pnpm

Installation and Setup

On macOS and Linux, the standalone script installs pnpm as a native executable that doesn’t need Node.js:

$ curl -fsSL https://get.pnpm.io/install.sh | sh -

On Windows, run this in PowerShell. pnpm’s docs recommend installing with npm there, because Windows Defender can block the standalone executable:

PS> npm install -g pnpm@latest

The npm route needs Node.js 18 or later. Next, confirm the installed version:

$ pnpm --version
12.16.1

Key Features

• Stores every package version once and links its files into each project’s node_modules folder.
• Places only a project’s direct dependencies at the top of node_modules, so code can’t import undeclared packages by accident.
• Refuses to run the build scripts of dependencies, such as postinstall, unless the project allows them.
• Manages monorepos through workspaces listed in a pnpm-workspace.yaml file.

Usage

Say a new project needs Prettier to format its code. After pnpm init creates a package.json, the add command with -D installs Prettier and saves it under devDependencies:

$ pnpm add -D prettier
devDependencies:
+ prettier 3.9.10

Done in 306ms using pnpm v12.16.1

A script in package.json gives the formatter a short name:

{
  "scripts": {
    "format": "prettier --write ."
  }
}

pnpm also runs a script given only its name, so pnpm format works as a shortcut for pnpm run format:

$ pnpm format

After cloning the project, a teammate installs every dependency at the versions in the lockfile:

$ pnpm install

The pnpm dlx command, or its short alias pnx, runs a package’s command once without adding it to the project:

$ pnpm dlx create-vite my-app

In a workspace, the --filter flag runs a command in selected projects only:

$ pnpm --filter web test

For every command and setting, see the pnpm documentation.