Chakra (JavaScript engine)
Open-source JavaScript engine developed by Microsoft
title: "Chakra (JavaScript engine)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["javascript-engines", "microsoft-free-software", "free-software-programmed-in-c++", "software-using-the-mit-license"] description: "Open-source JavaScript engine developed by Microsoft" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakra_(JavaScript_engine)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Open-source JavaScript engine developed by Microsoft ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox software"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Chakra |
| developer | Microsoft |
| latest release version | 1.11.24 |
| latest release date | |
| programming language | C++ |
| operating system | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| platform | IA-32, x86-64, ARM, ARM64 |
| genre | JavaScript engine |
| license | MIT License |
| :: |
::callout[type=note] the JavaScript engine used in Microsoft Edge Legacy. For the engine of Internet Explorer, see Chakra (JScript engine) ::
| name = Chakra | logo = | screenshot = | caption = | developer = Microsoft | latest release version = 1.11.24 | latest release date = | size = | programming language = C++ | operating system = Windows, macOS, Linux | platform = IA-32, x86-64, ARM, ARM64 | genre = JavaScript engine | license = MIT License | website = Chakra was a free and open-source JavaScript engine developed by Microsoft for its Microsoft Edge Legacy web browser. It is a fork of the same-named JScript engine used in Internet Explorer. As with the EdgeHTML browser engine, the declared intention was that it would reflect the "Living Web". The core components of Chakra were open-sourced as ChakraCore. In 2021, Microsoft terminated support for the engine, citing its transition to a Chromium-based engine for Edge. Support has been transferred to the community, where it remains inactive.
Standards support
Chakra supports ECMAScript 5.1 with partial support for ECMAScript 2015.
Open sourcing
Following an initial announcement on December 5, 2015, Microsoft open sourced the Chakra engine as ChakraCore, including all the key components of the JavaScript engine powering Microsoft Edge [Legacy] on their GitHub page under the MIT License on January 13, 2016. ChakraCore is essentially the same as the Chakra engine that powers the Microsoft Edge Legacy browser, but with platform-agnostic bindings, i.e., without the specific interfaces utilized within the Universal Windows App platform.
Microsoft has also created a project on GitHub that allows Node.js to use ChakraCore as its JavaScript engine instead of V8.
References
References
- "Releases · microsoft/ChakraCore · GitHub".
- "Targeting Edge vs. Legacy Engines in JsRT APIs".
- "org/Release 1.12 plan.md at master · chakra-core/org".
- (June 2019). "Microsoft Edge Platform Status". Microsoft.com.
- (2015-12-05). "Microsoft Edge's JavaScript engine to go open-source". [[Microsoft]].
- [https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-open-sources-its-edge-web-browser-javascript-engine-and-plans-to-port-it-to-linux/ Microsoft open sources Edge web browser's JavaScript engine, plans port to Linux] on [[zdnet.com]] by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols (on January 13, 2016)
- [https://github.com/Microsoft/ChakraCore ChakraCore] on [[github.com]]
- [https://github.com/Microsoft/node Node.js enabled for ChakraCore] on github.com
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::