pnpm fetch

Fetch packages from a lockfile into virtual store, package manifest is ignored.

warning

This is an experimental command. Breaking changes may be introduced in non-major versions of the CLI.

Usage scenario

This command is specifically designed to boost building a docker image.

You may have read the official guide to writing a Dockerfile for a Node.js app, if you didn't read it yet, you may want to read it first.

From that guide, we learn to write an optimized Dockerfile for projects using pnpm, which shall look like

FROM node:14
RUN curl -f https://get.pnpm.io/v6.7.js | node - add --global pnpm
# Files required by pnpm installCOPY .npmrc package.json pnpm-lock.yaml .pnpmfile.cjs ./
RUN pnpm install --frozen-lockfile --prod
# Bundle app sourceCOPY . .
EXPOSE 8080CMD [ "node", "server.js" ]

As long as there is no change to .npmrc, package.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, .pnpmfile.cjs, docker build cache is still valid up to the layer of RUN pnpm install --frozen-lockfile --prod, which cost most of the time when building a docker image.

However, modification to package.json may happen much more frequently than we expected, because it does not only contain dependencies, but may also contain the version number, scripts, and arbitrary configuration for any other tool.

It's also hard to maintain a Dockerfile that build a monorepo project, it may look like

FROM node:14
RUN curl -f https://get.pnpm.io/v6.7.js | node - add --global pnpm
# Files required by pnpm installCOPY .npmrc package.json pnpm-lock.yaml .pnpmfile.cjs ./
# for each sub-package, we have to add one extra step to copy its manifest# to the right place, as docker have no way to filter out only package.json with# single instructionCOPY packages/foo/backage.json packages/foo/COPY packages/bar/backage.json packages/bar/
RUN pnpm install --frozen-lockfile --prod
# Bundle app sourceCOPY . .
EXPOSE 8080CMD [ "node", "server.js" ]

As you can see, the Dockerfile has to be updated when you add or remove sub-packages.

pnpm fetch will solve the above problem perfectly by providing the ability to fetch package to virtual store with information only from a lockfile.

FROM node:14
RUN curl -f https://get.pnpm.io/v6.7.js | node - add --global pnpm
# pnpm fetch does require only lockfileCOPY pnpm-lock.yaml ./
RUN pnpm fetch --prod

ADD . ./RUN pnpm install -r --offline --prod
# Bundle app sourceCOPY . .
EXPOSE 8080CMD [ "node", "server.js" ]

It works for both simple project and monorepo project, --offline enforces pnpm not to communicate with package registry as all needed packages shall be already presented in the virtual store.

As long as the lockfile is not changed, the build cache is valid up to the layer RUN pnpm install -r --offline --prod, which will save you much time.

Options

--dev

Only development packages will be fetched

--prod

Development packages will not be fetched