devEngines proposal

devengines-field-proposal.md

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+# Proposal: `package.json` `devEngines` Field
+
+This is a specification a `package.json` field to define the runtime and package manager for _developing_ a project or package (_not_ consuming/installing it as a dependency in another project). The field is named `devEngines` and is a new top-level field defined with this schema:
+
+```typescript
+interface DevEngines {
+  os?: DevEngineDependency | DevEngineDependency[];
+  cpu?: DevEngineDependency | DevEngineDependency[];
+  libc?: DevEngineDependency | DevEngineDependency[];
+  runtime?: DevEngineDependency | DevEngineDependency[];
+  packageManager?: DevEngineDependency | DevEngineDependency[];
+}
+
+interface DevEngineDependency {
+  name: string;
+  version?: string;
+  onFail?: 'ignore' | 'warn' | 'error' | 'download';
+}
+```
+
+The `os`, `cpu`, `libc`, `runtime`, and `packageManager` sub-fields could either be an object or an array of objects, if the user wants to define multiple acceptable OSes, CPUs, C compilers, runtimes or package managers. The first acceptable option would be used, and `onFail` would be triggered for the last defined option if none validate. If unspecified, `onFail` defaults to `error` for the non-array notation; or it defaults to `error` for the last element in the array and `ignore` for all prior elements, for the array notation. Validation would check the name and version ranges.
+
+The `name` field would be a string, corresponding to different sources depending on the parent field:
+
+ - `os`: [NPM docs for `engines.os`](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v10/configuring-npm/package-json#os).
+ - `cpu`: [NPM docs for `engines.cpu`](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v10/configuring-npm/package-json#cpu).
+ - `libc`: `glibc` or `musl`; see [NPM docs for `config.libc`](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v10/using-npm/config#libc).
+ - `runtime`: [WinterCG Runtime Keys](https://runtime-keys.proposal.wintercg.org/).
+ - `packageManager` . . . I don’t know, we could define the list as part of the spec, or perhaps it would need to correspond to an npm registry package name. Suggestions welcome.
+
+The `version` field syntax would match that defined for [`engines.node`](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v10/configuring-npm/package-json#engines), so something like `">= 16.0.0 < 22"` or `">= 20"`. If unspecified, any version matches.
+
+The `onFail` field defines what should happen if validation fails:
+
+ - `ignore`: nothing.
+ - `warn`: print something and continue.
+ - `error`: print something and exit.
+ - `download`: remediate the validation failure by downloading the requested tool/version.
+
+In the event of `onFail: 'download'`, it would be the responsibility of the tool to determine what and how to download, perhaps by looking in the tool’s associated lockfile for a specific version and integrity hash. It could also be supported on a case-by-case basis, like perhaps Yarn and pnpm could support downloading a satisfactory version while npm would error.
+
+## Examples
+
+### Typical example
+
+```json
+"devEngines": {
+  "runtime": {
+    "name": "node",
+    "version": ">= 20.0.0",
+    "onFail": "error"
+  },
+  "packageManager": {
+    "name": "yarn",
+    "version": "3.2.3",
+    "onFail": "download"
+  }
+}
+```
+
+### “Uses every possible field” example:
+
+```json
+"devEngines": {
+  "os": {
+    "name": "darwin",
+    "version": ">= 23.0.0"
+  },
+  "cpu": [
+    {
+      "name": "arm"
+    }, {
+      "name": "x86"
+    }
+  ],
+  "libc": {
+    "name": "glibc"
+  },
+  "runtime": [
+    {
+      "name": "bun",
+      "version": ">= 1.0.0",
+      "onFail": "ignore"
+    },
+    {
+      "name": "node",
+      "version": ">= 20.0.0",
+      "onFail": "error"
+    },
+  ],
+  "packageManager": [
+    {
+      "name": "bun",
+      "version": ">= 1.0.0",
+      "onFail": "ignore"
+    },
+    {
+      "name": "yarn",
+      "version": "3.2.3",
+      "onFail": "download"
+    }
+  ]
+}
+```
+
+## Future Expansions
+
+Some potential future expansions of this spec that have been discussed are:
+
+ - `runtime` and `packageManager` might take shorthand string values defining the desired name or name with version/version range.
+
+## References
+
+- Inspiration: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/51888#issuecomment-1967102442
+
+- Initial discussion: https://github.com/openjs-foundation/package-metadata-interoperability-collab-space/issues/15
+
+## Implementations
+
+- https://github.com/npm/npm-install-checks/pull/116
+
+- https://github.com/npm/cli/pull/7766