process.channel

If the Node.js process was spawned with an IPC channel (see the Child Process documentation), the process.channel property is a reference to the IPC channel. If no IPC channel exists, this property is undefined.

process.channel.ref(): void

This method makes the IPC channel keep the event loop of the process running if .unref() has been called before.

Typically, this is managed through the number of 'disconnect' and 'message' listeners on the process object. However, this method can be used to explicitly request a specific behavior.

process.channel.unref(): void

This method makes the IPC channel not keep the event loop of the process running, and lets it finish even while the channel is open.

Typically, this is managed through the number of 'disconnect' and 'message' listeners on the process object. However, this method can be used to explicitly request a specific behavior.