Ant is a new JavaScript runtime built from scratch on its own engine called Ant Silver — not a wrapper around V8, JSC, or SpiderMonkey. It ships as a single 9.1 MB binary, runs npm packages and TypeScript natively without a build step, and claims near-V8 performance with a 5.4 ms cold start. Key features include a VM-isolated sandbox using KVM/Hypervisor.framework for running untrusted code, built-in Wasm support, a Node-compatible API, WinterTC conformance, and a package installer claimed to be up to 40x faster than npm. It also ships with its own package registry at ants.land that speaks the npm protocol.
Table of contents
By the numbersCold startInstall packages, fastFrom zero to a serverTypeScript, no build stepRun code you don’t trustA registry for the ecosystemInstall1.9K Impressions