Async cheatsheet
Pending promises can become either…
value: Fulfilled with a value, or…error: Rejected with an error.outcome: Either way, they are settled with an outcome.
Combining promises
Use all() to turn an array of promises into a promise to an array.
Promise.all([value1, value2, value3]) -> [value1, value2, value3]
If any promise is rejected, the error will be passed through.
Promise.all([?, ?, error]) -> error
Use race() instead to pass through the first settled promise.
Promise.race([?, ?, value]) -> value
Use allSettled() (ES2020) when you want every outcome — it never rejects, and resolves to an array of { status, value } / { status, reason } objects.
Promise.allSettled([value, error]) -> [
{ status: 'fulfilled', value },
{ status: 'rejected', reason: error },
]
Use any() (ES2021) to get the first fulfilled promise — it only rejects (with an AggregateError) if every promise rejects.
Promise.any([error, value]) -> value
Promise.withResolvers() (ES2024) gives you a promise plus its resolve/reject functions without the constructor callback dance.
const { promise, resolve, reject } = Promise.withResolvers()
Promise.try() (ES2025) wraps a function that might return a value, a promise, or throw synchronously — either way you get a promise back.
Promise.try(() => maybeAsyncMaybeThrows())
Combining promises
promise.then(onFulfilled, onRejected)
Calls onFulfilled once the promise is fulfilled.
value.then(value => nextValue, ...) -> nextValue
value.then(value => outcome, ...) -> outcome
value.then(value => throw error, ...) -> error
Calls onRejected if the promise is rejected.
error.then(..., error => value) -> value
error.then(..., error => outcome) -> outcome
error.then(..., error => throw nextError) -> nextError
Passes errors through if onRejected is undefined.
error.then(...) -> error
promise.catch( onRejected )
Behaves identically to then when onFulfilled is omitted.
error.catch(onRejected) <=> error.then(..., onRejected)
Passes fulfilled values through.
value.catch(...) -> value
promise.finally( onFinally )
Calls onFinally with no arguments once any outcome is available. Passes through input promise.
outcome.finally(() => ...) -> outcome
The onFulfilled, onRejected and onFinally functions will not be executed until at least the next tick, even for promises that already have an outcome.
Making promises
The function passed to new Promise will be executed synchronously.
new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
doImportantStuff((error, value) => {
if (error) {
reject(error)
} else {
resolve(value)
}
})
})
Use resolve() or reject() to create promises from values.
Promise.resolve(value) -> value
Promise.reject(error) -> error
If you put a fulfilled promise into a fulfilled promise, they’ll collapse into one.
Promise.resolve(value) -> value
Sometimes you might not need reject, or might not resolve to a value.
function delay(milliseconds) {
return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, milliseconds))
}
async/await
Calling an async function always results in a promise.
(async () => value)() -> value
(async () => outcome)() -> outcome
(async () => throw error)() -> error
await waits for a promise to be fulfilled, then returns its value.
async function() {
try {
let value = await outcome
// ...
}
catch (error) {
// ...
}
}
You can pass non-promise values to await
const fn = async () => {
let value = await value
// ...
}
await may only be used within async functions.
await will wait until at least the next tick before returning, even when awaiting already-fulfilled promises or non-promise values.