precompiled node archive not found and locked mode requires…

Error message

precompiled node archive not found and locked mode requires the locked precompiled artifact

What it means

In locked mode, a missing precompiled node archive cannot fall back to compilation, so install_precompiled fails with this explicit message naming both the missing archive and the locked-mode constraint.

Solutions

Run `mise lock` to re-resolve the locked artifact
Pick a Node version that still has published precompiled builds for your platform
Temporarily leave locked mode so mise can compile from source

Example fix

# before
mise install node@18.0.0  # artifact yanked upstream

# after
mise lock
mise install node@18.18.0

Defensive patterns

Strategy: retry

Validate before calling

curl -sfIL "https://nodejs.org/dist/v20.0.0/node-v20.0.0-$(uname -s | tr A-Z a-z)-$(uname -m).tar.gz"

Try / catch

mise install node@X || { mise lock && mise install node@X; }

Prevention

Check nodejs.org/dist for the exact version artifact before pinning
Avoid pinning Node versions that may be yanked
Re-run `mise lock` when installs fail in locked mode

When it happens

Trigger: FetchOutcome::NotFound for the node precompiled archive while ctx.locked is true and no flavor-specific message applies — the exact version/platform archive is not published.

Common situations: Node versions removed from nodejs.org dist, platforms without official builds, or a mise.lock pinned to an artifact that no longer exists.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@533346cc37 (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/28bf2ac578b1947a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/plugins/core/node.rs:138

                        strip_components: 1,
                        pr: Some(ctx.pr.as_ref()),
                        ..Default::default()
                    },
                )?;
                Ok(())
            })
            .await?
        {
            FetchOutcome::Downloaded => {
                warn_patches_not_applied();
                Ok(())
            }
            FetchOutcome::NotFound => {
                if ctx.locked {
                    if let Some(message) = node_flavor_not_found_message(opts) {
                        bail!("{message}\nlocked mode requires the locked precompiled artifact")
                    }
                    bail!(
                        "precompiled node archive not found and locked mode requires the locked precompiled artifact"
                    )
                } else if Settings::get().node_compile(CompilePurpose::Inspect) != Some(false) {
                    if let Some(message) = node_flavor_not_found_message(opts) {
                        warn!("{message}");
                    }
                    self.install_compiling(ctx, tv, opts).await
                } else {
                    if let Some(message) = node_flavor_not_found_message(opts) {
                        bail!("{message}\ncompilation is disabled")
                    }
                    bail!("precompiled node archive not found and compilation is disabled")
                }
            }
        }
    }

    async fn install_windows(

View on GitHub (pinned to 533346cc37)