Update README with Node.js version requirement

[Moe-Salim91156]

Added a note about the required Node.js version.

Description

Just a Quick Heads Up in the README file for what node version the project requires exactly

Motivation

Even though it’s just a small edit, this prevents setup errors like the one I encountered (EBADENGINE) when using Node.js < 24. This heads-up ensures contributors know the minimum Node.js version required to build the site.

Additional details

Related issues and pull requests

Fixes #42415

[pepelsbey]

Hey! Thank you for the suggestion. Node.js v24 only recently became LTS and many people might still use previous versions.

But I'm afraid the README is too far away to notice. I wonder if showing a good error right in the console with a script like this would be better:

{
  "type": "module",
  "engines": {
    "node": ">=24"
  },
  "scripts": {
    "preinstall": "node -e \"import pkg from './package.json' assert { type: 'json' }; const v=pkg.engines.node.slice(2); if (process.versions.node.split('.')[0] < v) { console.error(`✖ Node.js v${v} is required.`); process.exit(1) }\""
  }
}

@caugner, what do you think?

[caugner]

Added a note about the required Node.js version.

Instead of mentioning the Node.js version in the README, let's either recommend using nvm, or point them to .nvmrc which contains the version number.

I wonder if showing a good error right in the console with a script like this would be better:

We have enabled engine-strict now, so running npm install with an older version yields the following error message:

% npm ci
npm error code EBADENGINE
npm error engine Unsupported engine
npm error engine Not compatible with your version of node/npm: @mdn/[email protected]
npm error notsup Not compatible with your version of node/npm: @mdn/[email protected]
npm error notsup Required: {"node":">=24"}
npm error notsup Actual:   {"npm":"10.9.4","node":"v22.21.1"}

[pepelsbey]

running npm install with an older version yields the following error message:

% npm ci npm error code EBADENGINE npm error engine Unsupported engine npm error engine Not compatible with your version of node/npm: @mdn/[email protected] npm error notsup Not compatible with your version of node/npm: @mdn/[email protected] npm error notsup Required: {"node":">=24"} npm error notsup Actual: {"npm":"10.9.4","node":"v22.21.1"}

I wouldn't say it's the most friendly message. It's something, but might not be clear what to do. The "EBADENGINE" name alone is something else 🙄

[caugner]

npm error notsup Required: {"node":">=24"} npm error notsup Actual: {"npm":"10.9.4","node":"v22.21.1"}

These last two lines have all the information the user needs to act.

I don't see any evidence that this is an issue. Besides, https://nodejs.org/en/download defaults to Node v24.