If you've wired Swiss Ephemeris into a Node astrology app, you know the ritual. You npm install sweph, and now every machine needs Python plus a C/C++ toolchain, because the package compiles Swiss's C code via node-gyp at install time (make/gcc on Linux, Xcode on macOS, Visual C++ Build Tools on Windows).
It works on your laptop. Then it explodes:
Apple Silicon: node-gyp can't find full Xcode behind Command Line Tools.
Slim Docker / CI images: no Python, no build-essential, so the install dies.
Serverless: the .node binary you built locally won't load on Amazon Linux (wrong arch or glibc).
