Runtime
Node.js 22 released with a built-in test runner update
Node.js 22 is out, and the most immediately useful change for day-to-day work is a faster, more complete built-in test runner — good enough now that plenty of small-to-medium projects can drop a third-party test framework entirely.
What's new
node --testgained built-in coverage reporting without extra flags or packages- The V8 engine bump brings modest startup and parsing performance improvements
require()can now load native ES modules synchronously in most common cases, removing a longstanding source of interop friction
Why it matters
If your project's test suite is small, this is a reasonable point to try removing Jest or Vitest in favor of the built-in runner — fewer dependencies, no config file, and coverage reporting that previously required a separate package.
The LTS timeline
Node 22 becomes the active LTS release in October; production projects on Node 18 should start planning that upgrade path now rather than waiting for the deadline.
Source: nodejs.org