Why does NVM use the incorrect version of Python?

Question

I'm having some issues with the node-gyp package, and I believe it's because I need to use python 2.7 rather than python 3.

I have set-up my PATH environment variables so that when I do python --version the output is Python 2.7.16.

However, in the same terminal, when I go to yarn install my project. It fails, and I can see the output of the logs is:

Command: node-gyp rebuild
Arguments:
Directory: /Users/myname/Documents/myproject
Output:
gyp info it worked if it ends with ok
gyp info using [email protected]
gyp info using [email protected] | darwin | x64
gyp info find Python using Python version 3.7.3 found at "/Users/myname/anaconda3/bin/python"

I am also using nvm. Catalina 10.15.2. Node 12.14.0. NVM 0.33.11.

Why does my terminal version show me as using 2.7, but then the logs show the command node-gyp rebuild as using 3.7.3? If I've already set-up my environment variables, what can I change to rectify this? Is it something to do with nvm?

Answer 1

If experiencing this issue on an M1 Mac, see the accepted answer to this question (basically for Node versions older than 15, you need to open Terminal using Rosetta):

nvm install node fails to install on macOS Big Sur M1 Chip

This solution worked for me (on an M1 MacBook Pro) when the other answers here did not work.