
      if (code !== 0)
        reject(new Error(`Worker stopped with exit code ${code}`));
    });
  });
};

The above example spawns a Worker thread for each parseJSAsync() call. In practice, use a pool of Workers for these kinds of tasks. Otherwise, the overhead of creating Workers would likely exceed their benefit.

When implementing a worker pool, use the AsyncResource API to inform diagnostic tools (e.g. to provide asynchronous stack traces) about the correlation between tasks and their outcomes. See "Using AsyncResource for a Worker thread pool" in the async_hooks documentation for an example implementation.

Worker threads inherit non-process-specific options by default. Refer to Worker constructor options to know how to customize worker thread options, specifically argv and execArgv options.

worker.getEnvironmentData(key): any

Within a worker thread, worker.getEnvironmentData() returns a clone of data passed to the spawning thread's worker.setEnvironmentData(). Every new Worker receives its own copy of the environment data automatically.

import {
  Worker,
  isMainThread,
  setEnvironmentData,
  getEnvironmentData,
} from 'node:worker_threads';

if (isMainThread) {
  setEnvironmentData('Hello', 'World!');
  const worker = new Worker(new URL(import.meta.url));
} else {
  console.log(getEnvironmentData('Hello'));  // Prints 'World!'.
}

Is true if this code is running inside of an internal Worker thread (e.g the loader thread).

node --experimental-loader ./loader.js main.js

Is true if this code is not running inside of a Worker thread.

import { Worker, isMainThread } from 'node:worker_threads';

if (isMainThread) {
  // This re-loads the current file inside a Worker instance.
  new Worker(new URL(import.meta.url));
} else {
  console.log('Inside Worker!');
  console.log(isMainThread);  // Prints 'false'.
}

worker.markAsUntransferable(object)

Mark an object as not transferable. If object occurs in the transfer list of a port.postMessage() call, an error is thrown. This is a no-op if object is a primitive value.

In particular, this makes sense for objects that can be cloned, rather than transferred, and which are used by other objects on the sending side. For example, Node.js marks the ArrayBuffers it uses for its Buffer pool with this.

This operation cannot be undone.

import { MessageChannel, markAsUntransferable } from 'node:worker_threads';

const pooledBuffer = new ArrayBuffer(8);
const typedArray1 = new Uint8Array(pooledBuffer);
const typedArray2 = new Float64Array(pooledBuffer);

markAsUntransferable(pooledBuffer);

const { port1 } = new MessageChannel();
try {
  // This will throw an error, because pooledBuffer is not transferable.
  port1.postMessage(typedArray1, [ typedArray1.buffer ]);
} catch (error) {
  // error.name === 'DataCloneError'
}

// The following line prints the contents of typedArray1 -- it still owns
// its memory and has not been transferred. Without
// `markAsUntransferable()`, this would print an empty Uint8Array and the
// postMessage call would have succeeded.
// typedArray2 is intact as well.
console.log(typedArray1);
console.log(typedArray2);

There is no equivalent to this API in browsers.

worker.isMarkedAsUntransferable(object): boolean

Check if an object is marked as not transferable with markAsUntransferable().

import { markAsUntransferable, isMarkedAsUntransferable } from 'node:worker_threads';

const pooledBuffer = new ArrayBuffer(8);
markAsUntransferable(pooledBuffer);

isMarkedAsUntransferable(pooledBuffer);  // Returns true.

There is no equivalent to this API in browsers.

worker.markAsUncloneable(object)

Mark an object as not cloneable. If object is used as message in a port.postMessage() call, an error is thrown. This is a no-op if object is a primitive value.

This has no effect on ArrayBuffer, or any Buffer like objects.

This operation cannot be undone.

import { markAsUncloneable } from 'node:worker_threads';

const anyObject = { foo: 'bar' };
markAsUncloneable(anyObject);
const { port1 } = new MessageChannel();
try {
  // This will throw an error, because anyObject is not cloneable.
  port1.postMessage(anyObject);
} catch (error) {
  // error.name === 'DataCloneError'
}

There is no equivalent to this API in browsers.

worker.moveMessagePortToContext(port, contextifiedSandbox): MessagePort

Transfer a MessagePort to a different vm Context. The original port object is rendered unusable, and the returned MessagePort instance takes its place.

The returned MessagePort is an object in the target context and inherits from its global Object class. Objects passed to the port.onmessage() listener are also created in the target context and inherit from its global Object class.

