Node.js Engines Field — Specifying Version Ranges

Node.js Engine Version Ranges

The engines field in package.json lets you specify which versions of Node.js your project supports. Package managers can warn or error when the wrong version is used.

Basic Syntax

{
  "engines": {
    "node": ">=18.0.0"
  }
}

Common Patterns

Requirement	Range	Description
Any Node 18+	>=18.0.0	Minimum version only
Node 18 or 20	^18.0.0 || ^20.0.0	LTS versions only
Node 18-20	>=18.0.0 <21.0.0	Bounded range
Exact LTS	^20.0.0	Any Node 20.x
Current + LTS	^18.0.0 || ^20.0.0 || ^22.0.0	Multiple LTS lines

Enforcement

By default, npm only warns about engine mismatches. To make it an error:

# In .npmrc
engine-strict=true

Or run:

npm config set engine-strict true

Including npm Version

You can also specify the npm version:

{
  "engines": {
    "node": ">=18.0.0",
    "npm": ">=9.0.0"
  }
}

Targeting LTS Only

Node.js releases even-numbered major versions as LTS. To support only LTS:

{
  "engines": {
    "node": "^18.0.0 || ^20.0.0 || ^22.0.0"
  }
}

CI/CD Considerations

Your engine range should match your CI test matrix. If you test on Node 18 and 20, your engines field should reflect that:

{
  "engines": {
    "node": "^18.0.0 || ^20.0.0"
  }
}

This ensures you do not claim support for versions you do not test against.