# wbyoung/avn

Automatic Version Switching for Node

Repository: https://github.com/wbyoung/avn
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/avn
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Archived: true
Last push: 2023-02-16T19:14:52+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4505, "days_push": 1294, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1128, forks 38 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:41.914753+00:00)

## What it is
avn is a CLI tool that automatically switches Node.js versions when you cd into a directory containing a .node-version file. It works via plugins that delegate to version managers like nvm, n, and nodebrew.

## Use cases
- automatically switch node version when entering a project directory
- use .node-version file to pin node version per project
- integrate nvm with directory-based version switching
- switch node versions with n or nodebrew automatically
- avoid manually running nvm use when changing directories

## When to choose
- you use nvm, n, or nodebrew and want automatic version switching on cd
- your projects each have a .node-version file
- you want a lightweight shell hook rather than a full version manager

## When to avoid
- you use asdf, mise, or fnm which have built-in .node-version support
- you need to switch back to a previous node version when leaving a directory (unsupported)
- you need a tool actively adding features; last release was 2023

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: cli, developer-tools, plugin-system
- domain: developer-tools, version-control
- platform: cli
- tags: node-version-manager, shell-hook, nvm, dotfiles, command-line, linux, macos, nodejs

## Member repositories
- wbyoung/avn (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:41.914753+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:38:44.728914+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/wbyoung/avn (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:41.914753+00:00, sha 52add2b97183)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/avn (fetched 2026-08-29T12:43:21.478093+00:00, sha 5bd810f84e2a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.