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scriptc/docs/content/limitations/console-and-process-streams.mdx
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Malte UblandClaude Opus 5.5 bd06b809f1 Answer drain probes and drain listeners on the process streams (W1)
Under the synchronous output model nothing is ever queued: Node emits
'drain' only after a write() returned false, and these writes never
return false. The process streams therefore describe a stream whose
writes complete synchronously, and the members a flush idiom probes are
constants:

- writableHighWaterMark is 65536 (Node's default for a pipe, a file and
  a TTY);
- writableNeedDrain is false;
- writableLength stays 0.

`on`/`once`/`addListener`/`off`/`removeListener`/`prependListener`/
`prependOnceListener` of "drain" evaluate their receiver and listener and
register nothing: the event cannot fire, and the listener table is not
observable (listenerCount/listeners/eventNames on the process streams
stay refused).

`events.once(process.stdout | process.stderr, "drain")` lowers to
`events.pendingForever`, a fresh promise that never settles, which is
Node's behavior for a stream no write asked to drain; it holds no loop
handle, so a program awaiting it still exits.

The fallback declarations gain writableHighWaterMark, writableNeedDrain
and the event methods, so typed programs can ask.

Corpus: `tests/corpus/process-stream-drain.ts`; the diagnostics fixture
`process-stream-listener-count.ts` pins that reading the listener table
stays refused.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-10-29 05:37:57 -07:00

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`console.log`, `info`, and `debug` write to stdout; `error` and `warn` write to stderr.
They accept `unknown`, printing strings verbatim and other values through native `util.inspect`.
Direct calls support global `console` and `node:console` imports.
Console output, `util.format`, and `util.formatWithOptions` with a format string known only at run time, spread arguments, or an options object format their arguments at run time.
There, `%s` of a function or of a class instance whose class defines `toString` and `%o` of an object throw `SC2020`.
`util.inspect` with `colors`, with option values known only at run time, or in the `inspect(value, showHidden, depth, colors)` form renders the value's untyped view in the runtime with Node's styles.
Colored output of errors, promises, regular expressions, `DataView`, `ArrayBuffer`, weak collections, iterators, and other native objects throws `SC2020`.
Inspect options other than `depth`, `colors`, `customInspect`, `compact` (a number or `false`), `breakLength`, and `sorted` (a boolean) throw `SC2020` when they are set to a value other than Node's default.
`util.inspect` calls `[util.inspect.custom]` methods of classes and objects with Node's depth, options, and `util.inspect` arguments, and `console.dir` and `customInspect: false` skip them.
A class instance with such a method that is held as an untyped value throws `SC2020` when it is inspected, and a class whose subclasses declare the method without declaring it itself is refused.
Stored global console values and detached output methods retain identity and accept ordinary arguments.
Stored methods do not support format specifiers with substitution arguments.
Other stored console APIs, custom `Console` instances, and console mutation are unsupported.
JavaScript and TypeScript can store `process.stdin`, `stdout`, and `stderr`, replace output `write` methods, and call saved methods with their stream receiver.
A replaced `write` method does not receive console's error-callback argument.
Input supports data/end/error listeners, pause/resume, buffered reads, and TTY raw mode.
Output writes are synchronous, with successful callbacks on the next-tick queue; queued backpressure is not modeled.
Because no write is ever queued, `writableLength` is 0, `writableNeedDrain` is false, `writableHighWaterMark` is 65536, and `'drain'` never fires, so drain listeners register silently and `events.once(process.stdout, "drain")` stays pending, as it does in Node when no write returned false.
Stored streams do not support piping, encoding changes, arbitrary properties, or other events.
A TypeScript `NodeJS.WritableStream` parameter that only receives `process.stdout` or `process.stderr` supports `write(string)`.
When other streams flow into the same parameter, the process streams join them as `Writable` instances with the full writable surface.