fix(installer): Node version check fails under Windows PowerShell 5.1

[JohnMcLear]

Fixes #8214

Root cause

Not the pnpm 12 pnpm ls --no-production crash fixed in #8232/3.3.5, which is a different failure. The Windows installer checked the Node version with:

$nodeMajor = [int](node -p 'process.versions.node.split(".")[0]')

Windows PowerShell 5.1, the default PS C:\> shell on Windows 10/11 and the one installer.ps1 declares support for via #Requires -Version 5.1, strips embedded double quotes when it passes arguments to native executables. So node received process.versions.node.split(.)[0] and threw a SyntaxError. The empty output cast to 0, so the installer aborted with Node.js >= 24 required. You have v26.8.2. for every Node version. PowerShell 7 (pwsh) passes the quotes correctly. CI only ran the installer under pwsh, so this never showed up there.

Fix

• bin/installer.ps1: parse node --version (v24.15.0) with a PowerShell regex instead of passing a JS snippet to node -p. This removes the quoting problem entirely. If the version can't be parsed, the installer now says so instead of reporting a misleading "too old".
• .github/workflows/installer-test.yml: the Windows end-to-end job is now a matrix over pwsh and powershell (Windows PowerShell 5.1). shell: can't take an expression, so the step is split per shell.

Tests / evidence

• Before the fix (CI change only, commit 2): the new windows-latest, powershell leg failed with the exact error from the issue (run 35215567068):

  ==> Etherpad installer
  [eval]:1
  process.versions.node.split(.)[0]
  SyntaxError: Unexpected token '.'
  

• After the fix: both Windows legs (pwsh and 5.1) run the full install, build and /api smoke test. See the checks on this PR.

No docs change is needed because the install command is unchanged.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

https://claude.ai/code/session_0139nGyeFNACmifj6pRLSVRs

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PR Summary by Qodo

Fix Node version detection in Windows PowerShell 5.1

🐞 Bug fix 🧪 Tests ⚙️ Configuration changes 🕐 10-20 Minutes

AI Description

• Parse Node version output without PowerShell 5.1 native-argument quoting issues.
• Report unparseable Node versions instead of misclassifying them as unsupported.
• Test Windows installation under PowerShell 7 and Windows PowerShell 5.1.

Diagram

graph TD
  CI["Windows CI"] --> Shells{"Shell matrix"} --> Installer["PowerShell installer"] --> Version["node --version"] --> Parse{"Version valid?"} --> Major{"Major >= 24?"} --> Build["Install and build"]
  Parse -- "No" --> Error["Version error"]
  Major -- "No" --> Error

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High-Level Assessment

Parsing the stable node --version output in PowerShell is the most portable approach. Escaping or restructuring the previous node -p JavaScript expression would remain dependent on native-command argument behavior across PowerShell versions, while the regex removes that boundary entirely and enables a precise parse-failure message.

Files changed (2) +31 / -4

Bug fix (1) +9 / -2

installer.ps1Parse Node.js versions without native argument quoting +9/-2

Parse Node.js versions without native argument quoting

• Replaces the 'node -p' JavaScript expression with regex parsing of 'node --version', avoiding Windows PowerShell 5.1 quote stripping. Adds a specific fatal error when the returned version cannot be parsed and reuses the parsed version in minimum-version diagnostics.

bin/installer.ps1

Tests (1) +22 / -2

installer-test.ymlTest the Windows installer under both PowerShell implementations +22/-2

Test the Windows installer under both PowerShell implementations

• Expands the Windows end-to-end job into a matrix covering PowerShell 7 and Windows PowerShell 5.1. Separate conditional installer steps accommodate GitHub Actions' inability to use expressions in 'shell', while retaining shared build verification and API smoke testing.

.github/workflows/installer-test.yml

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