V8

The v8 module exposes APIs that are specific to the version of V8 built into the Node.js binary. It can be accessed using:

const v8 = require('v8');

Note: The APIs and implementation are subject to change at any time.

v8.cachedDataVersionTag()

Returns an integer representing a "version tag" derived from the V8 version, command line flags and detected CPU features. This is useful for determining whether a vm.Script cachedData buffer is compatible with this instance of V8.

v8.getHeapSpaceStatistics()

Returns statistics about the V8 heap spaces, i.e. the segments which make up the V8 heap. Neither the ordering of heap spaces, nor the availability of a heap space can be guaranteed as the statistics are provided via the V8 GetHeapSpaceStatistics function and may change from one V8 version to the next.

The value returned is an array of objects containing the following properties:

• space_name <string>
• space_size <number>
• space_used_size <number>
• space_available_size <number>
• physical_space_size <number>

For example:

[
  {
    "space_name": "new_space",
    "space_size": 2063872,
    "space_used_size": 951112,
    "space_available_size": 80824,
    "physical_space_size": 2063872
  },
  {
    "space_name": "old_space",
    "space_size": 3090560,
    "space_used_size": 2493792,
    "space_available_size": 0,
    "physical_space_size": 3090560
  },
  {
    "space_name": "code_space",
    "space_size": 1260160,
    "space_used_size": 644256,
    "space_available_size": 960,
    "physical_space_size": 1260160
  },
  {
    "space_name": "map_space",
    "space_size": 1094160,
    "space_used_size": 201608,
    "space_available_size": 0,
    "physical_space_size": 1094160
  },
  {
    "space_name": "large_object_space",
    "space_size": 0,
    "space_used_size": 0,
    "space_available_size": 1490980608,
    "physical_space_size": 0
  }
]

v8.getHeapStatistics()

Returns an object with the following properties:

• total_heap_size <number>
• total_heap_size_executable <number>
• total_physical_size <number>
• total_available_size <number>
• used_heap_size <number>
• heap_size_limit <number>
• malloced_memory <number>
• peak_malloced_memory <number>
• does_zap_garbage <number>

does_zap_garbage is a 0/1 boolean, which signifies whether the --zap_code_space option is enabled or not. This makes V8 overwrite heap garbage with a bit pattern. The RSS footprint (resident memory set) gets bigger because it continuously touches all heap pages and that makes them less likely to get swapped out by the operating system.

For example:

{
  total_heap_size: 7326976,
  total_heap_size_executable: 4194304,
  total_physical_size: 7326976,
  total_available_size: 1152656,
  used_heap_size: 3476208,
  heap_size_limit: 1535115264,
  malloced_memory: 16384,
  peak_malloced_memory: 1127496,
  does_zap_garbage: 0
}

v8.setFlagsFromString(string)

The v8.setFlagsFromString() method can be used to programmatically set V8 command line flags. This method should be used with care. Changing settings after the VM has started may result in unpredictable behavior, including crashes and data loss; or it may simply do nothing.

The V8 options available for a version of Node.js may be determined by running node --v8-options. An unofficial, community-maintained list of options and their effects is available here.

Usage:

// Print GC events to stdout for one minute.
const v8 = require('v8');
v8.setFlagsFromString('--trace_gc');
setTimeout(function() { v8.setFlagsFromString('--notrace_gc'); }, 60e3);

Serialization API

The serialization API provides means of serializing JavaScript values in a way that is compatible with the HTML structured clone algorithm. The format is backward-compatible (i.e. safe to store to disk).

Note: This API is under development, and changes (including incompatible changes to the API or wire format) may occur until this warning is removed.

v8.serialize(value)

• Returns: <Buffer>

Uses a DefaultSerializer to serialize value into a buffer.

v8.deserialize(buffer)

• buffer <Buffer> | <Uint8Array> A buffer returned by serialize().

Uses a DefaultDeserializer with default options to read a JS value from a buffer.

class: v8.Serializer

new Serializer()

Creates a new Serializer object.

serializer.writeHeader()

Writes out a header, which includes the serialization format version.

serializer.writeValue(value)

Serializes a JavaScript value and adds the serialized representation to the internal buffer.

