Support devEngines field in package.json

Description:
devEngines field is now supported by npm and corepack.

If user set node-version-file: package.json in yaml, setup-node action should consult both engines and devEngines fields, while currently only engines works.

Justification:
In monorepo, the root package.json usually have no engines field. Moreover, the engines is for users who install the npm package, while the devEngines field is for who developers who develop the npm package. Obviously, devEngines is more suitable for setup-node.

Are you willing to submit a PR?
Yes

@zanminkian

Hi @zanminkian , Thank you for creating this feature request. We will investigate it and provide feedback as soon as we have some updates.

And if anyone is working on this, maybe you could also consider factoring in the volta node field?

Then you could run volta pin node@23.11.0 which would fetch and install node, set the node version in package.json volta.node and that's all you have to do

https://docs.volta.sh/reference/pin

But maybe it would be better to let volta handle the devEngines update instead of making this action volta-aware

@mklueh

@mklueh but the volta field is already supported? #921

@mklueh

@mklueh volta is not the standard, but devEngines is the standard which is supported by npm, pnpm, corepack ...
BTW I don't consider volta until it stablely supports pnpm.

chore: specify dev engines field in package.json (#321)

Here is a workaround to support devEngines:

      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      # TODO: Remove this step when https://github.com/actions/setup-node/pull/1283 is merged
      - name: Get Node.js version
        id: get-node-version
        run: |
          node_version=$(jq -r '.devEngines.runtime.version // empty' package.json)
          if [ -z "$node_version" ]; then
            echo "Error: No Node.js version specified in devEngines.runtime.version"
            exit 1
          fi
          echo "node-version=$node_version" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ steps.get-node-version.outputs.node-version }}

Hello Everyone, Thanks for the detailed feedback and examples shared here. Based on the discussion and internal review, we agree this would be a useful enhancement with minimal impact on existing workflows.

We’re planning to extend node-version-file: package.json to also consider devEngines, with the following precedence:

volta.node → devEngines.runtime → engines.node

This keeps the current behavior unchanged unless devEngines (or volta) is explicitly defined, while better supporting developer-focused and monorepo setups. We’ll ensure the precedence is clearly documented and will share updates as the implementation progresses.

Please feel free to reach if you have any questions or concerns regarding this change.

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Support `devEngines` field in `package.json` #1255

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Support devEngines field in package.json #1255

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suyashgaonkar commented on Mar 24, 2025

mklueh commented on Apr 13, 2025

susnux commented on Apr 20, 2025

zanminkian commented on Jul 30, 2025

zanminkian commented on Dec 19, 2025

v-aparnajyothi-y commented on Jan 28, 2026

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Support `devEngines` field in `package.json` #1255