What causes "failed to run node --version. stdout: {}, stderr: {}" in zed-industries/zed?

Run `node --version` yourself with the same PATH Zed uses — reproduce and read the stderr

failed to run node --version. stdout: {}, stderr: {}

Error message

failed to run node --version. stdout: {}, stderr: {}

What it means

SystemNodeRuntime::new sanity-checks a system-provided node binary by executing `node --version`. If the process runs but exits non-zero, the failure bails with the captured stdout and stderr. (A failure even to spawn the process produces the earlier `running node from {path}` context instead.)

Source

Thrown at crates/node_runtime/src/node_runtime.rs:868

}

#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
pub struct SystemNodeRuntime {
    node: PathBuf,
    npm: PathBuf,
    scratch_dir: PathBuf,
}

impl SystemNodeRuntime {
    const MIN_VERSION: semver::Version = Version::new(22, 0, 0);
    async fn new(node: PathBuf, npm: PathBuf) -> Result<Self> {
        let output = util::command::new_command(&node)
            .arg("--version")
            .output()
            .await
            .with_context(|| format!("running node from {:?}", node))?;
        if !output.status.success() {
            anyhow::bail!(
                "failed to run node --version. stdout: {}, stderr: {}",
                String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout),
                String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr),
            );
        }
        let version_str = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout);
        let version = semver::Version::parse(version_str.trim().trim_start_matches('v'))?;
        if version < Self::MIN_VERSION {
            anyhow::bail!(
                "node at {} is too old. want: {}, got: {}",
                node.to_string_lossy(),
                Self::MIN_VERSION,
                version
            )
        }

        let scratch_dir = paths::data_dir().join("node");
        fs::create_dir(&scratch_dir).await.ok();

View on GitHub (pinned to 9d272b0363)

Solutions

Run `node --version` yourself with the same PATH Zed uses — reproduce and read the stderr
Reinstall Node (or fix the version manager shims: `nvm reinstall <version>`, `volta install node`)
Clear quarantine on a copied binary: xattr -d com.apple.quarantine $(which node)
Point Zed at a healthy node via PATH, or remove system node so the bundled runtime is used

Defensive patterns

Strategy: fallback

Validate before calling

async fn node_runs(node: &Path) -> bool {
    util::command::new_command(node)
        .arg("--version")
        .output()
        .await
        .map(|o| o.status.success())
        .unwrap_or(false)
}

Try / catch

match SystemNodeRuntime::new(node, npm).await {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("node --version") => {
        // binary is broken: fall back to the bundled downloader
        NodeRuntime::install_if_needed(&http).await?
    }
    r => r?,
}

Prevention

Verify `node --version` succeeds in the exact environment (PATH, shell, sandbox) before opting into the system runtime
Reinstall via the version manager rather than copying binaries around
On macOS, clear quarantine attributes from manually installed node binaries

When it happens

Trigger: The node binary found on PATH executes but errors: a corrupted or wrong-architecture binary that dies on startup, a wrapper/shim (nvm, volta, mise) whose underlying install is broken, or a sandbox/AV blocking the exec so it exits with an error code.

Common situations: Half-finished nvm/volta installs; macOS quarantine attributes on a manually copied node; Docker images where node is a broken symlink shim; SELinux/AppArmor denials.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of zed-industries/zed@9d272b0363 (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/78baa986f74267da. Report an issue: GitHub.