pnpm

TL;DR

What: Fast, disk space efficient package manager for Node.js.

Why: 2x faster than npm, saves disk space, strict dependencies, great monorepo support.

Quick Start

Install:

# npm
npm install -g pnpm

# Homebrew
brew install pnpm

# Check version
pnpm --version

Basic usage:

pnpm init
pnpm add express
pnpm install
pnpm dev

Cheatsheet

Command	Description
pnpm add pkg	Add dependency
pnpm add -D pkg	Add dev dependency
pnpm remove pkg	Remove package
pnpm install	Install all deps
pnpm update	Update packages
pnpm run script	Run script
pnpm dlx pkg	Execute package (like npx)

Gotchas

Installing packages

# Production dependency
pnpm add express

# Dev dependency
pnpm add -D typescript

# Global package
pnpm add -g nodemon

# Specific version
pnpm add [email protected]

# From workspace
pnpm add @myorg/shared --filter @myorg/web

Workspaces (monorepo)

# pnpm-workspace.yaml
packages:
  - 'packages/*'
  - 'apps/*'

# Install all workspace deps
pnpm install

# Run script in specific package
pnpm --filter @myorg/web dev

# Run in all packages
pnpm -r run build

# Add dep to specific package
pnpm add lodash --filter @myorg/utils

# Add workspace dependency
pnpm add @myorg/shared --filter @myorg/web --workspace

Filtering

# By package name
pnpm --filter @myorg/web dev

# By directory
pnpm --filter ./packages/web dev

# All packages
pnpm -r run test

# Packages with changes
pnpm --filter "...[origin/main]" run test

# Dependencies of package
pnpm --filter "@myorg/web..." run build

Configuration (.npmrc)

# Strict mode (recommended)
strict-peer-dependencies=true
auto-install-peers=true

# Shamefully hoist (compatibility mode)
shamefully-hoist=true

# Store location
store-dir=~/.pnpm-store

# Registry
registry=https://registry.npmmirror.com

Migration from npm/yarn

# Import from package-lock.json
pnpm import

# Or just delete and reinstall
rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json yarn.lock
pnpm install

Scripts

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "vite",
    "build": "tsc && vite build",
    "test": "vitest"
  }
}

# Run script
pnpm dev
pnpm run build

# Run binary
pnpm exec vitest

# Execute package without installing
pnpm dlx create-react-app my-app

Next Steps

• pnpm Documentation - Official docs
• Workspaces - Monorepo guide
• Filtering - Package selection
• pnpm vs npm vs yarn - Benchmarks