However, the created MessagePort no longer inherits from <EventTarget>, and only port.onmessage() can be used to receive events using it.

If this thread is a Worker, this is a MessagePort allowing communication with the parent thread. Messages sent using parentPort.postMessage() are available in the parent thread using worker.on('message'), and messages sent from the parent thread using worker.postMessage() are available in this thread using parentPort.on('message').

import { Worker, isMainThread, parentPort } from 'node:worker_threads';

if (isMainThread) {
  const worker = new Worker(new URL(import.meta.url));
  worker.once('message', (message) => {
    console.log(message);  // Prints 'Hello, world!'.
  });
  worker.postMessage('Hello, world!');
} else {
  // When a message from the parent thread is received, send it back:
  parentPort.once('message', (message) => {
    parentPort.postMessage(message);
  });
}

worker.postMessageToThread(threadId, value, transferList?, timeout?): Promise

Sends a value to another worker, identified by its thread ID.

If the target thread has no listener for the workerMessage event, then the operation will throw a ERR_WORKER_MESSAGING_FAILED error.

If the target thread threw an error while processing the workerMessage event, then the operation will throw a ERR_WORKER_MESSAGING_ERRORED error.

This method should be used when the target thread is not the direct parent or child of the current thread. If the two threads are parent-children, use the require('node:worker_threads').parentPort.postMessage() and the worker.postMessage() to let the threads communicate.

The example below shows the use of of postMessageToThread: it creates 10 nested threads, the last one will try to communicate with the main thread.

import process from 'node:process';
import {
  postMessageToThread,
  threadId,
  workerData,
  Worker,
} from 'node:worker_threads';

const channel = new BroadcastChannel('sync');
const level = workerData?.level ?? 0;

if (level < 10) {
  const worker = new Worker(new URL(import.meta.url), {
    workerData: { level: level + 1 },
  });
}

if (level === 0) {
  process.on('workerMessage', (value, source) => {
    console.log(`${source} -> ${threadId}:`, value);
    postMessageToThread(source, { message: 'pong' });
  });
} else if (level === 10) {
  process.on('workerMessage', (value, source) => {
    console.log(`${source} -> ${threadId}:`, value);
    channel.postMessage('done');
    channel.close();
  });

  await postMessageToThread(0, { message: 'ping' });
}

channel.onmessage = channel.close;

worker.receiveMessageOnPort(port): Object|undefined

Receive a single message from a given MessagePort. If no message is available, undefined is returned, otherwise an object with a single message property that contains the message payload, corresponding to the oldest message in the MessagePort's queue.

import { MessageChannel, receiveMessageOnPort } from 'node:worker_threads';
const { port1, port2 } = new MessageChannel();
port1.postMessage({ hello: 'world' });

console.log(receiveMessageOnPort(port2));
// Prints: { message: { hello: 'world' } }
console.log(receiveMessageOnPort(port2));
// Prints: undefined

When this function is used, no 'message' event is emitted and the onmessage listener is not invoked.

Provides the set of JS engine resource constraints inside this Worker thread. If the resourceLimits option was passed to the Worker constructor, this matches its values.

If this is used in the main thread, its value is an empty object.

A special value that can be passed as the env option of the Worker constructor, to indicate that the current thread and the Worker thread should share read and write access to the same set of environment variables.

import process from 'node:process';
import { Worker, SHARE_ENV } from 'node:worker_threads';
new Worker('process.env.SET_IN_WORKER = "foo"', { eval: true, env: SHARE_ENV })
  .on('exit', () => {
    console.log(process.env.SET_IN_WORKER);  // Prints 'foo'.
  });

worker.setEnvironmentData(key, value?)

The worker.setEnvironmentData() API sets the content of worker.getEnvironmentData() in the current thread and all new Worker instances spawned from the current context.

An integer identifier for the current thread. On the corresponding worker object (if there is any), it is available as worker.threadId. This value is unique for each Worker instance inside a single process.

An arbitrary JavaScript value that contains a clone of the data passed to this thread's Worker constructor.

The data is cloned as if using postMessage(), according to the HTML structured clone algorithm.

import { Worker, isMainThread, workerData } from 'node:worker_threads';

if (isMainThread) {
  const worker = new Worker(new URL(import.meta.url), { workerData: 'Hello, world!' });
} else {
  console.log(workerData);  // Prints 'Hello, world!'.
}

• {LockManager}

An instance of a LockManager that can be used to coordinate access to resources that may be shared across multiple threads within the same process. The API mirrors the semantics of the browser LockManager

The Lock interface provides information about a lock that has been granted via locks.request()

The name of the lock.

