**TLDR:** Global packages in pnpm v10 are annoying and slow because they all are installed to a single global package. Instead, we will now use a system that is similar to the one used by "pnpm dlx" (aka "pnpx").
Each globally installed package (or group of packages installed together) now gets its own isolated installation directory with its own `package.json`, `node_modules`, and lockfile. This prevents global packages from interfering with each other through peer dependency conflicts or version resolution shifts.
## Changes
- Add `@pnpm/global-packages` shared utilities package for scanning, hashing, and managing isolated global installs
- `pnpm add -g` creates isolated installs in `{pnpmHomeDir}/global/v11/{hash}/`
- `pnpm remove -g` removes the entire installation group containing the package
- `pnpm update -g` re-installs into new isolated directories and swaps symlinks
- `pnpm list -g` scans isolated directories to show installed global packages
- `pnpm outdated -g` checks each isolated installation for outdated dependencies
- `pnpm store prune` cleans up orphaned global installation directories
## Breaking changes
- `pnpm install -g` (no args) is no longer supported — use `pnpm add -g <pkg>`
- `pnpm link <pkg-name>` no longer resolves packages from the global store — only relative or absolute paths are accepted
- `pnpm link --global` is removed — use `pnpm add -g .` to register a local package's bins globally
* feat: switch from pkg to Node.js SEA for creating standalone executables
Replace @yao-pkg/pkg with Node.js native Single Executable Applications
(--build-sea, Node.js 25.5+). The SEA binary embeds only pnpm.cjs (CJS
bootstrap), while pnpm.mjs and all assets live in a dist/ directory
shipped alongside the binary in platform-specific tarballs.
* refactor: move dist/ from platform packages to @pnpm/exe
The dist/ directory (pnpm.mjs, worker.js, templates, etc.) is identical
across all platforms, so ship it once in @pnpm/exe instead of duplicating
it in each platform package. Platform packages now only contain the
binary. The self-updater installs @pnpm/exe (not the platform package)
so it gets both dist/ and the binary via optionalDependencies.
* refactor: externalize @reflink/reflink in esbuild bundle
Make @reflink/reflink external in both the main and worker esbuild
bundles so the require() calls resolve at runtime from dist/node_modules
instead of being inlined. Add @reflink/reflink as a production dependency
of both pnpm (bundled into dist/node_modules by bundle-deps.ts) and
@pnpm/exe (installed by npm alongside the binary).
For GitHub release tarballs, only the target platform's reflink package
is kept. For @pnpm/exe npm publishing, all reflink platform packages
are stripped from dist/ since npm installs the right one automatically.
* chore: update cspell list
* test: update system-node-version tests for SEA detection
Mock @pnpm/cli-meta's detectIfCurrentPkgIsExecutable instead of
setting process.pkg, which is no longer used for SEA detection.
* test: improve cli-meta test coverage for SEA migration
Add tests for detectIfCurrentPkgIsExecutable() (non-SEA path) and
isExecutedByCorepack() which were previously untested. The SEA=true
path of detectIfCurrentPkgIsExecutable() cannot be unit tested since
node:sea is unavailable in an ESM test environment.
* refactor: move GitHub tarball assembly to copy-artifacts.ts
build-artifacts.ts (prepublishOnly of @pnpm/exe) now only builds the
SEA executables and prepares the exe npm dist/. The per-target dist/
assembly for GitHub release tarballs moves to copy-artifacts.ts, which
is the natural owner of that concern.
Other changes:
- Extract getReflinkKeepPackages/stripReflinkPackages to reflink-utils.ts
with tests using node:test
- Move --force from top-level pnpm install in release.yml to the pnpm
deploy in bundle-deps.ts, where it is actually needed to install all
@reflink/reflink-* platform packages into dist/node_modules
- Change @pnpm/exe prepublishOnly to run pnpm's full prepublishOnly
(compile + bundle-deps) so dist/node_modules is populated before
build-artifacts.ts and copy-artifacts.ts read from pnpm/dist
* fix: copy dist/ alongside binary when running pnpm setup for SEA
When the pnpm CLI is a Node.js SEA binary, it requires a dist/ directory
adjacent to the executable at runtime (containing pnpm.mjs and bundled
node_modules). The copyCli function in plugin-commands-setup now copies
dist/ from alongside the current binary into the tools directory so that
the installed pnpm works correctly after `pnpm setup`.
