Setting g:node_host_prog in init.vim generates an error.

[gilbertfrancois]

Neovim Version

v0.5.0

Operating system/version:

Ubuntu 18.04

Terminal name/version:

terminal

TERM environment variable

xterm-256color

Installation

nvim.appimage from the release page

Steps to reproduce

Description

I work on different servers and don't want to mess with system wide installed Python and NodeJS distributions. Moreover, the NodeJS distribution, shipped with e.g. Ubuntu 18.04 is too old. That is why I have a NodeJS distribution and custom Python environment in the ${HOME}/.local/share/nvim/lib folder, for Neovim only. Then I specify in init.vim the node host program and Python host program with the options:

let g:python3_host_prog = join([$HOME, "/.local/share/nvim/lib/python/bin/python3"], "")
let g:node_host_prog = join([$HOME, "/.local/share/nvim/lib/node/bin/node"], "")

For python, this works excellent. However, for Node, it does not work. Node only works well if the node binary is in the path and the option g:node_host_prog is not set.

Workaround

Comment out the g:node_host_prog setting in init.vim and run nvim with:

PATH=${HOME}/.local/share/nvim/lib/node/bin:${PATH} nvim

PS: nvim 0.5.0 on macOS has the same problem.

Vim

No response

Expected behavior

Run :checkhealth in nvim with the node binary of choice in the path and not set the node_host_prog:

...
## Python 3 provider (optional)
   - INFO: pyenv: Path: /home/ubuntu/.pyenv/libexec/pyenv
   - INFO: pyenv: Root: /home/ubuntu/.pyenv
   - INFO: Using: g:python3_host_prog = "/home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/python/bin/python3"
   - INFO: Executable: /home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/python/bin/python3
   - INFO: Python version: 3.7.7
   - INFO: pynvim version: 0.4.3
   - OK: Latest pynvim is installed.
 
 ## Node.js provider (optional)
   - INFO: Node.js: v14.16.1
   - INFO: Nvim node.js host: /home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/node-v14.16.1-linux-x64/lib/node_modules/neovim/bin/cli.js
   - OK: Latest "neovim" npm/yarn package is installed: 4.10.0
...

Actual behavior

Run :checkhealth in nvim with g:node_host_prog and g:python3_host_prog set to custom locations. Note that for NodeJS, nvim finds /usr/bin/node (v8.10.0) installed on the system, instead of the one set with g:node_host_prog (v14.16.1) option.

...
## Python 3 provider (optional)
   - INFO: pyenv: Path: /home/ubuntu/.pyenv/libexec/pyenv
   - INFO: pyenv: Root: /home/ubuntu/.pyenv
   - INFO: Using: g:python3_host_prog = "/home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/python/bin/python3"
   - INFO: Executable: /home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/python/bin/python3
   - INFO: Python version: 3.7.7
   - INFO: pynvim version: 0.4.3
   - OK: Latest pynvim is installed.

## Node.js provider (optional)
   - INFO: Node.js: v8.10.0
   - INFO: Nvim node.js host: /home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/node/bin/node --prefix=/home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/node
   - ERROR: Command error (job=10, exit code 1): `node '/home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/node/bin/node --prefix=/home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/node' --version` (in '/home/ubuntu/.dotfiles/nvim')
     stderr: module.js:549    throw err;    ^Error: Cannot find module '/home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/node/bin/node --prefix=/home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/node'    at Function.Module._resolveFilename (module.js:547:15) at Function.Module._load (module.js:474:25) at Function.Module.runMain (module.js:693:10) at startup (bootstrap_node.js:188:16) at bootstrap_node.js:609:3 in/node --prefix=/home/ubuntu/.local/share/
   - ERROR: Failed to run: ['node', '/home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/node/bin/node --prefix=/home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/node', '--version']
     - ADVICE:
       - Report this issue with the output of:
       - ['node', '/home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/node/bin/node --prefix=/home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/node', '--version']
...

[gilbertfrancois]

When setting let g:node_host_prog = '/home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/node/bin/node', in init.vim it looks like nvim is trying to run:

`node '/home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/node/bin/node --prefix=/home/ubuntu/.local/share/nvim/lib/node' --version`

I guess the first token node should not be there.

[gpanders]

g:node_host_prog is not a path to the node binary but to the neovim-node-host binary. :h g:node_host_prog makes this explicit:

						*g:node_host_prog*
Command to start the Node.js host. Setting this makes startup faster.

By default, Nvim searches for "neovim-node-host" using "npm root -g", which
can be slow. To avoid this, set g:node_host_prog to the host path: >
    let g:node_host_prog = '/usr/local/bin/neovim-node-host'

This is e.g. the path to the binary resulting from npm install -g neovim.

[chardskarth]

Incase someone gets here to try and set "node" to a fixed version instead of the one in $PATH.

Nope, this doesn't do it.

This just sets the path that neovim uses to start the node host but it's still gonna use node from your path.

Even if I do this (documentation was confusing, but this is the correct value to set g:node_host_prog)

vim.g.node_host_prog = vim.fn.expand("~") .. "/.nvm/versions/node/v20.13.0/lib/node_modules/neovim/bin/cli.js"

It won't do it

[justinmk]

but it's still gonna use node from your path.

That's probably because cli.js does so.

This will be fixed as we migrate to "v2 remote plugins" (which don't need cli.js): #27949