The mode of the lock. Either shared or exclusive.

The LockManager interface provides methods for requesting and introspecting locks. To obtain a LockManager instance use

import { locks } from 'node:worker_threads';

This implementation matches the browser LockManager API.

locks.request(name, options?, callback): Promise

import { locks } from 'node:worker_threads';

await locks.request('my_resource', async (lock) => {
  // The lock has been acquired.
});
// The lock has been released here.

locks.query(): Promise

Resolves with a LockManagerSnapshot describing the currently held and pending locks for the current process.

import { locks } from 'node:worker_threads';

const snapshot = await locks.query();
for (const lock of snapshot.held) {
  console.log(`held lock: name ${lock.name}, mode ${lock.mode}`);
}
for (const pending of snapshot.pending) {
  console.log(`pending lock: name ${pending.name}, mode ${pending.mode}`);
}

Instances of BroadcastChannel allow asynchronous one-to-many communication with all other BroadcastChannel instances bound to the same channel name.

import {
  isMainThread,
  BroadcastChannel,
  Worker,
} from 'node:worker_threads';

const bc = new BroadcastChannel('hello');

if (isMainThread) {
  let c = 0;
  bc.onmessage = (event) => {
    console.log(event.data);
    if (++c === 10) bc.close();
  };
  for (let n = 0; n < 10; n++)
    new Worker(new URL(import.meta.url));
} else {
  bc.postMessage('hello from every worker');
  bc.close();
}

new BroadcastChannel(name)

broadcastChannel.close()

Closes the BroadcastChannel connection.

broadcastChannel.postMessage(message)

broadcastChannel.ref()

Opposite of unref(). Calling ref() on a previously unref()ed BroadcastChannel does not let the program exit if it's the only active handle left (the default behavior). If the port is ref()ed, calling ref() again has no effect.

broadcastChannel.unref()

Calling unref() on a BroadcastChannel allows the thread to exit if this is the only active handle in the event system. If the BroadcastChannel is already unref()ed calling unref() again has no effect.

Instances of the worker.MessageChannel class represent an asynchronous, two-way communications channel. The MessageChannel has no methods of its own. new MessageChannel() yields an object with port1 and port2 properties, which refer to linked MessagePort instances.

import { MessageChannel } from 'node:worker_threads';

const { port1, port2 } = new MessageChannel();
port1.on('message', (message) => console.log('received', message));
port2.postMessage({ foo: 'bar' });
// Prints: received { foo: 'bar' } from the `port1.on('message')` listener

class MessagePort extends EventTarget

Instances of the worker.MessagePort class represent one end of an asynchronous, two-way communications channel. It can be used to transfer structured data, memory regions and other MessagePorts between different Workers.

This implementation matches browser MessagePorts.

The 'close' event is emitted once either side of the channel has been disconnected.

import { MessageChannel } from 'node:worker_threads';
const { port1, port2 } = new MessageChannel();

// Prints:
//   foobar
//   closed!
port2.on('message', (message) => console.log(message));
port2.on('close', () => console.log('closed!'));

port1.postMessage('foobar');
port1.close();

The 'message' event is emitted for any incoming message, containing the cloned input of port.postMessage().

Listeners on this event receive a clone of the value parameter as passed to postMessage() and no further arguments.

The 'messageerror' event is emitted when deserializing a message failed.

Currently, this event is emitted when there is an error occurring while instantiating the posted JS object on the receiving end. Such situations are rare, but can happen, for instance, when certain Node.js API objects are received in a vm.Context (where Node.js APIs are currently unavailable).

port.close()

Disables further sending of messages on either side of the connection. This method can be called when no further communication will happen over this MessagePort.

The 'close' event is emitted on both MessagePort instances that are part of the channel.

port.postMessage(value, transferList?)

Sends a JavaScript value to the receiving side of this channel. value is transferred in a way which is compatible with the HTML structured clone algorithm.

