# isaacs/nave

Virtual Environments for Node

Repository: https://github.com/isaacs/nave
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/nave
Language: Shell
License: BlueOak-1.0.0
License Family: other
Topics: nave, shell, subshell, node, nodejs, nvm, sea, zsh, versioning
Last push: 2026-01-23T17:17:21+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 61/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 63, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5955, "days_push": 222, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1635, forks 121 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:14.615546+00:00)

## What it is
Nave is a shell-based virtual environment manager for Node.js that lets you switch Node versions and global npm install spaces via subshells. It supports named environments and requires no shell configuration edits.

## Use cases
- switch node versions per project
- create named node virtual environments
- run a command under a specific node version
- install and manage multiple node versions
- find and activate a .naverc environment automatically

## When to choose
- you want an nvm alternative that works via subshells without editing .bashrc or .profile
- you need named, isolated global npm install spaces per project
- you prefer a single self-contained shell script over npm-managed tools

## When to avoid
- you prefer nvm-style sourcing into your current shell rather than subshells
- you need Windows support, since it is a bash/zsh script
- you want per-project automatic version switching via .nvmrc files

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: cli, developer-tools, version-control
- domain: developer-tools
- platform: cli
- tags: node-version-manager, shell, virtual-environments, nvm-alternative, bash, command-line, javascript, linux, macos, nodejs

## Member repositories
- isaacs/nave (main) score 61

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:14.615546+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 2026-08-30T03:47:01.006670+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/isaacs/nave (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:14.615546+00:00, sha 2ab7030e6d52)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.