diff --git a/base/.config/bash/prompt.sh b/base/.config/bash/prompt.sh
index 9fac59c..c39aaa2 100644
--- a/base/.config/bash/prompt.sh
+++ b/base/.config/bash/prompt.sh
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ bblack='\e[1;30m'
 PS1="\[$green\]"'\u '"\[$blue\]"'$(hostname -s | tr ':A-Z:' ':a-z:') '"\[$green\]\w "
 
 if command -v git &> /dev/null ; then
-    function parse_git_status {
+    parse_git_status () (
         if [[ $(git status 2> /dev/null | wc -l) -eq 0 ]]; then
             return
         fi
@@ -23,11 +23,11 @@ if command -v git &> /dev/null ; then
         if [[ $(git status 2> /dev/null | grep -c "working tree clean") -eq 0 ]]; then
             echo ' ∓'
         fi
-    }
+    )
 
-    function parse_git_branch {
+    parse_git_branch () (
         git branch --no-color 2> /dev/null | sed -e '/^[^*]/d' -e 's/* \(.*\)/\1/'
-    }
+    )
     # display git branch
     PS1="$PS1\[$bblack\]"'$(parse_git_branch)'
     # display git status
@@ -37,4 +37,3 @@ fi
 # display date
 PS1="$PS1\[$purple\]\D{%F %I:%M%P} "
 PS1="$PS1\[$color_off\]\nλ "
-
diff --git a/base/.config/profile/profile.d/base.sh b/base/.config/profile/profile.d/base.sh
index d2229ad..4e7a334 100644
--- a/base/.config/profile/profile.d/base.sh
+++ b/base/.config/profile/profile.d/base.sh
@@ -3,19 +3,18 @@
 alias slugify="sed -e 's/[^[:alnum:]]/-/g' | tr -s '-' | tr A-Z a-z"
 
 source_env_file () {
-    file="${1}"
-    if [ ! -f "${file}" ]; then
+    if [ ! -f "${1}" ]; then
         return
     fi
     eval "$(
-        grep -v '^\s*\#' "${file}" |
+        grep -v '^\s*\#' "${1}" |
         grep -v '^\s*$' |
         sed 's/^\s*export//g' |
         sed 's/^/export /g'
     )"
 }
 
-add_date_prefix () {
+add_date_prefix () (
     DIR=$(dirname "$1")
     FILE=$(basename "$1")
     DATE=$(date -r "$1" +"%F")
@@ -24,9 +23,9 @@ add_date_prefix () {
         return
     fi
     mv "$1" "$DIR/${DATE}_${FILE}"
-}
+)
 
-get_bitrate () {
+get_bitrate () (
     if [ ! -f "$1" ] ; then
         echo "[ERROR] unknown file: $1"
         return
@@ -36,4 +35,4 @@ get_bitrate () {
         return
     fi
     exiftool -AudioBitrate "$1" | awk '{print $4}'
-}
+)
diff --git a/base/.local/share/buddy-up/includes/github.sh b/base/.local/share/buddy-up/includes/github.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bfce802
--- /dev/null
+++ b/base/.local/share/buddy-up/includes/github.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+latest_download () (
+    FILTER='import "github" as gh; gh::latest_download(env.OS; env.ARCH)'
+    OS=${2} ARCH="${3}" jq --raw-output "${FILTER}" <"$(release_json "${1}")"
+)
+
+latest_type () (
+    FILTER='import "github" as gh; gh::latest_type(env.OS; env.ARCH)'
+    OS=${2} ARCH="${3}" jq --raw-output "${FILTER}" <"$(release_json "${1}")"
+)
+
+latest_version () (
+    FILTER='import "github" as gh; gh::latest_version'
+    jq --raw-output "${FILTER}" <"$(release_json "${1}")"
+)
+
+age_in_seconds () (
+    echo $(( $(date +"%s") - $(stat -c "%Y" "${1}") ))
+)
+
+release_json () (
+    DAY=$((60 * 60 * 24))
+    PROJECT=$1
+    JSON=${XDG_CACHE_HOME}/apps/meta/${PROJECT}/releases.json
+    mkdir -p "$(dirname "${JSON}")"
+    if [[ ! -f "${JSON}" || "$(age_in_seconds "${JSON}")" -gt "${DAY}" ]]; then
+        curl --silent --output "${JSON}" "https://api.github.com/repos/${PROJECT}/releases"
+    fi
+    echo "${JSON}"
+)
diff --git a/base/.local/share/buddy-up/includes/utils.sh b/base/.local/share/buddy-up/includes/utils.sh
index c584084..67df74c 100644
--- a/base/.local/share/buddy-up/includes/utils.sh
+++ b/base/.local/share/buddy-up/includes/utils.sh
@@ -1,29 +1,29 @@
 #ft=bash
 
