Description

Setting NAPI_RS_FORCE_WASI=false as an environment variable causes lancedb to attempt loading the non-existent lancedb.wasi.cjs file, resulting in initialization failure.

Error

initialization deferred: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open '.../@lancedb/lancedb/dist/lancedb.wasi.cjs'

Root Cause

In native.js around line 607:

if (!nativeBinding || process.env.NAPI_RS_FORCE_WASI)

The string "false" is truthy in JavaScript, so NAPI_RS_FORCE_WASI=false inadvertently triggers the WASI loading path.

Expected Behavior

NAPI_RS_FORCE_WASI=false should NOT trigger the WASI fallback. The check should explicitly compare against the string "true", e.g.:

if (!nativeBinding || process.env.NAPI_RS_FORCE_WASI === 'true')

Workaround

• Unset NAPI_RS_FORCE_WASI entirely instead of setting it to false

Environment

• lancedb: @0.27.2
• Node.js: v24.3.0
• OS: Linux (also reproducible on other platforms)