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wtf is es-checker?

ruanyf/es-checker — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-18 · repo last pushed 2019-07-16

1,016JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 1/5DormantSetup · easy

TL;DR

ES-Checker tells you which modern JavaScript features your browser or Node.js environment actually supports, so you can write code that gracefully falls back when needed.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((es-checker))
    What it does
      Detects JS features
      Returns true or false
      Runs test snippets
    Tech stack
      JavaScript
      Node.js
      Browser script
    Use cases
      Check environment support
      Avoid runtime errors
      Feature-detect fallbacks
    Audience
      Library maintainers
      Developers
    Interfaces
      CLI tool
      Node package
      Browser script

Code map

Detail Auto

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filefunction / class

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Check whether the current Node.js version supports a specific modern syntax feature before using it.

REASON 2

Write code that uses modern syntax when available and falls back to an older alternative otherwise.

REASON 3

Run a CLI report to see a full breakdown of what your Node.js environment supports.

REASON 4

Feature-detect JavaScript capabilities in the browser without relying on user-agent sniffing.

What's in the stack?

JavaScriptNode.js

How it stacks up

ruanyf/es-checkerdoorman11991/smallcodechristina-de-martinez/babel-plugin-glowup-vibes
Stars1,0161,009998
LanguageJavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript
Last pushed2019-07-16
MaintenanceDormant
Setup difficultyeasymoderateeasy
Complexity1/53/51/5
Audiencedeveloperdevelopervibe coder

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Wtf does this do

ES-Checker is a tool that tells you which modern JavaScript features your code environment actually supports. Instead of guessing whether your browser or Node.js version can handle a particular piece of syntax, you can ask the library directly and get a yes-or-no answer. The library works by running small test snippets for each JavaScript feature. When you ask "does this environment support arrow functions?" or "can I use the spread operator?", ES-Checker runs a quick internal check and returns true or false. You can then write conditional code that uses the modern syntax if it's available, or falls back to an older alternative if it's not. It covers a wide range of features introduced in recent JavaScript standards, things like let and const declarations, template strings, classes, promises, generators, and many others. You can use ES-Checker in three different ways. If you're building a command-line tool, you can install it globally and run it as a terminal command to see a full report of what your Node.js environment supports. If you're writing Node.js code, you can include it as a package and check specific features in your scripts before using them. Or if you're writing for the browser, you can include a single script file and use the same feature-detection API in your HTML and JavaScript. The main value here is avoiding runtime errors and compatibility headaches. Instead of writing code that breaks in older environments or hoping your tooling properly transpiles everything, you can write code that gracefully adapts to what's available. This is especially useful if you're maintaining libraries or applications that need to run across a range of user environments, or if you're working in Node.js and need to know exactly which version's features you can count on.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Show me how to install es-checker globally and run it to see a full report of my Node.js environment's feature support.
Prompt 2
Help me use es-checker in a Node.js script to check for spread operator support before using it.
Prompt 3
Walk me through including es-checker as a single script file in an HTML page for browser feature detection.
Prompt 4
Explain how es-checker's internal test snippets determine whether a feature like generators is supported.
Prompt 5
Show me how to write fallback code using es-checker's true or false results for template strings support.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is es-checker?

ES-Checker tells you which modern JavaScript features your browser or Node.js environment actually supports, so you can write code that gracefully falls back when needed.

What language is es-checker written in?

Mainly JavaScript. The stack also includes JavaScript, Node.js.

Is es-checker actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2019-07-16).

How hard is es-checker to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is es-checker for?

Mainly developer.

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