import-fresh

import-fresh

Import a module while bypassing the cache

Useful for testing purposes when you need to freshly import a module.

Requirements

• Node.js 22.15 or later (uses module loader hooks)

Install

npm install import-fresh

Usage

// foo.js
let count = 0;
export default function increment() {
	count += 1;
	return count;
}

import createImportFresh from 'import-fresh';

const importFresh = createImportFresh(import.meta.url);
const {default: increment} = await importFresh('./foo.js');

increment();
//=> 1

increment();
//=> 2

const {default: freshIncrement} = await importFresh('./foo.js');

freshIncrement();
//=> 1

API

createImportFresh(parentURL, options?)

Returns an importFresh function bound to parentURL.

parentURL must be a valid hierarchical URL string (for example import.meta.url) or a URL instance.

options

Type: object

The options are process-global. Every call in the same process must use the same skipNodeModules value.

skipNodeModules

Type: boolean
Default: false

When true, modules inside node_modules directories are not cache-busted. This means that dependencies from npm packages will share state across fresh imports, which can be useful when you only want to freshly import your own code.

importFresh(moduleSpecifier, options?)

The function returned by createImportFresh.

options

Type: object

importAttributes

Type: object

Import attributes passed to import(). Each value must be a string. JSON modules are automatically imported with {type: 'json'} when the specifier ends with .json.

Caveat

Intended for development usage only. Repeated calls grow the ESM module cache because each call uses a unique cache-busting URL. This is an unavoidable “memory leak” and not considered a vulnerability.

Related

• clear-module - Clear a module from the import cache
• import-from - Import a module from a given path
• import-cwd - Import a module from the current working directory
• import-lazy - Import modules lazily

Similar packages

Other packages similar to import-fresh

proxyquire

Proxyquire is a package that allows you to override dependencies during testing. It provides a way to stub out modules similar to import-fresh, but with an emphasis on mocking for testing purposes.

decache

Decache is a package that lets you delete modules from the require cache. It is similar to import-fresh in that it allows for modules to be re-required as if they were never cached, but it does not provide a direct method to re-import a module.

clear-require

Clear-require is a package that clears a module from the require cache. It is similar to import-fresh, but instead of re-importing the module, it simply clears it from the cache, requiring an additional call to 'require' to reload the module.