Announcing the end of support for Node.js 18.x in AWS CDK

On November 30th, 2025, the AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) will no longer support Node.js 18.x, which reached end of life on April 30, 2025. This change applies to all AWS CDK components that depend on Node.js, including the AWS CDK CLI, the Construct Library, and broader CDK ecosystem projects such as JSII, Projen, and CDK8s.

We encourage you to upgrade to a Node.js Active Long Term Support (LTS) version, which is Node.js 22.x as of July 6, 2025. Given that Node.js 18.x is past end of life, we recommend migrating your CDK projects to newer Node.js LTS versions as soon as possible.

Why are we doing this?

Node.js 18.x reached its End of Life support on April 30, 2025, per the Node.js Release Schedule. This means the Node.js community no longer provides bug fixes or security updates for this version. By dropping support for end-of-life versions, we ensure that AWS CDK users benefit from the latest security patches, performance improvements, and modern Node.js capabilities. This approach aligns with AWS’s commitment to security best practices and our standard policy of supporting only actively maintained runtime versions.

What’s changing?

Starting December 1, 2025, AWS CDK will officially end support for Node.js 18.x. While your existing CDK deployments may continue to function, we will no longer address issues, provide bug fixes, or offer technical support for problems that occur specifically with Node.js 18.x. Any support cases or bug reports related to Node.js 18.x will require reproduction on a supported Node.js version (20.x or 22.x as of June 2025) before we can assist.

Key points

Moving forward, projects that remain on Node.js 18.x will gradually lose access to new AWS CDK capabilities as we develop features using modern Node.js APIs that are not available in older versions. This creates a growing compatibility gap that will make it increasingly challenging to leverage CDK innovations and improvements. The security implications are equally concerning, as any vulnerabilities discovered in the unsupported Node.js 18.x runtime will not receive patches or workarounds from our development team, potentially exposing your infrastructure to known security risks.

The challenges extend throughout the development lifecycle. Without regular compatibility testing against Node.js 18.x, we cannot ensure reliable CDK behavior, and you may encounter unexpected issues in production environments. When problems do arise, our support team will need to reproduce any reported issues on supported Node.js versions before providing assistance, which could delay resolution during critical incidents. Additionally, the broader CDK ecosystem, including third-party libraries and tools your projects depend on, will likely follow similar deprecation schedules, creating compounding compatibility challenges that become more difficult to resolve over time.

Timeline

We’re announcing this change in July 2025, to provide you with a five-month transition period before support officially ends on November 30th, 2025. During this transition window, our team will continue to address issues that arise with Node.js 18.x, giving you time to plan, test, and execute your upgrade strategy without immediate pressure. This period is designed to help you thoroughly validate your CDK projects against newer Node.js versions and ensure smooth deployments in your production environment.

Beginning December 1st, 2025, AWS CDK will officially discontinue support for Node.js 18.x across all components and ecosystem projects. From this point forward, all bug fixes, security patches, and new feature development will target only supported Node.js versions, currently 20.x and 22.x as of June 2025. We strongly recommend using this transition period to migrate to Node.js 22.x, the current Active Long Term Support version, which will provide the longest runway for future compatibility as the Node.js release cycle continues.

Version validation and update steps

Begin your migration by checking which Node.js version you’re currently running across all environments where you deploy CDK projects. Run `node -v` in your local development environment, CI/CD pipelines, and any automated deployment systems to get a complete picture of your current setup.

Once you’ve identified all instances of Node.js 18.x, update your runtime to a supported version using either a version manager like nvm or by downloading the official installer from nodejs.org. We recommend upgrading directly to Node.js 22.x since it’s the current Active Long Term Support version and will provide the longest compatibility runway. After updating your runtime, thoroughly test your CDK projects in non-production environments to ensure your deployment scripts and third-party dependencies work correctly with the new version. Pay particular attention to any custom constructs or complex deployment workflows that may be sensitive to changes in Node.js versions.

Finally, establish a process for staying current with future Node.js releases by bookmarking the AWS CDK Node.js Version Support Timeline, which provides up-to-date information on runtime compatibility and upcoming deprecations. This proactive approach will help you anticipate future changes and plan your upgrade strategies well in advance, avoiding the pressure of last-minute migrations when support windows close.

Conclusion

This deprecation is part of our ongoing commitment to provide a secure, high-quality experience for AWS CDK users. By migrating to a Node.js Active Long Term Support (LTS) version, you will benefit from enhanced performance, ongoing security updates, and continued AWS CDK advancements. If you have any questions or concerns about this deprecation, please reach out and open an issue in our GitHub repo.