Node.js Best Practices

Use the bundled guidance to make a Node.js change or review specific, safe, and proportionate. Treat reference/README.md and the files it links as the authoritative practice catalog; do not reproduce or invent a parallel checklist.

Workflow

1. Establish the task boundary: inspect the affected code, configuration, tests, deployment files, and any repository instructions. Identify the runtime surface involved (HTTP, workers, CLI, data access, containers, CI, or npm publishing).

2. Select the relevant practice areas in Practice map, then locate their entries in reference/README.md. Read the entry's TL;DR and “Otherwise” consequence before deciding on a change or finding.

3. Follow that entry's local Read More link when the recommendation affects an implementation decision, its trade-offs are unclear, or an example is needed. Those linked files under reference/sections/ are the detailed reference. Prefer their local examples and assets over remembered advice.

4. Apply the guidance to the actual codebase. Preserve its established framework, package manager, and conventions unless the task calls for changing them. Treat library names in the catalog as examples: verify compatibility with the project's Node version and dependencies before adding one.

5. Validate in proportion to the change: run the project's relevant checks, exercise changed error paths and boundaries, and inspect generated/container configuration when applicable.

6. Finish only when every practice area relevant to the affected runtime surface has been considered, every material recommendation is either implemented or explicitly explained as inapplicable, and the result is supported by code or test evidence.

Practice map