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Node.js

CoderClaw requires Node 22 or newer. The installer script will detect and install Node automatically — this page is for when you want to set up Node yourself and make sure everything is wired up correctly (versions, PATH, global installs).

Terminal window
node -v

If this prints v22.x.x or higher, you’re good. If Node isn’t installed or the version is too old, pick an install method below.

**Homebrew** (recommended):
```bash
brew install node
```
Or download the macOS installer from [nodejs.org](https://nodejs.org/).
**Ubuntu / Debian:**
```bash
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
```
**Fedora / RHEL:**
```bash
sudo dnf install nodejs
```
Or use a version manager (see below).
**winget** (recommended):
```powershell
winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS
```
**Chocolatey:**
```powershell
choco install nodejs-lts
```
Or download the Windows installer from [nodejs.org](https://nodejs.org/).
Version managers let you switch between Node versions easily. Popular options:
  • fnm — fast, cross-platform
  • nvm — widely used on macOS/Linux
  • mise — polyglot (Node, Python, Ruby, etc.)

Example with fnm:

Terminal window
fnm install 22
fnm use 22
Make sure your version manager is initialized in your shell startup file (`~/.zshrc` or `~/.bashrc`). If it isn't, `coderclaw` may not be found in new terminal sessions because the PATH won't include Node's bin directory.

This almost always means npm’s global bin directory isn’t on your PATH.

```bash npm prefix -g ``` ```bash echo "$PATH" ```
Look for `<npm-prefix>/bin` (macOS/Linux) or `<npm-prefix>` (Windows) in the output.
Add to `~/.zshrc` or `~/.bashrc`:
```bash
export PATH="$(npm prefix -g)/bin:$PATH"
```
Then open a new terminal (or run `rehash` in zsh / `hash -r` in bash).
</Tab>
<Tab title="Windows">
Add the output of `npm prefix -g` to your system PATH via Settings → System → Environment Variables.
</Tab>
</Tabs>

Permission errors on npm install -g (Linux)

Section titled “Permission errors on npm install -g (Linux)”

If you see EACCES errors, switch npm’s global prefix to a user-writable directory:

Terminal window
mkdir -p "$HOME/.npm-global"
npm config set prefix "$HOME/.npm-global"
export PATH="$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$PATH"

Add the export PATH=... line to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc to make it permanent.