ASDF Version Manager

ASDF is a CLI tool that can manage multiple language runtime versions on a per-project basis, designed as a single extensible version manager to replace language-specific tools like nvm, rbenv, pyenv, and phpenv. Created around 2014 and written in Bash, asdf has over 21,000 stars as of 2026. Key features: single tool for all languages (manage Node.js, Ruby, Python, Elixir, Go, Rust, PHP, Java, and dozens more through community-maintained plugins, eliminating the need for separate version managers per language). Per-project versioning (.tool-versions file defines exact runtime versions per project directory, automatically switching versions when navigating between projects, similar to .nvmrc or .ruby-version but language-agnostic). Plugin architecture (over 500 community-maintained plugins available via asdf-plugins registry, each plugin handles downloading, installing, and managing a specific runtime or tool). Global and local versions (set global defaults with asdf global, override per-directory with asdf local, or per-shell with asdf shell). Latest and version aliases (install latest stable with asdf install plugin latest, alias versions with asdf alias for pinning and consistency). Shell completion (bash, zsh, and fish shell completions for commands and plugin names). Integration with direnv (automatic environment variable and version switching when entering project directories via direnv integration). Latest command (asdf latest command shows all available versions for a plugin without installing). Plugin management (asdf plugin add, asdf plugin list, asdf plugin update --all for managing installed plugins). Version resolution (latest version pattern matching with asdf install nodejs latest:18 for latest Node.js 18.x release). Uninstall and cleanup (asdf uninstall for removing specific versions, keeping disk usage minimal). Cross-platform (works on Linux, macOS, and WSL, with community Windows support via Git Bash).