Browser and Node.js

MineRender provides browser and Node.js package entries. Both expose the shared API, but Node support does not include DOM-free Renderer construction or a render-to-buffer API.

Package imports

Import from minerender to let the package's export conditions select the environment. Browser bundlers select the browser build; Node selects the Node build. Each entry registers its environment provider before loading the shared API.

Use named imports with ESM:

import { AssetKey, Models } from "minerender";

CommonJS is also supported:

const { AssetKey, Models } = require("minerender");

If your tool needs an explicit entry, use minerender/browser or minerender/node. Keep the entry consistent with the runtime; importing the browser entry in Node does not supply a DOM or WebGL context.

The script-tag build is dist/bundle.js, exposed by the package as minerender/bundle. It provides the browser global MineRender and includes three.js. Consumers of the ESM and CommonJS builds need the package's three.js peer dependency.

Platform requirements

The supported environments have these requirements:

Environment	Requirements
Browser	Fetch, AbortSignal.any(), and AbortSignal.timeout(). Interactive rendering also requires a DOM and WebGL.
Node.js	Node.js 22 or later, plus a working native canvas installation. The Node entry imports canvas, even when the API you plan to call does not render an image.

canvas is an optional package dependency so browser-only installs can omit its native build. It is required when importing the Node entry.

Capability boundaries

Use the environment that supports the operation:

Operation	Browser	Node.js
Asset fetching, model processing, and NBT parsing	Supported	Supported with the Node entry
Image decoding and 2D texture preparation	Browser canvas and images	Native canvas
Interactive Renderer, controls, inspector, and DOM displays	Supported	Requires a browser environment; the Node provider does not supply one
ZIP resource packs	BrowserArchiveProxy	No Node-specific archive proxy is provided
glTF and GLB export	Supported through SceneExporter	Requires browser canvas and FileReader

Renderer.toImage() returns a data URL from its browser canvas. It does not provide a Node Buffer result. Importing the Node build makes the shared APIs available; it does not make every exported class usable without a browser.

Environment providers

EnvProvider defines canvas creation, image creation, image-size probing, and persistent-cache access. BrowserEnv and NodeEnv implement those capabilities for their respective entries. You do not need to register either provider manually when importing the package.

Use Env to register a custom provider only when embedding MineRender in another host. The provider interface does not inject a WebGL context, implement the DOM, or replace the renderer's animation loop.

Node processes can exit when MineRender is idle without calling shutdown(). For final application cleanup, see ownership and cleanup.