Capacitor finding different NodeJS version from what 'node --version' returns

[lcrumling]

I'm trying to migrate an existing app from Cordova to Capacitor, and I got through all the migration steps and updating all the dependencies, but now Capacitor is throwing a weirdly simple error about my NodeJS version not being greater than 12.4.0, even though node --version is returning v14.20.1 which should satisfy the requirement. I was able to successfully run npx cap commands before I updated the dependencies, but I'm not sure how to find out what is causing this issue since everything I check is returning what I expect (node --version, which node), except for npx cap commands.

I did see a similar issue posted about this, but in that case, the user was on 'v16.0.0-head' and the -head was throwing off the version check, which is not the case here (also that issue says it's now fixed).

I tested creating a new Capacitor app in a separate folder, and that went fine - I was able to run npx cap -V successfully without the NodeJS version error.

How can I tell where Capacitor is getting this node version from, and correct it?
Any help is appreciated, thank you!!

Capacitor Version
npx cap -V output
[fatal] The Capacitor CLI requires NodeJS >=12.4.0

Platform(s)
node 14.20.1
MacOs Monterey 12.1, Intel Core i9

Current Behavior

npx cap -V and npx cap sync
return
[fatal] The Capacitor CLI requires NodeJS >=12.4.0

Expected Behavior
Capacitor returns version, syncs

Code Reproduction

Other Technical Details
npm --version output:
8.19.2

node --version output:
v14.20.1

pod --version output (iOS issues only):
1.11.3

Additional Context

[jcesarmobile]

Looks like the problem is the v in v14.20.1, it shouldn’t have that, how did you install node?

[lcrumling]

oh interesting, thank you! I installed it via nvm, and I also installed nodenv and tried installing 14.20.1 again but got the same result.

[lcrumling]

Oh and I also get the same output (with the ‘v’) when running node —version in the empty app.

[jcesarmobile]

yeah, sorry, just tested on my computer and it also has the v on the version name.

Can you do this quick test?
Create a file named test.js and put this line of code inside console.log(process.version);.
Then run node test.js.

process.version is what Capacitor CLI uses to check your node version.