Node.js

Pin Node.js and your package manager for a project, and run its package scripts as mise tasks. For installing and selecting Node.js itself, see Node.js.

Wrap npm scripts in tasks

This recipe expects a package.json with start, lint, test and build scripts, plus a committed package-lock.json. Keep ESLint, TypeScript and test runners in the project's devDependencies, so the lockfile controls their versions along with the packages they use.

mise.toml

[tools]
node = "24"

[env]
NODE_ENV = { default = "development" }

[tasks.install]
description = "Install the locked npm dependency tree"
alias = "i"
run = "npm ci"

[tasks.start]
description = "Start the development server"
alias = "s"
run = "npm run start"

[tasks.lint]
description = "Run the project's lint script"
alias = "l"
run = "npm run lint"

[tasks.test]
description = "Run the project's tests"
alias = "t"
run = "npm test"

[tasks.build]
description = "Build the project"
alias = "b"
run = "npm run build"

The tasks always run with the pinned Node.js, behave the same in CI, and show up next to other languages' tasks in mise tasks. NODE_ENV = { default = "development" } sets the variable only when it is not already set, so CI can still export NODE_ENV=production.

Run mise run install after cloning the repository, then mise run test or mise run start. npm scripts put node_modules/.bin on PATH themselves, so these tasks need no path directive. For a new project without a lockfile, run mise exec -- npm install once and commit package-lock.json.

Run package binaries without npx

Binaries from devDependencies live in node_modules/.bin, which is not on PATH, so you normally call them through npx:

mise exec -- npm install --save-dev eslint
mise exec -- npx eslint --version

Add that directory to PATH with _.path:

mise.toml

[env]
_.path = ["{{config_root}}/node_modules/.bin"]

Now mise exec -- eslint --version works, and so does eslint --version in a shell with mise activated.

Install pnpm dependencies before a task

This example uses pnpm, with its version declared in package.json. Merge this field into a package.json that also defines a dev script:

package.json

{
  "devEngines": {
    "packageManager": {
      "name": "pnpm",
      "version": "12.9.1"
    }
  }
}

mise.toml

[tools]
node = "24"

[settings]
# Read the pnpm version from package.json
idiomatic_version_file_enable_tools = ["pnpm"]

[tasks.pnpm-install]
description = "Install dependencies with pnpm"
run = "pnpm install"
sources = ["package.json", "pnpm-lock.yaml", "mise.toml"]
outputs = ["node_modules/.pnpm/lock.yaml"]

[tasks.dev]
description = "Run the dev script from package.json"
run = "node --run dev"
depends = ["pnpm-install"]

mise run dev installs the pinned Node.js and the pnpm version from package.json, runs pnpm install if package.json, pnpm-lock.yaml or mise.toml changed since node_modules/.pnpm/lock.yaml was last written, then runs node --run dev. node --run puts node_modules/.bin on PATH for the script, so the project needs no _.path entry.

This freshness check compares modification times and does not inspect the rest of node_modules. If dependencies are missing or damaged, run mise run --force pnpm-install.

Two alternatives handle the freshness check for you: the experimental [deps.pnpm] provider, or aube, described next.

Run projects with aube

aube is a Node.js package manager that reads and writes existing npm, pnpm, Yarn and Bun lockfiles in place, so you can try it in a project without migrating the lockfile. Its aubr command runs a package script and first installs dependencies when they are missing or stale; when they are current, it skips the install.

Install it with mise, then run an existing package script:

mise use aube
mise exec -- aubr test

With aube, the pnpm example above needs no install task: a task with run = "aubr dev" replaces both tasks. See aube's security overview for its release-age, trust-policy, malicious-package and lifecycle-script protections.

Replace Corepack

Node.js 25 and later no longer include Corepack, and earlier versions ship it disabled. mise installs and selects npm, pnpm and Yarn as tools, so a project does not need Corepack to get the package manager it declares. The simplest setup declares both Node.js and the package manager in mise.toml:

mise.toml

[tools]
node = "24"
pnpm = "12"

To keep package.json as the source of the version, enable it as an idiomatic version file for that package manager with idiomatic_version_file_enable_tools. Package-manager versions lists the fields mise reads, how it verifies a checksum, and what happens when a repository declares no version.

Run mise install to install the declared versions. In a shell with mise activate, mise's command-not-found handler (and an existing shim, if an earlier version is installed) also installs a missing configured package manager the first time you run it. This uses the not_found_auto_install setting.

To keep using Corepack's own shims, see Corepack.