[Feature]: use nvm for node manager

[maifeeulasad]

Problem

right now in our scripts we are checking node version and npm version and if they exists or not. but if we handle it with nvm, we can it with more details.

Proposal

take a look here: https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm

willing to work on this one

Alternatives considered

No response

Impact

No response

[jeffreyliimerch]

Thanks for raising this. The underlying goal makes sense: contributors should have one clear Node version target and an easier setup path.

That said, we’re not planning to adopt nvm as a required project dependency.

A few reasons:

• We already standardize on Node 22 in CI.
• Since this issue was opened, the bootstrap installer now provisions managed Node 22/npm automatically when they are missing or too old, so the main setup pain point is already covered.
• Official nvm is shell-sourced rather than a normal standalone binary, which makes it awkward to rely on inside repo scripts and non-interactive bootstrap flows.
• Official nvm also is not the right native-Windows story, which matters for a cross-platform repo.

So the use nvm as the manager proposal is not the direction we want, but there is still a smaller improvement here: adding a root .nvmrc and/or declaring the Node version more explicitly in package metadata so people who already use nvm get a smoother experience.

If you want to work on this, I’d be open to a narrower PR along these lines instead:

• add a root .nvmrc pinned to Node 22
• add or tighten engines.node where it makes sense
• update install docs to say nvm is optional for contributors who already use it, but not required

If you want, we can repurpose this issue around that narrower scope.

[wakqasahmed]

Picking this up per @jeffreyliimerch's narrower scope above: root .nvmrc pinned to the current managed Node version, tightening engines.node where it's missing/loose, and updating install docs to note nvm is optional. It's been a couple months since the original reporter said they'd take it with no follow-up PR, so opening a PR against this scope now — happy to defer if they're still actively working on it.