npx @backstage/create-app "node" is incompatible with this module

Expected Behavior

npx @backstage/create-app should create a backstage app.

Current Behavior

Yarn install fails:

executing     yarn install ◞ error root@1.0.0: The engine "node" is incompatible with this module. Expected version "12 || 14". Got "9.11.2"

I suspect this is just some incorrect PATH thing and it’s finding an old version of node from Xcode but I just can’t find where it is happening.

Context

backstage-cu$ npx @backstage/create-app
npx: installed 68 in 3.91s
? Enter a name for the app [required] dev-portal
? Select database for the backend [required] PostgreSQL

Creating the app...

...

 Moving to final location:
  moving        dev-portal ✔ 

 Building the app:
  executing     yarn install ◞ error root@1.0.0: The engine "node" is incompatible with this module. Expected version "12 || 14". Got "9.11.2"
error Found incompatible module.
yarn install v1.22.10
info No lockfile found.
[1/5] Validating package.json...
info Visit https://yarnpkg.com/en/docs/cli/install for documentation about this command.
  executing     yarn install ✖ 

Could not execute command yarn install

It seems that something went wrong when creating the app 🤔
We are going to clean up, and then you can try again.

 Cleanup:
  remove        temporary directory ✔ 

🔥  Failed to create app!

Possible Solution

Workaround:

1. cd to the final location
2. manual run yarn install

dev-portal$ yarn install
yarn install v1.22.10
info No lockfile found.
[1/5] 🔍  Validating package.json...
[2/5] 🔍  Resolving packages...
...
[3/5] 🚚  Fetching packages...
[4/5] 🔗  Linking dependencies...
...
[5/5] 🔨  Building fresh packages...
success Saved lockfile.
✨  Done in 70.91s.
dev-portal$ dev-portal$ yarn tsc
yarn run v1.22.10
$ tsc
✨  Done in 5.31s.
dev-portal$ yarn --cwd packages/backend start
yarn run v1.22.10
$ backstage-cli backend:dev
Build succeeded
...
2020-12-10T17:06:24.885Z catalog info Wrote 21 entities from location bootstrap:bootstrap in 96ms
2020-12-10T17:06:24.887Z catalog info Locations Refresh: Completed locations refresh in 1.5s

In another terminal:

backstage-cu$ cd dev-portal/
dev-portal$ yarn start
yarn run v1.22.10
$ yarn workspace app start
$ backstage-cli app:serve
Env config file 'app-config.production.yaml' is not loaded as APP_ENV and NODE_ENV-based config loading has been removed
To load the config file, use --config <path>, listing every config file that you want to load
Loaded config from app-config.yaml
fatal: not a git repository (or any of the parent directories): .git
WARNING: Failed to read git commit, ExitCodeError: Command 'git rev-parse HEAD' exited with code 128
fatal: not a git repository (or any of the parent directories): .git
WARNING: Failed to describe git version, ExitCodeError: Command 'git describe --always' exited with code 128
ℹ ｢wds｣: Project is running at http://localhost:3000/
ℹ ｢wds｣: webpack output is served from /
ℹ ｢wds｣: Content not from webpack is served from /Users/alan/src/backstage-cu/dev-portal/packages/app/public
ℹ ｢wds｣: 404s will fallback to /index.html
ℹ ｢wdm｣: wait until bundle finished: /catalog/default/api/spotify/definition
ℹ ｢wdm｣: Compiled successfully.

Steps to Reproduce

1. npx @backstage/create-app

See Context, above.

Your Environment

• NodeJS Version (v12): v15.15.1
• Operating System and Version (e.g. Ubuntu 14.04): MacOS Catalina 10.15.7 (19H15)
• Browser Information: N/A

backstage-cu$ yarn --version
1.22.10
backstage-cu$ node --version
v14.15.1
backstage-cu$ npx --version
6.14.8
backstage-cu$ which yarn
/usr/local/bin/yarn
backstage-cu$ ls -l /usr/local/bin/yarn
lrwxr-xr-x  1 ac45  admin  31 Nov 30 15:22 /usr/local/bin/yarn@ -> ../Cellar/yarn/1.22.10/bin/yarn

[n2ygk]

Yeah not that either…

dev-portal$ /usr/bin/env node -v 
v14.15.1

[n2ygk]

dev-portal$ npx node -v
v14.15.1
dev-portal$ which node
/Users/ac45/.nvm/versions/node/v14.15.1/bin/node
dev-portal$ node -v
v14.15.1
dev-portal$ nvm list
->     v14.15.1
         system
node -> stable (-> v14.15.1) (default)
stable -> 14.15 (-> v14.15.1) (default)
iojs -> N/A (default)
unstable -> N/A (default)
lts/* -> lts/fermium (-> v14.15.1)
lts/argon -> v4.9.1 (-> N/A)
lts/boron -> v6.17.1 (-> N/A)
lts/carbon -> v8.17.0 (-> N/A)
lts/dubnium -> v10.23.0 (-> N/A)
lts/erbium -> v12.20.0 (-> N/A)
lts/fermium -> v14.15.1