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wasi

Deno compatibility

All exports are non-functional stubs.

The node:wasi module does not currently provide the comprehensive file system security properties provided by some WASI runtimes. Full support for secure file system sandboxing may or may not be implemented in future. In the mean time, do not rely on it to run untrusted code.

The WASI API provides an implementation of the WebAssembly System Interface specification. WASI gives WebAssembly applications access to the underlying operating system via a collection of POSIX-like functions.

import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
import { WASI } from 'node:wasi';
import { argv, env } from 'node:process';

const wasi = new WASI({
  version: 'preview1',
  args: argv,
  env,
  preopens: {
    '/local': '/some/real/path/that/wasm/can/access',
  },
});

const wasm = await WebAssembly.compile(
  await readFile(new URL('./demo.wasm', import.meta.url)),
);
const instance = await WebAssembly.instantiate(wasm, wasi.getImportObject());

wasi.start(instance);

To run the above example, create a new WebAssembly text format file named demo.wat:

(module
    ;; Import the required fd_write WASI function which will write the given io vectors to stdout
    ;; The function signature for fd_write is:
    ;; (File Descriptor, *iovs, iovs_len, nwritten) -> Returns number of bytes written
    (import "wasi_snapshot_preview1" "fd_write" (func $fd_write (param i32 i32 i32 i32) (result i32)))

    (memory 1)
    (export "memory" (memory 0))

    ;; Write 'hello world\n' to memory at an offset of 8 bytes
    ;; Note the trailing newline which is required for the text to appear
    (data (i32.const 8) "hello world\n")

    (func $main (export "_start")
        ;; Creating a new io vector within linear memory
        (i32.store (i32.const 0) (i32.const 8))  ;; iov.iov_base - This is a pointer to the start of the 'hello world\n' string
        (i32.store (i32.const 4) (i32.const 12))  ;; iov.iov_len - The length of the 'hello world\n' string

        (call $fd_write
            (i32.const 1) ;; file_descriptor - 1 for stdout
            (i32.const 0) ;; *iovs - The pointer to the iov array, which is stored at memory location 0
            (i32.const 1) ;; iovs_len - We're printing 1 string stored in an iov - so one.
            (i32.const 20) ;; nwritten - A place in memory to store the number of bytes written
        )
        drop ;; Discard the number of bytes written from the top of the stack
    )
)

Use wabt to compile .wat to .wasm

wat2wasm demo.wat

Usage in Deno

import * as mod from "node:wasi";

Classes


class WASI

Usage in Deno

import { WASI } from "node:wasi";

Deno compatibility

This symbol is a non-functional stub.

The WASI class provides the WASI system call API and additional convenience methods for working with WASI-based applications. Each WASI instance represents a distinct environment.

Constructors #

#WASI(options?: WASIOptions)
new

Properties #

#wasiImport: Dict<any>
readonly

wasiImport is an object that implements the WASI system call API. This object should be passed as the wasi_snapshot_preview1 import during the instantiation of a WebAssembly.Instance.

Methods #

#getImportObject(): object

Return an import object that can be passed to WebAssembly.instantiate() if no other WASM imports are needed beyond those provided by WASI.

If version unstable was passed into the constructor it will return:

{ wasi_unstable: wasi.wasiImport }

If version preview1 was passed into the constructor or no version was specified it will return:

{ wasi_snapshot_preview1: wasi.wasiImport }
#initialize(instance: object): void

Attempt to initialize instance as a WASI reactor by invoking its _initialize() export, if it is present. If instance contains a _start() export, then an exception is thrown.

initialize() requires that instance exports a WebAssembly.Memory named memory. If instance does not have a memory export an exception is thrown.

If initialize() is called more than once, an exception is thrown.

#start(instance: object): number

Attempt to begin execution of instance as a WASI command by invoking its _start() export. If instance does not contain a _start() export, or if instance contains an _initialize() export, then an exception is thrown.

start() requires that instance exports a WebAssembly.Memory named memory. If instance does not have a memory export an exception is thrown.

If start() is called more than once, an exception is thrown.


interface WASIOptions

Usage in Deno

import { type WASIOptions } from "node:wasi";

Deno compatibility

This symbol is a non-functional stub.

Properties #

#args: string[] | undefined
optional

An array of strings that the WebAssembly application will see as command line arguments. The first argument is the virtual path to the WASI command itself.

#env: object | undefined
optional

An object similar to process.env that the WebAssembly application will see as its environment.

#preopens: Dict<string> | undefined
optional

This object represents the WebAssembly application's sandbox directory structure. The string keys of preopens are treated as directories within the sandbox. The corresponding values in preopens are the real paths to those directories on the host machine.

#returnOnExit: boolean | undefined
optional

By default, when WASI applications call __wasi_proc_exit() wasi.start() will return with the exit code specified rather than terminatng the process. Setting this option to false will cause the Node.js process to exit with the specified exit code instead.

#stdin: number | undefined
optional

The file descriptor used as standard input in the WebAssembly application.

#stdout: number | undefined
optional

The file descriptor used as standard output in the WebAssembly application.

#stderr: number | undefined
optional

The file descriptor used as standard error in the WebAssembly application.

#version: "unstable" | "preview1"

The version of WASI requested. Currently the only supported versions are 'unstable' and 'preview1'. This option is mandatory.


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