Install Node

Node.js runs programs written in JavaScript and TypeScript. TypeScript is JavaScript with extra checks, so mistakes are caught before the program runs.

NanoClaw is written in TypeScript. Later in this course, you run some of its short commands with Make, like make add-notion-connection. Each of those is a small TypeScript program, and Node.js is what runs it.

You also install pnpm here. It downloads the pieces those programs are built from. Think of it like a delivery service for code: NanoClaw lists the parts it needs, and pnpm fetches the right version of each one.

NanoClaw needs Node.js 22 or newer. This page installs Node.js 24, which is supported until April 2028.

Install it

Click the name of your computer's system to open its section.

macOS

Check if it's already installed. In Terminal, run:

node --version
pnpm --version

• If the first line starts with v22, v24 or a higher number, and the second line is a number, like 10.34.5, you already have both. Skip the rest of this section.
• If the first line starts with v22 or higher, but the second says command not found: pnpm, skip to Install pnpm below.
• If you see command not found: node, or a number lower than v22, do all the steps below.

Install Node.js. In the terminal, run:

brew install node@24
brew link --force node@24

The first command downloads Node.js 24. The second makes node the command your terminal finds. It ends with a line like Linking /opt/homebrew/Cellar/node@24/24.21.0... and a number of symlinks created.

If the second command says Could not symlink and Target ... already exists, an older Node.js from Homebrew is in the way. Run brew unlink node, then run brew link --force node@24 again.

Install pnpm. In the same terminal, run:

corepack enable --install-directory "$(brew --prefix)/bin" pnpm

Corepack comes with Node.js. It sets up pnpm for you, and later picks the exact pnpm version NanoClaw asks for. It prints nothing when it works.

Check that it works. Close the terminal, open a new one, and run:

node --version
pnpm --version

The first line starts with v24, like v24.21.0. The first time you run pnpm, it may ask Do you want to continue? [Y/n]. Type Y and press Enter. Then it shows a number, like 10.34.5. Your numbers may be different.

Windows

Node.js goes inside Ubuntu, like Git and Make.

Check if it's already installed. In the Ubuntu terminal, run:

node --version
pnpm --version

• If the first line starts with v22, v24 or a higher number, and the second line is a number, like 10.34.5, you already have both. Skip the rest of this section.
• If the first line starts with v22 or higher, but the second says command not found: pnpm, skip to Install pnpm below.
• If you see command not found: node, or a number lower than v22, do all the steps below.

Install Node.js. In the Ubuntu terminal, run:

brew install node@24
brew link --force node@24

The first command downloads Node.js 24, using the Homebrew you installed inside Ubuntu. The second makes node the command your terminal finds. It ends with a line like Linking /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Cellar/node@24/24.21.0... and a number of symlinks created.

If the second command says Could not symlink and Target ... already exists, an older Node.js from Homebrew is in the way. Run brew unlink node, then run brew link --force node@24 again.

Install pnpm. In the same Ubuntu terminal, run:

corepack enable --install-directory "$(brew --prefix)/bin" pnpm

Corepack comes with Node.js. It sets up pnpm for you, and later picks the exact pnpm version NanoClaw asks for. It prints nothing when it works.

Check that it works. Close the Ubuntu terminal, open a new one, and run:

node --version
pnpm --version

The first line starts with v24, like v24.21.0. The first time you run pnpm, it may ask Do you want to continue? [Y/n]. Type Y and press Enter. Then it shows a number, like 10.34.5. Your numbers may be different.

Linux

Check if it's already installed. In the terminal, run:

node --version
pnpm --version

• If the first line starts with v22, v24 or a higher number, and the second line is a number, like 10.34.5, you already have both. Skip the rest of this section.
• If the first line starts with v22 or higher, but the second says command not found: pnpm, skip to Install pnpm below.
• If you see command not found: node, or a number lower than v22, do all the steps below.

Don't use sudo apt install nodejs: on older Ubuntu versions, its Node.js is too old for NanoClaw, and Homebrew keeps it the same on every system.

Install Node.js. In the terminal, run:

brew install node@24
brew link --force node@24

The first command downloads Node.js 24. The second makes node the command your terminal finds. It ends with a line like Linking /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Cellar/node@24/24.21.0... and a number of symlinks created.

If the second command says Could not symlink and Target ... already exists, an older Node.js from Homebrew is in the way. Run brew unlink node, then run brew link --force node@24 again.

Install pnpm. In the same terminal, run:

corepack enable --install-directory "$(brew --prefix)/bin" pnpm

Corepack comes with Node.js. It sets up pnpm for you, and later picks the exact pnpm version NanoClaw asks for. It prints nothing when it works.

Check that it works. Close the terminal, open a new one, and run:

node --version
pnpm --version

The first line starts with v24, like v24.21.0. The first time you run pnpm, it may ask Do you want to continue? [Y/n]. Type Y and press Enter. Then it shows a number, like 10.34.5. Your numbers may be different.

NOTE

If you already have Node.js 25 or newer, corepack may say command not found. Newer Node.js stopped including it. Install pnpm with npm install -g pnpm@10 instead, in the same terminal.

What you don't install here

NanoClaw's commands also need their own pieces of code, like tsx, the tool that runs a TypeScript file. You don't install those by hand. NanoClaw's setup downloads them with pnpm, into the nanoclaw folder, in the next lesson. That is why make commands only work inside that folder, after setup has run.

Next

Node.js is ready. Next, install Codex.