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Nodenv

Manage multiple NodeJS versions.

Understanding Shims

nodenv works by inserting a directory of shims at the front of your PATH:

~/.nodenv/shims:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin

Through a process called rehashing, nodenv maintains shims in that directory to match every Node command across every installed version of Node—node, npm, and so on.

Shims are lightweight executables that simply pass your command along to nodenv. So with nodenv installed, when you run, say, npm, your operating system will do the following:

  • Search your PATH for an executable file named npm
  • Find the nodenv shim named npm at the beginning of your PATH
  • Run the shim named npm, which in turn passes the command along to nodenv

See also

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