Managing Node and NPM Versions in Our Projects: Best Practices for Developers

Managing Node and NPM versions across multiple projects can be challenging, but utilizing Node Version Manager (NVM) and other strategic practices can streamline the process. Encouraging engineers to use NVM allows seamless switching between Node versions, ensuring compatibility for each project's dependencies. The "engines" block in package.json helps enforce required versions, while setting engine-strict=true in .npmrc prevents installation of incompatible versions. For CI environments, GitHub Actions can be configured to use .nvmrc and a custom .npm-version file to maintain consistent Node and NPM versions. This method not only aligns development and CI environments but also provides a clear, documented process for version management, enhancing project stability and compatibility.