Nvm Setup

We recommend using nvm (Node Version Manager) to manage and switch Node versions. This is useful if you're developing in multiple repos and/or branches that have different Node version requirements.

Setup steps

First, uninstall your globally-installed version of Node.

The next steps vary by platform.

Windows

1. Install nvm-windows
2. Redo setup for normal development:
   1. Install the latest LTS Node version. Unfortunately with nvm-windows you must manually specify the full version number.
      1. Run nvm list available
      2. Take note of the newest version in the LTS column -- for demo purposes we'll call it x.y.z (you'll need to use the real version number instead)
      3. Install that version: nvm install x.y.z
   2. Reinstall yarn: npm install -g yarn@1
   3. Optional: reinstall any other npm packages you previously had globally installed
3. (Only if developing on an old branch) Install an old Node version for legacy branch development:
   1. Find the full 10.x or 8.x version number to install. One way is to look at the version number in the filenames on this page for 10.x or this page for 8.x. For demo purposes we'll call it x.y.z (you'll need to use the real version number instead).
   2. Install that version: nvm install x.y.z
4. To switch between the Node versions later, run nvm use x.y.z where x.y.z is the full version number.
   • The selected version will remain the default until you select another version.
   • If you forget which versions are installed, run nvm list installed.

Mac/Linux

1. Install nvm
2. Redo setup for normal development:
   1. Install the latest LTS Node version: nvm install lts (or nvm install 14 if you prefer to stay on 14 for now)
   2. Set that version as your default: nvm alias default lts
   3. Reinstall yarn: npm install -g yarn@1
   4. Optional: Reinstall any other packages you previously had globally installed
3. (Only if developing on an old branch) Install an old Node version for legacy branch development: either nvm install 10 or nvm install 8
4. When working in the old branch, run nvm use 10 (or nvm use 8) each time you open a new terminal (or you can temporarily change the default by running nvm alias default 10 then changing it back later)