JSPM – node-version-use@2.1.11

Package Exports

node-version-use
node-version-use/package.json

Readme

node-version-use

Cross-platform solution for using multiple versions of Node.js. Useful for compatibility testing and transparent version switching.

Installation

npm install -g node-version-use

On install, nvu automatically downloads platform-specific binaries to ~/.nvu/bin/. To enable transparent Node version switching, add to your shell profile:

# For bash (~/.bashrc) or zsh (~/.zshrc):
export PATH="$HOME/.nvu/bin:$PATH"

# For fish (~/.config/fish/config.fish):
set -gx PATH $HOME/.nvu/bin $PATH

Quick Start

# Set a global default Node version
nvu default 20

# Or set a project-specific version (creates .nvmrc)
nvu local 18

# Now 'node' and 'npm' use the configured version automatically
node --version  # v20.x.x (or v18.x.x in project directory)

Commands

Version Management

# Set global default version
nvu default 20

# Set local version for current directory (creates .nvmrc)
nvu local 18

# Install a Node version
nvu install 22

# Uninstall a Node version
nvu uninstall 22

# List installed versions
nvu list

# Show which version would be used
nvu which

Binary Management

# Install/reinstall binaries
nvu setup

# Remove binaries
nvu teardown

Run Commands with Specific Versions

# Run with a specific version
nvu 14.4.0 npm run test

# Run with highest matching major version
nvu 12 npm run test

# Run with LTS version
nvu lts npm run test

# Run with multiple versions (comma-delimited)
nvu 0.8,4,8,14 npm run test

# Run with version expression
nvu >=0.8 node --version

# Use engines.node from package.json
nvu engines node --version

How It Works

nvu uses lightweight binaries that intercept node, npm, and npx commands. When you run node, the binary:

Checks for .nvurc in current/parent directories
Checks for .nvmrc in current/parent directories
Falls back to ~/.nvu/default
Executes the matching installed Node version

This works in all contexts: terminals, IDEs, CI, scripts - without shell integration.

Version Resolution

The binary resolves partial versions to installed versions:

20 matches v20.19.6
18.19 matches v18.19.0
v22 matches v22.0.0

JavaScript API

const nvu = require('node-version-use');

// Run with callback
nvu('>=0.8', 'node', ['--version'], { versions: '12', stdio: 'inherit' }, (err, results) => {
  // results is an array per-version of form {version, error, result}
});

// Run with async/await
const results = await nvu('engines', 'node', ['--version'], { stdio: 'inherit' });

Uninstalling

# Remove binaries
nvu teardown

# Optionally remove all nvu data
rm -rf ~/.nvu

Then remove the PATH line from your shell profile.

Compatibility

macOS (arm64, x64)
Linux (arm64, x64)
Windows (arm64, x64)

Compatible with .nvmrc files from nvm, fnm, and other version managers.