fix #1466: paths with "node:" prefix are external

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@
 
     Note that these old node versions are [currently in maintenance](https://nodejs.org/en/about/releases/). I recommend upgrading to a modern version of node if run-time performance is important to you.
 
+* Paths starting with `node:` are implicitly external when bundling for node ([#1466](https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/issues/1466))
+
+    This replicates a new node feature where you can [prefix an import path with `node:`](https://nodejs.org/api/esm.html#esm_node_imports) to load a native node module by that name (such as `import fs from "node:fs/promises"`). These paths also [have special behavior](https://nodejs.org/api/modules.html#modules_core_modules):
+
+    > Core modules can also be identified using the `node:` prefix, in which case it bypasses the `require` cache. For instance, `require('node:http')` will always return the built in HTTP module, even if there is `require.cache` entry by that name.
+
+    With this release, esbuild's built-in resolver will now automatically consider all import paths starting with `node:` as external. This new behavior is only active when the current platform is set to node such as with `--platform=node`. If you need to customize this behavior, you can write a plugin to intercept these paths and treat them differently.
+
 ## 0.12.15
 
 * Fix a bug with `var()` in CSS color lowering ([#1421](https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/issues/1421))

internal/bundler/bundler_default_test.go

@@ -2351,6 +2351,23 @@ func TestAutoExternal(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestAutoExternalNode(t *testing.T) {
+	default_suite.expectBundled(t, bundled{
+		files: map[string]string{
+			"/entry.js": `
+				// These URLs should be external automatically
+				import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+			`,
+		},
+		entryPaths: []string{"/entry.js"},
+		options: config.Options{
+			Mode:         config.ModeBundle,
+			AbsOutputDir: "/out",
+			Platform:     config.PlatformNode,
+		},
+	})
+}
+
 func TestExternalWithWildcard(t *testing.T) {
 	default_suite.expectBundled(t, bundled{
 		files: map[string]string{

internal/bundler/snapshots/snapshots_default.txt

@@ -133,6 +133,12 @@ import "https://example.com/code.js";
 import "//example.com/code.js";
 import "data:application/javascript;base64,ZXhwb3J0IGRlZmF1bHQgMTIz";
 
+================================================================================
+TestAutoExternalNode
+---------- /out/entry.js ----------
+// entry.js
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+
 ================================================================================
 TestAvoidTDZ
 ---------- /out.js ----------

internal/resolver/resolver.go

@@ -292,7 +292,10 @@ func (rr *resolver) Resolve(sourceDir string, importPath string, kind ast.Import
 		strings.HasPrefix(importPath, "https://") ||
 
 		// "background: url(//example.com/images/image.png);"
-		strings.HasPrefix(importPath, "//") {
+		strings.HasPrefix(importPath, "//") ||
+
+		// "import fs from 'node:fs'"
+		(r.options.Platform == config.PlatformNode && strings.HasPrefix(importPath, "node:")) {
 
 		if r.debugLogs != nil {
 			r.debugLogs.addNote("Marking this path as implicitly external")