stabilize to a single minimum NodeJS LTS version for engines

[thescientist13]

Type of Change

Enhancement

Summary

Coming out of #1202 / #1372, we opened up the range for NodeJS LTS version to try and accommodate all minimum versions with the least amount of experimental features based on the current compatibility matrix at the time

"engines": {
  "node": "^18.20.5 || ^20.18.3 || >=22.12.0"
}

Per research into opening #1372 , here's a current breakdown of key feature we're using and where they stand in the NodeJS release / API status

Feature	Min. Node Version	Changelog	Notes / Status
import.meta.resolve	18.19.0, 20.6.0	https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v22.x/api/esm.html#importmetaresolvespecifier	Release Candidate
JSON import attributes	18.20.5, 20.18.3, 22.12.0	https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v22.x/api/esm.html#json-modules	Stable
New Loader Hooks	20.6.0	https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v22.x/api/module.html#customization-hooks	Release Candidate
TypeScript	22.6.0	With --experimental-strip-types flag, unflagged in >=23, Node v22.x unflagged backport incoming	Experimental

Details

Prior to 1.0, would like to go back to a single minimum version, using >= so we don't have to constantly be chasing the LTS release schedule, e.g.

The main items we're waiting on

• Stable import.meta.resolve - currently RC as of 20.18.x
• Stable JSON Import Attributes - [v20.x backport] esm: mark import attributes and JSON module as stable nodejs/node#55961
• Stable loader hooks * - currently RC as of 20.18.x
• Stable unflagged TypeStripping - [v22.x backport] module: unflag --experimental-strip-types nodejs/node#57298

I think eventually we can go to something like this for the engines field

"engines": {
  "node": ">=20.?.0"
}

We should also be able to clean up our test scenarios (consolidate TS tests into standard test suite) as well as swap over to using Amaro, if we can jump right to >=22 (since for now we decided to use sucrase in #1433)

[thescientist13]

Should be of note that in #1401 looks like can use >= in our engines field