-bail () {
+bail () (
     >&2 echo "ERROR: $1"
     exit 1
-}
+)
 
-must_be_root () {
+must_be_root () (
     if [ "$(id --user)" != 0 ]; then
         bail "must run as root"
     fi
-}
+)
 
-set_link () {
-    TARGET="$1"
-    APP_DIR="$2"
-    APP_PATH="$3"
+set_link () (
+    TARGET=${1}
+    APP_DIR=${2}
+    APP_PATH=${3:-}
 
     pushd "$(dirname "${TARGET}")" >/dev/null || exit 1
     unlink_if_set "${TARGET}"
     REL_PATH=$(relative_path "$(dirname "${TARGET}")" "${APP_DIR}/current/${APP_PATH}")
     ln -s "${REL_PATH}" "$(basename "${TARGET}")"
     popd >/dev/null || exit 1
-}
+)
 
-get_os () {
+get_os () (
     case $(uname -s) in
         Linux*)         echo linux;;
         Darwin*)        echo darwin;;
@@ -36,9 +36,9 @@ get_os () {
         CYGWIN_NT*)     echo windows;;
         *)          >&2 echo "unsupported os"; return;
     esac
-}
+)
 
-get_arch () {
+get_arch () (
     case $(uname -m) in
         x86_64*)    echo amd64;;
         amd64*)     echo amd64;;
@@ -51,43 +51,43 @@ get_arch () {
         aarch64*)   echo arm64;;
         *)          >&2 echo "unsupported architecture: $(uname -m)"; exit 1;;
     esac
-}
+)
 
-set_current_link () {
-    prefix="${1}"
-    version="${2}"
-    sudo="${3}"
+set_current_link () (
+    prefix=${1}
+    version=${2}
+    sudo=${3:-}
     current="${prefix}/current"
     if [ -L "${current}" ] ; then
         $sudo unlink "${current}"
     fi
     rel="$(relative_path "${prefix}" "${prefix}/${version}")"
     $sudo ln -s "$rel" "${current}"
-}
+)
 
-unlink_if_set () {
-    dir="$1"
-    sudo="$2"
+unlink_if_set () (
+    dir=$1
+    sudo=${2:-}
     if [ -L "${dir}" ]; then
         # shellcheck disable=SC2086
         ${sudo} unlink "${dir}"
     fi
-}
+)
 
-mkdir_if_missing () {
-    dir="$1"
-    sudo=$2
+mkdir_if_missing () (
+    dir=${1}
+    sudo=${2:-}
     if [ ! -d "${dir}" ]; then
         # shellcheck disable=SC2086
         $sudo mkdir -p "${dir}"
     fi
-}
+)
 
-extract_zip () {
-    url="${1}"
-    dest="${2}"
-    args="${3}"
-    sudo="${4}"
+extract_zip () (
+    url=${1}
+    dest=${2}
+    args=${3}
+    sudo=${4:-}
     if [ -d "${dest}" ]; then
         return
     fi
@@ -99,13 +99,13 @@ extract_zip () {
     # shellcheck disable=SC2086
     $sudo unzip -o "${zipfile}" -d "${dest}" ${args}
     rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
-}
+)
 
-extract_tarball () {
-    url="${1}"
-    dest="${2}"
-    args="${3}"
-    sudo="${4}"
+extract_tarball () (
+    url=${1}
+    dest=${2}
+    args=${3}
+    sudo=${4:-}
     if [ -d "${dest}" ]; then
         return
     fi
@@ -117,9 +117,9 @@ extract_tarball () {
     # shellcheck disable=SC2086
     $sudo tar xf "${tarball}" --directory "${dest}" ${args}
     rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
-}
+)
 
