Reach out to Travis to get option that includes

[mhdawson]

LTS releases + current.

[ljharb]

This is already doable by adding matrix lines in .travis.yml for each LTS signifier that nvm supports, as well as node. I'm not sure how it would work to have something in the yml that created more than one item.

[dominykas]

This is already doable by adding matrix lines

Yes, it is possible to do this and we should evangelize that, however I think this issue is to change the default, i.e. the behavior when you have no versions defined. At the moment it will only run in the latest stable - I think we should advocate that it should run in the latest stable + latest LTS and that is without adding any lines other than language: node_js in the .travis.yml.

I also think that lts/* was intended to support multiple LTS versions, but maybe they never got around to implementing that.

So, to summarize, what I'd really love to see travis do is support the following:

• node latest stable Node.js release (same as they currently)
• lts/active all active LTS Node.js releases (there is no such option right now)
• default: current (or active or smth like that) equivalent of having both node and lts/active in the version list (currently: default is node).

Maintainers can then chose to stick to the default (ideally) or override to only test in one or more specific lts/latest/whatever they feel like.

Docs: https://docs.travis-ci.com/user/languages/javascript-with-nodejs/#specifying-nodejs-versions

Edit: update to reflect @ljharb's commend on the intent of lts/*.

[ljharb]

I’m the maintainer of nvm who invented “lts/*” - in no way was it ever intended to support multiple versions, it’s a single star and behaves the same way a single star does on the command line, selecting the first matched version only.

[dominykas]

Cool, thanks, good to know! Did not realize this comes from nvm and assumed it's a glob.

Updated to suggest lts/active instead.

[ljharb]

That would still indicate a single version; nvm (travis’ sole means of deciding node version) does not have any concept of selecting multiple versions, only listing them.

I can certainly ask Travis to change the default matrix to have multiple jobs, but i anticipate pushback about the complexity for users of getting, say, 3 jobs by default, adding 1, and ending up with 1 - if that comes up, how should i respond?

[dominykas]

Ideally, library maintainers, esp. for popular libs, should be testing at least in all active LTS plus stable, but if that's not feasible (there's an obvious cost associated with 3x the job runs), then the current default of stable is a good one, I would say.

Regardless of that, adding a way to define "all active LTS" in a single line of .travis.yml, which does not need to be maintained, would be an awesome feature.

And even without that feature, possibly Travis could update their docs to highlight the current behavior (that people might not be testing in LTS by default) and include a recommendation with an example of a manual configuration. I'm happy to try and work on a proposal for the docs (not sure if they have them in the open so people can PR).

[mhdawson]

I think the

which does not need to be maintained,

part would really be helpful. @ljharb if a single entry mapping to multiple entries does not fit the model any other ideas? I wonder about something like LTS-latest, LTS-1, LTS-2 or some other way to try and catch all of the active LTS versions which would not have to be updated for each new release.

[ljharb]

hmm, probably the easiest way would be for me to add a similar feature to nvm; then travis can get it by default.

[dominykas]

@ljharb any chance there's an update on this? I'd be keen to hear any and all opinions from Travis, before I start drafting #204... Can I be of any assistance on the nvm side of things (a stretch, given I'm no bash guru, but still)?

[dominykas]

By the way, renovate does have some syntax on this: https://renovatebot.com/node/

[ljharb]

@dominykas the more i think about it, the more i don't think it's really compatible with travis without being built into nvm. (the renovate link 404s for me)

[dominykas]

Looks like a bug in renovate docs routing or smth, here's a link that works: https://renovatebot.com/docs/node/