Is it possible to bundle the CLI in a way that’s standalone & contains all of the necessary deps?
Alternatively, is anyone by chance doing their Ionic builds via Docker for the Mac?
Long story short: Juggling Ionic1 app release management alongside prototyping using the latest Ionic. Somewhat version dependent on cordova 6.1 for existing project until I can get slotted QA time for maintenance.
If you use the latest Ionic instead of Ionic 1, you’ll have access to a better CLI.
Lots of help, thanks 
The newest Ionic CLI should work with both super old Ionic v1 and super current Ionic projects.
Your issue is more Cordova CLI then, because here you more or less have to decide I think. But: Just install nvm to be able to manage different node versions at the same time. On one you install your old Ionic CLI and old Cordova, one another one the newest Ionic CLI and Cordova CLI - switching between them is just one command. Bam.