In particular, the significant differences to JSON are:

• value may contain circular references.
• value may contain instances of builtin JS types such as RegExps, BigInts, Maps, Sets, etc.
• value may contain typed arrays, both using ArrayBuffers and SharedArrayBuffers.
• value may contain WebAssembly.Module instances.
• value may not contain native (C++-backed) objects other than:

  Property	Type	Description
  -	<CryptoKey>	s,
  -	<FileHandle>	s,
  -	<Histogram>	s,
  -	<KeyObject>	s,
  -	<MessagePort>	s,
  -	<net.BlockList>	s,
  -	<net.SocketAddress>	es,
  -	<X509Certificate>	s.

import { MessageChannel } from 'node:worker_threads';
const { port1, port2 } = new MessageChannel();

port1.on('message', (message) => console.log(message));

const circularData = {};
circularData.foo = circularData;
// Prints: { foo: [Circular] }
port2.postMessage(circularData);

transferList may be a list of <ArrayBuffer>, MessagePort, and FileHandle objects. After transferring, they are not usable on the sending side of the channel anymore (even if they are not contained in value). Unlike with child processes, transferring handles such as network sockets is currently not supported.

If value contains <SharedArrayBuffer> instances, those are accessible from either thread. They cannot be listed in transferList.

value may still contain ArrayBuffer instances that are not in transferList; in that case, the underlying memory is copied rather than moved.

import { MessageChannel } from 'node:worker_threads';
const { port1, port2 } = new MessageChannel();

port1.on('message', (message) => console.log(message));

const uint8Array = new Uint8Array([ 1, 2, 3, 4 ]);
// This posts a copy of `uint8Array`:
port2.postMessage(uint8Array);
// This does not copy data, but renders `uint8Array` unusable:
port2.postMessage(uint8Array, [ uint8Array.buffer ]);

// The memory for the `sharedUint8Array` is accessible from both the
// original and the copy received by `.on('message')`:
const sharedUint8Array = new Uint8Array(new SharedArrayBuffer(4));
port2.postMessage(sharedUint8Array);

// This transfers a freshly created message port to the receiver.
// This can be used, for example, to create communication channels between
// multiple `Worker` threads that are children of the same parent thread.
const otherChannel = new MessageChannel();
port2.postMessage({ port: otherChannel.port1 }, [ otherChannel.port1 ]);

The message object is cloned immediately, and can be modified after posting without having side effects.

For more information on the serialization and deserialization mechanisms behind this API, see the serialization API of the node:v8 module.

All <TypedArray> | <Buffer> instances are views over an underlying <ArrayBuffer>. That is, it is the ArrayBuffer that actually stores the raw data while the TypedArray and Buffer objects provide a way of viewing and manipulating the data. It is possible and common for multiple views to be created over the same ArrayBuffer instance. Great care must be taken when using a transfer list to transfer an ArrayBuffer as doing so causes all TypedArray and Buffer instances that share that same ArrayBuffer to become unusable.

const ab = new ArrayBuffer(10);

const u1 = new Uint8Array(ab);
const u2 = new Uint16Array(ab);

console.log(u2.length);  // prints 5

port.postMessage(u1, [u1.buffer]);

console.log(u2.length);  // prints 0

For Buffer instances, specifically, whether the underlying ArrayBuffer can be transferred or cloned depends entirely on how instances were created, which often cannot be reliably determined.

An ArrayBuffer can be marked with markAsUntransferable() to indicate that it should always be cloned and never transferred.

Depending on how a Buffer instance was created, it may or may not own its underlying ArrayBuffer. An ArrayBuffer must not be transferred unless it is known that the Buffer instance owns it. In particular, for Buffers created from the internal Buffer pool (using, for instance Buffer.from() or Buffer.allocUnsafe()), transferring them is not possible and they are always cloned, which sends a copy of the entire Buffer pool. This behavior may come with unintended higher memory usage and possible security concerns.

See Buffer.allocUnsafe() for more details on Buffer pooling.

The ArrayBuffers for Buffer instances created using Buffer.alloc() or Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow() can always be transferred but doing so renders all other existing views of those ArrayBuffers unusable.

Because object cloning uses the HTML structured clone algorithm, non-enumerable properties, property accessors, and object prototypes are not preserved. In particular, <Buffer> objects will be read as plain <Uint8Array>s on the receiving side, and instances of JavaScript classes will be cloned as plain JavaScript objects.

const b = Symbol('b');

class Foo {
  #a = 1;
  constructor() {
    this[b] = 2;
    this.c = 3;
  }

  get d() { return 4; }
}

const { port1, port2 } = new MessageChannel();

port1.onmessage = ({ data }) => console.log(data);

port2.postMessage(new Foo());

// Prints: { c: 3 }

This limitation extends to many built-in objects, such as the global URL object:

const { port1, port2 } = new MessageChannel();

port1.onmessage = ({ data }) => console.log(data);

port2.postMessage(new URL('https://example.org'));

// Prints: { }

port.hasRef(): boolean

If true, the MessagePort object will keep the Node.js event loop active.

port.ref()

Opposite of unref(). Calling ref() on a previously unref()ed port does not let the program exit if it's the only active handle left (the default behavior). If the port is ref()ed, calling ref() again has no effect.

