# @nodenv/node-build > A tool to download, compile, and install Node on Unix-like systems. Latest version **5.4.53** (published 2026-09-09) · MIT license · 0 weekly downloads ## Install ```sh npm install @nodenv/node-build pnpm add @nodenv/node-build yarn add @nodenv/node-build bun add @nodenv/node-build ``` Provides the commands `node-build`, `nodenv-install`, `nodenv-uninstall`. ## Health **Score 60/100 (C)** — status: active. Positive: no vulnerabilities; has provenance; recently updated; high maintenance score. Warnings: low downloads; no types; no esm support. ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Version | 5.4.53 | | Published | 2026-09-09 | | First published | 2018-11-13 | | Weekly downloads | 0 | | License | MIT | | TypeScript types | none | | Module format | CommonJS | | Dependencies | 0 | | Unpacked size | 1.2 MB | | Known vulnerabilities | 0 | | Install scripts | no | | Provenance | attested (GitHub Actions) | | GitHub stars | 295 | | Maintainers | jasonkarns, nodenv-bot | ## Links - npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@nodenv/node-build - Repository: https://github.com/nodenv/node-build - Homepage: https://github.com/nodenv/node-build#readme - Issues: https://github.com/nodenv/node-build/issues - npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/@nodenv/node-build ## Recent versions - 5.4.53 (latest) — 2026-09-09 - 5.4.52 — 2026-09-09 - 5.4.51 — 2026-08-27 - 5.4.50 — 2026-08-27 - 5.4.49 — 2026-08-05 - 5.4.48 — 2026-08-03 - 5.4.47 — 2026-07-30 - 5.4.46 — 2026-07-29 - 5.4.45 — 2026-07-08 - 5.4.44 — 2026-06-25 - 5.4.43 — 2026-06-22 - 5.4.42 — 2026-06-10 - 5.4.41 — 2026-06-10 - 5.4.40 — 2026-06-10 - 5.4.39 — 2026-05-21 - … 261 more at https://npm.io/package/@nodenv/node-build/versions ## README # node-build Download, compile, and install Node on Unix-like systems. [![Tests](https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/nodenv/node-build/test.yml?label=tests&logo=github)](https://github.com/nodenv/node-build/actions/workflows/test.yml) [![Latest GitHub Release](https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/nodenv/node-build?label=github&logo=github&sort=semver)](https://github.com/nodenv/node-build/releases/latest) [![Latest Homebrew Release](https://img.shields.io/homebrew/v/node-build?logo=homebrew&logoColor=white)](https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/node-build) [![Latest npm Release](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/@nodenv/node-build?logo=npm&logoColor=white)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@nodenv/node-build/v/latest) node-build is a command-line tool that simplifies installation of any Node version from source or precompiled binary on Unix-like systems. It is available as a plugin for [nodenv][] as the `nodenv install` command, or as a standalone program as the `node-build` command. - [Installation](#installation) * [Upgrading](#upgrading) + [Updating available build versions](#updating-available-build-versions) - [Usage](#usage) * [Basic Usage](#basic-usage) * [Advanced Usage](#advanced-usage) + [Binaries](#binaries) + [Custom Build Definitions](#custom-build-definitions) + [Custom Build Configuration](#custom-build-configuration) + [Applying Patches](#applying-patches) + [Checksum Verification](#checksum-verification) + [Package Mirrors](#package-mirrors) + [Keeping the build directory after installation](#keeping-the-build-directory-after-installation) + [Retry installation without v/node-/node-v prefix](#retry-installation-without-vnode-node-v-prefix) - [Getting Help](#getting-help) - [Credits](#credits) ## Installation ### Homebrew package manager ```sh brew install node-build ``` Upgrade with: ```sh brew upgrade node-build ``` ### Clone as nodenv plugin using git ```sh git clone https://github.com/nodenv/node-build.git "$(nodenv root)"/plugins/node-build ``` Upgrade with: ```sh git -C "$(nodenv root)"/plugins/node-build pull ``` ### Install manually as a standalone program First, download a tarball from https://github.com/nodenv/node-build/releases/latest. Then: ```sh tar -xzf node-build-*.tar.gz PREFIX=/usr/local ./node-build-*/install.sh ``` ## Usage ### Basic Usage ```sh # As a nodenv plugin $ nodenv