Pnpm
Anthony Fu's pnpm skill gives Claude solid knowledge of pnpm's workspace management, catalogs, and dependency resolution quirks. It knows to check for pnpm-workspace.yaml files, use --frozen-lockfile in CI, and handle the workspace protocol syntax. The skill covers pnpm's unique features like patches for modifying third-party packages and overrides for forcing dependency versions. Based on pnpm 10.x, it's comprehensive enough for monorepo setups and migration scenarios. Good reference material if you're dealing with pnpm's stricter dependency model compared to npm or Yarn.
- installs
- 22.4K
- GitHub stars
- 6K
- last updated
- Aug 21, 2026
Install
$ npx -y skills add antfu/skills --skill pnpm --agent claude-codeInstalls into .claude/skills of the current project.
Files
pnpm is a fast, disk space efficient package manager. It uses a content-addressable store to deduplicate packages across all projects on a machine, and enforces strict dependency resolution by default, preventing phantom dependencies.
pnpm v12 is a Rust rewrite of v11: stable, and keeps v11's commands, flags, settings, and lockfile format — so most guidance here applies to both. A handful of v12 behaviors differ (git deps resolve via HTTPS, project-aware global bins, other package managers, packageImportMethod: auto hardlinks first on Linux, --resolution-only removed) — see best-practices-migration.
Configuration model (important): pnpm settings live in pnpm-workspace.yaml (and the global config.yaml) using camelCase keys. .npmrc is used only for authentication/registry credentials, and the pnpm field of package.json is no longer read. When working in a pnpm project, check pnpm-workspace.yaml for settings/workspace structure and .npmrc only for auth. Always use --frozen-lockfile (or pnpm ci) in CI.
The skill is based on pnpm 12.x, generated at 2026-09-25. It covers v11+v12 behavior (config split, isolated global packages,
allowBuilds,pmOnFail, global virtual store, native release management, workspace task orchestration, and experimental Python/Cargo support) where current docs describe them.
Core
| Topic | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| CLI Commands | install/add/remove/update, run, dlx/pnx, workspace, runtime, publishing (version, view, sbom, stage) | core-cli |
| Configuration | pnpm-workspace.yaml settings (camelCase), global config.yaml, packageConfigs, .npmrc auth | core-config |
| Workspaces | Monorepo support: filtering, workspace protocol, shared lockfile, packageConfigs | core-workspaces |
| Store | Content-addressable store, virtual store, node linker modes, frozen/read-only store | core-store |
Features
| Topic | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Catalogs | Centralized dependency versions; catalogMode, catalog: in overrides | features-catalogs |
| Overrides | Force versions (incl. transitive & peer deps); packageExtensions | features-overrides |
| Patches | Modify third-party packages; patchedDependencies in pnpm-workspace.yaml | features-patches |
| Aliases | Install under custom names (npm:) and registry aliases (namedRegistries) | features-aliases |
| Hooks | .pnpmfile.mjs hooks (readPackage, updateConfig, beforePacking), finders, resolvers/fetchers | features-hooks |
| Peer Dependencies | Auto-install, strict mode, rules, dedupePeers, peers check | features-peer-deps |
| Config Dependencies | Share hooks/settings/catalogs/patches across repos via configDependencies | features-config-dependencies |
| Global Virtual Store & Shims | Shared node_modules, git-worktree multi-agent setups, isolated global packages, project-aware bins, other package managers | features-global-virtual-store |
| Supply-Chain Security | Build approval (allowBuilds), minimumReleaseAge, trustPolicy, lockfile integrity | features-supply-chain-security |
| Task Orchestration | Cross-project task graphs (tasks/dependsOn), concurrency groups, priority, pnpm pipeline | features-task-orchestration |
| Release Management | Native versioning: pnpm change/version -r/lane, lanes, epics, fixed groups | features-versioning |
| Multi-Ecosystem | Python (pypi:) and Cargo (crate:) dependencies alongside npm (experimental) | features-multi-ecosystem |
Best Practices
| Topic | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| CI/CD Setup | GitHub Actions, GitLab, Docker, pnpm ci, store caching, frozen lockfiles | best-practices-ci |
| Migration | npm/Yarn → pnpm, phantom deps, and pnpm v10 → v11 → v12 upgrade notes | best-practices-migration |
| Performance | Install optimizations, allowBuilds, global virtual store, workspace parallelization | best-practices-performance |
Sponsors
Details
- Repository
- github.com/antfu/skills