If listeners are attached or removed using .on('message'), the port is ref()ed and unref()ed automatically depending on whether listeners for the event exist.

port.start()

Starts receiving messages on this MessagePort. When using this port as an event emitter, this is called automatically once 'message' listeners are attached.

This method exists for parity with the Web MessagePort API. In Node.js, it is only useful for ignoring messages when no event listener is present. Node.js also diverges in its handling of .onmessage. Setting it automatically calls .start(), but unsetting it lets messages queue up until a new handler is set or the port is discarded.

port.unref()

Calling unref() on a port allows the thread to exit if this is the only active handle in the event system. If the port is already unref()ed calling unref() again has no effect.

If listeners are attached or removed using .on('message'), the port is ref()ed and unref()ed automatically depending on whether listeners for the event exist.

class Worker extends EventEmitter

The Worker class represents an independent JavaScript execution thread. Most Node.js APIs are available inside of it.

Notable differences inside a Worker environment are:

• The process.stdin, process.stdout, and process.stderr streams may be redirected by the parent thread.
• The require('node:worker_threads').isMainThread property is set to false.
• The require('node:worker_threads').parentPort message port is available.
• process.exit() does not stop the whole program, just the single thread, and process.abort() is not available.
• process.chdir() and process methods that set group or user ids are not available.
• process.env is a copy of the parent thread's environment variables, unless otherwise specified. Changes to one copy are not visible in other threads, and are not visible to native add-ons (unless worker.SHARE_ENV is passed as the env option to the Worker constructor). On Windows, unlike the main thread, a copy of the environment variables operates in a case-sensitive manner.
• process.title cannot be modified.
• Signals are not delivered through process.on('...').
• Execution may stop at any point as a result of worker.terminate() being invoked.
• IPC channels from parent processes are not accessible.
• The trace_events module is not supported.
• Native add-ons can only be loaded from multiple threads if they fulfill certain conditions.

Creating Worker instances inside of other Workers is possible.

Like Web Workers and the node:cluster module, two-way communication can be achieved through inter-thread message passing. Internally, a Worker has a built-in pair of MessagePorts that are already associated with each other when the Worker is created. While the MessagePort object on the parent side is not directly exposed, its functionalities are exposed through worker.postMessage() and the worker.on('message') event on the Worker object for the parent thread.

To create custom messaging channels (which is encouraged over using the default global channel because it facilitates separation of concerns), users can create a MessageChannel object on either thread and pass one of the MessagePorts on that MessageChannel to the other thread through a pre-existing channel, such as the global one.

See port.postMessage() for more information on how messages are passed, and what kind of JavaScript values can be successfully transported through the thread barrier.

import assert from 'node:assert';
import {
  Worker, MessageChannel, MessagePort, isMainThread, parentPort,
} from 'node:worker_threads';
if (isMainThread) {
  const worker = new Worker(new URL(import.meta.url));
  const subChannel = new MessageChannel();
  worker.postMessage({ hereIsYourPort: subChannel.port1 }, [subChannel.port1]);
  subChannel.port2.on('message', (value) => {
    console.log('received:', value);
  });
} else {
  parentPort.once('message', (value) => {
    assert(value.hereIsYourPort instanceof MessagePort);
    value.hereIsYourPort.postMessage('the worker is sending this');
    value.hereIsYourPort.close();
  });
}

new Worker(filename, options?)

The 'error' event is emitted if the worker thread throws an uncaught exception. In that case, the worker is terminated.

The 'exit' event is emitted once the worker has stopped. If the worker exited by calling process.exit(), the exitCode parameter is the passed exit code. If the worker was terminated, the exitCode parameter is 1.

This is the final event emitted by any Worker instance.

The 'message' event is emitted when the worker thread has invoked require('node:worker_threads').parentPort.postMessage(). See the port.on('message') event for more details.

All messages sent from the worker thread are emitted before the 'exit' event is emitted on the Worker object.

The 'messageerror' event is emitted when deserializing a message failed.