This throws an error if value cannot be serialized.

serializer.releaseBuffer()

Returns the stored internal buffer. This serializer should not be used once the buffer is released. Calling this method results in undefined behavior if a previous write has failed.

serializer.transferArrayBuffer(id, arrayBuffer)

Marks an ArrayBuffer as havings its contents transferred out of band. Pass the corresponding ArrayBuffer in the deserializing context to deserializer.transferArrayBuffer().

serializer.writeUint32(value)

Write a raw 32-bit unsigned integer. For use inside of a custom serializer._writeHostObject().

serializer.writeUint64(hi, lo)

Write a raw 64-bit unsigned integer, split into high and low 32-bit parts. For use inside of a custom serializer._writeHostObject().

serializer.writeDouble(value)

Write a JS number value. For use inside of a custom serializer._writeHostObject().

serializer.writeRawBytes(buffer)

Write raw bytes into the serializer’s internal buffer. The deserializer will require a way to compute the length of the buffer. For use inside of a custom serializer._writeHostObject().

serializer._writeHostObject(object)

This method is called to write some kind of host object, i.e. an object created by native C++ bindings. If it is not possible to serialize object, a suitable exception should be thrown.

This method is not present on the Serializer class itself but can be provided by subclasses.

serializer._getDataCloneError(message)

This method is called to generate error objects that will be thrown when an object can not be cloned.

This method defaults to the Error constructor and can be overridden on subclasses.

serializer._getSharedArrayBufferId(sharedArrayBuffer)

This method is called when the serializer is going to serialize a SharedArrayBuffer object. It must return an unsigned 32-bit integer ID for the object, using the same ID if this SharedArrayBuffer has already been serialized. When deserializing, this ID will be passed to deserializer.transferArrayBuffer().

If the object cannot be serialized, an exception should be thrown.

This method is not present on the Serializer class itself but can be provided by subclasses.

serializer._setTreatArrayBufferViewsAsHostObjects(flag)

Indicate whether to treat TypedArray and DataView objects as host objects, i.e. pass them to serializer._writeHostObject().

class: v8.Deserializer

new Deserializer(buffer)

Creates a new Deserializer object.

deserializer.readHeader()

Reads and validates a header (including the format version). May, for example, reject an invalid or unsupported wire format. In that case, an Error is thrown.

deserializer.readValue()

Deserializes a JavaScript value from the buffer and returns it.

deserializer.transferArrayBuffer(id, arrayBuffer)

Marks an ArrayBuffer as havings its contents transferred out of band. Pass the corresponding ArrayBuffer in the serializing context to serializer.transferArrayBuffer() (or return the id from serializer._getSharedArrayBufferId() in the case of SharedArrayBuffers).

deserializer.getWireFormatVersion()

Reads the underlying wire format version. Likely mostly to be useful to legacy code reading old wire format versions. May not be called before .readHeader().

deserializer.readUint32()

Read a raw 32-bit unsigned integer and return it. For use inside of a custom deserializer._readHostObject().

deserializer.readUint64()

Read a raw 64-bit unsigned integer and return it as an array [hi, lo] with two 32-bit unsigned integer entries. For use inside of a custom deserializer._readHostObject().

deserializer.readDouble()

Read a JS number value. For use inside of a custom deserializer._readHostObject().

deserializer.readRawBytes(length)

Read raw bytes from the deserializer’s internal buffer. The length parameter must correspond to the length of the buffer that was passed to serializer.writeRawBytes(). For use inside of a custom deserializer._readHostObject().

deserializer._readHostObject()

This method is called to read some kind of host object, i.e. an object that is created by native C++ bindings. If it is not possible to deserialize the data, a suitable exception should be thrown.

This method is not present on the Deserializer class itself but can be provided by subclasses.

class: v8.DefaultSerializer

A subclass of Serializer that serializes TypedArray (in particular Buffer) and DataView objects as host objects, and only stores the part of their underlying ArrayBuffers that they are referring to.

class: v8.DefaultDeserializer

A subclass of Deserializer corresponding to the format written by DefaultSerializer.