What changed in Babel from 7 to 8

v8.0.4 (2026-07-09)

:eyeglasses: Spec Compliance

• babel-parser, babel-plugin-transform-typescript
  • #18120 fix(parser): disallow declare module M {} (@JLHwung)
• babel-generator, babel-parser, babel-plugin-transform-typescript
  • #18100 fix(parser): forbid let x! and let x! = (@JLHwung)

:bug: Bug Fix

• babel-traverse
  • #18122 fix: replaceWith in Visitor#exit should not stop traversal (@liuxingbaoyu)

:house: Internal

• babel-helper-validator-identifier
  • #18084 refactor: Shrink validator identifier size (@JLHwung)

Committers: 4

• Babel Bot (@babel-bot)
• Huáng Jùnliàng (@JLHwung)
• Nicolò Ribaudo (@nicolo-ribaudo)
• @liuxingbaoyu

v8.0.3 (2026-06-27)

:bug: Bug Fix

• babel-core, babel-plugin-syntax-typescript
  • #18089 fix: Remove isTSX from babel-plugin-syntax-typescript types (@liuxingbaoyu)
• babel-standalone
  • #18086 fix: Use runtime: 'classic' in the browser for React (@liuxingbaoyu)

Committers: 2

• Nicolò Ribaudo (@nicolo-ribaudo)
• @liuxingbaoyu

v8.0.2 (2026-06-18)

:bug: Bug Fix

• Other
  • #18083 Use the @babel/core version when asserting version in @babel/standalone (@nicolo-ribaudo)
• babel-helper-validator-identifier
  • #18075 fix(identifier): avoid double escaping slash (@JLHwung)

:house: Internal

• babel-plugin-proposal-decorators, babel-plugin-transform-regenerator, babel-preset-env
  • #18081 Update @babel/preset-modules and polyfill packages (@nicolo-ribaudo)

Committers: 2

• Huáng Jùnliàng (@JLHwung)
• Nicolò Ribaudo (@nicolo-ribaudo)

v8.0.1 (2026-06-17)

This release includes a breaking change that was in the Babel 8 migration guide's Getting ready section and in the release post, but the actual removal of the feature from the codebase was accidentally not complete.

:boom: Breaking Change

• babel-core, babel-plugin-transform-object-rest-spread, babel-plugin-transform-runtime, babel-preset-env, babel-standalone
  • #18079 Actually remove preset-env's useBuiltIns (@nicolo-ribaudo)

Committers: 2

• Huáng Jùnliàng (@JLHwung)
• Nicolò Ribaudo (@nicolo-ribaudo)

v8.0.0 (2026-06-16)

NOTE: The changelog below is relative to v8.0.0-rc.6. You can find a summary of all the breaking changes shipped in the Babel 8 release line in the migration guide for users and migration guide for plugin developers.

Read the release blog post at http://babeljs.io/blog/2026/06/16/8.0.0!

:eyeglasses: Spec Compliance

• babel-core
  • #18039 perf: Only extract source map comments at the end of the file (@liuxingbaoyu)

:boom: Breaking Change

• babel-cli, babel-node, babel-plugin-proposal-decorators, babel-plugin-transform-classes, babel-plugin-transform-function-name, babel-plugin-transform-modules-commonjs, babel-plugin-transform-object-rest-spread, babel-plugin-transform-parameters, babel-plugin-transform-react-constant-elements, babel-plugin-transform-regenerator, babel-preset-env, babel-register
  • #18069 Fallback to assuming ESM support with modules: auto (@nicolo-ribaudo)
• babel-plugin-transform-runtime, babel-runtime-corejs3, babel-runtime
  • #18036 Remove corejs exports for @babe/runtime-corejs3 (@liuxingbaoyu)
• babel-parser
  • #18034 Remove locations: "packed" (@liuxingbaoyu)

:bug: Bug Fix

• babel-generator
  • #18046 fix(generator): improve new callee parens check (@JLHwung)
• babel-plugin-transform-modules-systemjs
  • #18032 fix(systemjs): support proto as an export name (@JLHwung)

:memo: Documentation

• #18070 Add EOL date for Babel 7 (end of June 2027) to SECURITY.md (@nicolo-ribaudo)

:house: Internal

• #18018 ci: enforce yarn integrity (@JLHwung)

:running_woman: Performance

• babel-core
  • #18039 perf: Only extract source map comments at the end of the file (@liuxingbaoyu)

Committers: 6

• Babel Bot (@babel-bot)
• Huáng Jùnliàng (@JLHwung)
• James Garbutt (@43081j)
• Nicolò Ribaudo (@nicolo-ribaudo)
• Sandy Chen (@sandy2008)
• @liuxingbaoyu