How Can I Specify the Required node.js Version in package.json?

Better Stack Team
Updated on April 4, 2024

You can specify the required Node.js version in the engines field of your package.json file. This field is used to specify the runtime that your project requires. Here's an example:

 
{
  "name": "your-project",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "engines": {
    "node": ">=12.0.0"
  },
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node index.js"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    // Your dependencies here
  }
}

In this example:

  • The engines field specifies that the project requires Node.js version 12.0.0 or newer.
  • The scripts field includes a simple "start" script that runs your application with Node.js (node index.js in this case).

You can adjust the version range based on your project's requirements. The version range specification follows the Semantic Versioning (SemVer) rules.

  • >=12.0.0 means "12.0.0 or newer."
  • ^12.0.0 means "compatible with version 12.0.0 and allows updates that do not include breaking changes."
  • ~12.0.0 means "compatible with version 12.0.0 and allows only patch updates."

Choose the appropriate version range based on your project's compatibility requirements. Once you've specified the required Node.js version, tools like NPM and Yarn will use this information to warn users if they attempt to install or run your project with an incompatible Node.js version.

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