Node.js 26.8.1

Node.js 26.8.1 ships as an out-of-band fix for the current release line. It corrects the node --version output, which was wrongly reporting an alpha version number. The release landed on August 26, 2026.

Version Fix

The culprit was an accidental alpha designation that slipped into the release build. This patch reverts that change and also repairs a helper script in the Nix packaging tooling.

Upgrade Note

For anyone running 26.8.0, the fix is worth grabbing quickly if your scripts parse the version output. It is a small, targeted release with no new features and no breaking changes.