@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ pnpm bench:cli --suite startup --startup-reps 31
 ## Suites
 
 - **`startup`** - cold `nuxi --version`, `--help`, and unknown-command time. Catches anything pulled onto the module graph of the fast paths.
-- **`modules`** - how many modules each target loads for those same commands, via `bench/lib/module-hook.mjs`. A count rather than a time, so it is stable across machines and is the better regression guard of the two.
+- **`modules`** - how many modules (and Node.js built-ins) each target loads for those same commands, via `bench/lib/module-hook.mjs`. A count rather than a time, so it is stable across machines and is the better regression guard of the two.
 - **`panel`** - time from spawn to the first painted `nuxt dev` frame, and until a keypress at that frame is answered.
 - **`dev`** - time from spawn to the dev server answering a request.
 - **`restart`** - time to serve again after a `nuxt.config.ts` edit, plus a no-op edit case to check that ignored changes stay ignored.
 
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import module from 'node:module'
 import process from 'node:process'
 
 const loaded = new Map()
+const bootBuiltins = new Set(process.moduleLoadList)
 
 module.registerHooks({
   load(url, context, nextLoad) {
@@ -25,5 +26,6 @@ process.on('exit', () => {
     }
   }
   // `_rawDebug` writes straight to fd 2 and cannot be intercepted by the CLI's own logging
-  process._rawDebug(`__BENCH_MODULES__${JSON.stringify({ modules: loaded.size, nodeModules, bytes })}`)
+  const builtins = process.moduleLoadList.filter(entry => entry.startsWith('NativeModule ') && !bootBuiltins.has(entry)).length
+  process._rawDebug(`__BENCH_MODULES__${JSON.stringify({ modules: loaded.size, nodeModules, bytes, builtins })}`)
 })
@@ -149,7 +149,10 @@ for (const [caseId, label] of STARTUP_CASES) {
   const baseline = moduleResults?.find(r => r.case === caseId && r.target === 'baseline')
   const head = moduleResults?.find(r => r.case === caseId && r.target === 'head')
   if (baseline && head) {
-    headlineRows.push([`${label} modules loaded`, String(baseline.modules), String(head.modules), formatDelta(baseline.modules, head.modules)])
+    headlineRows.push(
+      [`${label} modules loaded`, String(baseline.modules), String(head.modules), formatDelta(baseline.modules, head.modules)],
+      [`${label} built-ins loaded`, String(baseline.builtins), String(head.builtins), formatDelta(baseline.builtins, head.builtins)],
+    )
   }
 }
 if (footprintResults) {
 
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ export interface ModuleCount {
   modules: number
   nodeModules: number
   bytes: number
+  /** Node.js built-ins loaded after bootstrap, internals included. */
+  builtins: number
 }
 
 export async function modulesSuite(targets: Target[], cwd: string): Promise<{ results: ModuleCount[], markdown: string }> {
@@ -36,7 +38,7 @@ export async function modulesSuite(targets: Target[], cwd: string): Promise<{ re
       if (!match) {
         throw new Error(`no module stats for ${target.id} ${testCase.id}:\n${result.stderr.slice(-2000)}`)
       }
-      const parsed = JSON.parse(match[1]!) as { modules: number, nodeModules: number, bytes: number }
+      const parsed = JSON.parse(match[1]!) as { modules: number, nodeModules: number, bytes: number, builtins: number }
       const entry = { case: testCase.id, target: target.id, ...parsed }
       results.push(entry)
       perTarget.push(entry)
@@ -50,14 +52,17 @@ export async function modulesSuite(targets: Target[], cwd: string): Promise<{ re
       formatBytes(baseline!.bytes),
       formatBytes(head!.bytes),
       formatDelta(baseline!.bytes, head!.bytes),
+      String(baseline!.builtins),
+      String(head!.builtins),
+      formatDelta(baseline!.builtins, head!.builtins),
     ])
   }
 
   const markdown = [
-    'Counted with a `module.registerHooks` load hook, compile cache disabled. Counts every JS module actually evaluated on that code path (built-ins excluded, native addons excluded).',
+    'Counted with a `module.registerHooks` load hook, compile cache disabled. Counts every JS module actually evaluated on that code path (native addons excluded). Built-ins loaded after bootstrap are counted separately, including the internal modules they load.',
     '',
     markdownTable(
-      ['Command', `${shortLabel(targets[0]!)} modules`, `${shortLabel(targets[1]!)} modules`, 'Delta', `${shortLabel(targets[0]!)} source bytes`, `${shortLabel(targets[1]!)} source bytes`, 'Delta'],
+      ['Command', `${shortLabel(targets[0]!)} modules`, `${shortLabel(targets[1]!)} modules`, 'Delta', `${shortLabel(targets[0]!)} source bytes`, `${shortLabel(targets[1]!)} source bytes`, 'Delta', `${shortLabel(targets[0]!)} built-ins`, `${shortLabel(targets[1]!)} built-ins`, 'Delta'],
       rows,
     ),
   ].join('\n')
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
`@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import module from 'node:module'`
`2`	`2`	`import process from 'node:process'`
`3`	`3`
`4`	`4`	`const loaded = new Map()`
	`5`	`+const bootBuiltins = new Set(process.moduleLoadList)`
`5`	`6`
`6`	`7`	`module.registerHooks({`
`7`	`8`	`load(url, context, nextLoad) {`
`@@ -25,5 +26,6 @@ process.on('exit', () => {`
`25`	`26`	`}`
`26`	`27`	`}`
`27`	`28`	// `_rawDebug` writes straight to fd 2 and cannot be intercepted by the CLI's own logging
`28`		- process._rawDebug(`__BENCH_MODULES__${JSON.stringify({ modules: loaded.size, nodeModules, bytes })}`)
	`29`	`+ const builtins = process.moduleLoadList.filter(entry => entry.startsWith('NativeModule ') && !bootBuiltins.has(entry)).length`
	`30`	+ process._rawDebug(`__BENCH_MODULES__${JSON.stringify({ modules: loaded.size, nodeModules, bytes, builtins })}`)
`29`	`31`	`})`
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
`@@ -149,7 +149,10 @@ for (const [caseId, label] of STARTUP_CASES) {`
`149`	`149`	`const baseline = moduleResults?.find(r => r.case === caseId && r.target === 'baseline')`
`150`	`150`	`const head = moduleResults?.find(r => r.case === caseId && r.target === 'head')`
`151`	`151`	`if (baseline && head) {`
`152`		- headlineRows.push([`${label} modules loaded`, String(baseline.modules), String(head.modules), formatDelta(baseline.modules, head.modules)])
	`152`	`+ headlineRows.push(`
	`153`	+ [`${label} modules loaded`, String(baseline.modules), String(head.modules), formatDelta(baseline.modules, head.modules)],
	`154`	+ [`${label} built-ins loaded`, String(baseline.builtins), String(head.builtins), formatDelta(baseline.builtins, head.builtins)],
	`155`	`+ )`
`153`	`156`	`}`
`154`	`157`	`}`
`155`	`158`	`if (footprintResults) {`