diff --git a/src/api/extendOptions.ts b/src/api/extendOptions.ts
index d8a9bcb9cd..8015d7daee 100644
--- a/src/api/extendOptions.ts
+++ b/src/api/extendOptions.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import globalBinPath = require('global-bin-path')
 import path = require('path')
 import logger from 'pnpm-logger'
 import expandTilde from '../fs/expandTilde'
+import pnpmPkgJson from '../pnpmPkgJson'
 
 const DEFAULT_GLOBAL_PATH = path.join(globalBinPath(), 'pnpm-global')
 const DEFAULT_LOCAL_REGISTRY = expandTilde('~/.pnpm-registry')
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ const defaults = () => (<StrictPnpmOptions>{
   childConcurrency: 5,
   offline: false,
   registry: 'https://registry.npmjs.org/',
+  userAgent: `${pnpmPkgJson.name}/${pnpmPkgJson.version} npm/? node/${process.version} ${process.platform} ${process.arch}`,
 })
 
 export default (opts?: PnpmOptions): StrictPnpmOptions => {
diff --git a/src/api/install.ts b/src/api/install.ts
index b0d1254903..fb51009122 100644
--- a/src/api/install.ts
+++ b/src/api/install.ts
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ async function installInContext (
     const scripts = ctx.pkg && ctx.pkg.scripts || {}
 
     if (scripts['preinstall']) {
-      npmRun('preinstall', ctx.root)
+      npmRun('preinstall', ctx.root, opts.userAgent)
     }
   }
 
@@ -225,7 +225,9 @@ async function installInContext (
         R.uniqBy(linkedPkg => linkedPkg.hardlinkedLocation, R.values(linkedPkgsMap).filter(pkg => pkg.id === pkgId))
           .map(pkg => limitChild(async () => {
             try {
-              await postInstall(pkg.hardlinkedLocation, installLogger(pkgId))
+              await postInstall(pkg.hardlinkedLocation, installLogger(pkgId), {
+                userAgent: opts.userAgent
+              })
             } catch (err) {
               if (installCtx.installs[pkgId].optional) {
                 logger.warn({
@@ -244,10 +246,10 @@ async function installInContext (
     const scripts = ctx.pkg && ctx.pkg.scripts || {}
 
     if (scripts['postinstall']) {
-      npmRun('postinstall', ctx.root)
+      npmRun('postinstall', ctx.root, opts.userAgent)
     }
     if (scripts['prepublish']) {
-      npmRun('prepublish', ctx.root)
+      npmRun('prepublish', ctx.root, opts.userAgent)
     }
   }
 }
@@ -291,10 +293,11 @@ function adaptConfig (opts: StrictPnpmOptions) {
   }
 }
 
-function npmRun (scriptName: string, pkgRoot: string) {
+function npmRun (scriptName: string, pkgRoot: string, userAgent: string) {
   const result = runScriptSync('npm', ['run', scriptName], {
     cwd: pkgRoot,
-    stdio: 'inherit'
+    stdio: 'inherit',
+    userAgent,
   })
   if (result.status !== 0) {
     process.exit(result.status)
diff --git a/src/cmd/run.ts b/src/cmd/run.ts
index fce1f5de3f..7827d7fd8d 100644
--- a/src/cmd/run.ts
+++ b/src/cmd/run.ts
@@ -5,5 +5,6 @@ export default function (input: string[], opts: PnpmOptions) {
   return runScriptSync('npm', ['run'].concat(input), {
     cwd: process.cwd(),
     stdio: 'inherit',
+    userAgent: undefined,
   })
 }
diff --git a/src/cmd/runNpm.ts b/src/cmd/runNpm.ts
index e32a7d5549..e1b5bb794d 100644
--- a/src/cmd/runNpm.ts
+++ b/src/cmd/runNpm.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ export default function runNpm (args: string[]) {
   const result = runScriptSync('npm', args, {
     cwd: process.cwd(),
     stdio: 'inherit',
+    userAgent: undefined,
   })
   process.exit(result.status)
 }
diff --git a/src/install/postInstall.ts b/src/install/postInstall.ts
index 41dd60fdee..52074f681e 100644
--- a/src/install/postInstall.ts
+++ b/src/install/postInstall.ts
@@ -7,12 +7,18 @@ import readPkg from '../fs/readPkg'
 const pnpmNodeModules = findUp.sync('node_modules', {cwd: __dirname})
 const nodeGyp = path.resolve(pnpmNodeModules, 'node-gyp/bin/node-gyp.js')
 
-export default async function postInstall (root: string, log: Function) {
+export default async function postInstall (
+  root: string,
+  log: Function,
+  opts: {
+    userAgent: string
+  }
+) {
   const pkg = await readPkg(root)
   const scripts = pkg && pkg.scripts || {}
 
   if (!scripts['install']) {
-    await checkBindingGyp(root, log)
+    await checkBindingGyp(root, log, opts)
   }
 
   if (scripts['install']) {
@@ -25,7 +31,7 @@ export default async function postInstall (root: string, log: Function) {
 
   async function npmRunScript (scriptName: string) {
     if (!scripts[scriptName]) return
-    return runScript('npm', ['run', scriptName], { cwd: root, log })
+    return runScript('npm', ['run', scriptName], { cwd: root, log, userAgent: opts.userAgent })
   }
 }
 
