Temporal.Duration.prototype.valueOf()

Limited availability

This feature is not Baseline because it does not work in some of the most widely-used browsers.

The valueOf() method of Temporal.Duration instances throws a TypeError, which prevents Temporal.Duration instances from being implicitly converted to primitives when used in arithmetic or comparison operations.

Syntax

js
valueOf()

Parameters

None.

Return value

None.

Exceptions

TypeError

Always thrown.

Description

Because both primitive conversion and number conversion call valueOf() before toString(), if valueOf() is absent, then an expression like duration1 > duration2 would implicitly compare them as strings, which may have unexpected results such as "PT3S" > "PT1M". By throwing a TypeError, Temporal.Duration instances prevent such implicit conversions. You need to explicitly convert them to numbers using Temporal.Duration.prototype.total(), or use the Temporal.Duration.compare() static method to compare them.

Examples

Arithmetic and comparison operations on Temporal.Duration

All arithmetic and comparison operations on Temporal.Duration instances should use the dedicated methods or convert them to primitives explicitly.

js
const duration1 = Temporal.Duration.from({ seconds: 3 });
const duration2 = Temporal.Duration.from({ minutes: 1 });
duration1 > duration2; // TypeError: can't convert Duration to primitive type
duration1.total("seconds") > duration2.total("seconds"); // false
Temporal.Duration.compare(duration1, duration2); // -1

duration1 + duration2; // TypeError: can't convert Duration to primitive type
duration1.total("seconds") + duration2.total("seconds"); // 63
duration1.add(duration2).toString(); // "PT1M3S"

Specifications

Specification
Temporal
# sec-temporal.duration.prototype.valueof

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile server
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
Bun
Deno
Node.js
valueOf
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 144 (Release date: 2026-01-13)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 144 (Release date: 2026-01-21)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 139 (Release date: 2025-05-27)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 128 (Release date: 2026-02-26)
footnote Full support
Safari – Preview support
Safari TP
footnote
footnote See bug 223166
footnote Preview browser support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 144 (Release date: 2026-01-13)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 139 (Release date: 2025-05-27)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 95 (Release date: 2026-02-11)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – No support
Safari on iOS
footnote No support
Samsung Internet – No support
Samsung Internet
footnote No support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 144 (Release date: 2026-01-13)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support
Bun – No support
Bun
footnote No support
Deno – Full support
Deno 2.7 (Release date: 2026-02-25)
footnote Full support
Node.js – No support
Node.js
footnote No support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
In development. Supported in a pre-release version.
In development. Supported in a pre-release version.
No support
No support
See implementation notes.

See also