Outdated visualstudio2019-workload-vctools in Node.js 22+ Windows install_tools.bat

[MikeMcC399]

Current situation

The version of Visual C++ build tools workload installed by tools/msvs/install_tools/install_tools.bat is not aligned with the version specified in BUILDING > Supported toolchains for Windows:

Node.js branch	Windows Supported toolchain	install_tools.bat
v20.x	Visual Studio >= 2019 with the Windows 10 SDK on a 64-bit host	visualstudio2019-workload-vctools
v22.x	Visual Studio >= 2022 with the Windows 10 SDK on a 64-bit host	visualstudio2019-workload-vctools
v24.x	Visual Studio >= 2022 with the Windows 10 SDK on a 64-bit host	visualstudio2019-workload-vctools

In all branches, tools/msvs/install_tools/install_tools.bat the following choco command is executed:

choco upgrade -y python visualstudio2019-workload-vctools

This is also what gets executed if a user installs Node.js as a Windows MSI package and then selects to install "Tools for Native Modules"

Expected

For Node.js 22.x and 24.x expect that tools/msvs/install_tools/install_tools.bat installs

Visual C++ build tools workload for Visual Studio 2022 (visualstudio2022-workload-vctools)

instead of

Visual C++ build tools workload for Visual Studio 2019 (visualstudio2019-workload-vctools)

Related

• Also mentioned in Remove dependency on Chocolatey #51905 (comment) by @Daverd-GM
• See also BUILDING > Windows

[MeirionHughes]

I'd like to add that the install_tools.bat doesn't work either for the node 22 > 24 change requiring ClangCL

on node 24 node_gyp rebuild is called during install (in a workspace that has latest electron and my own native libs) results in trying to use the Clang platform toolset.

This (apparently) requires an add-on to the *-workload-vctools. But after sinking a day trying to add them, I couldn't get it to work. Neither could I work out how to globally force node-gyp to use a specific platform instead of ClangCL.

So yes - if someone picks this up - I humbly ask the ClangCL platform requirement is added.

[MikeMcC399]

• PR win: upgrade Visual Studio workload from 2019 to 2022 #60318 appears to address this issue, however it is currently unlinked

[MikeMcC399]

Visual Studio 2022 meets the criteria

Visual Studio >= 2019 with the Windows 10 SDK on a 64-bit host

Visual Studio 2026 Insiders was announced Sep 9, 2025. This can be expected to transition to General Availability at some date in the not too distant future.