@@ -33,7 +39,13 @@ export default async function postInstall (root: string, log: Function) {
  * Run node-gyp when binding.gyp is available. Only do this when there's no
  * `install` script (see `npm help scripts`).
  */
-async function checkBindingGyp (root: string, log: Function) {
+async function checkBindingGyp (
+  root: string,
+  log: Function,
+  opts: {
+    userAgent: string
+  }
+) {
   try {
     await fs.stat(path.join(root, 'binding.gyp'))
   } catch (err) {
@@ -41,5 +53,5 @@ async function checkBindingGyp (root: string, log: Function) {
       return
     }
   }
-  return runScript(nodeGyp, ['rebuild'], { cwd: root, log })
+  return runScript(nodeGyp, ['rebuild'], { cwd: root, log, userAgent: opts.userAgent })
 }
diff --git a/src/runScript.ts b/src/runScript.ts
index 1a2908b0e0..dbb9602d1f 100644
--- a/src/runScript.ts
+++ b/src/runScript.ts
@@ -6,12 +6,15 @@ import PATH = require('path-name')
 
 const scriptLogger = logger('run_script')
 
-export type RunScriptOptions = {
-  cwd: string,
-  log: Function
-}
-
-export default function runScript (command: string, args: string[], opts: RunScriptOptions) {
+export default function runScript (
+  command: string,
+  args: string[],
+  opts: {
+    cwd: string,
+    log: Function,
+    userAgent: string,
+  }
+) {
   opts = Object.assign({log: (() => {})}, opts)
   args = args || []
   const log = opts.log
@@ -21,7 +24,7 @@ export default function runScript (command: string, args: string[], opts: RunScr
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     const proc = spawn(command, args, {
       cwd: opts.cwd,
-      env: createEnv(opts.cwd)
+      env: createEnv(opts)
     })
 
     log('stdout', '$ ' + script)
@@ -37,24 +40,38 @@ export default function runScript (command: string, args: string[], opts: RunScr
   })
 }
 
-export type RunSyncScriptOptions = {
-  cwd: string,
-  stdio: string
-}
-
-export function sync (command: string, args: string[], opts: RunSyncScriptOptions) {
+export function sync (
+  command: string,
+  args: string[],
+  opts: {
+    cwd: string,
+    stdio: string,
+    userAgent?: string,
+  }
+) {
   opts = Object.assign({}, opts)
   return spawn.sync(command, args, Object.assign({}, opts, {
-    env: createEnv(opts.cwd)
+    env: createEnv(opts)
   }))
 }
 
-function createEnv (cwd: string) {
+function createEnv (
+  opts: {
+    cwd: string,
+    userAgent?: string,
+  }
+) {
   const env = Object.create(process.env)
+
   env[PATH] = [
-    path.join(cwd, 'node_modules', '.bin'),
+    path.join(opts.cwd, 'node_modules', '.bin'),
     path.dirname(process.execPath),
     process.env[PATH]
   ].join(path.delimiter)
+
+  if (opts.userAgent) {
+    env['npm_config_user_agent'] = opts.userAgent
+  }
+
   return env
 }
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index 0e22ad866c..4a08b1b2f5 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ export type StrictPnpmOptions = {
   ca?: string,
   strictSsl: boolean,
 
-  userAgent?: string,
+  userAgent: string,
   tag: string,
 
   metaCache: Map<string, PackageMeta>,
diff --git a/test/install/lifecycleScripts.ts b/test/install/lifecycleScripts.ts
index 1fb5a56716..0768f0130e 100644
--- a/test/install/lifecycleScripts.ts
+++ b/test/install/lifecycleScripts.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ import {
   testDefaults,
   execPnpmSync,
 } from '../utils'
+import path = require('path')
+import loadJsonFile = require('load-json-file')
+
+const pkgRoot = path.join(__dirname, '..', '..')
+const pnpmPkg = loadJsonFile.sync(path.join(pkgRoot, 'package.json'))
 
 const test = promisifyTape(tape)
 
@@ -42,6 +47,22 @@ test('installation fails if lifecycle script fails', t => {
   t.end()
 })
 
+test('lifecycle script runs with the correct user agent', t => {
+  const project = prepare(t, {
+    scripts: {
+      preinstall: 'node --eval "console.log(process.env.npm_config_user_agent)"'
+    },
+  })
+
+  const result = execPnpmSync('install')
+
+  t.equal(result.status, 0, 'installation was successfull')
+  const expectedUserAgent = `${pnpmPkg.name}/${pnpmPkg.version} npm/? node/${process.version} ${process.platform} ${process.arch}`
+  t.ok(result.stdout.toString().indexOf(expectedUserAgent) !== -1, 'correct npm_config_user_agent value')
+
+  t.end()
+})
+
 test('preinstall is executed before general installation', t => {
   const project = prepare(t, {
     scripts: {