Configuration¶

Configuration can be set via environment variables, a config file, or the nvb config CLI command. Environment variables always take precedence over the config file.

Config File¶

nvb reads settings from ~/.config/nvb/config (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/nvb/config). The file uses a simple key=value format:

NVB_MANAGER=fnm
NVB_LOG_LEVEL=info
NVB_AUTO_INSTALL=true
NVB_PRIORITY=.nvmrc,.node-version,.tool-versions,package.json

Lines starting with # are treated as comments. Quoted values are automatically unquoted.

You can create or edit this file manually, or use the CLI:

nvb config set NVB_AUTO_INSTALL true
nvb config set NVB_MANAGER fnm

CLI Config Management¶

nvb config list                          # Show all config values and their sources
nvb config get NVB_LOG_LEVEL             # Get a specific value
nvb config set NVB_AUTO_INSTALL true     # Set a value in the config file
nvb config unset NVB_MANAGER             # Remove a key from the config file
nvb config path                          # Show config file path

Environment Variables¶

Variable	Description	Default
`NVB_MANAGER`	Force a specific version manager	auto-detect
`NVB_LOG_LEVEL`	Log level: `error`, `warn`, `info`, `debug`	`error`
`NVB_PRIORITY`	File priority (comma-separated)	`.nvmrc,.node-version,.tool-versions,package.json`
`NVB_CACHE_DIR`	Cache directory	`$XDG_CACHE_HOME/node-version-bridge`
`NVB_AUTO_INSTALL`	Auto-install missing Node versions: `true`/`false`	`false`
`NVB_ALIAS_CACHE_TTL`	Alias cache TTL in seconds	`3600`

Auto-Installation¶

When NVB_AUTO_INSTALL is set to true, nvb will automatically install a missing Node version before switching to it. The install command is specific to your version manager:

Manager	Install Command
nvm	`nvm install <version>`
fnm	`fnm install <version>`
mise	`mise install node@<version>`
asdf	`asdf install nodejs <version>`
n	`n <version>`

Enable it:

nvb config set NVB_AUTO_INSTALL true

Or via environment variable:

export NVB_AUTO_INSTALL=true

Examples¶

Change file priority¶

Prioritize .tool-versions over .nvmrc:

export NVB_PRIORITY=".tool-versions,.nvmrc,.node-version,package.json"

Force a specific manager¶

Always use fnm even if nvm is also available:

export NVB_MANAGER="fnm"

Enable verbose logging¶

See exactly what nvb is doing:

export NVB_LOG_LEVEL="debug"

Custom cache location¶

export NVB_CACHE_DIR="$HOME/.nvb-cache"

Add any of these to your .zshrc or .bashrc to make them permanent, or use nvb config set to store them in the config file.