From 2e55dcf1300dfd46fcd0e0632fb45104ca51461f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Dasa Paddock <dpaddock@esri.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2026 16:59:19 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] fix: default to ['.'] for workspacePackagePatterns when
 packages field is missing (#10996)

Commit 6eedf828b removed the ['.'] fallback for workspacePackagePatterns
when pnpm-workspace.yaml has no packages field. This caused findPackages
to default to ['.', '**'], discovering ALL directories with package.json
as workspace projects. This is the same regression that was previously
reverted in 595cd414f (close #10571), reintroduced by #10127.

Projects like cdxgen that use pnpm-workspace.yaml only for settings
(e.g. minimumReleaseAge) without a packages field were broken because
test data directories were picked up as workspace projects.

close #10909
---
 .changeset/fix-workspace-package-discovery.md     |  6 ++++++
 config/reader/src/index.ts                        |  2 +-
 .../pnpm-workspace.yaml                           |  1 +
 config/reader/test/index.ts                       | 15 +++++++++++++++
 pnpm/test/recursive/misc.ts                       |  1 +
 5 files changed, 24 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 .changeset/fix-workspace-package-discovery.md
 create mode 100644 config/reader/test/fixtures/workspace-yaml-without-packages/pnpm-workspace.yaml

diff --git a/.changeset/fix-workspace-package-discovery.md b/.changeset/fix-workspace-package-discovery.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ad35780c56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/fix-workspace-package-discovery.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+"@pnpm/fs.find-packages": patch
+"pnpm": patch
+---
+
+Fix a regression where `pnpm-workspace.yaml` without a `packages` field caused all directories to be treated as workspace projects. This broke projects that use `pnpm-workspace.yaml` only for settings (e.g. `minimumReleaseAge`) without defining workspace packages [#10909](https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/issues/10909).
diff --git a/config/reader/src/index.ts b/config/reader/src/index.ts
index a8208b70c7..60b43f06db 100644
--- a/config/reader/src/index.ts
+++ b/config/reader/src/index.ts
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@ export async function getConfig (opts: {
     if (pnpmConfig.workspaceDir != null) {
       const workspaceManifest = await readWorkspaceManifest(pnpmConfig.workspaceDir)
 
-      pnpmConfig.workspacePackagePatterns = cliOptions['workspace-packages'] as string[] ?? workspaceManifest?.packages
+      pnpmConfig.workspacePackagePatterns = cliOptions['workspace-packages'] as string[] ?? workspaceManifest?.packages ?? ['.']
       if (workspaceManifest) {
         addSettingsFromWorkspaceManifestToConfig(pnpmConfig, {
           configFromCliOpts,
diff --git a/config/reader/test/fixtures/workspace-yaml-without-packages/pnpm-workspace.yaml b/config/reader/test/fixtures/workspace-yaml-without-packages/pnpm-workspace.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4ff9cc2cbd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/reader/test/fixtures/workspace-yaml-without-packages/pnpm-workspace.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+minimumReleaseAge: 4320
diff --git a/config/reader/test/index.ts b/config/reader/test/index.ts
index 34d1e218e5..7af8e2e586 100644
--- a/config/reader/test/index.ts
+++ b/config/reader/test/index.ts
@@ -815,6 +815,21 @@ test('reads workspacePackagePatterns', async () => {
   expect(config.workspacePackagePatterns).toEqual(['packages/*'])
 })
 
+test('workspacePackagePatterns defaults to ["."] when pnpm-workspace.yaml has no packages field', async () => {
+  const workspaceDir = path.join(import.meta.dirname, 'fixtures/workspace-yaml-without-packages')
+  process.chdir(workspaceDir)
+  const { config } = await getConfig({
+    cliOptions: {},
+    packageManager: {
+      name: 'pnpm',
+      version: '1.0.0',
+    },
+    workspaceDir,
+  })
+
+  expect(config.workspacePackagePatterns).toEqual(['.'])
+})
+
 test('setting workspace-concurrency to negative number', async () => {
   const workspaceDir = path.join(import.meta.dirname, 'fixtures/pkg-with-valid-workspace-yaml')
   process.chdir(workspaceDir)
diff --git a/pnpm/test/recursive/misc.ts b/pnpm/test/recursive/misc.ts
index 42d9bbe922..d619e6062c 100644
--- a/pnpm/test/recursive/misc.ts
+++ b/pnpm/test/recursive/misc.ts
@@ -286,6 +286,7 @@ test('recursive command with filter from config', async () => {
 
   fs.writeFileSync('package.json', '{}', 'utf8')
   writeYamlFileSync('pnpm-workspace.yaml', {
+    packages: ['*'],
     filter: ['project-1', 'project-2'],
   })
   await execPnpm(['recursive', 'install'])