* fix: avoid argument list too long when creating Windows zip archives
* fix: propagate errors in copy-artifacts script
Previously errors in createArtifactTarball were swallowed, causing the
script to exit 0 even when artifact creation failed. Now errors are
re-thrown with a descriptive message, and the top-level IIFE has a
.catch() handler that sets a non-zero exit code.
* refactor: remove reflink-utils.ts from @pnpm/exe
The stripReflinkPackages call in build-artifacts.ts stripped all platform
packages while keeping @reflink/reflink. Instead, just remove the entire
@reflink directory from dist/ — @pnpm/exe already declares @reflink/reflink
as a runtime dependency, so npm installs it (along with the right platform
package via optionalDependencies) automatically.
This eliminates reflink-utils.ts, its tests, and the code duplication with
copy-artifacts.ts.
This PR overhauls `pnpm env` use to route through pnpm's own install machinery instead of maintaining a parallel code path with manual symlink/shim/hardlink logic.
```
pnpm env use -g <version>
```
now runs:
```
pnpm add --global node@runtime:<version>
```
via `@pnpm/exec.pnpm-cli-runner`. All manual symlink, hardlink, and cmd-shim code in `envUse.ts` is gone (~1000 lines removed across the package).
### Changes
**npm and npx shims on all platforms**
Added `getNodeBinsForCurrentOS(platform)` to `@pnpm/constants`, returning a `Record<string, string>` with the correct relative paths for `node`, `npm`, and `npx` inside a Node.js distribution. `BinaryResolution.bin` is widened from `string` to `string | Record<string, string>` in `@pnpm/resolver-base` and `@pnpm/lockfile.types`, so the node resolver can set all three entries and pnpm's bin-linker creates shims for each automatically.
**Windows npm/npx fix**
`addFilesFromDir` was skipping root-level `node_modules/` (to avoid storing a package's own dependencies), which stripped the bundled `npm` from Node.js Windows zip archives. Added an `includeNodeModules` option and enabled it from the binary fetcher so Windows distributions keep their full contents.
**Removed subcommands**
`pnpm env add` and `pnpm env remove` are removed. `pnpm env use` handles both installing and activating a version. `pnpm env list` now always lists remote versions (the `--remote` flag is no longer required, though it is kept for backwards compatibility).
**musl support**
On Alpine Linux and other musl-based systems, the musl variant of Node.js is automatically downloaded from [unofficial-builds.nodejs.org](https://unofficial-builds.nodejs.org).
- **`pnpm why` now shows a reverse dependency tree.** The searched package appears at the root with its dependants as branches, walking back to workspace roots. This replaces the previous forward-tree output which was noisy and hard to read for deeply nested dependencies.
- **Replaced `archy` with a new `@pnpm/text.tree-renderer` package** that renders trees using box-drawing characters (├──, └──, │) and supports grouped sections, dim connectors, and deduplication markers.
- **Show peer dependency hash suffixes** in `pnpm list` and `pnpm why` output to distinguish between different peer-dep variants of the same package.
- **Improved `pnpm list` visual output:** bold importer nodes, dimmed workspace paths, dependency grouping, package count summary, and deterministic sort order.
- **Added `--long` support to `pnpm why`** and the ability to read package manifests from the CAS store.
- **Deduplicated shared code** between `list` and `why` commands into a common module, and reused `getPkgInfo` in the why tree builder.
* feat(hooks): add `readPackageForPublishing` hook
* feat: pass project `dir` parameter to `readPackageForPublishing` hook
* chore: cleanup
* fix: add support for multiple pnpmfiles
* test: readPackageForPublishing hook
* test: add more tests
* test: small update
* refactor: pass in `hooks` as an option
* test: pass in `hooks` as an option
* test: small update
* chore: rename `readPackageForPublishing` to `beforePacking`
* fix: support alias resolution in pnpm why with npm:
protocol
* refactor: make alias required instead of optional
* refactor: reorder field to put alias first
