Does JavaScript async Function Implicitly Return a Promise?

The short answer is YES; a return value from an async function always returns a Promise implicitly. It resolves with whatever the async function returns, or rejects with whatever the async function throws. To demonstrate this, let's output the return value of an async function without await:

async function foo() {
    return 'foobar';
}

console.log(foo()); // output: Promise {<fulfilled>: "foobar"}

This is also true when the async function has no return value. In that case, we get a Promise object resolved with undefined. For example:

async function foo() {}

console.log(foo()); // output: Promise {<fulfilled>: undefined}

Similarly, a rejected Promise is implicitly returned when an error is thrown inside an async function. For example:

async function foo() {
    throw new Error('foobar');
}

console.log(foo()); // output: Promise {<rejected>: Error: foobar}

It may also be worth mentioning that returning a Promise explicitly inside an async function won't return a Promise of a Promise but rather a single Promise with resolved/rejected value.

Check out our other post if you want to learn more about different states (and fates) of a JavaScript Promise.