`latest` installs v27.0.0-alpha.0.0.0 not 26.13.0

Open

#1,660 opened on Nov 2, 2026 1 comment 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub

Maintainers usually reply within 3 days

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Assessment

Difficulty: 3/5
Estimated time: 1-2 days
Newbie friendliness: 45/100

Issue type: Bug
Clarity: Mostly clear
Activity status: Active
Tech stack: github-actions, node.js, typescript
Domain: ci-cd

Research direction

The latest alias is resolved in the version-resolution code of the setup-node action, which pulls from the Node.js version manifest and falls back to nodejs.org/dist. Start by tracing how latest is mapped to a concrete version and why a 27.0.0-alpha prerelease is selected over 26.13.0. Done means node-version: latest resolves to the newest non-prerelease Current/LTS release, with a test covering alpha entries being skipped.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

bug needs triage

follow-on from comment https://github.com/actions/setup-node/issues/1657#issuecomment-6518244012
relates to https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/67135

Description:

Selecting version latest causes Node.js 27.0.0-alpha.0.0.0 to be installed.

This is not the latest version as defined by the Node.js documentation Release types.

https://nodejs.org/download/release/latest/ contains builds for Node.js 26.13.0 which is the Active LTS version, and the highest non-alpha release.

Action version:

action/[email protected]

Platform:

Ubuntu
macOS
Windows

Runner type:

Hosted
Self-hosted

Tools version:

N/A

Repro steps:

Specify node-version: latest

      - name: Install Node.js latest
        uses: actions/[email protected]
        with:
          node-version: latest
          check-latest: true

See setup-node-latest.yml for runnable reproduction.

Expected behavior:

Specifying latest should install Node.js 26.13.0 (or later from the same Node.js 26.x release line, when available).

Release types says:

https://nodejs.org/download/release/

The latest directory is an alias for the latest Current release.

Index of /download/release/latest/
../
docs/                                                             -                   -
win-arm64/                                                        -                   -
win-x64/                                                          -                   -
SHASUMS256.txt.asc                                 28-Oct-2026 13:01               4.1 KB
SHASUMS256.txt.sig                                 28-Oct-2026 13:01                566 B
SHASUMS256.txt                                     28-Oct-2026 17:41               3.2 KB
node-v26.13.0-aix-ppc64.tar.gz                     28-Oct-2026 12:59                83 MB
node-v26.13.0-arm64.msi                            28-Oct-2026 12:59                33 MB
node-v26.13.0-darwin-arm64.tar.gz                  28-Oct-2026 12:59                58 MB
node-v26.13.0-darwin-arm64.tar.xz                  28-Oct-2026 12:59                31 MB
node-v26.13.0-darwin-x64.tar.gz                    28-Oct-2026 12:59                60 MB
node-v26.13.0-darwin-x64.tar.xz                    28-Oct-2026 12:59                33 MB
node-v26.13.0-headers.tar.gz                       28-Oct-2026 12:59                10 MB
node-v26.13.0-headers.tar.xz                       28-Oct-2026 12:59               584 KB
node-v26.13.0-linux-arm64.tar.gz                   28-Oct-2026 12:59                63 MB
node-v26.13.0-linux-arm64.tar.xz                   28-Oct-2026 12:59                33 MB
node-v26.13.0-linux-ppc64le.tar.gz                 28-Oct-2026 12:59                65 MB
node-v26.13.0-linux-ppc64le.tar.xz                 28-Oct-2026 12:59                33 MB
node-v26.13.0-linux-s390x.tar.gz                   28-Oct-2026 12:59                65 MB
node-v26.13.0-linux-s390x.tar.xz                   28-Oct-2026 12:59                33 MB
node-v26.13.0-linux-x64-musl.tar.gz                28-Oct-2026 12:59                63 MB
node-v26.13.0-linux-x64-musl.tar.xz                28-Oct-2026 12:59                34 MB
node-v26.13.0-linux-x64.tar.gz                     28-Oct-2026 12:59                63 MB
node-v26.13.0-linux-x64.tar.xz                     28-Oct-2026 12:59                34 MB
node-v26.13.0-win-arm64.7z                         28-Oct-2026 12:59                24 MB
node-v26.13.0-win-arm64.zip                        28-Oct-2026 12:59                37 MB
node-v26.13.0-win-x64.7z                           28-Oct-2026 12:59                26 MB
node-v26.13.0-win-x64.zip                          28-Oct-2026 12:59                41 MB
node-v26.13.0-x64.msi                              28-Oct-2026 12:59                37 MB
node-v26.13.0.pkg                                  28-Oct-2026 12:59               105 MB
node-v26.13.0.tar.gz                               28-Oct-2026 12:59               127 MB
node-v26.13.0.tar.xz                               28-Oct-2026 12:59                63 MB

Actual behavior:

actions/setup-node installs v27.0.0-alpha.0.0.0 when asked for latest

Run actions/[email protected]
  with:
    node-version: latest
    check-latest: true
    token: ***
    package-manager-cache: true
getting latest node version...
getting latest node version...
Attempt to resolve the latest version from manifest...
Failed to resolve version v27.0.0-alpha.0.0.0 from manifest
Attempting to download v27.0.0-alpha.0.0.0...
Not found in manifest. Falling back to download directly from Node
Acquiring 27.0.0-alpha.0.0.0 - x64 from https://nodejs.org/dist/v27.0.0-alpha.0.0.0/node-v27.0.0-alpha.0.0.0-linux-x64.tar.gz
Extracting ...
/usr/bin/tar xz --strip 1 --warning=no-unknown-keyword --overwrite -C /home/runner/work/_temp/aa316193-6949-4603-bec6-c73e4bd2ceb6 -f /home/runner/work/_temp/57b2047f-1960-4aad-a93d-830eee1e5900
Adding to the cache ...
Done
Environment details
  node: v27.0.0-alpha.0.0.0
  npm: 12.1.0
  yarn: 1.22.22

Dominant language: TypeScript
Stars: 5k
Forks: 1.7k
Avg merge: 2d 4h
Merged PRs (30d): 1

Getting set up

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First steps

Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
Open a pull request that references the issue number.

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