ci(nodejs): only run on LTS version

[EdJoPaTo]

Node.js 20 will be a LTS version from 2023-10-24. Its probably a good idea to also test against it.

[maxlath]

That would make sense. I'm still not convinced by the CI checks though: they run automatically at times when I know they won't detect any issue, for instance after a simple rebase on the main branch. In that kind of case, they just slow down my workflow. Wouldn't there be a way to turn off the CI tests and run equivalent checks during the prepack script?

[EdJoPaTo]

They basically run npm test and npm repack for the 4 versions.

Maybe their benefit is mainly on Pull Requests then for you? To ensure code additions are working and are compatible with other Node.js versions?

[maxlath]

Ensuring code additions are working is already covered by the prepack script being run before npm publish. Compatibility with other Node.js versions is harder to test this way. I was considering running tests locally in a Docker container with the desired NodeJS version, but unfortunately the Docker Hub only has node >= v16.

[EdJoPaTo]

The CI basically also just installs other Node.js versions via nvm install 14.

This could be added to local scripts but I think it overcomplicates things. The main thing to ensure is the target version of typescript. Then everything else should just work as TypeScript should handle that (or fail to compile on any Node.js version). Therefore the different Node.js versions are basically a pointless test.
So the only thing to do is running CI for the current LTS version or something like that to know the contribution works with TypeScript?

[maxlath]

So the only thing to do is running CI for the current LTS version or something like that to know the contribution works with TypeScript?

Isn't that already covered by npm publish automatically running the prepack script? Which would be the worst case: I usually fetch the PRs branch and run the tests locally.

[EdJoPaTo]

yeah, the CI runs npm test and npm pack like locally so it will find the same mistakes like you would locally. Also yeah, there also is a git commit hook (which I personally find a bit annoying as it eats up a lot of time because I test before I commit or have unstaged changes so the test can not ensure a working commit anyway). So there are already multiple ways of trying to ensure working code.

I do like to have a CI setup which ensures "yes, everything is working as expected" which is not some "works on my machine".

Also relevant: Typescript v5 requires Node.js 14 to compile (the result can still be used on older versions). So these tests here wont work on Node.js 12 as TypeScript cant compile the code.

I think a good way forward is using lts/* as the Node.js version the CI uses and ignore the other versions.