install --list # lists all available versions of Node $ nodenv install 10.13.0 # installs Node 10.13.0 to ~/.nodenv/versions # As a standalone program $ node-build --definitions # lists all available versions of Node $ node-build 10.13.0 ~/local/node-10.13.0 # installs Node 10.13.0 to ~/local/node-10.13.0 ``` > **Warning** > node-build mostly does not verify that system dependencies are present before downloading and attempting to compile Node from source. Please ensure that [all requisite libraries][build-env] such as build tools and development headers are already present on your system. Firstly, if a precompiled binary exists for your platform, node-build downloads and installs it. Otherwise it will build node from source. Basically, what node-build does when installing a Node version is this: - Downloads an official tarball of Node source code; - Extracts the archive into a temporary directory on your system; - Executes `./configure --prefix=/path/to/destination` in the source code; - Runs `make install` to compile Node; - Verifies that the installed Node is functional. ### Advanced Usage #### Binaries By default, node-build will attempt to match one of the precompiled binaries to your platform. If there is a binary for your platform, it will install it instead of compiling from source. To force compilation, pass the `-c` or `--compile` flag. #### Custom Build Definitions To install a version of Node that is not recognized by node-build, you can specify the path to a custom build definition file in place of a Node version number. Check out [default build definitions][definitions] as examples on how to write definition files. ##### Generating Latest-Release Build Definitions Additionally, check out the [node-build-update-defs][] plugin. It generates the standard build definitions for releases available from nodejs.org. This allows you to install node versions as soon as they are available from nodejs.org, without waiting for node-build itself to provide them. Once installed: ``` shell nodenv update-version-defs ``` #### Custom Build Configuration The build process may be configured through the following environment variables: | Variable | Function | | ------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `TMPDIR` | Where temporary files are stored. | | `NODE_BUILD_BUILD_PATH` | Where sources are downloaded and built. (Default: a timestamped subdirectory of `TMPDIR`) | | `NODE_BUILD_CACHE_PATH` | Where to cache downloaded package files. (Default: `~/.nodenv/cache` if invoked as nodenv plugin) | | `NODE_BUILD_HTTP_CLIENT` | One of `aria2c`, `curl`, or `wget` to use for downloading. (Default: first one found in PATH) | | `NODE_BUILD_ARIA2_OPTS` | Additional options to pass to `aria2c` for downloading. | | `NODE_BUILD_CURL_OPTS` | Additional options to pass to `curl` for downloading. | | `NODE_BUILD_WGET_OPTS` | Additional options to pass to `wget` for downloading. | | `NODE_BUILD_MIRROR_CMD` | A command to construct the package mirror URL. | | `NODE_BUILD_MIRROR_URL` | Custom mirror URL root. | | `NODE_BUILD_MIRROR_PACKAGE_URL` | Custom complete mirror URL (e.g. http://mirror.example.com/package-1.0.0.tar.gz). | | `NODE_BUILD_SKIP_MIRROR` | Bypass the download mirror and fetch all package files from their original URLs. | | `NODE_BUILD_ROOT` | Custom build definition directory. (Default: `share/node-build`) | | `NODE_BUILD_TARBALL_OVERRIDE` | Override the URL to fetch the node tarball from, optionally followed by `#checksum`. | | `NODE_BUILD_DEFINITIONS` | Additional paths to search for build definitions. (Colon-separated list) | | `CC` | Path to the C compiler. | | `NODE_CFLAGS` | Additional `CFLAGS` options (_e.g.,_ to override `-O3`). | | `CONFIGURE_OPTS` | Additional `./configure` options. | | `MAKE` | Custom `make` command (_e.g.,_ `gmake`). | | `MAKE_OPTS` / `MAKEOPTS` | Additional `make` options. | | `MAKE_INSTALL_OPTS` | Additional `make install` options. | | `NODE_CONFIGURE_OPTS` | Additional `./configure` options (applies only to Node source). | | `NODE_MAKE_OPTS` | Additional `make` options (applies only to Node source). | | `NODE_MAKE_INSTALL_OPTS` | Additional `make install` options (applies only to Node source). | #### Applying Patches Both `nodenv install` and `node-build` commands support the `-p/--patch` flag to apply a patch to the Node source code before building. Patches are read from standard input: ```sh # applying a single patch $ nodenv install --patch 11.1.0 < /path/to/node.patch # applying a patch from HTTP $ nodenv install --patch 11.1.0 < <(curl -sSL http://git.io/node.patch) # applying multiple patches $ cat fix1.patch fix2.patch | nodenv install --patch 11.1.0 ``` #### Checksum Verification All Node definition files bundled with node-build include checksums for packages, meaning that all externally downloaded packages are automatically checked for integrity after fetching. See the next section for more information on how to author checksums. #### Package Mirrors To speed up downloads, node-build can fetch package files from a mirror. To benefit from this, the packages must specify their checksum: ```sh # example: install_package "node-v12.0.0" "https://nodejs.org/dist/v12.0.0/node-v12.0.0.tar.gz#" ``` node-build will first try to fetch this package from `$NODE_BUILD_MIRROR_URL/` (note: this is the complete URL), where `` is the checksum for the file. It will fall back to downloading the package from the original location if: - the package was not found on the mirror; - the mirror is down; - the download is corrupt, i.e. the file's checksum doesn't match; - no tool is available to calculate the checksum; or - `NODE_BUILD_SKIP_MIRROR` is enabled. You may specify a custom mirror by setting `NODE_BUILD_MIRROR_URL`. If a mirror site doesn't conform to the above URL format, you can specify the complete URL by setting `NODE_BUILD_MIRROR_PACKAGE_URL`. It behaves the same as `NODE_BUILD_MIRROR_URL` except being a complete URL. For more control over the construction of the mirror url, you can specify a command by setting `NODE_BUILD_MIRROR_CMD`. node-build will invoke `NODE_BUILD_MIRROR_CMD` with two arguments: `package_url` and `checksum`. The provided command should print the desired mirror's complete package URL to `STDOUT`. #### Keeping the build directory after installation Both `node-build` and `nodenv install` accept the `-k` or `--keep` flag, which tells node-build to keep the downloaded source after installation. This can be useful if you need to use `gdb` and `memprof` with Node. Source code will be kept in a parallel directory tree `$(nodenv root)/sources` when using `--keep` with the `nodenv install` command. You should specify the location of the source code with the `NODE_BUILD_BUILD_PATH` environment variable when using `--keep` with `node-build`. #### Retry installation without v/node-/node-v prefix The nodenv-install plugin can attempt a retry if the installation failed due to a missing definition file. If the given node version name begins with 'v', 'node', or 'node-v', the retry will drop the prefix and try again. For instance, if `nodenv install node-v11.0.0` fails because a definition file does not exist by the name "node-v11.0.0", it will retry as "11.0.0". For this retry to be attempted, the environment variable `NODENV_PREFIX_RETRY` must be non-empty. ## Getting Help Please see the [node-build wiki][wiki] for solutions to common problems. Also, check out the [ruby-build wiki][]. If you can't find an answer on the wiki, open an issue on the [issue tracker][]. Be sure to include the full build log for build failures. ## Credits Forked from [Sam Stephenson][]'s [ruby-build][] by [Will McKenzie][] and modified for node. [nodenv]: https://github.com/nodenv/nodenv#readme [definitions]: https://github.com/nodenv/node-build/tree/main/share/node-build [wiki]: https://github.com/nodenv/node-build/wiki [build-env]: https://github.com/nodenv/node-build/wiki#suggested-build-environment [issue tracker]: https://github.com/nodenv/node-build/issues [node-build-update-defs]: https://github.com/nodenv/node-build-update-defs [Sam Stephenson]: https://github.com/sstephenson [Will McKenzie]: https://github.com/oinutter [ruby-build]: https://github.com/rbenv/ruby-build [ruby-build wiki]: https://github.com/rbenv/ruby-build/wiki --- _Source: https://npm.io/package/@nodenv/node-build · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. Health data is recomputed on every publish._