-relative_path() {
+relative_path() (
     # both $1 and $2 are absolute paths beginning with /
     # $1 must be a canonical path; that is none of its directory
     # components may be ".", ".." or a symbolic link
@@ -161,4 +161,4 @@ relative_path() {
     fi
 
     printf '%s' "$result"
-}
+)
diff --git a/base/.profile b/base/.profile
index 006b47c..f1d7d72 100644
--- a/base/.profile
+++ b/base/.profile
@@ -30,12 +30,11 @@ fi
 export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
 
 env_file () {
-    file="${1}"
-    if [ ! -f "${file}" ]; then
+    if [ ! -f "${1}" ]; then
         return
     fi
     eval "$(
-        grep -v '^\s*\#' "${file}" |
+        grep -v '^\s*\#' "${1}" |
         grep -v '^\s*$' |
         sed 's/^\s*export//g' |
         sed 's/^/export /g'
diff --git a/node/.local/bin/install-node-home b/node/.local/bin/install-node-home
index 40c89b7..dadc126 100755
--- a/node/.local/bin/install-node-home
+++ b/node/.local/bin/install-node-home
@@ -1,13 +1,16 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
-set -e
+set -euo pipefail
 
 # shellcheck disable=SC1090
 source "${XDG_DATA_HOME}/buddy-up/includes/node.sh"
 
-VERSION=${VERSION:-14.17.6}
-DEST="${XDG_DATA_HOME}/apps/releases/node"
-CURRENT="${DEST}/current"
+VERSION=${VERSION:-node_lts}
+DEST=${XDG_DATA_HOME}/apps/releases/node
+CURRENT=${DEST}/current
+
+# shellcheck disable=SC2034
+URL=https://nodejs.org/dist/${VERSION}/node-${VERSION}-$(get_os)-$(get_arch).tar.xz
 
 extract_tarball "${URL}" "${DEST}/${VERSION}" "--strip-components 1"
 set_current_link "${DEST}" "${VERSION}"
diff --git a/node/.local/bin/install-node-system b/node/.local/bin/install-node-system
index 8ddf964..c00f554 100755
--- a/node/.local/bin/install-node-system
+++ b/node/.local/bin/install-node-system
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ PREFIX=${PREFIX:-/usr/local}
 DEST="${PREFIX}/apps/releases/node"
 CURRENT="${DEST}/current"
 
+# shellcheck disable=SC2034
+URL=https://nodejs.org/dist/${VERSION}/node-${VERSION}-$(get_os)-$(get_arch).tar.xz
+
 extract_tarball "${URL}" "${DEST}/${VERSION}" "--strip-components 1" sudo
 set_current_link "${DEST}" "${VERSION}" sudo
 
diff --git a/node/.local/share/buddy-up/includes/node.sh b/node/.local/share/buddy-up/includes/node.sh
index c216ad5..f521e6a 100644
--- a/node/.local/share/buddy-up/includes/node.sh
+++ b/node/.local/share/buddy-up/includes/node.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,12 @@
 # shellcheck disable=SC1090
 source "${XDG_DATA_HOME}/buddy-up/includes/utils.sh"
 
-get_arch () {
+node_lts () (
+    curl --silent https://nodejs.org/dist/index.tab |
+    cut -f 1,10 | grep '-' | head -n 1 | cut -f 1
+)
+
+get_arch () (
     case $(uname -m) in
         x86_64*)    echo x64;;
         amd64*)     echo x64;;
@@ -14,12 +19,12 @@ get_arch () {
         aarch64*)   echo arm64;;
         *)          >&2 echo "unsupported architecture: $(uname -m)"; exit 1;;
     esac
-}
+)
 
-set_symlink () {
-    src="$1"
-    dest="$2"
-    sudo="$3"
+set_symlink () (
+    src=${1}
+    dest=${2}
+    sudo=${3:-}
     dest_dir=$(dirname "${dest}")
 
     mkdir_if_missing "${dest_dir}" "$sudo"
@@ -27,8 +32,4 @@ set_symlink () {
     unlink_if_set "${dest}" "${sudo}"
     $sudo ln -s "$(relative_path "${dest_dir}" "${src}")" "$(basename "${dest}")"
     popd > /dev/null || exit 1
-}
-
-VERSION=${VERSION:-v14.17.3}
-# shellcheck disable=SC2034
-URL=https://nodejs.org/dist/${VERSION}/node-${VERSION}-$(get_os)-$(get_arch).tar.xz
+)