fix(install): require Node >=20.19/22.12 for the desktop build

[OutThisLife]

Summary

The "Build desktop app" install step fails with an opaque exit code 1 on machines with an old Node (reported on Apple Silicon by @Pixo14 / others). I reproduced the exact failure rather than guessing.

Reproduced — same repo, same deps, only Node version changed:

Node	npm run build (tsc + vite)
v22.22.3	✅ builds in ~10s
v20.5.1	❌ exit code 1

On v20.5.1:

You are using Node.js 20.5.1. Vite requires Node.js version 20.19+ or 22.12+. Please upgrade your Node.js version.
SyntaxError: The requested module 'node:util' does not provide an export named 'styleText'

Root cause. Vite 8 (via rolldown) imports styleText from node:util, which doesn't exist before Node 20.12 — so vite build hard-crashes before producing the app. It dies right after write-build-stamp / stage-native-deps, matching the reporter's screenshot. The installer accepted any pre-existing Node with no version floor:

check_node() {
    log_info "Checking Node.js (for browser tools)..."

    if command -v node &> /dev/null; then
        local found_ver=$(node --version)
        log_success "Node.js $found_ver found"
        HAS_NODE=true
        return 0

Test-Node in install.ps1 had the identical gap. So a too-old system Node was used for the build instead of the bundled Node 22.

Fix

• Add a version floor matching Vite's range (^20.19 || >=22.12) to check_node (install.sh) and Test-Node (install.ps1). A too-old system Node is replaced with the Hermes-managed Node 22 LTS the installer already knows how to fetch.
• Make the desktop build stage re-resolve Node (it previously only did so when npm was entirely missing, so an old system Node slipped through).
• Declare "engines": { "node": "^20.19.0 || >=22.12.0" } in apps/desktop/package.json.

Test plan

• Reproduced the failure on Node 20.5.1 and the pass on Node 22 (above)
• npm run build still green on Node 22 after the change
• bash -n scripts/install.sh clean
• Unit-tested the node_satisfies_build floor across boundary versions — rejects 18.x / 20.5.1 / 20.18.9 / 21.7.0 / 22.11.0; accepts 20.19 / 20.20 / 22.12 / 22.22 / 24.0
• install.ps1 not run — no pwsh on my machine; the PowerShell mirrors the bash logic 1:1 but needs a Windows/old-Node run to confirm

Scope note

This fixes the build failure itself. It does not touch the separate "the failure produced no readable log" diagnosability issue — intentionally kept out of scope.

[github-actions]

🔎 Lint report: bb/installer-desktop-build-logging vs origin/main

ruff

Total: 0 on HEAD, 0 on base (➖ 0)

🆕 New issues: none

✅ Fixed issues: none

Unchanged: 0 pre-existing issues carried over.

ty (type checker)

Total: 9733 on HEAD, 9733 on base (➖ 0)

🆕 New issues: none

✅ Fixed issues: none

Unchanged: 5043 pre-existing issues carried over.

Diagnostics are surfaced as warnings — this check never fails the build.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Note

Copilot was unable to run its full agentic suite in this review.

Updates the install scripts to enforce a minimum Node.js version required by the desktop build (Vite ^8), reducing opaque build failures on older Node versions.

Changes:

• Add Node version “floor” checks (^20.19 || >=22.12) and prefer/install a Hermes-managed Node when the system Node is too old.
• Make desktop install stages re-resolve Node in each stage/process to avoid relying on prior stage state.
• Declare the desktop app’s Node engine requirement in apps/desktop/package.json.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

File	Description
scripts/install.sh	Adds Node version gating + forces re-check before desktop build to avoid Vite-on-old-Node failures.
scripts/install.ps1	Adds version gating and re-checks Node in desktop stage across separate PowerShell processes.
apps/desktop/package.json	Declares Node engine requirement matching Vite’s supported Node range.

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)

scripts/install.sh:1

• node --version (and the Hermes-managed equivalent) is invoked multiple times in the same branch. Capture the version once into a local variable and reuse it for both node_satisfies_build and logging to avoid redundant subprocess calls and make the logic easier to read.

#!/bin/bash

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[abiboe]

Thank you @OutThisLife for the quick fix! This was exactly the issue I was encountering. The version floor check properly catches the Node 22.11.0 incompatibility now. Really appreciate the detailed PR and quick merge.