The 'online' event is emitted when the worker thread has started executing JavaScript code.

worker.getHeapSnapshot(options?): Promise

Returns a readable stream for a V8 snapshot of the current state of the Worker. See v8.getHeapSnapshot() for more details.

If the Worker thread is no longer running, which may occur before the 'exit' event is emitted, the returned Promise is rejected immediately with an ERR_WORKER_NOT_RUNNING error.

worker.getHeapStatistics(): Promise

This method returns a Promise that will resolve to an object identical to v8.getHeapStatistics(), or reject with an ERR_WORKER_NOT_RUNNING error if the worker is no longer running. This methods allows the statistics to be observed from outside the actual thread.

An object that can be used to query performance information from a worker instance. Similar to perf_hooks.performance.

performance.eventLoopUtilization(utilization1?, utilization2?): Object

The same call as perf_hooks eventLoopUtilization(), except the values of the worker instance are returned.

One difference is that, unlike the main thread, bootstrapping within a worker is done within the event loop. So the event loop utilization is immediately available once the worker's script begins execution.

An idle time that does not increase does not indicate that the worker is stuck in bootstrap. The following examples shows how the worker's entire lifetime never accumulates any idle time, but is still be able to process messages.

import { Worker, isMainThread, parentPort } from 'node:worker_threads';

if (isMainThread) {
  const worker = new Worker(new URL(import.meta.url));
  setInterval(() => {
    worker.postMessage('hi');
    console.log(worker.performance.eventLoopUtilization());
  }, 100).unref();
} else {
  parentPort.on('message', () => console.log('msg')).unref();
  (function r(n) {
    if (--n < 0) return;
    const t = Date.now();
    while (Date.now() - t < 300);
    setImmediate(r, n);
  })(10);
}

The event loop utilization of a worker is available only after the 'online' event emitted, and if called before this, or after the 'exit' event, then all properties have the value of 0.

worker.postMessage(value, transferList?)

Send a message to the worker that is received via require('node:worker_threads').parentPort.on('message'). See port.postMessage() for more details.

worker.ref()

Opposite of unref(), calling ref() on a previously unref()ed worker does not let the program exit if it's the only active handle left (the default behavior). If the worker is ref()ed, calling ref() again has no effect.

Provides the set of JS engine resource constraints for this Worker thread. If the resourceLimits option was passed to the Worker constructor, this matches its values.

If the worker has stopped, the return value is an empty object.

This is a readable stream which contains data written to process.stderr inside the worker thread. If stderr: true was not passed to the Worker constructor, then data is piped to the parent thread's process.stderr stream.

If stdin: true was passed to the Worker constructor, this is a writable stream. The data written to this stream will be made available in the worker thread as process.stdin.

This is a readable stream which contains data written to process.stdout inside the worker thread. If stdout: true was not passed to the Worker constructor, then data is piped to the parent thread's process.stdout stream.

worker.terminate(): Promise

Stop all JavaScript execution in the worker thread as soon as possible. Returns a Promise for the exit code that is fulfilled when the 'exit' event is emitted.

An integer identifier for the referenced thread. Inside the worker thread, it is available as require('node:worker_threads').threadId. This value is unique for each Worker instance inside a single process.

worker.unref()

Calling unref() on a worker allows the thread to exit if this is the only active handle in the event system. If the worker is already unref()ed calling unref() again has no effect.

worker[Symbol.asyncDispose]()

Calls worker.terminate() when the dispose scope is exited.

async function example() {
  await using worker = new Worker('for (;;) {}', { eval: true });
  // Worker is automatically terminate when the scope is exited.
}

Workers utilize message passing via <MessagePort> to implement interactions with stdio. This means that stdio output originating from a Worker can get blocked by synchronous code on the receiving end that is blocking the Node.js event loop.

import {
  Worker,
  isMainThread,
} from 'node:worker_threads';

if (isMainThread) {
  new Worker(new URL(import.meta.url));
  for (let n = 0; n < 1e10; n++) {
    // Looping to simulate work.
  }
} else {
  // This output will be blocked by the for loop in the main thread.
  console.log('foo');
}

Take care when launching worker threads from preload scripts (scripts loaded and run using the -r command line flag). Unless the execArgv option is explicitly set, new Worker threads automatically inherit the command line flags from the running process and will preload the same preload scripts as the main thread. If the preload script unconditionally launches a worker thread, every thread spawned will spawn another until the application crashes.