build(workflows): remove Node.js v12 and v14 from macos_test matrix

[Planeshifter]

Resolves #{{TODO: add issue number}}.

Description

What is the purpose of this pull request?

This pull request:

• Removes Node.js v12 and v14 from the NODE_VERSION matrix in .github/workflows/macos_test.yml and comments out their corresponding include entries.

Failing run: https://github.com/stdlib-js/stdlib/actions/runs/27270019032

Symptom: The Node.js v14 and Node.js v12 jobs in macos_test fail every nightly run at the "Install Node.js" step with Unable to find Node version '14' for platform darwin and architecture arm64.

Root cause: macOS-latest GitHub Actions runners now provision Apple Silicon (arm64) machines. Node.js v12 and v14 predate Apple Silicon and ship no darwin/arm64 binaries. actions/setup-node cannot resolve those versions on the current runner image, causing a hard failure before any tests run. This has failed on every nightly run for the past 20+ days across multiple develop SHAs, confirming it is a persistent environment regression, not a code regression.

Fix: Remove '14' and '12' from NODE_VERSION: ['16', '14', '12'], leaving only '16'. Node.js v16 has official darwin/arm64 binaries (since April 2021) and resolves correctly on Apple Silicon. The same versions continue to be tested in linux_test.yml (ubuntu-latest, x64), preserving v12/v14 code-path coverage on Linux.

Validation: YAML syntax verified (strict yaml.safe_load). Three independent reviewers examined correctness, regression scope, and style:

• Reviewer A (correctness): Approved. Fix eliminates the v12/v14 jobs entirely; no residual failure path. v16 resolves correctly on arm64. No dangling active references to the removed versions.
• Reviewer B (regression scope): Approved. No other workflow references the removed matrix legs' artifacts or outputs. linux_test.yml retains v12/v14 coverage on Linux. package.json engine declarations unaffected.
• Reviewer C (style): Approved. Commented-out entries match the # - NODE_VERSION / # NPM_VERSION pattern already used for v10/v8/v6/v4/v0.12/v0.10. Commit type build: is correct for a workflow YAML change.

Related Issues

Does this pull request have any related issues?

This pull request has the following related issues:

• #{{TODO: add related issue number}}

Questions

Any questions for reviewers of this pull request?

No.

Other

Any other information relevant to this pull request? This may include screenshots, references, and/or implementation notes.

Reviewer note (non-blocking): The sibling workflows macos_test_cov.yml and macos_benchmark.yml contain the same NODE_VERSION: ['16', '14', '12'] matrix declaration and will fail for the identical arm64 reason. They are not addressed here to keep each fix scoped to a single cluster.

Checklist

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• Read, understood, and followed the contributing guidelines.

AI Assistance

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Disclosure

If you answered "yes" to using AI assistance, please provide a short disclosure indicating how you used AI assistance. This helps reviewers determine how much scrutiny to apply when reviewing your contribution. Example disclosures: "This PR was written primarily by Claude Code." or "I consulted ChatGPT to understand the codebase, but the proposed changes were fully authored manually by myself.".

This PR was written primarily by Claude Code. The CI failure was identified by enumerating 24-hour GitHub Actions runs, confirmed as persistent via 20+ days of identical failures across distinct SHAs, and root-caused by examining the actions/setup-node error output. The fix was validated by three independent agent reviews (correctness, regression scope, style).

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