Effective nodejs version management for the busy developer

I highly recommend setting up nodejs with a version manager, nvm was and still is a popular option, however, I now recommend and have been using fnm, a simpler and faster alternative to manage my nodejs versions.

Install a nodejs version manager: FNM with automatic version switching

To install fnm, follow the installation steps.

I highly recommend installing the autocompletion, if using zshrc, add this in your ~/.zshrc:

# if fnm is installed, add to path and load autocomplete
if [ -d ~/.fnm ]; then
  path+=~/.fnm
  # setup env and allow for automatic node version change when directories contains `.node-version` or `.nvmrc`
  eval "$(fnm env --shell=zsh --use-on-cd)"
  # shell completion
  source <(fnm completions --shell zsh) > /dev/null 2>&1
  compdef _fnm fnm
  compdump
fi

Restart your shell to take those changes into account: exec $SHELL -l

Use a nodejs version

Then you can easily install and switch node versions:

node -v
# install a version
fnm install lts/iron
# switch to version
fnm use lts/iron
# you can switch to a set version by number as well (eg. v20.9.0)
node -v

Project setup to promote the correct nodejs version

When using node in a project, I recommend:

• Setting up a .nvmrc file at the root of your project to declare the used nodejs version:

lts/iron

• Using the same version in your runtime, CI, for example with docker:

FROM node:iron-alpine

• In your project package.json, I recommend using the engines field to declare the nodejs version:

{
    "engines": {
        "node": ">=20",
        "pnpm": ">=8"
    }
}

as well as using engine-strict in your .npmrc file:

engine-strict=true

Another option is using a preinstall hook for pnpm.

Bonus using pnpm as a package manager

I also recommend using pnpm as a package manager, it’s faster and more efficient than npm or yarn with great capabilities concerning monorepo setup. On recent nodejs versions (v16.13+), you can install it easily with:

corepack enable && corepack prepare pnpm@latest --activate

use engines to enforce usage of pnpm or a preinstall hook:

{
    "engines": {
        "pnpm": ">=8"
    }
}

or

{
  scripts: {
    "preinstall": "npx only-allow pnpm",
  }
}