actions/setup-node: Install Node.js in CI

setup-node installs a specific Node.js version and can cache your package manager for you.

Pin the Node version your project expects and let setup-node handle dependency caching. It supports npm, yarn, and pnpm caching out of the box.

Key inputs (with:)

• node-version: e.g. 20 or 20.11.1.
• node-version-file: read the version from .nvmrc or package.json.
• cache: npm, yarn, or pnpm to cache the dependency store.
• cache-dependency-path: lockfile path(s) to key the cache.
• registry-url: set up an npm registry for publishing with auth.

Example workflow

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          cache: npm
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test

On any runner

setup-node runs on any runner. Latchkey managed runners execute it unchanged, with the same caching, at a lower per-minute cost.

Key takeaways

• Pin node-version (or node-version-file) for reproducible builds.
• cache: npm avoids reinstalling unchanged dependencies.
• registry-url plus a token enables npm publish from CI.

Related guides