Align CI and docs to Node 20 and make frontend build/test steps consistent

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Setup Node.js
         uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with:
-          # Vite 4 requires Node 18; if you upgrade to Vite 5 bump this to 20
+          # Pinned via .nvmrc; keep CI aligned with production Node 20 baseline.
           node-version-file: ".nvmrc"
           cache: "npm"
           cache-dependency-path: package-lock.json
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ jobs:
         env:
           # Placeholder – real URL is injected at deploy time via Hyperlift env
           VITE_API_URL: https://spectracleanse.com
-        run: npx vite build
+        run: npm run build
 
       - name: Upload build artifact
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4

.github/workflows/security.yml

@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Setup Node.js
         uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with:
-          node-version: "18"
+          node-version-file: ".nvmrc"
           cache: "npm"
           cache-dependency-path: package-lock.json
 
@@ -49,4 +49,4 @@ jobs:
           format: table
           exit-code: "1"
           ignore-unfixed: true
-          severity: "HIGH,CRITICAL"
+          severity: "HIGH,CRITICAL"

README.md

@@ -60,10 +60,10 @@ Questions, partnerships, or enterprise enquiries: [hello@spectracleanse.com](mai
 
 ## Native Node deployment runtime
 
-- Native Render/Node deployments should use **Node 20.20.2** (recommended) or a Node version within the supported engines range: `>=18 <23`.
+- Native Render/Node deployments should use **Node 20.20.2** (recommended) or another **Node 20.x** release.
 - If Render defaults your service to a newer Node release, set `NODE_VERSION=20.20.2` in the service environment.
 - Node 24 is currently not supported for native installs in validation because `better-sqlite3` native compilation failed under Node 24.
-- Docker deployments already pin Node 18 via the repo Dockerfile.
+- Docker deployments already pin Node 20 via the repo Dockerfile.
 
 ---
 

spectracleanse-engineering/docs/render-deploy-checklist.md

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ This checklist covers both Render (web service) and Spaceship Hyperlift (both do
 - [ ] Not Node 24 (better-sqlite3 native compilation incompatible)
 - [ ] Build log confirms `v20.x.x` — not `v18.x.x` or `v24.x.x`
 
-Note: `.github/workflows/ci.yml` uses Node 18 for CI. This diverges from the production pin. Do not use CI's Node version as a guide for the production runtime.
+Note: CI workflows should use `.nvmrc` (`20.20.2`) so native modules (for example `better-sqlite3`) are validated on the same major version used in production.
 
 ---