# Install nave with Homebrew

Virtual environments for Node.js. Version 3.5.6 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:nave
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install nave
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:nave
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 3.5.6
- **Source summary:** Virtual environments for Node.js
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/isaacs/nave>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/isaacs/nave>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- nave (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 3.5.6
## Project history and usage

nave is Isaac Z. Schlueter's shell-based Node.js version and environment switcher. Its signature idea is to put a chosen Node version and its global npm install space into a subshell, so leaving the shell exits the environment.

### Project history

The GitHub repository was created on 2010-05-14, placing nave in the early Node.js tooling era when developers were still sorting out how to install and switch between Node versions. The README emphasizes that nave can be installed as a single shell script, symlinked, installed with npm, or run without editing shell startup files.

### Adoption history

nave had real early-ecosystem visibility, helped by Isaac Schlueter's central role in npm and Node tooling, but it became a smaller niche as tools such as nvm, n, asdf, fnm, and Volta absorbed most mainstream version-manager usage. Homebrew analytics consulted on 2026-07-01 listed 59 installs over the preceding 365 days, suggesting maintenance and legacy use rather than broad new adoption.

### How it is used

Typical use is `nave use <version>` to enter a subshell, `nave use <name> <version>` for a named environment, `nave install <version>` to install a Node version, and `nave auto` to find a `.naverc` or `.nvmrc` and enter the configured environment. The README documents project-specific profile hooks and environment variables such as `NAVE`, `NAVENAME`, and `NAVEVERSION`.

### Why package nerds care

nave is package-nerd history from the pre-standardized Node toolchain era: a small shell program that treats version management as disposable process state rather than a permanent mutation of the user's login shell.

### Timeline

- 2010-05-14: GitHub repository created.
- 2010s: nave served as one of the early Node version/environment managers alongside nvm and n.
- 2026-01-23: Repository metadata showed new commits pushed in 2026, while Homebrew packaged stable version 3.5.6.

### Related projects

- nvm, n, nodeenv, asdf-nodejs, fnm, Volta, npm, and Node.js distribution archives are the main related tools.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/isaacs/nave>
- <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/nave>
- <https://github.com/isaacs/nave>
- <https://github.com/isaacs/nave/tags>
- <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3653495/is-there-a-virtual-environment-for-node-js>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/nave.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/nave.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph