Node 26: What Breaks When You Upgrade, and When the Jump Is Worth It (LTS Guide)

Node 26 was released on May 5, 2026, and will become LTS on October 28. It is the last release under the two-versions-per-year scheme: starting with Node 27, the project moves to one release per year, and all versions will be LTS. Major breakages: internal _stream_* modules removed, Undici 8 tightened header validation, native addons require rebuild (NODE_MODULE_VERSION 147, GCC 13.2+).

• Node 26 is LTS from October 28, 2026, supported until April 30, 2029
• From Node 27: one release per year, all versions LTS, odd versions canceled
• Modules _stream_readable and others removed — old dependencies will break
• Native addons require rebuild: NODE_MODULE_VERSION 147, GCC 13.2+