setup-node/docs/advanced-usage.md

# Advanced usage

### Check latest version

The `check-latest` flag defaults to `false`. When set to `false`, the action will first check the local cache for a semver match. If unable to find a specific version in the cache, the action will attempt to download a version of Node.js. It will pull LTS versions from [node-versions releases](https://github.com/actions/node-versions/releases) and on miss or failure will fall back to the previous behavior of downloading directly from [node dist](https://nodejs.org/dist/). Use the default or set `check-latest` to `false` if you prefer stability and if you want to ensure a specific version of Node.js is always used.

If `check-latest` is set to `true`, the action first checks if the cached version is the latest one. If the locally cached version is not the most up-to-date, a version of Node.js will then be downloaded. Set `check-latest` to `true` it you want the most up-to-date version of Node.js to always be used.

> Setting `check-latest` to `true` has performance implications as downloading versions of Node is slower than using cached versions.

```yaml
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v2
- uses: actions/setup-node@v2
  with:
    node-version: '14'
    check-latest: true
- run: npm install
- run: npm test
```

### Architecture

You can use any of the [supported operating systems](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/reference/virtual-environments-for-github-hosted-runners), and the compatible `architecture` can be selected using `architecture`. Values are `x86`, `x64`, `arm64`, `armv6l`, `armv7l`, `ppc64le`, `s390x` (not all of the architectures are available on all platforms).

When using `architecture`, `node-version` must be provided as well.
```yaml
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: windows-latest
    name: Node sample
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
          node-version: '14'
          architecture: 'x64' # optional, x64 or x86. If not specified, x64 will be used by default
      - run: npm install
      - run: npm test
```

### Caching packages dependencies

**Using wildcard patterns to cache dependencies**
```yaml
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v2
- uses: actions/setup-node@v2
  with:
    node-version: '14'
    cache: 'npm'
    cache-dependency-path: '**/package-lock.json'
- run: npm install
- run: npm test
```

**Using a list of file paths to cache dependencies**
```yaml
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v2
- uses: actions/setup-node@v2
  with:
    node-version: '14'
    cache: 'npm'
    cache-dependency-path: |
      server/app/package-lock.json
      frontend/app/package-lock.json
- run: npm install
- run: npm test
```

### Multiple Operating Systems and Architectures

```yaml
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os:
          - ubuntu-latest
          - macos-latest
          - windows-latest
        node_version:
          - 12
          - 14
          - 16
        architecture:
          - x64
        # an extra windows-x86 run:
        include:
          - os: windows-2016
            node_version: 12
            architecture: x86
    name: Node ${{ matrix.node_version }} - ${{ matrix.architecture }} on ${{ matrix.os }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: Setup node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node_version }}
          architecture: ${{ matrix.architecture }}
      - run: npm install
      - run: npm test
```

### Publish to npmjs and GPR with npm
```yaml
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v2
- uses: actions/setup-node@v2
  with:
    node-version: '14.x'
    registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'
- run: npm install
- run: npm publish
  env:
    NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
- uses: actions/setup-node@v2
  with:
    registry-url: 'https://npm.pkg.github.com'
- run: npm publish
  env:
    NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
```

### Publish to npmjs and GPR with yarn
```yaml
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v2
- uses: actions/setup-node@v2
  with:
    node-version: '14.x'
    registry-url: <registry url>
- run: yarn install
- run: yarn publish
  env:
    NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.YARN_TOKEN }}
- uses: actions/setup-node@v2
  with:
    registry-url: 'https://npm.pkg.github.com'
- run: yarn publish
  env:
    NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
```

### Use private packages
```yaml
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v2
- uses: actions/setup-node@v2
  with:
    node-version: '14.x'
    registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'
# Skip post-install scripts here, as a malicious
# script could steal NODE_AUTH_TOKEN.
- run: npm install --ignore-scripts
  env:
    NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
# `npm rebuild` will run all those post-install scripts for us.
- run: npm rebuild && npm run prepare --if-present
```