MCP server crashes because the client uses an old Node version

The error

Why it happens

With nvm installed, a GUI app may pick up an old system Node (e.g. v16) instead of your nvm default. Modern MCP servers need Node 18+ and often 20+.

How to fix it

1. Check which Node the client sees
   Temporarily set command to node with args ["-v"] and read the log, or compare /usr/local/bin/node -v with node -v.
2. Point at a modern Node directly
   Use the absolute npx path from your nvm version and put its bin folder first in PATH.

   {
     "command": "/Users/you/.nvm/versions/node/v22.11.0/bin/npx",
     "args": ["-y", "@upstash/context7-mcp"],
     "env": { "PATH": "/Users/you/.nvm/versions/node/v22.11.0/bin:/usr/bin:/bin" }
   }

3. Or upgrade the system Node
   Install a current LTS from nodejs.org so every app gets it.

Related servers

Sources

• https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm
• https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/develop/connect-local-servers
• crash: Cannot find package 'zod' imported from ~/.nvm/versions/node/v22.22.0/lib/node_modules/monomind/packages/@monomind/cli/dist/src/mcp-tools/quality/coverage-analysis/prioritize-gaps.js (GitHub issue, 1 comments)
• MCP server fails with node version managers (fnm, nvm, volta) (GitHub issue, 1 comments)